Urbanization patterns and poverty reduction: A new perspective to explore the countries along the Belt and Road

Abstract Urbanization and poverty reduction are two vital aspects for global sustainable and healthy development. In the future, the countries along the Belt and Road will play a more important role in global urbanization and poverty reduction. Therefore, this paper aims at elaborating the characteristics and patterns of urbanization and poverty reduction in these countries using data from 1996 to 2016. The results indicate that the average urbanization level is 48% in 2016 and the average annual growth rate of these countries is 0.61 percentage points between 1996 and 2016. In addition, West Asian and Middle Eastern countries have a higher level of urbanization, while ultra-high-speed and high-speed development countries are primarily Southeast Asian countries and China. Furthermore, these countries differentiate significantly in terms of spatial distribution of population density. Regions with a population density of 0–1 person per square kilometer account for 33% of the total area and 0.09% of the total population, while regions with a population density of over 1000 people per square kilometer account for 1.45% of the total area and 39.56% of the total population. Moreover, using mathematical morphology methods, we identify the 10 regions with the largest urban land areas among these countries, and seven regions are located in China and Southeast Asia. Finally, the population living in extreme poverty in these countries dropped from 1.17 billion to 355.6 million during the 20-year period, and several countries, such as China, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Mongolia, have made tremendous progress both in urbanization and poverty reduction. These findings are beneficial for comprehending urban development and poverty reduction in the countries along the Belt and Road as well as for providing references for regional cooperation.