Geography (0460) | Urbanisation

🏙 Theme 1.7: Urbanisation – The World Moving to Cities

Welcome Geographers! This chapter is all about one of the most important processes shaping our planet today: Urbanisation. It’s the story of how people leave the countryside and move into towns and giant cities at an incredibly rapid pace.

Understanding urbanisation is crucial because these changes affect everything: where we live, how we work, and the environment around us. Don't worry if this seems like a huge topic – we will break it down into simple, logical steps!

What is Urbanisation?

Put simply, Urbanisation means the increasing proportion of people living in urban areas (towns and cities) compared to rural areas (the countryside).

• It is often measured as a percentage of the total national population living in urban areas.
• When we talk about rapid urban growth, we are mainly referring to developing countries (LEDCs or NICs) today, where cities are growing at astonishing speed.

Quick Review: Urbanisation vs. Urban Growth

You need to know the difference between these two terms:

• Urbanisation: An increase in the percentage of people living in urban areas.
• Urban Growth: The physical expansion of urban areas (e.g., the city gets bigger in size) and the increase in the total number of people living there.

---

📊 Reasons for Rapid Urban Growth (The Big Move)

Rapid urban growth happens because of two main processes working together:

1. Rural-to-Urban Migration (The movement of people).

2. Natural Increase (Birth rates exceeding death rates in cities).

1. Rural-to-Urban Migration: Why People Move

The main driver of rapid urbanisation is the large-scale movement of people from the countryside to major cities. This movement is driven by a combination of 'Push' factors (things that make people leave rural areas) and 'Pull' factors (things that attract people to urban areas).

A. Push Factors (The reasons to leave rural areas):

These factors cause rural depopulation (the decline of people living in the countryside). They are often physical, economic, and social constraints.

• Economic: Lack of reliable jobs, low wages, reliance on seasonal agriculture.
• Physical: Poor harvests due to drought (e.g., in the African Sahel) or natural hazards, leading to famine.
• Social: Poor access to basic services like schools, healthcare (hospitals/clinics), and clean water supply.
• Did you know? Farming often requires fewer people now due to mechanisation, pushing young workers away.

B. Pull Factors (The attractions of major cities):

These factors attract migrants, often creating the perception that city life is better.

• Economic: The promise of better job opportunities in factories (secondary sector) or offices (tertiary sector), which often offer higher wages than farming.
• Social: Better access to education (universities), superior healthcare, and improved housing.
• "The Bright Lights Effect": A social pull, meaning the excitement, entertainment, and wider variety of services available in a city compared to a quiet village.

2. Natural Increase in Cities

Even if migration stopped, cities would still grow because of natural increase.

• Migrants tend to be young adults (aged 20–40) who move to cities to work.
• These young people start families in the city, leading to higher birth rates.
• Urban areas usually have better healthcare, meaning death rates are generally lower than in poor rural areas.

---

🚨 Impacts of Rapid Urban Growth

Rapid urbanisation creates serious stress, not just on the city itself, but also on the rural areas left behind.

Impacts on the Urban Areas (The City)

When millions of people arrive faster than the city can cope, problems arise for both the people and the natural environment.

A. Impacts on People (Social and Economic)

• Housing Shortages and Squatter Settlements: Too many people arrive, meaning there aren't enough affordable homes. People are forced to build temporary, often illegal homes (shacks) on undeveloped land.
• Unemployment and Poverty: While there are jobs, there aren't enough for everyone. Competition is high, leading to high unemployment or underemployment (working in poor, low-paid, unofficial jobs).
• Strain on Services: Existing infrastructure like water pipes, electricity grids, schools, and hospitals cannot handle the huge population increase, leading to overcrowding and poor quality services.
• Traffic Congestion: More people and economic activity mean more vehicles, leading to terrible traffic jams and lost productivity.
• Social Inequality: A massive gap often emerges between the rich city centre dwellers and the poor residents in the squatter settlements.

B. Impacts on the Natural Environment (Environmental)

• Air Pollution: Caused by massive traffic congestion, factories, and burning rubbish. This leads to respiratory illnesses.
• Water Pollution: Sewage systems overflow or do not exist in squatter settlements, contaminating rivers and groundwater.
• Noise and Visual Pollution: Constant noise from traffic and poor visual aesthetics (untidy streets, rubbish heaps) degrade the quality of life.
• Urban Sprawl: The city expands outwards onto the surrounding countryside (the rural-urban fringe), destroying agricultural land and natural habitats.

Characteristics of Squatter Settlements

The syllabus requires you to know about these settlements (also known as *favelas*, *shanty towns*, or *barriadas*).

• Illegal Land Tenure: Residents do not legally own or rent the land they build on; they are squatting illegally.
• Poor Construction: Homes are built using cheap, salvaged, or informal materials (e.g., corrugated iron, wood scraps, plastic sheeting).
• Lack of Services: No clean running water, electricity, sanitation (toilets), or proper waste collection.
• Hazard Risk: Often built in dangerous locations (e.g., steep slopes prone to landslides, or next to polluting industries).
• High Density: Extremely overcrowded, making the spread of disease very easy.

Imagine trying to live without a reliable toilet or access to a doctor. This is the daily reality for millions in these settlements.

---

Impacts on the Rural Areas (The Countryside)

Migration doesn't just affect the city; it changes the places people leave behind.

• Negative Impact: Loss of Labour: Young, educated, and skilled people leave. This creates an ageing population in the countryside, making it hard to find enough workers for farming and rural industries.
• Negative Impact: Service Decline: As fewer young people remain, rural schools, shops, and transport routes may close down due to lack of demand.
• Positive Impact: Remittances: Migrants often send money back home to their families in the rural areas. These remittances help improve the quality of life and fund small improvements in villages.
• Positive Impact: Less Pressure: Fewer people mean less strain on fragile rural resources, such as water and firewood.

---

🛇 Strategies to Reduce the Negative Impacts

Governments and organisations try to manage rapid urbanisation using several strategies. These solutions aim to reduce problems both in the city and in the countryside.

1. Improving Urban Areas (Dealing with the "Pull" results)

A. Tackling Squatter Settlements (Housing):

• Site and Service Schemes: The local authority provides a plot of land (**site**) and essential services (water, electricity connections, roads). Residents are then given loans or materials to build their own homes (**service**).
• Self-Help Schemes: Providing residents with construction materials and basic training so they can gradually upgrade their own homes. This is cheaper and gives residents a sense of ownership.
• Slum Clearance: Knocking down old squatter settlements and replacing them with modern, high-rise, low-cost housing (though this can break up communities).

B. Managing Traffic and Pollution:

• Integrated Public Transport: Developing fast, cheap, and efficient public transport systems (like bus rapid transit - BRT, or underground rail) to encourage people to leave their cars at home.
• Traffic Management: Introducing congestion charges (fees for driving in the city centre), creating pedestrian-only zones, and improving road layouts.
• Pollution Control: Implementing strict laws on factory emissions and vehicle exhaust standards. Developing better waste collection and recycling facilities.

2. Improving Rural Areas (Reducing the "Push")

The best way to slow down urban growth is to make rural life more attractive.

• Rural Investment: Investing in rural infrastructure like reliable electricity, better roads, and improved internet access.
• Decentralisation: Moving government offices or encouraging non-polluting industries (such as processing agricultural products) to set up in smaller, regional towns instead of the capital city.
• Agricultural Support: Providing farmers with better training, seeds, and equipment to increase crop yields and make farming more profitable.

🔖 Key Takeaways for Urbanisation

• Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people in cities.
• It is driven by **Rural-to-Urban Migration** (Push/Pull factors) and Natural Increase.
• Urban areas face huge issues: housing (squatter settlements), traffic, and pollution.
• Rural areas suffer from rural depopulation and an ageing population, although they benefit from remittances.
• Solutions involve upgrading city services (like Site and Service Schemes) and investing in rural areas to reduce the need to move.