Urbanisation Flashcards
What is Urbanization?
It is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas with population growth, equating to urban migration.
How to measure urban population?
(Urban population)/(Total population) *100
What is urban agglomeration?
It comprises the city and the suburban fringe outside of, but adjacent to, the boundaries of the city
What is growth in urban population?
It is the overall population increase in & the rise in percentage of ppl living in urban areas.
How can it be measured?
- Percentage of urban population
2. Projected ave rate of change in size of urban population over a given period of time
How does urbanization rates vary?
Rate is higher in LDCs than DCs because more of the population in LDCs live in rural areas
Most urbanised regions
NorthAmerica (82%)
Latin America (81%)
Europe (74%)
Least urbanised regions
Africa (43%)
Most densely populated cities
Tokyo Delhi Shanghai Sao Paulo Mexico City
Factors driving Urbanisation
Colonialism – New areas for trade/economic/political activities in rural areas.
Inward-based vs Export-oriented trade – Urban infrastructure and development facilitate trading.
Rapid economic growth – Industrialization attracts large population to urban areas (better employment and higher incomes.)
Rural flight – Due to industralization of agriculture. (Excaberbated when population decline leads to a loss of rural services, leading to a greater loss of population.)
How unplanned urbanisation came about?
Past: Temporary settlements that grew organically into permanent villages/towns resulted from religious/social/economic/military initiatives rather than urban planning
Present: Resulted from rural-urban migration often due to natural disasters and lack of employment.
Organic City: Streets and housing developed in haphazard patterns that follow the contours of the land. (the city is usually overcrowded, unsanitary with inefficient and uncoordinated use of the land.)
What is a pseudo-urbanisation?
A city that grows significantly in terms of population but does not have the adequate functional urban infrastructure to support it.
What is demographic explosion?
A progressive concentration of poor migrants in urban cities often characterised as Slums. (overcrowding and a lack of basic services are prevalent.)
where do pseduo-urbanization occur?
In third world countries (Favela-Rochinha, Brazil)
What are the effects of pseudo-urbanization?
1Bn of world’s population live in slums (LDCs)
Effects : Physical overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions, psychological deterioration, crime.
What is ‘primacy’ issue?
It is when a single, extremely large city dominates the urban population of the country in terms of size, wealth and power. (ie. London, Tokyo, Bangkok, Jarkata, Paris)
What is planned urbanisation?
Based on advance plan, prepared according to military, economic aesthetic or urban design reason.
(ie. Garden City Movement by Ebenzer Howard in 1898)
What are the positive changes due to urbanisation?
- Modernization: use of modern facilities/equipment (technology)
- Size, density and composition of population: increased population&density, with a predominantly
young worker-based population. - Economic structure: from cottage industries to large-scale heavily-mechanized manufacturing (tech)
City living creates opportunities of proximity, diversity and marketplace competition.
What are the negative changes due to urbanisation
- Impact on human and social behaviour: Increased concentration and diversity may cause stress(urban mentality) leading to self-centredness, detachment, violence, crimes and social ills.
- Environmental damages: Air, water pollution and urban heat.
What are the benefits of planned urbanisation?
Physical: Lower demand for space and rate of building obsolescence. Well-planned transportation routes
Social: Better quality of life; adequate basic services, affordable housing, lower density, less poverty, and crime.
Environmental: less pollution and damage to habitats, urban farming. self-sufficient and sustainable cities.
Economic: lower unemployment rates, higher economic growth
What is the urban planning movement?
It started in the 1980s, shifting the focus of a car-centric development to concentrated pedestrian and transit-centric, walkable, mixed-use communities.
What is suburban sprawl?
isolated communities with negative environmental impacts
What is a Neo-traditional city design?
A modified grid pattern that organizes people/destinations into dense, vibrant communities and reduces the dependency on vehicular transportation as the primary mode of transit.
What is urban hierarchy?
categorises cities by services/activities
- Finance and business services: Banking, insurance, real estate and commercial
- Power and infulence: Government, supranational organisations like UN and OECD, HQs of major organisation and MNCs
- Creative and cultural industries: Performing arts, museums, galleries, print media
- Tourism: Business and leisure tourism, restaurants, hotels, entertainment and transportation services.
