Challenges of an urbanising world Flashcards
Urbanisation
Rise in % of people living in urban areas compared to rural.
Mega city
City with a population over 10 million.
Million city
City with a population over a million.
Conurbation
When 2 cities grow so much they merge together.
Primate city
The city dominates its economic, financial and political systems. It has a much higher population than the next biggest.
World city
City with a disproportionate influence in the world.
Examples of megacities
Tokyo (most populous w 38 million people)
Delhi
Shanghai
Mumbai
When did the global urban population outgrow the global rural population?
2007
By 2050, 2/3 of world will live in megacities and there’ll be 13 more megacities.
Features of a world city
International hub for travel and trade.
Home to headquarters of many TNC’s that would make global investment decisions.
Have a high employment in the knowledge economy.
Have high quality education facilities that attract foreign students.
Have major political decisions affecting other places.
Why does urbanisation occur?
Migration from rural to urban areas because of push and pull factors as well as natural population increase.
Pull factors to the city
Job opportunities More protection from less natural disasters Bright lights and entertainment Better services Running water Electricity Better wages
Push factors towards the city
Shortage of land Population pressure Poverty Droughts Crops fail Natural disasters No services No sanitation
What housing has urbanisation resulted in?
Informal/shanty towns around the city. This means CRAMPED CONDITIONS AND LACK OF SANITATION (spread of disease), POORLY BUILT HOUSES (vulnerable to natural disasters)
Characteristics of formal employment
Contract, sick pay, maternity leave/pay, minimum wage, taxes, structured working hours, suitable conditions, holiday pay
Characteristics of informal employment
No contract, no pay if not at work, direct pay for what you do, no minimum wage, no tax, flexible working hours, no laws on working conditions, cash in hand
Why’s there a high level of informal work in developing countries?
Due to urbanisation, there’s a limited number of formal jobs.
Lack of industrialisation leads to less formal job.
Lack of government funding into services creates opportunity for informal work.
Uneducated children may need to support family.
People have insufficient qualifications
Example of informal work in developing country
Due to lack of government funding into trash and waste collection, sanitation levels are lowered and wildlife die. Poorer citizens earn livings collecting trash and cleaning the environment. Is good as they earn wages that are fed into the government. However, some of this trash is reused which is unsanitary and spreads disease.
What model represents land use in cities?
The Burgess model
5 areas in Burgess model
CBD, inner city, inner suburbs, outer suburbs, rural urban fringe
What affects development of land uses
Planning decisions, cost of land, accessibility
Central Business District
Central part of city where most commercial land is located. (Shops, offices, services and entertainment).
Inner city
Where old industrial land was located, streets are in grids and roads tightly packed w terrace housing. High density living spaces for workers in CBD.
Inner suburbs
Area between inner city and outer suburbs. Mostly residential land w mainly semidetached housing. Decreasing land prices and more living space.
Outer suburbs
Further decreasing land prices and more living space.
Rural urban fringe
Boundary between rural and urban areas. Mainly residential land w some retail parks/ business areas and green belt sites.
Characteristics of commercial land
(CBD) high density buildings .
Most accessible w high land demand and limited space.