Urbanisation

• What is urbanisation?

  The increasing % of the population moving to urban areas. This occurs through rural to urban migration
• between 1970 and 2015 how much did urban population increase by in Beijing

  4.4m - 20.4m
• Why is urbanisation important in human affairs?

  1. GDPs of some cities is bigger than countries - their economic influence is massive
  2. if more people live in towns and cities, they are dependent on rural areas for their services e.g. energy, food, construction
  3. urban areas are also dependent on rural areas to absorb waste they produce
  4. urban areas serve as global ‘nodes’ in the world economic system. They promote the global movement of goods and services - promoting globalisation
  5. many people in LICs live in squatter settlements. provides economic opportunity but means increased poverty
• what are global patterns of urbanisation since 1945?

  1. Population has grown from 746m in 1950 to 3.9b in 2014
  2. most urbanised regions include north america (82% living in urban regions - 2014)
  3. Latin america and Caribbean (80%)
  4. africa and Asia remain mostly rural with 40% living in areas - likely to change as they are fast growing urban areas
  5. india, china and nigeria are expected to account for 37% of the projected pop growth between 2014-2050
• what is meant by suburbanisation

  when cities become crowded, people migrate from city centres to the outskirts (suburbs). this can lead to economic and ethnic segregation as the more wealthy can afford to move
• what is meant by counter urbanisation 


  the movement of people out of the city to villages and rural areas due to high property prices and overcrowding. this can lead to new housing estates in villages
• what is meant by urban resurgence


  when people move back to the city centre. this is most common in pot industrial countries due to a lack of jobs.
• push factors for rural to urban migration

  1. population growth, causes over farming and soil erosion
  2. agricultural problems e.g. desertification because of low rainfall
  3. high levels of local diseases and inadequate medical provision
  4. agriculture is increasing organised globally. land previously used to grow food for locals is now used to produce cash crops
  5. natural disaters
  6. wars and conflict
• what are pull factors for rural to urban migration

  1. employment in factories and service industries, better paid work than in rural areas e.g. hotels. there is a high demand for unskilled labour in cities
  2. earning money from informal sector e.g. prostituion
  3. better quality social provisions, from education and healthcare to entertainment and tourism
  4. perceived better quality of life in the city - media
• consequences of urbanisation

  1. urban sprawl - leads to suburbanisation
  2. shortage of housing in lower income countries
  3. lack of urban services and waste disposal
  4. unemployment and under employment transport issues
• What are megacities

  Cities with a population of 10m +. They dominate National and regional economies

  1950=2

  2014=28

  2030=41
• what is urban sprawl

  spread of an urban area into the surrounding country side
• Benefits of megacities

  1. Offer opportunities to expand access to services such as healthcare, education
  2. less environmentally damaging to provide public transport, housing eletricty
  3. urban dwellers have access to larger and more diversified employment markets
  4. better levels of education and healthcare
  5. fuels political change
• urbanisation


  the process by which an increasing proportion of a country's population lives in towns and cities. 2 main causes- natural population growth and migration form rural areas
• how has urban population changed since 1945

  1. grown form 746m in 1950 to 3.9b in 2014

  2. most urbanised regions include northern america (82% living in urban regions in 2014), Latin America and the Caribbean (80%) and Europe (73%).

  3. Africa and Asia remain mostly rural, with 40 and 48% living in urban areas (likely to change over next 50 years as fastest growing urban areas a re found in Africa and Asia)

  4. 3 countries are expected to account for 37% of the projected growth of the worlds urban population between 2014 and 2050

  5. India expected to add 404m dweller, China 292m and Nigeria 212m
• what is the total world population expected to grow to by 2045

  surpass 6 billion, with much of the growth form low income countries. many areas projected to be urban in 2040 have not yet been built e.g. India 70% of cities not built yet
• where and why has there been population decline

  Buffalo and Detroit between 2000 and 2014- economic contraction

  New Orleans- 2005 hurricane Katrina
• development of megacties in last 30 years

  more than 10million people

  1990- 10 megacties

  2014- 28

  2025- 37 (UN predicts) housing over 13% of global population, largely concentrated in Asia
• metacity

  conurbation with more than 20 million people, e.g. Pearl River Delta (merge 9 cities together- 26 times larger than greater London)
• megacity


  city or urban agglomeration with a population of more than 10 million, according to UN London achieved this in 2013 and includes greater london
• millionaire cities


  population of 1 million plus
• urban growth

  increase in the number of urban dwellers. classifications of urban dwellers depend on census definitions of urban areas, which vary from country to country, usually include, population size/density, average distance between buildings within a settlement and legal and / or administrative boudaries
• urban sprawl


  spread of an urban area into the surrounding country side
• push factors for rural urban migration

  1. population growth, causes over farming, soil erosion and low yields

  2. agricultural problems, e.g. desertification because of low rainfall

  3. high levels of local diseases and inadequate medical provision

  4. agriculture is increasingly being organised globally. land previously used to grow food for local people is now used to produce cash crops for sale to higher income countries, many traditional rural communities have been driven off their land and into cities

  5. natural disasters

  6. wars and civil strife cause people to flee their land
• pull factors for rural- urban migration

  1. employment in factories and service industries, better paid work than in rural areas (e.g. hotels). there is an increasingly high demand for unskilled labour in cities

  2. earning money form informal sector, e.g. selling goods on street, transport like rickshaws, prostitution

  3. better quality social provisions, from education and healthcare to entertainment and tourism

  4. perceived better quality of life in the city, fed in part by images in the media
• consequences of urbanisation


  1. urban sprawl- leading to suburbanisation

  2. shortage of housing in lower income countries

  3. lack of urban services and waste disposal

  4. unemployment and under employment

  5. transport issues
• negative impacts of urban sprawl

  1. requires more roads and infrastructure e.g. pipes, its less economically efficient to support low density rural areas to compact urban areas with same number of households

  2. cause of wildlife habitat loss as t reaches into rural areas

  3. more commuting from suburbs to the city so more congestion and pollution

  4. increase air pollution because of more car dependent lifestyle, heat island effect may increase temperatures

  5. loss of farmland and open spaces, loss of local food so greater food miles

  6. impact on water quality and quantity as rural areas a re covered with impermeable surfaces so rainwater cant soak into the ground and replace groundwater aquifers

  7. decentralisation- movement of industry and businesses including retail companies, can cause decline in retail in city centers and increasing homogenisation of landscape. e.g. in America edge cities develop where self contain developments develop beyond original city boundary
• how is shortage of housing in lower income countries caused


  population density tends to be high causing shortage of accommodation. large areas of informal and inadequate housing develops

  mainly develop on the edge of a city often prone to natural hazards e.g. flooding

  also found adjacent t transport networks, high pollution

  have limited access to basic infrastructure like electricity and water
• how is shortage in affordable housing in higher income cities caused

  1. higher demand for accommodation in cities leads to rising house prices

  2. between 2010-2015 house prices rose by 50% in London fueled by in-migration, gentrification and purchasing of properties by wealthy foreign investors
• what causes lack of urban services and waste disposal in urban areas

  1. financial restraints in lower income countries results n lack of basic services like water

  2. maintenance of infrastructure is also limited such as roads and sewers which causes traffic congestion, polluted water courses, flooding and spread of disease

  3. 2015 5% of piped water reached slum areas in 42 Indian cities and towns including New Delhi

  4. waste disposal- as the amount increases cities are less capable to deal with e.g. addis ababa Ethiopia, authority can only deal with 2/3 of rubbish, the rest is left to private coontracters or just left on the streets and rivers causing health hazards

  5. Koshe landfill site families live in makeshift housing and search for things they can resell
• how is unemployment and underemployment caused


  many people who move into cities are very young which increases pressure to create sufficient jobs

  when a migrant moves to anew city they may work in a job that doesn't make full use of their skills and abilities (underemployment)
• what transport issues and why are caused by urbanisation

  1. increased traffic, more congestion and pollution damaging human health and wasting billions of pounds in lost productivity

  2. suburbansisation has increased morning and evening commuters, traffic flows for shopping, entertainment and other commercial services add to the problem

  3. car boom 1960s, more and wider roads built which attracted more cars
• counter urbanisation


  movement of people from large urban areas into smaller urban areas or rural areas, thereby leap frogging the rural urban fringe. it can mean daily commuting but can also require lifestyle change and increased use of ICT
• decentralisation


  movements of population and industry from the urban center to outlying areas. term may encompass the process of both suburbanisation and counter urbanisation
• deindustrialisation


  loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector which occurred i the UK in the second half of the 20th century
• gentrification


  the buying and renovating of properties, often in more run down areas by wealthier individuals
• suburbanisation


  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 the increase in ownership of private cars. these have allowed people to commute into work
• urban resurgence

  the regeneration, both economic and structural, of an urban area which has suffered period of decline. this is often initiated by redevelopment schemes but it is also due to wider social, economic and demographic processes
• during the mid to late 20s what has been the cause for suburbanisation


  1. growth of public transport

  2. increased use of private cars

  3. railway lines

  4. arterial roads, made commuting easier
• why were green belts created

  1930s- few planning controls and urban growth took place alongside main roads (ribboon development). by 1940s this became a problem so green belts were introduced