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6.2 - Urban trends and issues of urbanisation - content
6.2 - Urban trends and issues of urbanisation - content
Urban growth. The process of urbanisation and its causes and consequences in LICs, MICs and HICs, including counterurbanisation and re-urbanisation, competition for land and urban renewal.
The concept of a world city: causes of the growth of world cities and the development of a hierarchy of world cities.
Causes of urbanisation
Causes of urbanisation
Urbanisation is the process by which an increasing number of people live in towns and cities. The two main causes of urbanisation are natural population increase and rural to urban migration. Urbanisation affects all sizes of settlements from small villages to towns to cities, leading up to the growth of mega-cities which have more than ten million people. Rapid urbanisation often means that peri-urban areas immediately around a city grow more rapidly than urban centres, in LICs and MICs where planning and regulations are often limited or less well enforced, this can lead to development of slums.
Pull factors in migration are factors that attract people to urban areas, e.g. good employment opportunities in cities.
Push factors in migration are factors that drive people from the countryside, e.g. lack of sufficiently productive land to make a good living.
Other pull factors that encourage migration to urban areas include better education opportunities, better health care, improved access to social services and opportunities for social and cultural activities. Other push factors that drive people away from rural areas are poor living conditions, lack of paid employment, poor health care, limited educational and economic opportunities and environmental changes. It is important to remember that push factors are real, in that they impact people's lives directly, whereas pull factors are perceived and as such may not eventuate.
Assessment One Minute Rant - Urbanisation.docxConsequences of urbanisation - one-minute rant task
Consequences of urbanisation - one-minute rant task
Use this drop-down menu if you need some ideas about structure. Remember this information is just a guide, it will need to be supported with factual (place-specific) information.
You might justify answering that urbanisation is a good thing because, first, it brings together economic and human resources that stimulate the economy through the development of business, science, technology and industry and, second, it is more cost-effective and efficient to supply facilities such as fresh water and electricity to a concentrated population in a city. Other justifications you might have thought of include the fact that the concentration of people and resources leads to more readily available education, health, social services and cultural activities in cities; urban living is linked with higher levels of literacy and education, better health, lower fertility and a longer life expectancy; there are better communication and transport networks; and social and cultural barriers can be overcome.
You might justify your answer that urbanisation is a bad thing because, first, rapid and unplanned growth in urban areas is associated with inadequate housing, water and sanitation which leads to health problems and, second, it is associated with adverse environmental effects such as reduced water quality, a build-up of waste materials and poor air quality. Other possible reasons you might have thought of include the link between urbanisation and increasing urban poverty and inequality; rises in slum and squatter populations; adverse social effects such as higher levels of crime and violence; and a lack of social support.
As urbanisation has both positive and negative impacts, you might feel that you can’t say that it is totally good or bad, but that is has mixed impacts and is both good and bad.
Regeneration of urban areas and gentrification
Regeneration of urban areas and gentrification
Some urban areas in MEDCs have become derelict and run down. To try to improve these areas, governments have attempted urban regeneration. Urban regeneration is the process by which governments try to improve an urban area in decline, usually with a mixture of urban redevelopment and urban renewal.
Urban redevelopment is the complete clearance of existing buildings and site infrastructure and construction of new buildings, often for a different purpose, from scratch.
Urban renewal is keeping the best elements of the existing urban environment and adapting them to new usages.
Gentrification is the in-migration of people from higher socioeconomic groups into areas where the existing population is generally of a lower socio-economic group compared to the newcomers.
Why does gentrification happen in some areas of a city?
An area which was once a low -income area can become fashionable through gentrification normally because it has certain features which draw higher social groups towards it, e.g. an attractive park, larger than average housing, close proximity to a railway station or the city centre
What changes occur in an area due to gentrification?
House prices rise as demand rises for them
Many derelict or deteriorating housing is renovated
Trendier shops and restaurants open in the area
Working classes are displaced by middle classes as house prices or council taxes become too high
Social housing is replaced by owner-occupied housing
An example of an area in which gentrification has occurred is Brooklyn in New York.
What problems can gentrification cause?
Lower classes feel pushed out by middle classes
House prices are too expensive for low-income groups to afford
Often ethnic minorities in lower-income groups are dispersed from the area and the area becomes “white middle class”
Causes and consequences of urbanisation
Causes and consequences of urbanisation
World Cities
World Cities
Map of alpha cities in 2000, according the the GaWC
Map of alpha cities in 2000, according the the GaWC
Source: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2000m.html
The GaWC designates alpha level cities as those which are linked to major economic states and regions and into the world economy. They are classified into four sections, Alpha ++, Alpha +, Alpha, and Alpha − cities.
The GaWC examines cities worldwide to narrow them down to a roster of world cities, then ranks these based on their connectivity through four "advanced producer services": accountancy, advertising, banking/finance, and law.
It should be noted that GaWC inventory ranks economics more heavily than political or cultural factors.
Which cities do you think are in each sub-group?
Compare your list with a friend and then check your answers
Can you explain the distribution of the cities in each sub-group?
How does the 2020 list compare with the 2000 map on the left? Can you describe and explain any differences.
Global Cities should not be confused with Mega Cities
Global (World) city - a city judged important for its part in the global economy, politics or culture
Megacity - a city with more than 10 million residents.
Primate city - refers to the largest city in its country, (or region) in particular if it is disproportionately larger than any others in the urban hierarchy.
Urban primacy can be measured as the share of a country's population that lives in the primate city. Relative primacy indicates the ratio of the primate city's population to that of the second-largest in a country or region.
London has a relative primacy of 12.5 (compared to the next largest city Birmingham)
Kuala Lumpur has a relative primacy of 3.1 (compared to the next largest city Georgetown)
In contrast, the United States has never had a primate city on a national scale due to the decentralised nature of the country.
There is considerable debate as to whether a city which has a high relative primacy serves a parasitic or generative function. The presence of a primate city can be indicative of an imbalance in development, usually a progressive core and a lagging periphery, from which the city gains both labor and other resources.
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