7. urban growth

• Urbanisation


  The increase in the percentage of a population living in urban areas
• Urban settlements


  • Differ from rural ones in terms of: way of life (faster-paced), size (larger), density of buildings and people (compact and high), economy and employment (finance, service, and manufacturing)
• MEDCs show the highest levels of urbanisation, with the lowest levels in Africa and SE Asia
• The world population doubled between 1950 and 2015, but the urban population more than trebled
• Decline of industry in developed countries

  Industry moved overseas to emerging countries (cheaper workforce, incentives, tax breaks, etc)
• Industrial growth in emerging countries

  Pulled people from rural regions to urban areas, with the hope of a better life and employment
• High rates of urbanisation in LEDCs

  • Most new economic development is concentrated in the big cities, push-pull factors lead to high rates of rural-to-urban migration, cities are experiencing higher levels of natural increase in population
• Natural increase


  Does not include inward migration of people to a place, just the number of births vs number of deaths
• Factors affecting the rate of urbanisation

  • Speed of economic development, rate of population growth
• Rates of urbanisation are lower in MEDCs as a higher percentage of the population already live in towns and cities
• In 1900 there were just 2 'millionaire' cities (London and Paris), by 2018 this had grown to 512
• Mega city


  Urban region with more than 10 million people
• In 1970 there were only 4 mega cities, by 2000 there were 15, and in 2018 that rose to 33 with Tokyo having close to 37.3 million people
• Due to modern transport and communication, urban areas are sprawling into rural regions to create conurbations, further adding to the growth of urban areas
• Causes of rapid urban growth

  • Natural increase
  • Urban pull factors
  • Rural-urban migration
  • Natural hazards
  • Rural push factors
  • Rural reclassification
• Natural increase


  Accounts for roughly 60% of urban population growth, due to decreased death rates and higher birth rates
• Rural-urban migration


  Accounts for 40% of urban growth, due to rural push factors along with urban pull factors
• Rural reclassification


  Due to urban sprawl, some rural regions are being reclassified as urban, rural villages becoming dormitory settlements
• Urbanisation pathway


  • The differences between LEDCs and MEDCs can be shown as a pathway over time, as countries become more urban as they develop economically, the pace begins to slow and begins to flatten out or decline as counter-urbanisation gains speed
• Urban process timeline


  1. Agglomeration

  2. Suburbanisation

  3. Commuting

  4. Counter-urbanisation

  5. Urban regeneration and re-imagining
• Counter-urbanisation


  The movement of people from an urban area into the surrounding rural region
• Urban regeneration


  The investment of capital in the revival of old, urban areas by either improving what is there or clearing it away and rebuilding
• Urban re-imaging


  Changing the image and reputation of an urban area and the way people view it
• Together urban regeneration and urban re-imaging = rebranding
• Megacities


  Urban regions with over 10 million residents
• In 2007, more people lived in an urban environment than a rural one, and by 2050 it is thought that more than two-thirds (7 billion) of the world population will live in urban areas
• Reasons for growth of megacities

  • Economic development
  • Population growth
  • Economies of scale
  • Multiplier effect
• World cities


  Megacities that are influential cores with large peripheries, considered prestigious, with status and power, and are critical hubs in the global economy
• The three top (alpha) world cities are London, New York, and Tokyo
• There are only four world cities in the Southern Hemisphere: Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires