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1. By the turn of the century, almost half the world will live in urban areas - from small towns to huge megacities. The World's economic system is increasingly an urban one, with overlapping networks of communications, production, and trade. This system, with its flows of information, energy, capital, commerce, and people, provides the backbone for national development. A city's prospects – or a town's – depend critically on its place within the urban system, national and international. So does the fate of the hinterland, with its agricultural, forestry, and mining. on which the urban system depends.

2. In many nations, certain kinds of industries and service enterprises are now being developed in rural areas. But they receive high-quality infrastructure and services, with advanced telecommunications systems ensuring that their activities are part of the national (and global) urban-industrial system. In effect, the countryside is being 'urbanized'