Causes of Urbanisation (OCR GCSE Geography B): Revision Note

Causes of Urbanisation

• People have always lived in cities and towns in order to trade goods and services

• Towns and cities are essential to the development of a country's economy

• They are centres of opportunities, entertainment, education, religion, culture, political administration, industry and more

• The modern growth of cities began with the Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 19th century with the 'pull' of work to factories in growing cities from the 'push' of a harsh, rural existence 

• Subsequently, urban living became linked to better literacy rates and education, improved health, and a longer life expectancy through wider access to health and social services

• Urban populations can enjoy cultural entertainment and experiences, along with opportunities to participate in political debates and policies

• During the 1960s, approximately 34% of the global population was living in some form of urban settlement

• Today, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas and by 2050 is expected to stand at 68%

• 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

  • Counter urbanisation

    • Where people move from an urban area into the surrounding rural region

  • Natural increase

    • Accounts for roughly 60% of urban population growth

    • Due to decreased death rates and higher birth rates

Growth in LIDCs

• Urbanisation usually occurs because people move from rural to urban areas as a country develops

• Since the 1950s, EDCs and LIDCs have seen rapid growth in urbanisation, particularly in South America, Asia and Africa

• Between the 1950s and 2000, urban population living in EDCs have doubled and LIDCs by 2021, ACs saw growth slow by less than half

• There are three main reasons for urbanisation in EDCs and LIDCs:

  • Mass rural-urban migration due to population growth and lack of resources in rural areas (push factors)

  • The lure of the city and the opportunities it represents (pull factors), although many find informal employment and poor housing (push factors)

  • Natural increase - as development occurs, health care improves; this reduces infant mortality and death rates, although birth rates tend to remain high

• Reasons for the rapid growth in rates of urbanisation in EDCs and LIDCs include:

  • Most new economic development is concentrated within the big cities

  • Push-pull factors lead to high rates of rural-to-urban migration

  • Cities are experiencing higher levels of natural increase in population

  • The decline of industry in ACs

    • As industry moved overseas to emerging developing countries (EDCs) and low-income developing countries (LIDCs) to take advantage of a cheaper workforce, government incentives, tax breaks, etc.

    • This led to industrial growth in emerging countries and 'pulled' people from rural regions to urban areas, with the hope of a better life and employment

Push-pull factors

• There are many reasons for people to migrate to and from urban areas. These can be generally classified into push and pull factors

• The push factor is the reality of the current situation for the migrant; it is what makes the person consider moving from the place of origin

• The pull factor is the perceived outcome; it is what the migrant imagines the move will bring to the place of destination

• Push-pull factors are unique 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

Consequences of Rapid Growth in LIDCs

• A major challenge faced by LIDCs and EDCs is the growth of squatter settlements, particularly in megacities

• The availability and affordability of housing cannot keep up with the rate at which the urban population is increasing in EDCs and LIDCs

• This leads to people building their own homes on any vacant land using scrap materials like cardboard, corrugated iron and plastic

• These are unplanned and unregulated housing (informal settlements or slums) with little sanitary facilities, freshwater or reliable energy supply

• They are usually built on land not owned by them, and they are found:

  • In areas of no economic value

  • On the urban edges or fringes

  • Along main roads or railways

  • Clinging onto the side of steep slopes

• Depending on the country, these informal settlements are also called:

  • Favelas in Brazil

  • Shanty towns in the West Indies and Canada

  • Bustees on the Indian subcontinent

  • Skid row in the USA

  • Townships in South Africa

• The UN estimates that about a quarter of urban inhabitants (1.6 billion) live in these impoverished slums and squatter settlements and that by 2030, 1 in 4 people on the planet will live in some form of informal settlement

• Some cities have 'mega-slums', which are very large, overcrowded areas usually within megacities

  • The largest are found:

    • Nairobi, Kenya, with a population of 1.5 million, is crowded into three sprawling slums of mud huts and tin shacks - Kibera being the largest of the three

    • Neza, Mexico City, Mexico, has a population of 1.1 million people 

    • Dharavi, Mumbai, India, has 1 million people in a warren of narrow lanes, interconnected shacks and single-room living spaces that double as factories

    • Orangi Town, Karachi, Pakistan, has an estimated population of 2.4 million people across 8000 acres of concrete block homes, with 8–10 people sharing two or three rooms

    • Khayelitsha in Cape Town, South Africa, has a population of 400,000 in iron and wooden shacks

• These slums present serious risks such as fire, flooding and landslides

• Slum areas typically suffer from:

  • Poor, overcrowded, small housing, built very close together using inadequate material and with uncertain electricity supplies

  • They have restricted access to water supplies

  • There are little to no sanitation facilities and no solid waste disposal, which leads to a polluted and degraded local environment

  • There are inadequate health facilities, which, along with poor living conditions, increase sickness and death rates

  • Slum dwellers have insecure living conditions as they may be forcibly removed by landowners or other authorities

• Other challenges are:

  • Dealing with the amount of waste produced as the city grows

  • Air pollution from burning fossil fuels, factories and car exhausts

  • Sewage and toxic chemical pollution of waterways

  • Congestion on poorly managed or planned road systems

  • Lack of public transport

  • Lack of qualified doctors, teachers, etc. 

  • High levels of unemployment and crime

  • Informal employment and child exploitation

• The speed of development is greatest in EDCs and LIDCs

  • Sao Paulo in Brazil, which grew from 7 million people to over 20 million in 40 years, is now the second-largest urban area in the Americas 

  • Dharavi in Mumbai, India, has a slum settlement of over 1 million people in a 2 km² area 

Urban Trends in ACs

• The differences between ACs, EDCs and LIDCs can be shown as a pathway over time 

• Countries become more urban as they develop economically

• As they move through the stages, the pace begins to slow and begins to flatten out or decline as counter urbanisation gains speed

Urbanisation pathway

Urban trends in ACs

• During the 20th century, the UK underwent a process of suburbanisation, where people move outwards from urban centres to the suburbs

• Urban settlements first appear as a result of agglomeration:

  • People gather together in one area to sell goods and live

  • Small trading posts and villages begin to develop

• As towns grow, they expand outwards by a process known as suburbanisation:

  • This adds to the built-up area, but the building densities are generally lower than in the older parts of the town

  • The new suburbs are made up of mostly houses but also include places of employment and services

• Urban settlements continue to prosper and grow, people move out of the town or city altogether and commute to work:

  • These are called dormitory settlements because many residents only sleep there. 

  • They continue to have links with the town or city they have left

  • They still make use of urban services, shops, education, and healthcare

Urban sprawl 

• Urban growth if left unchecked leads to urban sprawl, and many UK cities were soon becoming too large and concerns grew 

• Urban sprawl creates issues such as:

  • Loss of farmland to build new homes

  • Loss of traditional 'green spaces' - school fields, parks etc are being built on

  • Impact on ecosystems - natural and built (removal of trees increases pollution levels etc.)

  • Creates impermeable surfaces and surface run-off

• By 1947, the UK government introduced 'green belts' in order to limit outward urban growth

• Most of these changes have been at the urban fringes due to:

  • Availability of space for housing, retail and manufacturing - including options for expansion

  • Cost of land is cheaper to develop 

  • Better access to main arterial routes for private and heavy transport

  • Many services are now located at the urban fringe - major hospitals, superstores, specialist manufacturing etc.

Counter-urbanisation 

• This is the movement of people from an urban area into the surrounding rural region

• Causes include:

  • Mobility and accessibility - higher personal car ownership, increase in public transport and road development making easier access to rural areas

  • Increased wealth - making housing and travel more affordable

  • Agricultural decline (mechanisation and merger of farms) creates the availability of more land for housing, forcing agricultural workers leave the area

  • Green belt - people need to go further out to get the rural life they are looking for

  • Second homes and early retirement - have increased the movement of people from the city to the countryside

Re-urbanisation

• The movement of people back into the cities from the surrounding area

• Movement is the result of a number of factors:

  • Increase in jobs

  • Regeneration of older areas either through rebuilding or redevelopment (factories into spacious apartments)

  • Improvements in air quality 

  • Improvements in safety

Deindustrialisation

• The closure of factories and industries leads to large areas of derelict land and buildings

• This leads in to suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation as lack of jobs and poor quality environment causes people to leave the city

• More recently this has led to re-urbanisation as the areas are cleared or redeveloped to be replaced by luxury apartments

Urban regeneration and re-imagining

• Urban regeneration and urban re-imaging are different

• Urban regeneration is the investment of capital in the revival of old, urban areas by either improving what is there or clearing it away and rebuilding

  • Over time, older parts of urban areas would begin to suffer a decline

  • Factories would move elsewhere, resulting in job loss

  • Quality of life and housing become poorer, people moved away

  • Urban blight sets in

  • The area needs to be 'brought back to life' = urban regeneration

• Urban re-imaging is changing the image and reputation of an urban area and the way people view it

  • Focusing on a new identity/function

  • Changing the quality and appearance of the built-up area

  • Good opportunity for brownfield site development

  • London Docklands was completely redeveloped and regenerated

  • London Docklands had new industries, more executive services, homes, entertainment, and leisure, making it the new 'cool' place to be

• Together urban regeneration and urban re-imaging = rebranding

• These processes add to the continued growth of urban regions