The world's population, expected to grow from 7.4 to 8.5billion by 2030, threatens diverse ecosystems, agricultural production and the distribution of water.

That's why academics Richard T.T. Forman and Jinguo Wu mapped out areas around the world - from large swathes of South America to scattered areas of Oceania - that would best accommodate the inevitable population growth.

In Nature, the two professors called for 'worldwide coordination' to promote a balanced population in a way that would minimize the 'already heavy ecological footprint on our finite Earth'.

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Researchers trying to determine where one billion people could sustainably thrive first ruled out regions with high water stress, land covered in ice, and unique species that need protecting. They also included areas with high population densities (all, in red)

What are left are the yellow regions, considered highly sustainable for development, areas marked in blue, considered 'somewhat sustainable'

Most of the population growth is expected to occur in African and Asian cities, where overcrowding and pollution can become serious problems.

Dense urban sprawl is damaging to valuable resources like nutrient-rich land, and growing cities eventually become hotbeds for solid waste, waste water and pollution.

The researchers also noted the growing problem of climate change, citing coastal cities like Guagzhou, Mumbia, New Orleans, Osaka and Vancouver as vulnerable to sea level rise.

An additional billion people also requires intricate planning to maximize agricultural production, the wrote.

To understand where people could sustainably thrive, Forman and Wu used seven different maps from the Atlas of Global Conservation.

The Atlas depicts more than 80 different factors regarding the state of t errestrial, freshwater and marine habitats, which allowed the two to see possibilities for development.

Ruling out areas that were deemed unsuitable, whether it was extreme climates or existing population densities exceeding 100 people per square kilometer, the researchers created a map pinpointing areas that could sustain a population boom.

Their map includes large areas of South America, southern Canada, portions of the northern and eastern US, south central Africa, pockets in China and regions north of the Himalayas, as well as scattered parts of Oceania.

While the map doesn't take into account economic, political, legal or cultural factors that might affect migration, the two researchers urged urban planners, government policies and international agencies to tackle the problem.

Dense urban sprawl is damaging to valuable resources like nutrient-rich land, and growing cities eventually become hotbeds for solid waste, waste water and pollution (file photo)