Contemporary urban environments

• Why are urban areas important?

  • job Opportunitlies
  • Community
  • Institutions
  • Services
  • Healthcare
  • Centre of Economy
  • Centre of political power
  • Increased transport links
  • Culturally significant areas
• What is an urban area 


  more than 10,000 people
• What is a mega city

  10 million people
• What is a meta city 


  20 million people
• what is urban growth (3 meanings)

  1. Growth in a population size
  2. Growth in the physical size of the city
  3. Growth in the power or importance of the city
• Urbanisation definition 


  The growth in the proportion of a country's population that lives in an urban environment compared to a rural environment
• What are the two main causes of urban growth ?

  1. Net migration gain
  2. Natural increase
• Net migration gain definition?


  More people entering an urban area than leaving It.
• natural increase definition? 


  Where there are more births than deaths
• What are the push factors that cause urbanisation ?

  • Desertification (due to climate change)
  • Conflict/civil war
  • Natural disasters
  • Land use change in rural areas e.g-hydroelectric power stations
  • Mechanisation of agriculture
  • Farmers unable to pay back loans taken for fertiliser and pesticides
  • High levels of local disease and inadequate medical care
  • Land taken over to grow cash crops to pay off national debt
• What are the pull factors that cause urbanisation ?

  • employment available in factories and service industries e.g- hotels
  • Better paid jobs
  • Family members and/or friends have moved
  • Perception of a better quality of life
  • Access to better quality social provisions e.g. health and education
• Where are the current mega cities ? 


  The world’s current mega cities are mostly in eastern Asia and Europe . There are currently 8 mega cities in the americas. Australasia has 0 mega cities
• Where are the world’s mega cities predicted to be ? 


  In the future 70% of the worlds new mega cities will be in Asia
• What significant urbanization milestone did the UN estimate was reached in 2008?

  More people lived in urban environments than in rural environments for the first time.
• What was the estimated urban population of the world in 2008?

  1. 3 billion people lived in urban areas.
• How much did the urban population grow from 1945 to 2014?

  It grew from an estimated 0.75 billion to 3.9 billion.
• By how many times did the urban population increase from 1950 to 2014?

  It increased by 5 times.
• What was the estimated urban population in 2021?

  1. 3 billion people lived in urban areas.
• What were the estimated percentages of the world population living in urban areas in 1950, 2005, and projected for 2030?

  • 1950: 29%
  • 2005: 49%
  • 2030: 60%
• What was the average annual rate of urbanization worldwide from 1945 to 2014?

  1. 58% per year.
• How does the urbanization rate from 1945 to 2014 compare to world population growth during the same period?

  Urbanization occurred at a rate of 2.58%, while world population growth was 1.65%.
• What can be inferred about the trend of urbanization compared to overall population growth from 1945 to 2014?

  Urbanization was occurring rapidly in comparison to overall population growth.
• What are the consequences of urban growth ?

  1. Urban sprawl
  2. Shortage of housing
  3. Shortage of housing solutions
  4. Tower of David,Caracas
  5. Lack of urban services and waste disposal
  6. Unemployment and under employment
  7. Transport issues