RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION AND GROWTH OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS Flashcards
POPULATION LIVING IN URBAN AREAS, CURRENT NUMBERS + PREDICTIONS
- More than half of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas.
- Due to the ongoing urbanisation and growth of the world’s population, there will be about 2.5 billion more people added to the urban population by 2050, mainly in Africa and Asia
- The world’s urban areas are highly varied, but many cities and towns are facing problems such as a lack of jobs, homelessness and expanding squatter settlements, inadequate services and infrastructure, poor health and educational services and high levels of pollution
MAIN PULL FACTORS INFLUENCING RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION
Employment opportunities in cities are one of the main pull factors. Many industries are located in cities and offer opportunities of high urban wages. There are also more educational institutions providing courses and training in a wide range of subjects and skills. People areattracted to an urban lifestyle and the ‘bright lights’ of city life. All of these factors result in both temporary and permanent migration to urban areas.
MAIN PUSH FACTORS INFLUENCING RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION
Poor living conditions and the lack of opportunities for paid employment in rural areas are push factors.People are moving away from rural areas because ofpoor health care and limited educational and economic opportunities as well asenvironmental changes, droughts, floods, lack of availability of sufficiently productive land, and other pressures on rural livelihoods.
Overpopulation - the man-land ratio is very high. Few job opportunities. Low living standard - low income, malnutrition. Poor social services and facilities - transport, education, medical service, recreation etc. Poverty - the strongest factor.
SELECTIVITY OF RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION?
Rural to urban migration can be a selective process, as some types of people are more likely to move than others. One of the factors involved is gender, because employment opportunities vary greatly with different jobs for men and women. Another factor is age. Young people are more likely to move to towns, with more elderly people and children left in rural areas. Selectivity in migration affects the population in both the rural and the urban areas. If more men move to towns and cities than women, this leaves a predominantly female society in rural areas.
WHAT IS RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION
The migration of people from rural to urban areas, occurs in both developed and developing countries , such flow of population began in the early 19th century, but has slowed down nowadays (DEVELOPED). In developing countries, such flow started in the early 20th century, and is getting faster as time goes by.
THE STRONGEST PUSH FACTOR INFLUENCING MIGRATION FROM RURAL TO URBAN AREAS?
POVERTY
THE MAIN PULL FACTOR FOR MIGRATION FROM RURAL TO URBAN AREAS
BETTER EMPLOYMENT
PROBLEMS CAUSED BY RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION?
Rapid population growth
- Waves of immigrants from rural areas never stop. Very few people leave the city. Therefore, there is a big net gain in population. Most immigrants are young adults. They know little about birth control and family planning. The birth rate is very high. However, the death rate is very low. Therefore, there is a big natural increase in population.
High unemployment
Conflicts between local people and migrants
- They are different from each other in religion, tradition, custom outlook, educational level, language, race, etc. Therefore, misunderstandings arise. The local people do not want those outsiders:– to share their facilities and services;– to take away their jobs;– to bring along problems of congestion and pollution. Therefore, the local people do not like the immigrants. The immigrants thus feel being looked down on and ill-treated.
Shortage of facilities and services
- Urban population increases too fast. The city government has very limited resources. The number of facilities like electricity and water supply, and services like schools and hospitals only increases very slowly. The facilities and services cannot meet the needs of people. Life quality becomes poor.
Shortage of houses (CREATION OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN CITIES - Example Favelas in Brazil)
Shortage of houses, Urban population increases too fast. The increase of houses is too slow. The poor immigrants cannot afford good housing. The government is not fast enough to provide public housing. Cottage areas or shanty towns appear and spread. The living conditions are very poor there.
CREATION OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN CITIES - Example Favelas in Brazil
Shortage of houses, Urban population increases too fast. The increase of houses is too slow. The poor immigrants cannot afford good housing. The government is not fast enough to provide public housing. Cottage areas or shanty towns appear and spread. The living conditions are very poor there.
Favela - a shanty town on the outskirts of a Brazilian city
Favelas in Brazilian big cities in Brazil, 40% of the people live in shanty towns called ‘favelas’. These favelas are built on the outskirts of the city. Many basic facilities, like water and electricity supply, are absent in the favelas. Sewage and refuse are not properly collected and disposed of. Sanitary conditions are poor. Diseases spread easily. The people are very poor. Most of them are unemployed. Most children have no schooling.
SQUATTER AREA?
an area of unlawfully built huts and houses with poor facilities and services
SHANTY TOWNS?
a squatter area where the poor live
WHAT ARE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS?
The growth of informal settlements, slums and poor residential neighbourhoods is a global phenomenon accompanying the growth of urban populations. An estimated 25% of the world’s urban population live in informal settlements, with 213 million informal settlement residents added to the global population since 1990.
Informal settlements are residential areas where:
- Inhabitants often have no security of tenure for the land or dwellings they inhabit ‒ for example, they may squat or rent informally;
- Neighbourhoods usually lack basic services and city infrastructure;
- Housing may not comply with planning and building regulations, and is often situated in geographically and environmentally sensitive areas
% OF WORLD’S URBAN POPULATION LIVING IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS?
CCA 25%
FACTORS DRIVING THE EMERGENCE OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS?
A number of interrelated factors have driven the emergence of informal settlements:
- population growth;
- rural-urban migration;
- lack of affordable housing;
- weak governance (particularly in policy, planning and urban management);
- economic vulnerability and low-paid work;
- marginalisation;
- displacement caused by conflict, natural disasters and climate change
GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS?
Many governments refuse to acknowledge the existence of informal settlements, which undermines city-wide sustainable development and prosperity. These settlements continue to be geographically, economically, socially and politically disengaged from wider urban systems and excluded from urban opportunities and decision-making.
City government attitudes to informal settlements range from opposition and eviction to reluctant tolerance and support for legalisation and upgrading. Upgrading informal settlements, through tenure regularisation and provision of infrastructure, is widely accepted as preferable to relocation, helping to sustain social and economic networks considered vital for livelihoods.
UPGRADE THE SETTLEMENT»»»>RELOCATE
