Pattern of Urban Change
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Urbanisation is:
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