Challenges of an Urbanising World

• Urbanisation is an increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas compared to rural areas. The world is becoming more and more urbanised.
• A megacity is a city with a population of over 10 million, Asia is the continent with the most megacities.
• A world city is a city that plays a disproportionate role in world affairs. Influences the economy and politics.
• An urban primary is a city with an importance and influence bigger than their size suggests. Also known as primate cities.
• Urbanisation has caused change to natural increase as better access to medical care and technology, better access to food, and improved sanitation have brought down the death rates.
• Push factors have caused agricultural change as people often have to move or migrate from rural to urban areas, as the primary sector doesn't have enough money, so people relocate to find better work.
• Governments can change their capital cities if they wish as people move to the city and there are increased levels of tourism.
• Colonial powers such as the UK can influence urbanisation as they created many new urban areas in their new territories.
• Urbanisation can be influenced through TNCs and the global economy as they focus production in urban areas, causing many centres to grow into centres of production globally.
• Kampala, Uganda, is a developing country, it has a population of 1.8 million. It is currently in growth due to jobs in growing businesses, jobs in construction, better services and natural increase / better life chances.
• New York, USA, is a developed city, with a population of 8.5 million. It is in growth as it has net growth from overseas, natural increase, experts imported from overseas - its migration focuses on experts from finance.
• Detroit, USA is a developed city with a population of 762,000. It is in decline as the wealthier population left to live in the suburbs (reducing Detroit's income and making them unable to provide services), and deindustrialisation due to imports overseas, unemployment was high and people's jobs were taken by machines.
• Informal employment is an unofficial economy where no records are kept. Cash in hand jobs.
• Formal employment is an official job, which meets the legal standards for accounts, taxes and worker's pay and conditions. Workers have more rights.
• In Kampala, Uganda, the developing country, 80% of the GDP is from the informal economy. The main jobs are services. Advantages of this are they offer jobs to women who are young and poor, providing a regular income.
• In New Delhi, an emerging city, 50% of the GDP comes from the informal economy. The main jobs are selling food, cigarettes and clothing. Advantages of this is that those who have a job, have an income. However, there are no regulations about minimum wage or benefits.
• In New York, the developed city, the GDP that comes from the informal economy is 7%. The main jobs are street selling, construction and cleaning. This is beneficial as it allows people to have an income. However illegal migrants may not declare income to tax officials.
• The CBD's land use is finance, admin offices, retail and government buildings.
• The suburb's land use is mainly for detached and semi - detached houses.
• The rural-urban fringe's land use is mainly green belt and greenfield sites.
• The inner city's land use is for older housing, industries and brownfield sites.
• Commercial means businesses.

  Industrial means factories.

  Residential means housing.
• The pattern of land use is influenced by accessibility, cost of land and planning decisions made by councils.
• Central Business District's have a higher demand for land, so its more expensive, so buildings have a higher density.
• Industrial areas, industry needs space for offices and factories, space is cheaper at the city's edge for newer industries and more expensive near the centre where older industries are located, as they got there first.
• Residential housing is usually located in the suburbs, where land is cheaper.
• Suburbanisation is the growth of cities outwards into suburbs. Driven by developments in transport.
• Counter urbanisation is when people move out of cities to the rural fringe / suburbs.
• New York faced counter urbanisation in the 1950s to the 1980s.
• In the 1700s, New York had a deep harbour & was a very prominent area for trade. In the 1800s, millions of immigrants came from Europe, causing ethnic clustering. In the early 1900s, Manhattan began building upwards. Population increased, creating areas like Brooklyn. Public transport improved, so people could live in the suburbs, but work in the city. In 1950 - 1980, New York lost 12% of its population. White people decided it was too dangerous, the 'White Flight' (counter urbanisation), causing a decline in the CBD as systematic racism meant the government began investing in the suburbs.
• During New York's counter urbanisation in the 1950s to the 1980s, they were nearly bankrupt in 1975. In the 1980s, New York began to undergo reurbanisation. The knowledge economy attracted well qualified people for jobs, they underwent regeneration (e.g. old factory buildings became fancy flats), and improved safety around the city.