causes of rapid urbanisation

Question 1

what is urbanisation?

Answer 1

the increasing proportion (%) of people living in urban areas

Question 2

what is urban sprawl?

Answer 2

cities expanding out into rural areas

Question 3

do LIDC/EDC countries have high or low rates of urbanisation?
- high/low
- increasing/decreasing rates
- has mass urbanisation occurred

Answer 3

high rates of urbanisation
% of people living in urban areas is rapidly increasing
mass urbanisation has not yet occurred

Question 4

do AC’s have high or low rates of urbanisation?
- high/low
- increasing/decreasing rates
- name the process
- has mass urbanisation occurred

Answer 4

low rates of urbanisation
% living in urban areas is increasing slowly or even decreasing (this is called counter urbanisation)
mass urbanisation has already occurred

Question 5

state the 2 main causes of urbanisation

Answer 5

1. natural increase
2. rural-urban migration

Question 6

what is natural increase?

Answer 6

natural increase is the difference between the death rate and the birth rate, it occurs when the birth rate is higher than the death rate per year

Question 7

why is the death rate lower in urban areas than rural areas?

Answer 7

there is better access to healthcare in urban areas as opposed to limited access in rural areas

Question 8

why is the birth rate higher in urban areas than rural areas?

Answer 8

more economically active people live in urban areas and therefore there are more people in urban areas that are having children and so there are high birth rates which then causes the death rate to be lower in urban areas

Question 9

what impact does this have on the changing size of the urban population?

Answer 9

populations can grow rapidly without there having to be migration from people, natural increase

Question 10

what is rural to urban migration?

Answer 10

the process of people leaving the countryside to head to the cities

Question 11

what is a push factor?

Answer 11

a reason to leave a place e.g. war

Question 12

what is a pull factor?

Answer 12

a reason to go to a place e.g. job opportunities

Question 13

name as many push factors for urbanisation as you can for LIDC/EDC countries

Answer 13

• rising costs of farming
• no universities in rural areas
• no schooling in the village
• fleeing famine
• desertification
• unable to own their own land
• fewer healthcare facilities in rural
• reduction in price of crop
• drought or natural disasters
• mechanisation of agriculture

Question 14

name as many pull factors for urbanisation as you can for LIDC/EDC countries

Answer 14

• more government investment in urban areas
• job opportunities in the city
• opportunities to learn skills
• friends/family in the city
• shops to buy high quality goods
• meet new people, experience things, more freedom
• better quality of life
• better healthcare access
• urban areas recover faster from factors such as war

Question 15

what is desertification?
- what it is
- what it is caused by
- examples

Answer 15

the degradation of land that used to be fertile farming land, caused by human activities such as deforestation and overgrazing as well as being affected by climate change