In Peru it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the country's population could be living in urban areas by 2030.
With half of Peru's economic activity based in the capital, Lima, it will put enormous pressure on the city's already floundering services.
Many of the country's poor come to Lima in search of work. As the city cannot accomodate the numbers, many migrants end up building their own homes in run-down areas on the outskirts of the city.
Most of them lack basic services like running water and sewage systems.
Al Jazeera's Barbara Benitez reports from Lima.
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