Cities and urban settlements have developed in coastal zones for millennia - resource-rich and strategic from transport, trade and defense perspectives. Although cities only cover 2 percent of the world’s land surface, the activities within their regional boundaries consume over 75 percent of the planet’s material resources. The ratio of urban to rural dwellers is that some 55% (approximately 4.2 billion people) reside in urban areas, with this projected to grow to almost 70% by 2050. Nearly 90% of the anticipated growth in urban populations by 2050 is anticipated to occur in Asia and Africa coastal cities on the continent will absorb a great deal of the future urban growth projected.