HSC Urban Places - Megacities - 1

Question 1

Definition of Megacities

Answer 1

Defined as having a population of 10 million or more

Question 2

Spatial Distribution of Megacities

Answer 2

• 34 megacities across the world, with around 26 in developing countries
• The number of megacities has doubled over the past 20 years
• Most are found in Asia and include Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Manila, Karachi and Delhi
• Africa has just 3 megacities which are Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa
• However, by 2100, it is predicted that most of the world’s largest cities will be found in Africa

Question 3

Nature and Character of Megacities

Answer 3

• Around 77 million people are moving from rural to urban areas each year
• The number of ‘megacities’ has more than doubled over the past two decades, from 14 in 1995 to 29 in 2016

Question 4

EDSCG - E - Exploding Populations

Rural-urban migration

Answer 4

o The movement of people from the countryside to the city

Question 5

EDSCG - E - Exploding Populations

Push factors: things that drive people away from a certain place

Answer 5

o E.g. high poverty, natural disasters, overpopulation

o E.g. in manila, the major problem in the city is poverty. Around 2 million people live in slums

Question 6

EDSCG - E - Exploding Populations

Pull factors: things that attract people to a certain place

Answer 6

o. E.g. better healthcare, education
o E.g. manila has one of the highest healthcare services in the world. This would promote rural-urban migration as people need access to adequate health services

Question 7

EDSCG - E - Exploding Populations

Natural increase

Answer 7

o The difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths during the year
o Contributes to population growth in megacities
o The most rapid megacity growth is occurring in the world’s least developed and poorest countries
o Occurs when there is a high proportion of young adults aged 18-35, therefore, more children will be born because they are at the age where they would start a family
o The smaller proportion of older people means that the death rate is lower

Question 8

EDSCG - D - Operations of a Dual Economy

Economy:

Answer 8

The state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money

Question 9

EDSCG - D - Operations of a Dual Economy

A dual economy:

Answer 9

o Two separate economic systems that operate in the same geographic space
o A dual economy is a characteristic of mega cities in developing countries — where there are advanced, formal economies, while others in close proximity partake in informal economic activities

Question 10

EDSCG - D - Operations of a Dual Economy

Informal economy:

Answer 10

o The part of an economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. An example of an informal economy profession is someone who is
self-employed or paid in cash
o This economy exists mostly due to the lack of opportunity in the formal economy, jobs in this economy include:
- Itinerant street vendors
- Small artisans
- Homeworking
- Manufacturing
- Prostitution
o In the rural areas, most workers are in the agricultural sector
o The less visible informal workers are the ones that work in manufacturing

Question 11

EDSCG - D - Operations of a Dual Economy

Formal economy:

Answer 11

o The part of an economy that encompasses all jobs with normal hours and regular wages, and are recognised as income sources on which income taxes must be paid. Examples of a profession include office jobs
o Megacities often perform the nation’s international and national functions often found in the CBDs of developed countries
o These activities can include: banking; insurance; government; research, and education
o In many megacities, you will find major centres of manufacturing
o Manufacturing often requires lots of labour, meaning work for a large population
o As much as 40% of work can be found in the manufacturing centres of some megacities such as Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangkok
o TNCs are highly mobile, for example, Nike establishes manufacturing plants in new cities when the cost of labour increases slightly because it’s cheaper to do that than pay higher wages
o The levels of work in megacities that involve manufacturing require us to observe how the country is choosing to develop
o In Delhi, only 15% of jobs are in manufacturing. In places like Sao Paulo, 30% of jobs are in manufacturing — considering they have a reputation for being a manufacturing power house

Question 12

EDSCG - S - Enormous Differences in Socioeconomic Levels

Answer 12

• They have a such a large population living in them that their rapid growth often outstrips development giving rise to incredible wealth disparity
• As the exploding population increase outpaces infrastructure development e.g. schools, roads, hospitals. Many more people end up disadvantaged than those who end up ‘making it’ in the city
• Due to the ever-increasing size, the supply of housing rarely keeps pace with the arrival of new migrants leading to various social problems and inequalities in the cities. e.g. the development of slums or shacks and more often the creation of extensive makeshift, squatter and shanty towns on the outskirts and suburbs of megacities

Question 13

EDSCG - S - Enormous Differences in Socioeconomic Levels

Settlements:

Answer 13

o Bustees: a slum area or shanty town; India
o Bidovilles: a shanty town built of oil drums or other metal containers, especially on the outskirts of a North African city; North Africa
o Chawls: a large building divided into many separate tenements, offering cheap, basic accommodation to labourers; South Asia
o Favela: Brazilian Portuguese for slum, a low-income historically informal urban area in Brazil; Brazil

Question 14

EDSCG - S - Enormous Differences in Socioeconomic Levels

Government attitudes towards shanty towns:

Answer 14

o Hostile approaches— believe if they provide urban services to the poor, it will attract urbanisation and cause the slums to grow
o Problem with this is few people move to the city for water and services and come for work
o Passive approach — not having planning tools or tools in place aren’t sufficiently responsive to the reality on the ground

Question 15

EDSCG - C - Extensive Urban Challenges

Answer 15

• Inadequate housing:
• Energy > not connected to electricity grid
• Health > water-borne diseases and air pollution
• Rubbish disposal > diseases spread by human waste, contamination
• Unemployment > high informal economy employment

Question 16

EDSCG - G - Limited Government Ability to Improve Living Conditions

Answer 16

• Limited taxation revenue as a result of the high level of joblessness and the functioning of the informal sector
• Instability and corruption within government have contributed in some instances to limited government action
• The inability of the government to adopt approaches such as efficient policies, focusing on appropriate education, developing credit and capital, encouraging community participation, and focusing on technology
• Local authorities have not been given the political power, decision-making capacity, and access to revenues needed to carry out their functions. This leads to frustration, to continuing criticism of local government for insufficient and inefficient services, and to a downward spiral of weakness feeding on weakness.

Question 17

Case Study: Mexico City

Answer 17

• Population of over 22 million (19% of the country’s total population)
• Mexico city is a primate city: a city that dominates all other urban areas in the country
• Encircled by 500 slums

Question 18

Geography of Mexico City

Answer 18

• Lies in a bowl-shaped basin surrounded by snow-capped mountains
• The mountains trap the city’s smog, producing the world’s worst atmospheric pollution
• Without a river, the city depends on wells and springs
• This has led to land collapse throughout the city, as water is pumped out of the soil, the ground sinks.
• The city occupies the site of a now dry lake
• This makes the city susceptible to earthquakes which damages water pipes
• 20% of the city’s water is lost in this way

Question 19

Rapid Growth of Mexico City

Answer 19

• 74% of the country’s population lives in urban areas
• Between 1950 and 2005 Mexico City’s population has risen from 3 million to 20 million
• a big portion of the city’s increase in population is because of rural to urban migration
• The city provides employment, medical and educational opportunities unavailable in rural areas
• The teachings of the Catholic Church hinder campaigns promoting birth control

Question 20

Social and Spatial Inequalities in Mexico City

Answer 20

• There is a great contrast in the level of economic and social well-being experienced by the people of Mexico City
• The affluence of the city’s west side contrasted with the extreme poverty of the northeast
• 28% of families live in single-roomed houses made of concrete and corrugated iron
• Many areas don’t have access to clean water and sewage systems
• Yet, in 1992 during Mexico’s worst economic crisis the number of billionaires jumped from 10 to 15. Their combined wealth = 10% of Mexico’s GDP