Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam with a population of 8.4 million. It is located in the south of Vietnam and is at the core centre of Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area, which has a population that exceeds 20 million, 16 million of whom live in urban areas. The city is currently undergoing a period of strong economic and population growth; as it is the economic and financial hub of Vietnam, it continues to attract migrants from other provinces.

Bursa is one of the oldest and most important historical cities in Turkey. The city is the fourth most populous city in Turkey, having about 1,150,000 inhabitants within the urban extent and 2,936,000 in the whole province. Over the past 35 years, the population in Bursa has rapidly increased due to strong internal migration driven by the region’s fast-evolving industrial development.

Johannesburg is the capital of Gauteng, which is the South African province with the biggest population comprising approximately the 24 percent of the overall population. As of 2016 Johannesburg had an estimated population of 4.4 million, and according to the census, the city has grown at an extremely high rate: an average of 4.1 percent between 1996 and 2001 and by 3.2 percent between 2001 and 2011. Although this urbanisation boom is projected to slow down, Johannesburg is expected to reach 7 million inhabitants by 2040.

Designated as a catalyst development corridor, Iskandar Malaysia is one of Malaysia’s fastest growing areas in terms of population and economic activity. By 2025, the population is expected to have doubled from 1.6 million in 2006 to 3 million, whilst the GDP is expected to grow at an annual rate of change of 6 per cent. Established in 2006, Iskandar Malaysia was largely funded by the federal government’s investment arm, Kazanah Nasional Berhad.

Belo Horizonte is the sixth-largest city in Brazil and is embedded within the third-largest metropolitan area. It is in the state of Minas Gerais; that, together with the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, forms the richest and most urbanised area of the country, where 43 per cent of the national population lives. This area hosts one of the most developed transport infrastructure systems (highways, railways, airports and ports) of South America.