'Scientific American projects what the world will look like in 2050, and it is going to be a far different place for businesspeople to deal with.'

Worldwide population will be 9.1 billion, up from the current 6.5 billion. While that 40 percent increase looks drastic, it represents a substantial slowing in population growth. From 1960 to today, the number of people on earth more than doubled.

"From 2007 forward, urban people will outnumber rural people" for the first time in history, Joel E. Cohen writes. Indeed, virtually all the projected population growth "will happen in existing or new cities in developing countries." Here's another way to think of that: "In effect, the poor countries will have to build the equivalent of a city of more than one million people each week for the next 45 years."

The proportion of people living in developing countries versus developed ones will have increased. "In 1950, the less developed regions had roughly twice the population of the more developed ones; by 2050, the ratio will exceed 6 to 1."

The graying of the global population will not have proceeded uniformly. "In 2050 nearly one person in three will be 60 years or older in the more developed regions, and one person in five in the less developed zones."

Originally by NYT > Technology, 12:24 PM

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