while we moan and bellyache

Were America not myopic.

The 717 emerging-cities market – cities with populations of more than 500,000 plus 371 cities that will reach this size in 25 years – is the largest commercial opportunity in the world. The report is titled Winning in Emerging-Market Cities: A Guide to the World’s Largest Growth Opportunity.

Emerging-market cities will need housing and infrastructure—most urgently, transportation, water, sanitation, and electricity. Meeting these needs will require an estimated $30 trillion to $40 trillion by 2030—the equivalent of 60% to 70% of the total global investment in infrastructure.

The strongest driver of infrastructure demand will be population growth.

Emerging markets will require an estimated $13.8 trillion in new housing investment from 2010 to 2030, with a huge portion of the demand coming from Brazil, China, India, and Mexico.

Emerging-market cities will reach 30% of all global private consumption by 2015.

h/t Next Big Future

Jobs. You want jobs? You can’t handle jobs.

One-third of the world’s population—2.6 billion people—live in emerging-market cities, and by 2030 that number will increase by 1.3 billion. In contrast, cities in developed markets will add only 100 million new residents in the next 20 years.