Why do more than half the world's population live in urban

• Urbanisation

  • the process by which an increasing percentage of a country's population live in towns and cities.
  • ACs have the highest levels of urbanisation, with the lowest being in Africa and SE Asia.
  • ACs have lower rates of urbanisation as towns and cities already exist.
  • in 1990 only London and Paris were millionaire countries, by 2018 there were 512.
  • due to modern transport and communication urban areas are sprawling into rural regions to create conurbations.
• Advanced urban trends

  • rate of urban growth is slow or declining, UK, Germany, Japan and America.
  • the industrial revolution pulled the population into developing urban areas at that time.
  • nowadays many people in ACs are being pushed away from overcrowded cities to rural settlements.
  • ACs tend to have good transport and communication networks, therefore people can live in rural areas and commute to cities or work from home.
• Emerging urban trends

  • rate of urban growth is rapid, India, Russia, Brazil and China.
  • key trade hub cities are seeing greater growth than others due to investments from the government and TNCs.
  • cities like Lagos in Nigeria, Shanghai in China, Mumbai in India and Sao Paulo in Brazil are not the countries capital.
  • trade like finance, electronics and manufactured goods.
• Developing urban trends

  • rate of urban growth is the fastest, Sub-Saharan countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia, in Asia like Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
  • Asia is expected to contribute towards 60% of global growth by 2030.
  • most new economic development is concentrated in big cities through investment in low cost manufacturing of textiles, garments and shoes.
  • push pull factors lead to high rates of rural to urban migration.
  • cities are experiencing higher levels of natural increase in population.
• World cities and mega cities

  • a mega city has over 10 million people.
  • in 1970 there were only 4, by 2000 there were 15.
  • in 2007 more people were living in an urban environment than a rural one and in 2018 that rose to 33.
  • largest growth of megacities is in Asia, Tokyo has close to 37.3 million people.
  • by 2050 it is thought that more than 2/3 of the world population will live in urban areas.
• Economic development causing growth

  • encourages population growth which leads to the desirability of goods and services.
  • all megacities act as service centres within the formal economic sector.
  • megacities in LEDCs are also important manufacturing centres like Mumbai in India with thousands working in the informal economy.
• Population growth causing growth

  • young people are drawn to live in megacities with their vibrancy, fast pace and opportunities.
  • internal growth is where people who have moved into the cities have children, so sustaining population growth like Mexico City and Mumbai.
• Economies of scale causing growth

  • its cheaper to provide goods and services in one place than spread across several cities.
  • financial savings for local governments in respect of infrastructure provision.
  • communication and transport are centralised, making savings in time and money.
• Multiplier effect causing growth

  • as a city prospers it acts as a beacon to people and businesses, encouraging inward investment and leads to more development and growth.
  • generates further need for skills and labour and job growth.
  • this cycle multiplies the positive effects and growth continues like in San Francisco and their digital development.
• World cities

  • megacities have a powerful attraction for people and businesses and are influential cores with large peripheries.
  • world and mega cities can be any size but exert particular influences around the globe and are considered prestigious with status and power and are critical hubs in global economy.
  • the top three world cities are London, New York and Tokyo and are financial centres of the world, each with smaller networks of world cities feeding into them.

  
• Urban primacy

  • urban primacy is where cities exert dominance over the rest of the country, usually cities with the largest concentration of urban population like London.
  • urban primacy is that all economic growth is concentrated in the city to the cost of the city's rural fringe and political power becomes focused in the city, decision making affects the whole country which tend to be to the benefit of the primate city rather than the country's needs.
  • primate cities are a bigger draw for migrants so small cities miss out on new business and investments causing pollution, poverty and crime.
• Causes of urbanisation

  • modern growth of cities began with the Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 19th century with the pull of work to factories growing cities from the push of harsh, rural existence.
  • in 1960 34% of the global population was living in some sort of urban settlement.
  • today 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas and by 2050 its expected to stand at 68%.
  • urban living is linked to better literacy rates and education, improved health and longer life expectancy through wider access to health and social services.
• Speed of economic development

  • economic development growth drives urbanisation.
  • the faster the growth of secondary and tertiary employment sectors, the faster the growth of urbanisation.
• Rate of population growth

  • economic growth needs a supply of labour.
  • natural increase in an urban population, a slow way of meeting demand.
  • rural to urban migration, the more important source of labour as it attracts a wider pool of people into the urban region.
• Counter urbanisation and natural increase

  • counter urbanisation, people move from an urban area into the surrounding rural region.
  • natural increase, accounts for 60% of urban population growth, and is due to decreased death rates and higher birth rates.
• Growth in LIDCs

  • since 1950 LIDCs have seen rapid growth in urbanisation particularly in South America, Asia and Africa.
  • urban population in LIDCs doubled by 2021.
  • mass rural-urban migration due to population growth and lack of resources in rural areas, push factors.
  • lure of the city and its opportunities, pull factors, however many find informal employment and poor housing, push factors.
  • natural increase as development occurs health care improves, reducing infant morality and death rates.
• Reasons for rapid growth in LIDCs

  • most new economic development is concentrated in big cities.
  • push-pull factors lead to higher rates of rural-to-urban migration.
  • cities experience higher levels of natural increase in population.
  • there's a decline of industry in ACs, as industry moved overseas to EDCs and LIDCs to take advantage of a cheaper workforce, government incentives and tax breaks.
  • this led to industrial growth in LIDCs and pulled people from rural regions to urban areas with the hops of a better life and employment.
• Push-pull factors

  • push factor is the reality of the current situation for the migrant, it is what makes the person consider moving from the place of origin.
  • pull factor is the perceived outcome, it is what the migrant imagines the move will bring to the place of destination.
  • high levels of unemployment are a push factor, whereas higher wages and a better lifestyle of a pull factor.
  • rural-urban migration is usually a combination of factors.

  
• Consequences of rapid growth in LIDCs

  • there is a growth of squatter settlements in megacities in LIDCs as the availability and affordability of housing cannot keep up with the rate at which the urban population is increasing.
  • this leads to people building their ow homes on vacant land using scrap materials like carboard and plastic, there are unplanned and unregulated housing with little sanitary facilities, freshwater or reliable energy supply.
• Squatter settlements

  • built on unowned ,and or in areas of no economic value, on urban edges or fringes, along main roads or railways, on steep slopes.
  • the UN estimates that about 1/4 of urban inhabitants live in these improvised slums and by 2030 1 in 4 people on the planet will live in some form of informal settlement.
  • mega slums are very large, overcrowded areas usually within megacities like Khayelitsha in Cape Town, South Africa with a population of 400,000 in iron and wooden shacks.
• What slums suffer from

  • poor , overcrowded, small housing built very close together using inadequate material with uncertain electricity supplies.
  • restricted access to water supplies and little to no sanitation facilities and no solid waste disposal leading to a polluted and degraded local environment.
  • inadequate health facilities and along with poor living conditions increase sickness and death rates.
• Challenges of slums

  • dealing with the amount of waste produced as the city grows.
  • air pollution from burning fossil fuels, factories and car exhausts.
  • sewage and toxic chemical pollution of waterways.
  • congestion on poorly managed or planned road systems.
  • lack of public transport and lack of qualified doctors and teachers.
  • high levels of unemployment and crime.
  • informal employment and child exploitation.
• Urban trends in ACs

  • countries become more urban as they develop economically, as they move through the stages pace slows and starts to flatten out or decline as counter urbanisation gains speed.
  • traditional society.
  • preconditions to take off.
  • take off.
  • drive to maturity.
  • age of high mass consumption.

  
• Urban process

  • timeline of urban processes

  
• Agglomeration

  • urban settlements first appear as a result of agglomeration.
  • people gather together in one area to sell goods and live.
  • small trading posts and villages begin to develop.
• Suburbanisation

  • where the suburbs on the outer edge of the settlement grow outwards as new houses and services are built to accommodate more people.
  • this type of expansion sees the settlement grow at the expense of surrounding green land.
  • the new suburbs are made up of mostly houses but also include places of employment and services.
• Counterurbanisation

  • the movement of people from an urban area into the surrounding rural region.
  • mobility and accessibility, higher personal car ownership, increase in public transport and road development, easier to access rural areas.
  • increased wealth, housing and travel more affordable.
  • agricultural decline, creates availability of land for housing, forcing agricultural workers to leave the area.
  • green belt, people need to go further out to get the rural life they want.
  • secondary homes and early retirement, increased the movement of people from city to countryside.
• Urban regeneration

  • the investment of capital in the revival of old, urban areas by either improving what is there or clearing away and rebuilding.
  • over time older parts of urban areas begin to suffer a decline, factories would move elsewhere resulting in job loss.
  • quality of life and housing become poorer, more people move away.
  • urban blight sets in and the are needs to be brought back to life.
• Urban re-imaging

  • changing the image and reputation of an urban area and the way people view it.
  • focusing on a new identity and function by changing the quality and appearance of the built up area.
  • good opportunity for brownfield site development.
  • together with urban regeneration they are both rebranding of a place, these processes add to continue the growth of urban regions.
• Re-urbanisation

  • the movement of people back into the cities from the surrounding area.
  • movement is the result of an increase in jobs, regeneration of older areas either through rebuilding or redevelopment.
  • improvement in air quality and safety.
• Deindustrialisation

  • the closure of factories and industries leading to large areas of derelict land and buildings.
  • leads to suburbanisation and counter urbanisation as lack of jobs and poor environments causes people to leave the city.
  • recently this has led to re-urbanisation as the areas are cleared or redeveloped to be replaced by luxury apartments.
• Urban sprawl

  • urban growth left unchecked leads to urban sprawl, many UK cities were becoming to large and concerns grew.
  • leads to loss of farmland and green spaces to build new homes and parks are built on.
  • in 1947 the UK government introduced green belts in order to limit outward urban growth.
  • most changes have been at urban fringes due to availability of space for housing, cost of land is cheaper to develop, better access to main routes for heavy transport and access to services like major hospitals and superstores.