Contemporary Urban Enviroments - Section 1 Urbanisation Flashcards
Define urbanisation
The process by which an increasing proportion of a country’s population lives in towns and cities.
What are the two main causes of urban growth / urbanisation?
Natural increase (more births than deaths)
Rural to urban migration
What are some push factors causing rural to urban migration?
Population growth - same area of land has to support increasing numbers of people, causing over-farming, soil erosion and low yields.
Agricultural problems - land use change - many traditional rural communities have been driven off land and into cities.
Natural disasters - such as floods, tropical storms, earthquakes
Wars
Define urban sprawl
The spread of an urban area into the surrounding countryside traditionally occurring in an uncontrolled way.
What are the negative impacts of urban sprawl?
Requires more roads / infrastructure
Main cause of wildfire loss
Traffic congestion - more commuting from countryside so more fuel consumption
Increase air pollution
Loss of farmland / open space
Impact on water quality / quantity - impermeable surfaces and increased flood risk
Decentralisation - movement of businesses
Why is there a shortage of housing in lower income countries?
Population density tends to be high in urban areas and one consequence of this is a shortage of accommodation. This leads to the presence of leading to large areas of informal and often inadequate housing
Where are these informal areas of housing located?
Edge of city
Places with low land value - due to environmental hazards eg) flooding, landslides
Where there is high levels of air, noise or water pollution.
Adjacent to transport networks
In 2013 how many people were reported to be living in slum conditions by the UN?
863 million
Shortage of housing in higher-income cities
A key problem in many wealthy cities.
In UK cities rising demand for accommodation has led to dramatic increase in house prices and rental costs.
What transport issues have processes of urbanisation and suburbanisation led to?
Traffic congestion —> more pollution, damaging human health
Define suburbanisation
The movement of people from living in the inner parts of a city to living on the outer edges.
Facilitated by the development of transport networks and increase in car ownership.
Results in a spread of the urban area and the outward growth of urban development that has swallowed up surrounding villages and rural areas.
What are the negative impacts of suburbanisation?
Increasing social segregation in cities - the wealthy move to suburbs and poorer remain in inner city.
Funding diverted away from inner cities to other suburbs to pay for new infrastructure and services.
Define urban resurgence
The economic and structural regeneration of an urban area which has suffered a
period of decline.
This can be initiated by redevelopment schemes The movement of people back into the city centre
Common in post-industrial countries
People may move back due to lack of jobs in rural or suburban areas
What is a world city?
An urban area that has influence over the whole world.
They act as centres for finance, trade, business, politics, culture
Can be considered ‘hubs’
What are some characteristics of a world city?
High quality educational institutions
Multifunctional infrastructure
High protection of residents employed in services
Domination of trade and economy of larger surrounding area
