Urbanisation and cities

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Notes de leçon

What is urbanisation?

  • Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of a country's population living in towns and cities.
  • In 1950 about 30% of the world's people lived in urban areas; by 2018 it was about 55%, and the UN projects about 68% by 2050.
  • Urbanisation is now fastest in lower-income countries in Africa and Asia; most higher-income countries urbanised during the 19th and 20th centuries.
  • A megacity is an urban area with more than 10 million people, such as Tokyo, Delhi, Lagos and São Paulo.

Why cities grow

  • Rural–urban migration: people move from the countryside to cities.
  • Push factors drive people away from rural areas: drought, crop failure, few jobs, poor schools and healthcare, conflict.
  • Pull factors attract people to cities: jobs in factories and services, higher wages, better schools and hospitals, the 'bright lights' of city life.
  • Natural increase: cities also grow because births exceed deaths — migrants are often young adults who start families in the city.

The structure of a city

  • The CBD (central business district) is the centre: shops, offices, high land values and tall buildings.
  • The inner city surrounds the CBD: older, dense housing (in the UK often Victorian terraces) and old factories, many now redeveloped.
  • The suburbs have newer, lower-density housing with gardens, built as transport improved.
  • The rural–urban fringe is where the city meets the countryside: out-of-town retail parks, business parks and new housing estates.
  • The Burgess model shows these zones as rings around the CBD; real cities are shaped by rivers, relief and transport routes.

Challenges of rapid urban growth

  • When cities grow faster than housing can be built, people build informal settlements (slums or squatter settlements) on unused land such as steep slopes, floodplains or beside railways.
  • Homes are often self-built from scrap materials, with no legal ownership, and may lack clean water, sanitation and electricity.
  • Many residents work in the informal economy — jobs that are not taxed or protected, such as street selling or recycling.
  • Other problems: traffic congestion, air and water pollution, and pressure on services like schools and hospitals.

Case study: Mumbai, India

  • Mumbai is one of India's largest cities and its financial centre, with a population of over 12 million in the city itself and many more in the wider urban area.
  • It attracts migrants from across rural India who come for jobs.
  • Dharavi is one of Asia's largest informal settlements: roughly a million people live in about 2 km².
  • Dharavi has a busy informal economy — recycling, pottery, leather and clothing workshops earn money for the city.
  • Problems include overcrowding, shared toilets, poor drainage and disease; redevelopment plans are controversial because residents fear losing homes and workshops.

Urban change in higher-income countries

  • In the 20th century many UK cities lost factory jobs (deindustrialisation), leaving derelict land and poverty in inner cities.
  • Counter-urbanisation is the movement of people from cities to smaller towns and rural areas.
  • Urban regeneration improves run-down areas with new housing, offices, leisure and transport — for example London's Docklands and the Olympic Park at Stratford.
  • Brownfield sites (previously built-on land) are reused to reduce building on greenfield sites (undeveloped countryside).

Sustainable cities

  • A sustainable city meets people's needs today without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
  • Features include efficient public transport, cycle lanes, green spaces, recycling, renewable energy and energy-efficient buildings.
  • Curitiba in Brazil is known for its bus rapid transit system and large areas of parkland.
  • In lower-income cities, self-help schemes give residents materials and legal ownership so they can improve their own homes.

Diapos

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  1. 1.What is urbanisation?

    Easy
    • AAn increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
    • BThe growth of farming in rural areas
    • CThe movement of people from cities to the countryside
    • DThe building of new roads between cities

  2. 2.What is a megacity?

    Easy
    • AA city that is also a country's capital
    • BAny city with more than 1 million people
    • CA city built on reclaimed land
    • DAn urban area with more than 10 million people

  3. 3.Roughly what percentage of the world's population lived in urban areas in 2018?

    Easy
    • A75%
    • B15%
    • C55%
    • D30%

  4. 4.In which parts of the world is urbanisation happening fastest today?

    Easy
    • AAustralia and New Zealand
    • BLower-income countries in Africa and Asia
    • CWestern Europe
    • DNorth America

  5. 5.Which of these is a PUSH factor encouraging people to leave rural areas?

    Easy
    • ACrop failure caused by drought
    • BBetter-paid factory jobs in the city
    • CMore hospitals in the city
    • DBright lights and entertainment in the city

  6. 6.Which of these is a PULL factor attracting people to cities?

    Easy
    • AA shortage of farmland
    • BConflict in rural areas
    • CPoor rural schools
    • DThe chance of a job with higher wages

  7. 7.Apart from rural–urban migration, what is the other main reason cities in lower-income countries grow?

    Medium
    • ADeindustrialisation
    • BInternational tourism
    • CNatural increase — more births than deaths
    • DCounter-urbanisation

  8. 8.What does CBD stand for?

    Easy
    • ACentral bus depot
    • BCentral business district
    • CCity building development
    • DCommercial borough division

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