Urbanisation

• Urbanisation


  An increase in the proportion of a country's population that lives in towns and cities.

  2 main causes:

  1. natural population growth and

  2. rural to urban migration
• Urban growth


  An increase in the number of urban dwellers.

  Classifications of urban dwellers depend on the census definitions of urban areas, which vary from country to country. They usually include one or more of the following criteria: population size, population density, average distance between buildings within a settlement and legal and/or administrative boundaries.
• Urban sprawl

  The spread of an urban area into the surrounding countryside.
• Megacity


  A city or urban agglomeration (urban area incorporating several large towns or cities) with a population of more than 10 million people.

  London (including Greater London) achieved megacity status in 2013.
• Metacity

  A conurbation with more than 20 million people.
• Million city

  A city with a population of more than 1 million people.
• Natural increase

  This is measured as birth rate minus death rate per 1000 per year.
• Pull factor

  Reasons why people are attracted to an area. Positive things.
• Push factor

  Reasons why people move away from an area. Negative things
• Rural-urban migration

  The movement of people from rural areas (countryside) to urban areas (towns/cities).
• Under-employment

  When a person is not doing work that makes full use of their skills and abilities. This may occur when a migrant moves to a new city.
• Homogenisation


  The process of people, products and places becoming the same (in this case city landscapes which have become indistinct from one another.).
• Green belt

  This is an area of land, usually surrounding an urban area, where development is restricted. It was a strategy to prevent urban sprawl.
• Greenfield site

  This is an area which has not previously been built on - often in the rural urban fringe
• Ribbon development

  This is urban growth, and the expansion of suburbs, along routes into the CBD
• Suburbanisation


  This is the movement of people from living in the inner parts of a city to living on the outer edges. It has been facilitated by the development of transport networks and increase in car ownership. It results in a spread of the urban area.
• Counter-urbanisation

  This is the movement of people from urban areas into smaller urban areas or rural areas, leap-frogging the rural urban fringe.
• Rural urban fringe

  This is the area beyond the built up area of the town or city.
• Suburbanised village

  This is a village, in commuting distance, which receives newcomers as a result of counter-urbanisation. It shares some of the characteristics of the suburbs.
• "Dead heart" syndrome

  This is the result of loss of manufacturing and retailing from the "Downtown" areas of cities which leave a "dead heart".
• Deindustrialisation

  This is the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector which occurred in the UK in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
• Gentrification

  This is the process by which individuals, or groups of individuals, buy and renovate properties, often in more rundown areas. This is fuelled by wealthier individuals.
• Urban resurgence

  This is the economic and structural regeneration of an urban area which has suffered a period of decline. This can be initiated by redevelopment schemes
• World city

  An urban area that has influence over the whole world. They act as global centres for finance, trade, business, politics and culture. Financial and political influence are considered most significant in world city status.
• Decentralisation

  The movement of population and industry from the urban centre to outlying areas. The term may encompass the processes of suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation.
• De-multiplier effect

  Opposite to the multiplier effect, when a withdrawal of income or investment leads to the closure of an activity, such as a factory. The loss of jobs and income for the workers means less money is spent in the economy usually giving rise to more job and income losses in a downward spiral effect.
• Quaternary sector

  The sector of the economy where knowledge or ideas are the main output, such as advertising, computer programming and software design.
• Tertiary sector

  The sector of the economy concerned with providing services.
• Bottom up

  When local people are consulted and supported in making decisions to undertake projects or developments that meet one or more of their specific needs.
• Devolution

  The transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration.
• Regeneration

  Policies directed at tackling social, economic, physical and environmental problems within urban areas
• Top down

  When the decision to undertake projects or developments is made by a central authority such as government with little or no consultation with the local people whom it will affect.
• Urban policy

  Strategies chosen by local or central government to manage the development of urban areas and reduce urban problems.