A LECTURE by an Oxford University professor in China has warned there will be an “unprecedented shift” of populations out of the countryside and into cities.

At the launch of the Oxford China Lecture in Shanghai, Professor Steve Rayner said the global population was in the middle of the greatest migration in history, with 75 per cent of the world population predicted to be living in cities by 2030.

The inaugural lecture builds on the success of the Oxford Longon Lectures with the aim to connect world-leading research to an international audience.