Urban Futures Flashcards
What is meant by urbanisation?
The growth in the proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas.
Explain what urbanisation is like in ACs (advanced countries).
- Majority of urbanisation in ACs eg NAm. and UK already occurred during the period of industrialisation (eg the Industrial Revolution).
- During this period, many people moved from rural to urban areas to seek well payed jobs in the rapidly expanding industries in the large cities.
- So in ACs, many people already live in urban areas.
- Since 1950s, many urbanisation in ACs has slowed down - this could be due to many factors for example
**ACs have large GNI so can fund public transport. A good medium of transport means individuals can choose to live in rural areas and commute from there to urban areas. So less people feel the need to live in urban areas.
Describe rate of urbanisation in ACs since 1950s.
It has slowed down.
Describe urbanisation in LIDCs and EDCs and suggest some reasons why.
Since 1950 there has been a rapid increase in the rate of urbanisation in LIDCs and EDCs, such as in Africa, South Am. and Asia.
REASONS x3
- Pull factors (factors that cause people to move from rural to urban areas)
- Higher wages so better quality of life.
- Push factors (Low wages in rural areas resulting in rural poverty).
- Internal growth - The natural increase in a city caused by a decrease in death rates while birth rate remain hight.
State and explain three reasons for rapid urban growth in LIDCs and EDCs
- Pull factors: attract to urban from rural
- Higher wages jobs so better quality of life.
- Access to better healthcare and education so better quality of life.
- Push factors: push away from rural to urban
- Mechanisation of agricultural equipment means farms in rural areas require fewer workers, so there are less job opportunities in rural areas.
- Natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes may cause people to leave their homes.
Internal growth - The natural increase in a city’s population caused by a decrease in death rates while birth rate remain high.
Why does this occur?
- Young people move to urban areas to find work and choose to have children here, so birth rate increases.
- In LIDCs, better healthcare is mainly found in cities/urban areas, so here there is a lower mortality rate/decrease in death rate.
What is meant by internal growth?
The natural increase in a city’s population caused by a decrease in death rates while birth rates remain high.
Define megacity:
An urban area with over 10 million people living within it.
Define conurbation:
A region comprising of neighbouring towns and cities that have spread and merged together.
True or false, megacities can be a conurbation or a single city?
True.
What is meant by a world city?
Give 5 examples.
A city of global importance due to it cultural, political and financial influence.
EXAMPLES
- Tokyo
- London
- New York
- Shanghai
- Paris
Characteristics of a world city:
x2
- Iconic buildings eg Eiffel Tower in Paris or The Big Ben in London.
- They are global financial hubs (centre of international trade and hubs of culture and sciences - they usually have international media centres).
Where are world cities distributed?
Mostly in Europe, East Asia and United States.
- In 1950s there were only 4 world cities: London, Paris, Tokyo and New York. ( only in ACs)
- This number has increased but there is no identified number. Now some world cities include Dubai, Moscow and Rio de Janeiro ( which are in EDCs)
Changing distribution of megacities:
- In 1950 only 2 megacities - Tokyo and New York (only in ACs)
- In 2014 - 28 megacities (Now also in EDCs and LIDCs, mainly now in ASIA - eg Mumbai in India and Jakarta in Indonesia).
Consequences of rapid urban growth in LIDCs:
ECONOMIC:
- Not enough jobs to keep up with increasing population so increased level of unemployment.
- Many people work in the informal sector - these jobs aren’t taxed or regulated by the government. Employers may exploit workers by giving little pay and making them work longer hours - leading to increased poverty.
SOCIAL:
- Aren’t enough houses to keep up with increased population - so increase in homelessness and squatter settlements. These settlements may have bad infrastructure which may pose as a health risk and may be overcrowded so diseases spread at a faster rate.
- Increased levels of crime^^link to economic factors.
ENIVORONMENTAL
- Waste disposal services and sewage systems cannot keep up with the increased population. So rubbish may not be collected often - plastic ends up in oceans damaging biodiversity etc.
- Road system may not be able to keep up with the rapid increase in population so more congestion = more greenhouse gas emissions = more pollution.
Suburbanisation:
- What is it?
- Push and Pull factors:
The movement of people from city centres eg LDN to the outskirts eg BH.
PUSH factors:
- urban areas can be often overcrowded and have little green/’natural’ space. People may move to suburbs bc more quieter and better quality of life (less pollution etc).
- Deindustrialisation of city centres leads to people, so people may be leaving cities to search for employment elsewhere.
PULL FACTORS
- Lower pop. density in suburbs so less crime so more green spaces = more family friendly.
- Cheaper house/building rents in outskirts of cities which may attract more families and businesses.
