Urbanisation - What is it and what causes it?

Heading: Urbanisation

Learning Intention: We will be learning about the causes and consequences of urbanisation

Success Criteria: I will be successful when I am able to:

define geographical terms and concepts
explain the factors for moving from rural to urban areas
analyse a newspaper article to show the trends in urbanisation

Starter Activity

Write out the following definitions:

Urbanisation - the process of making an area more urban e.g. more city-like or the movement of people from country to city
Urban sprawl - the continuous outward growth of cities from the centre

TASK 1: Post-it note activity

The following image will be projected on the board. You will receive two post-it notes. On one post-it note, write down one feature of the rural town (left hand side). On the other, write down one feature of the city (right hand side). Stick your post-it note around the image on the board. When you have finished, write down a brief paragraph that explains the differences between a rural area and the city (use the examples from the post-it notes as an example)

Urbanization and the evolution of cities across 10,000 years - Vance KiteAbout 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers, aided by rudimentary agriculture, moved to semi-permanent villages and never looked back. With further developments came food surpluses, leading to commerce, specialization and, many years later with the Industrial Revolution, the modern city. Vance Kite plots our urban past and how we can expect future cities to adapt to our growing populations.

TASK 2: TED Ed Video + Questions

Watch the following TED Ed video and answer the following questions in FULL sentences:

What percentage of the human population lived in cities 100 years ago?
What led to the development of the first semi-permanent settlements?
Which of the below technologies is a development that resulted from the desire to trade with neighbouring communities?
Why were people initially drawn to cities?
Global population is expected to top out at _______ billion people.
In 3-4 sentences, discuss the importance of improvements in farming techniques to the development of cities
Reliable food supplies allowed humans the luxury of free time, which provided the opportunity to produce items for trade. Describe how the production of goods contributed to the growth of cities.
Experts predict that global population will top out around 10 billion people, with 7 billion of those people living in cities. What are some of the opportunities and challenges that cities will face as the population increases?

Modern Urbanisation

Copy out the following information in your books

There are three main causes of urbanisation continuing to occur today:

Push factors - lack of resources in rural areas pushes people to move to cities
Pull factors - people believe the standard of living is better in cities, so are pulled to move
Natural increase - higher birth rates and lower death rates lead to an increase in population

TASK 3: Pair Task

Find two images: one of a city and one of a rural area (like the images on the left). Around each image, write down the push AND pull factors of living in each one. Try and have a different colour that represents each one.

2015 challenges_ urbanisation _ Global Development Professionals Network _ The Guardian.pdf

TASK 4: Article Analysis

Read the attached article and complete the following questions and activities

1. Create a column graph of the projected urban population by 2050 in Africa, Asia and Latin America. (HINT: read the opening paragraph for the figures).

2. What are the push factors of urban to rural migration?

3. How has the industrialisation of farming impacted on rural communities in Latin America?

4. In 2014, how many people lived in slums? Research now how many people live in slums.

5. Outline THREE (3) reasons why people are moving.

6. Explain the challenges that (Non-government Organisations) NGOs are facing.

7. Name the THREE (3) NGOs mentioned. Describe the work they do. (HINT: read the paragraph called “starting the conversation)

Page updated

Report abuse