Revision Note
Test Yourself
Author
Jacque Cartwright
Expertise
Geography Content Creator
Pattern of Urban Change
Urbanisationis:
The process by which an increasing percentage of a country's population comes to live in towns and cities
- Urbanisation varies across the globe
- High income countries (HICs) show the highest levels of urbanisation, with the lowest levels being in Africa and SE Asia
- More people now live in towns and cities than in rural areas
- World population doubled between 1950 and 2015, but the urban population more than trebled due to:
- The decline of industry in developed countries, as the industry moved overseas to newly emerging economies (NEEs) and low-income countries (LICs) to take advantage of a cheaper workforce, government incentives, tax breaks, etc.
- Which led to industrial growth in NEEs and 'pulled' people from rural regions to urban areas, with the hope of a better life and employment
Urbanisation pathway
- Countries become more urban as they develop economically
- Differences between LICs, NEEs and HICs can be shown as a pathway over time
- The pace through the stages slows and flattens or will decline as counter urbanisation gains speed
Urbanisation pathway showing the stages a country will pass through as economic development occurs
- HICs have lower rates of urbanisation as towns and cities already exist
- In 1900 there were just 2 'millionaire'' cities (London and Paris), by 2018 this had grown to 512
- As the growth of cities continues, the term mega city is used to describe cities with more than 10 million people:
- In 1970 there were only 4
- By 2000 there were 15
- In 2018 that rose to 33 with Tokyo having close to 37.3 million people
- Due to modern transport and communication, urban areas are sprawling into rural regions to create conurbations, further adding to the growth of urban areas
Urban Trends in HICs & LICs
- Urbanisation growth rate differ not only between countries across the globe but also within countries
Table of Global Urban Trends
HICs | NEEs | LICs | |
Rate of urban growth | Slow or declining | Rapid | The fastest rates of urbanisation |
Examples | UK, Germany, Japan, and America | India, Russia, Brazil and China | Sub-Saharan countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia and Asia such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines |
Trend | Because the industrial revolution 'pulled' the population into developing urban areas at that time Nowadays, many people in HICs are being 'pushed' away from overcrowded cities to rural settlements HICs tend to have good transport and communication networks; therefore, people can live in rural areas and commute to cities or work from home | Keytrade hub cities are seeing greater growth than others due to investment from the government and TNCs Cities such as Lagos in Nigeria, Shanghai in China, Mumbai in India, Sao Paulo in Brazil and St Petersburg in Russia—noneof these are the country's capital Trade such as finance, electronics and manufactured goods | Asia is expected to contribute towards 60% of global growth by 2030 Most new economic development is concentrated in the big cities through investment in low-cost manufacturing of textiles, garments and shoes Push-pull factors lead to high rates of rural-to-urban migration Cities are experiencing higher levels of natural increasein population |
Urbanisation
- The main factors affecting the rate of urbanisation are:
- Speed of economic development
- Economic growth drives urbanisation
- The faster the growth of secondary and tertiary employment sectors, the faster the growth of urbanisation
- Rate of population growth
- Economic growth needs a supply of labour
- This demand can be met in two ways:
- Natural increase in an urban population: A slow way of meeting demand
- Rural-urban migration: This is the more important source of labour as it attracts a wider pool of people into the urban region
- Speed of economic development
- Natural increase
- Accounts for roughly 60% of urban population growth
- Due to decreased death rates and higher birth rates
Exam Tip
Natural increase does not include inward migration of people to a place, just the number of births vs number of deaths. E.g. In one street there were 5 new migrants, 10 births and 2 deaths. The natural increase is 8 people because the migrants chose to move there. If they then had children, then those children would be included in the natural increase rate.
Push-pull factors
- There are many reasons for people to migrate to and from urban areas and can be generally classified into push and pull factors
- The push factor is therealityof the current situation for the migrant; it is what makes the person consider moving from theplace of origin
- The pull factor is theperceived outcome; it is what the migrant imagines the move will bring to theplace of destination
- Push-pull factors areunique to each person depending on their end goal: What is a pull factor for one person may not be for another
- These factors can be further divided into:
- Social
- Economic
- Political
- Environmental
- High levels of unemployment are a push factor, whereas higher wages and a better lifestyle are a pull factor
- Therefore, rural-urban migration is usually a combination of factors that cause people to migrate
Examples of push-pull factors leading to migration
Exam Tip
- Remember do not just state the opposite when asked to give push-pull factors
- Poverty is a push factor, however, everywhere has certain levels of poverty, so a pull factor could be better welfare and healthcare services
Megacities
- Megacities are urban areas with over 10 million residents
- In 2007, more people lived in an urban environment than a rural one
- By 2050 it is thought that more than two-thirds (7 billion) of the world population will live in urban areas
- This scaling up of the urban environment is the fastest in human history
- Largest growth of megacities is seen in Asia
Reasons for growth
- Four main factors:
- Economic development
- Encourages population growth which leads to the desirability of goods and services
- All megacities act as service centres within the formal economic sector
- However, megacities in NEEs are also important manufacturing centres (Mumbai in India or Dhaka in Bangladesh) with thousands working in the informal economy
- Population growth
- Young people are drawn to live in megacities with their vibrancy, fast pace and opportunities
- There is also ‘internal growth’ where people who have moved into the cities have children, so sustaining population growth (Mexico City, Mumbai, Pearl River Delta in China)
- Economies of scale
- Cheaper to provide goods and services in one place than spread across several cities
- Financial savings for local governments in respect of infrastructure provision
- Communication and transport are centralised, making savings in time and money
- Multiplier effect
- As a city prospers, it acts as a beacon to people and businesses
- This encourages inward investment
- This leads to yet more development and growth
- Generating further need for skills and labour and job growth
- This cycle multiplies the positive effects and growth continues (San Francisco and the digital development)
World cities
- Megacities have a powerful attraction for people and businesses
- They are influential cores with large peripheries
- World or global cities can be any size but exert particular influences around the globe
- They are considered prestigious, with status and power
- They are critical hubs in the global economy
- The three top (alpha) world cities are London, New York, and Tokyo
- These are the financial centres of the world, each with smaller networks of world cities feeding into them
- There are only four world cities in the southern hemisphere:
- Sydney
- Rio de Janeiro
- Sao Paulo
- Buenos Aires
Worked example
Which term is best defined by the phrase ‘the increasing percentage of the population living in towns and cities'?
[1 mark]
A | Urban regeneration | |
B | Urban sprawl | |
C | Migration | |
D | Urbanisation |
Answer:
- D: urbanisation [1]
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