Contemporary Urban Environments Flashcards
What is urbanisation?
When the proportion of population living in an urban area increases
How has urbanisation changed over time?
Increased.
In 1950, 29% of the world’s population lived in urban areas
Today over 56-56% of the world’s population live in urban areas
What are the most and least urbanised regions?
Most:
- North America -> 82%
- Europe -> 73%
Least:
- Africa -> 40%
- Asia -> 48%
What are metacities?
Largest cities in the world. Over 20 million
Delhi - 24m
Seoul - 23m
Sau Paulo - 20.2m
What are world cities?
Command and control centres of the global economy. Have influence on a global scale
London - 8.6m
New York - 20m
Tokyo - 37.8m
What are megacities?
Cities with over 10 million people
Mumbai - 17m
What are millionaire cities?
Cities with over a million people living there
What are the reasons for increased urbanisation and the emergence of mega-cities?
- birth rate greater than death rate
- immigration
- push/pull factors
- economy growth
- rural-urban migration
- jobs
- education
- industrialisation
What is urban growth?
increase in total population of a town/city
What is urban sprawl?
spread of urban areas into the countryside
What is the importance of urban cities in human affairs?
- transport links/accessibility (transport hubs: regional=bus/train, national=planes)
- social and cultural centres
- centres of ideas & creative thinking/intellectual centres
- retail & entertainment
- service provision (lawyers etc.)
- political power & decision making
- leisure
- economy/business
What is suburbanisation?
Migration of people from urban areas to suburbs, typically residential areas on the outskirts of a city
What is counterurbanisation?
Where people move away from urban areas to rural or less densely populated areas
What is re-urbanisation?
Where people move back into urban areas that have previously experienced population decline or urban decay
What is rural-urban fringe?
Transitional zone between urban and rural areas where urban development meets the countryside, serving as a buffer zone
What is urban resurgence?
Renewed interest and growth in urban areas that previously faced decline involving increased investment in infrastructure and revitalisation of neighbourhoods
What is the Cycle of Urbanisation?
Areas can move through what we call the cycle of urbanisation:
Urbanisation -> Suburbanisation -> Counterurbanisation -> Re-urbanisation
What are SEZs?
Special Economic Zones.
They are zones encouraging rapid economic growth by using tax and business incentives to attract foreign trade.
Why are companies attracted by SEZs?
& example of a SEZ?
- tax incentives
- bypass government red tape and permission for any development
- companies allowed to develop their own infrastructure without requiring approval
Shenzen:
Population grew from 30,000 in 1979 to 1,000,000 by 2000
What is de-industrialisation?
Reduction of industrial activity or capacity in a region or economy, especially of heavy or manufacturing industry
What is decentralisation?
Movement of economic activity e.g. shops, offices and industry away from urban centres into out of town location and into suburbs
What is the rise of the service economy?
Shift in economic focus from manufacturing to services as the dominant sector of the economy
What are causes of deindustrialisation?
- cheaper labour elsewhere
- globalisation
- lack of regulation elsewhere
- market saturation
- technological change (mechanisation)
- exhaustion & cost of raw materials
What is the cycle of deindustrialisation?
Deindustrialisation -> decline in workers -> factories shut down -> massive loss of jobs -> people relocate elsewhere -> further loss in population -> economic decline -> derelict sites lead to environmental decline -> loss of investment
