Urban Environments Flashcards
What is urbanisation?
An increased concentration/percentage of people living in urban areas
What is urban growth?
The physical, economic or demographical expansion of cities
What is suburbanisation?
The development of suburbs - built up but less densely developed areas in the city but away from the city center
What is counterurbanisation?
The migration of people away from urban areas and the development of areas not classified as urban
What are the current global trends in urbanisation?
- Mostly in developing countries within Africa and Asia, while in developed countries urban growth is occuring but not urbanisation (and sometimes counterurbanisation)
- It is mostly happening in small towns, not cities
- It is happening at an exponential rate
It is important to note that UN predictions can be exaggerated as countries incorrectly report statistics or are unable to report statistics and guesses having to be made, as well as countries having different criteria for what counts as ‘urban’
What are the pull factors for urban areas?
- Higher wages
- More job opportunities
- Better access to public services
- Better access to utilities
- More people and faster pace of life
What are the push factors for the countryside?
- Limited services such as healthcare and education
- Lack of opportunities
- Mechanisation of farming
- Lack of government support
- Monotonous lifestyle
Why does urbanisation not always mean urban growth?
- Birthrate is higher and deathrate is lower in the city
- Rural-urban migration
These factors cause an increase of people living in the cities but will not necessarily trigger urban growth proportional to how many people were gained
Why does urban growth not always mean urbanisation?
- Public transit and higher car ownership means people can live away from the city but still work there and use its services
- Businesses and offices are developed which do not house people
- People are living in larger houses for the same number of people
- Individual households have lower numbers of people due to higher divorce rates etc.
What are the characteristics of the central business district (downtown)?
- Mostly shops and offices
- Good public transit links
- Pedestrianized
- Lack of residential buildings
- Densely packed high-rise buildings (skyscrapers)
What are the characteristics of the inner city?
- Densely packed residential
- Terraced houses
- Small or no gardens
- Less public transit
- Old industrial estates (brownfield sites)
What are the characteristics of the inner suburbs?
- Larger houses with gardens
- Green spaces
- Semi-detached housing
- Less griddy roads
- Cul-de-sacs
What are the characteristics of the outer suburbs?
- Parks and golf-courses
- Out of town-retail parks
- Business and science parks
- Large houses with space
What are the causes of suburbanisation (pull factors of the suburbs)?
- Lower land prices
- Less noise and air pollution
- More green, open spaces
- Closer to large out of city malls which are more conveinant
- Still in close proximity to services of city
- Close to leisures of the countryside
What are the consequences of suburbanisation (on the city)?
- Land prices and population density in city falls
- Development slows or stops
- High street shops go out of business due to out of city malls
- Increase in brown-field sites
Which different groups of people contribute to counter-urbanisation?
- Retirees (increasingly earlier) who want to move to the countryside
- Tourism enterepeneurs - People who want to utilise the countryside for their business
- Rural ‘teleworkers’ - For footloose professions, working in the countryside has no disadvantages but is preferred by many
- Public sector workers - They must faciliate the influx of people into the countryside (police officers, teachers etc.)
- Artists/alternative lifestyle people who want to live in the countryside