urban futures

• ACs have the slowest rate of urbanisation
• megacities are cities with a population over 100,000000 people
• factors affecting cities to grow into megacities:

  • natural population increase - low death rate and high life expectancy
  • migration - people move to cities for more opportunities
  • economic development - more trade from ports = more business so the cities become a centre for production
• world cities are hubs for international trade. they are at the centre of global communication networks
• urban functions:

  • market - where goods and services can be bought and sold
  • employment - work in manufacturing or services
  • administration - organisation if life in the city and the area around it
  • defence - the protection of city from attack
  • entertainment - sports, theatre, shopping and restaurants
  • religion
  • transport hub
  • residential
  • culture
• rural-urban migration is the movement of people from the countryside to cities
• a slum is a crowded urban area where people live in inadequate housing and poor living conditions
• reasons for slum growth:

  • rural urban migration
  • unemployment
  • poor urban planning
  • poor infrastructure
• suburbanisation is people moving out of the city centre to new residential areas or suburbs on the edge of the city
• what is suburbanisation driven by:

  • high population density and congestion in city
  • pollution
  • cheaper land and house prices outside
  • idea that life was better closer to the country side
• green belts are open spaces around cities on which further development ins not allowed
• counter urbanisation is when people move out of the cities to countrysides or smaller towns
• re urbanisation includes:

  • brings derelict land and buildings into use
  • build new houses
  • encourage investment in new jobs
  • improve the quality of life for local residents
  • improve quality of the environment
• urbanisation opportunities:

  • quality of life
  • life expectancy
  • employment
  • squatter settlements
  • sustainability
• urbanisation challenges:

  • overpopulation
  • inequality
  • segragation
  • environmental damage
  • slums
• metacities is a city with a population of more than 20 million