Urbanisation

Question 1

What % of the global population lived in urban areas in 1950 and 2014?

Answer 1

1950: 30% of global population in urban areas
2014: 50% of global population in urban areas

Question 2

Since 1945, has the urban population in the developed world increased drastically or slowly? Why is this?

Answer 2

Urban pop. in developed world has only slightly increased since 1945 - this is because urbanisation began much earlier than in the developing world.

Many people moved moved to cities during Industrial Revolution to find work in factories and mills

Question 3

Most people in the developing world live in rural areas, but this is changing fast. How has Beijing’s population changed from 1970 to 2015?

Answer 3

Beijing 1970: 4.4 million urban pop.

Beijing 2015: 20.4 million urban pop.

Question 4

What are the 4 processes which involve movement of people in and out of urban areas?

Answer 4

Urbanisation, sub-urbanisation, counter-urbanisation and urban resurgence

Question 5

What is the definition of urbanisation?

Answer 5

Growth in proportion of people living in urban areas

Question 6

Why does urbanisation occur?

Answer 6

Due to migration, mainly rural-urban, and natural increase, more born than die.

Question 7

Why do people migrate to urban areas?

Answer 7

Better access to healthcare, education and jobs

Question 8

What type of people are usually migrants?

Answer 8

Young adults. If they have children, population increases further.

Question 9

What living conditions does urbanisation in the developing world usually result in?

Answer 9

Shanty towns - unplanned and illegal settlements made from any material available

Question 10

What is the definition of sub-urbanisation?

Answer 10

Movement of people from inner city areas to the outskirts of the city

Question 11

Why does sub-urbanisation occur?

Answer 11

As urbanisation increases, people desire more space as city centres become overcrowded.
Improvements in transport means people can live further away and commute to work.
Many people choose to move to the suburbs when they retire or have children.

Question 12

What happens due to sub-urbanisation?

Answer 12

Complex pattern of wealthy and poor areas develop.
Wealthier, middle-class move to suburbs from inner city where there's a better quality of life, and poor are left behind.

Question 13

What type of people are usually left behind after the wealthier move out of inner cities into suburbs?

Answer 13

Foreign migrants

Question 14

What problems can arise due to wealthier people moving into suburbs and leaving the poorer migrants behind?

Answer 14

Economic and ethnic segregation

Question 15

What is the definition of counter-urbanisation?

Answer 15

Movement of people out of the city into surrounding villages and rural areas

Question 16

Why does counter-urbanisation occur?

Answer 16

Improvements in transport mean people can commute to work and better communication allows people to work from home.
People leave cities due to high house prices and overcrowding.
Some people prefer quieter rural areas.

Question 17

What can counter-urbanisation lead to?

Answer 17

New housing estates built in rural areas.
Due to this house prices can increase in the rural area, meaning locals, e.g. young people, can no longer afford to live there.
This changes the age structure, where the average age increases.

Question 18

What is the definition of urban resurgence?

Answer 18

Movement of people back into the city centre.

Question 19

Why does urban resurgence occur?

Answer 19

People may move back to city centres due to a lack of jobs in rural/suburban areas.
People are attracted by new development, e.g. high quality housing, so move back to the city

Question 20

What type of countries is urban resurgence common in? Give examples.

Answer 20

Post-industrial countries e.g. USA and UK

Question 21

What can happen due to urban resurgence? What is the disadvantage of this?

Answer 21

New shops and services open as people move back, boosting local economy and creating jobs.

However, original residents may no longer afford to live in the area, so could be forced to move to cheaper locations.

Question 22

What is a megacity?

Answer 22

An urban area with over 10 million people

Question 23

How many megacities were there in 1950? What were they?

Answer 23

2 - Tokyo and New York

Question 24

How many megacities were there in 2014?

Answer 24

28

Question 25

What is the prediction for the amount of megacities in 2030?

Answer 25

41

Question 26

What proportion of megacities are in what part of the world?

Answer 26

2/3 of megacities are in developing nations

Question 27

Why do megacities develop?

Answer 27

Rural-urban migration + natural increase - migrants move to large cities experiencing economic growth, so their pop. increases.

Question 28

Why do megacities dominate national and regional economies?

Answer 28

Companies build their HQs in cities with a high number of skilled workers and good transport links, e.g. airports

Question 29

How is wealth usually divided in megacities?

Answer 29

There are people living at opposite extremes - some are very rich and some are very poor

Question 30

What is a world city?

Answer 30

A city with global political and financial influence

Question 31

What area of the world are most of the world cities in?

Answer 31

In the developed world

Question 32

What were the world cities in 1950? How is this changing today?

Answer 32

London, Paris, Tokyo and New York.
Economic growth in oil-rich countries has made some become contenders for the world city status. These are becoming increasingly more important in global economics and business

Question 33

What has happened to world cities, such as London and New York, since 1945?

Answer 33

They’ve emerged as leaders of banking and finance.

Question 34

Many banks have their HQs in world cities like New York and London. Give an example of some of these.

Answer 34

HSBC, Lloyds, RBS

Question 35

What areas do world cities usually dominate? Give an example.

Answer 35

International trade and regional economies in their area.

Tokyo - extremely influential in international trade between East Asian nations.

Question 36

What do world cities have which allow them to trade with the rest of the world.

Answer 36

Good international transport links.

Question 37

What are the characteristics of world cities?

Answer 37

• World-renowned universities
• Centres for science and innovation, with high quality research and development facilities
• Centres for culture - home to global theatres, museums and other cultural attractions

Question 38

What type of people do world cities usually attract?

Answer 38

Migrants, business visitors, students and tourists