Produced by the World Health Organization, The WHO Centre for Health Development, Kobe, and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), 2010.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-126).

Part One. The Dawn of an Urban World -- Chapter 1. The Rise of modern cities -- Chapter 2. Health in an urban context -- -- Part Two. Unmasking Hidden Cities -- Chapter 3. Urban health inequity and why it matters -- Chapter 4. Urban health inequities revealed -- Chapter 5. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals -- -- Part Three. Overcoming Urban Health Inequities -- Chapter 6. Urban governance for reducing health inequities -- Chapter 7. Building an evidence base for action -- Chapter 8. Taking action -- -- Conclusion: The price and the promise of our urban world -- -- Annex A. Additional resources and tools -- Annex B. Methodological approach for assessing urban health inequities -- Annex C. Examples of interventions

"The joint WHO and UN-HABITAT report, Hidden cities: unmasking and overcoming health inequities in urban settings, is being released at a turning point in human history. For the first time ever, the majority of the world's population is living in cities, and this proportion continues to grow. Putting this into numbers, in 1990 fewer than 4 in 10 people lived in urban areas. In 2010, more than half live in cities, and by 2050 this proportion will grow to 7 out of every 10 people. The number of urban residents is growing by nearly 60 million every year. This demographic transition from rural to urban, or urbanization, has far-reaching consequences. Urbanization has been associated with overall shifts in the economy, away from agriculture-based activities and towards mass industry, technology and service. High urban densities have reduced transaction costs, made public spending on infrastructure and services more economically viable, and facilitated generation and diffusion of knowledge, all of which have fuelled economic growth." - p. ix