urban issues and challenges

• urbanisation 


  the proportion of the population who live in cities (urban areas)
• the rate of urbanisation differs between richer and poorer countries:

  - in HIC's, around 80% of the population live in urban areas

  - in NEE's, around half the population live in urban areas

  - in LIC's, around 30% of the population live in urban areas
• rural-urban migration


  the movement of people from the countryside to cities

  • rate of rural-urban migration is affected by push and pull factors
• push factors - people want to leave an area e.g. countryside

  - natural disasters like droughts can reduce crop yeilds, and damage property and farmland, which is costly to fix

  - desertification and soil erosion makes land unproductive for farming

  - poor harvests can lead to famine and malnutrition

  - few jobs, hospitals, and basic education

  - farming is hard and poorly paid
• pull fators - people want to move to an area e.g. the city

  - more jobs, and a better education and healthcare

  - higher standard of living (better QoL)

  - public transport available

  - may already have family and friends living there
• natural increase 


  when the birth rate is higher than the death rate

  • occurs when there is a higher population of young adults, therefore more children will be born
  • fewer older people and better healthcare leads to less deaths
• megacities


  cities with a population of over 10 million

  • 3 types of megacities: slow-growing, growing, rapid-growing
• slow-growing megacities


  - often HIC's

  - no squatter settlements

  - e.g. south-east asia, europe,north america (tokyo, Los Angeles)
• growing megacities


  - often NNE's

  - under 20% of population in squatter settlements

  - e.g. south america, south-east asia (Beijing, Rio De Janeiro)
• rapid-growing megacities


  - often LIC's

  - over 20% of population in squatter settlements

  - e.g. south-east asia, africa (Jakarta, Mumbai)
• distrbution of population in UK

  - population distribution of the UK is very uneven

  - many of the major cities have developed conourbations, and these areas have thg highest population density

  • conourbations: several towns that have merged to form continuous urban areas (merge together but maintain their separate identities)
• ten most popluous urban areas in the UK all:

  - have a polulation greater than half a million people

  - home to approx. 40% of the urban poulation in Uk

  - have a population density of over 3000 people per km^2

  - cover approx. 20% of all urban land area

  - have grown by over 600,000 people in the last 10 years
• population density


  the number of people per km^2
• comparing urban areas in the UK

  - age

  - sex

  - recent migration

  - ethnicity
• urban areas often have:

  - high levels of population density

  - a mixture of land uses e.g. commercial, industrial, transport, residential, recreational
• sustainable living 


  living in a way that lets people meet their needs now, without harming future needs
• in order to achieve sustainable living:

  urban areas will need to

  • have a planned green space
  • conserve water and energy resources to ensure they are used efficiently
  • create a suitable amount of waste and have effective waste recycling facilities
  • have efficient public trasport
  • have high quality working and living environments
• urban greening


  increasing the amount of grren space in an urban aea

  - it can be done by:

  • developing green gardens on the roof of bildings
  • tree planting alongside roads, railway lines, canals, and waterways
  • developing open spaces and parks
• why develop green spaces in urban areas

  - not just about making a area more attractive, has other advantages including:

  • reducing heat in the summer, and risk of flooding
  • increasing biodiversity
  • improving health
  • creating social areas
  • providing more attracrive areas for business
  • creating recreation and tourism oppertunities

  - e.g. Tianjin Eco-city (China)
• Tianjin eco-city - China


  - china facs the challenge of providing urban areas that are economically and environmentally sustainable

  • the chosen site for the eco-city was a derelict industrial area with high levels of ground and water pollution
  • cleaning up the area took 3 years and has been successful
  • project will be carbon nuetral, and its aims are environmental preservation, conservation and sustainability.
• Tianjin eco-city - China key features

  - 20% of all energy will be renewable, including solar and geothermal

  - all buildings will be energy and water efficient

  - a minimum of 50% of water supply will come from desalination and recycled water

  - 90% of local journeys will be taken by waling, cycling or public transport

  - lanned parks and green walkways throughout the city, encouraging wildlife and recreation

  - a mix of ages and professions will be encouraged to create a positive social mix
• managing traffic congestion


  - traffic congestion causes delay which increase business costs and puts increasing stress on commuters. It adds to the problem of air pollution and the pressure to build more roads
• reducing traffic congestion


  - public transport

  • reduces traffic in city centres
  • has less of a negative impact on the environment
  • reduces the need to build more roads and car parks in city centre
  • however it may increase traffic in the areas of the park, and requiresthe building of large car parks on the outskirts of towns and cities
• Curituba - Bazil BRT system (Bus Rapid Transport)


  - a city of 3 million people and was the first brazilian city to have dedicted bus laes as part of its integrated transport system

  - has 4 elements:

  • direct line buses operate from key points and run directly into the cuty without stopping
  • speedy buses operates along 5 main routes into the city and have limited stops
  • inter-direct buses join up districts without going through the city centre
  • feeder minibuses pick up people from residential areas and take them to termianl points where tey connect to main services