Urban issues and challenges

• Urban growth has increased globally.
• Since 2007, the % of people classes as urban population has increased from 50% to a projection of 60% in 2030.
• The rate of people living in urban areas is greater in HICs than LICs and has been since 1950s.
• However, the rate of growth has been slowed in HICs and increased in LICs.
• The urban growth rate is concentrated in the southern hemisphere, specifically Asia.
• Rural urban migration is the movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities.
• Rural push = the disadvantages in the countryside that cause people to move.
• HICs were first to urbanise, the rate was rapid but today it has slowed.
• Industrialisation = growth of the secondary manufacturing sector, increase in large factories requiring manual labour, increased hob opportunities.
• Urban pull = the opportunities found in the city that encourage people to move there.
• Birth rate = number of babies born per 1000 people per year.
• Death rate = the number of people who die per 1000 per year.
• Natural increases = birth rate > death rate, leading to the population growing naturally.
• Megacity = a city with a population of over 10 million people.
• Supercity = a city with a population over 5 million.
• Millionaire city = a city with a population over 1 million.
• Urbanisation = the increase in the % of proportion of people living in towns and cities.
• Squatter settlement = an area that has been built using makeshift materials on an area that is not legally owned by the people living there. Often on the outskirts of the city.
• Informal sector = jobs that are not official or recognised by the government, e.g. street sellers.
• Quality of life = the term used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. Standard indicators of the quality of life include not only wealth and employment, but also the built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time and social belonging.
• The total population of the UK in 2021 was 67.3 million.
• Population distribution = how spread out the population is.
• Population density = a measure of the amount of people in a certain area (km2).
• 82% of the UK's population live in urban areas.
• One in four people in the UK live in London and the south east.
• Gentrification = the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.
• Life expectancy = the average number of years a person is expected to live from birth in a particular society at a certain time.
• Social deprivation = the extent to which an individual or an area lacks services, decent housing, adequate income and employment.
• Inequality = the difference between poverty and wealth, as well as wellbeing and access to jobs, housing, education, etc.
• Healthcare = how many people have access to healthcare in certain areas compared to others.
• Income = relative incomes per year of people compared to other people.
• Housing = the price for buying or renting the houses.
• Rural-urban fringe = a zone of transition between a built-up area and the countryside, where there is often competition for land use.
• Brownfield sites = land that has been used, abandoned and now awaits reuse; often found in urban areas.
• Greenfield sites = a plot of land, often in a rural area or on the edge of an urban area that has not been built on before.
• Urban sprawl = unplanned growth of urban areas into the surrounding rural areas.
• Since 1970 London's house prices have drastically increased from around £4,900 to around £490,000 in 2015. The UK's house prices have also increased.
• Greenbelts = designated areas of open land around cities where building is restricted.
• Migration = the movement of people from one area to another.
• Urban greening = the process of increasing and preserving open space such as public parks and gardens in urban areas.