Urban Growth

Starter PUSH PULL

The Developed World Urbanisation in the developed world has steadied relative to that in the developing world. New York, which was the largest city in the world, is now the fifth largest, having been overtaken by Tokyo, but more significantly, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. It is still important that you have an understanding of the reasons behind the growth of cities in the developed world.

London Many Western European cities have very long histories as Roman or medieval cities. For example, London was a very important city in Roman times as a communication centre. They have, however, experienced the most rapid urbanisation in the last two centuries...

London As you can see, there was significant growth in the 1800's. The drop in population is a result of counter-urbanisation. Year Population 1500? 75,000 1700? 575,000 1801 959,000 1851 2,363,000 1901 4,425,000 1951 8,193,000 1961 7,992,300 1991 6,337,900

Reasons For Growth In UK Cities The Industrial Revolution in the latter half of the eighteenth century stimulated a major redistribution of the population. People moved to locate adjacent to factories. This was further prompted by the decline of the traditional cottage industries. Towns started to benefit from specialisation, prompting further growth. Birmingham grew considerably as a consequence of specialising in brass manufacturing. The multiplier effect states that if an area receives a financial investment, this will stimulate further growth. For example, alongside the early factories, the following industries would have been likely to grow. Construction to build houses for the workers, navies to dig canals, people to work on the emergent railway network, engineers such as Brunel. Constant improvements in the removal, transportation and manufacturing of raw materials increased the wealth of the towns/cities and the nation. This allowed further investment.

Reasons For Growth In UK Cities New transport links (railways) allowed further migration from rural areas. Towns and cities increased in size as Victorian developers built larger properties on the outskirts of towns/cities. This is an early example of sub-urbanisation where people move to the areas around a town/city. The suburbs can grow as transport links increase and people decide to move away from the densely populated inner city areas. Growth has continued today as businesses and retail compete for areas close to the CBD (Central Business District). Slum clearance and the building of high-rise developments have increased population densities.

Other Reasons The growth in car ownership, improvements in road networks and the congested nature of many city centres has seen the decentralisation of many retail and entertainment functions to 'out-of-town' shopping centres, whilst a significant percentage of the population are choosing to live in rural areas (see counter-urbanisation).

The Developing World Cities in the developing world have experienced rapid urbanisation over the last fifty years. Since 1960 Mexico City's population has grown from around 5 million to an estimated 25 million - an average growth of half a million a year!

Reason 1 High natural growth rates. Countries experiencing the most rapid urbanisation are in stages two and three of the Demographic Transition Model. In these stages, natural increase is high so there is inevitably population growth. This population growth will be most marked when there is already a large population, as you would find in a city.

Reason 2 Developing world cities are experiencing a massive movement of the population from the rural countryside areas to the urban cities - rural to urban migration. People are leaving the countryside in thousands with the hope of a better life in the cities.

Activity 1 Using P.36 and 37, answer the following questions… Pay attention to the command words. Describe the actual and projected rates of urban growth in Africa, Asia and Europe. Explain how push and pull factors encourage rural-urban migration.

Activity 2 Using the united nations website or the world fact book identify the projected largest cities in 2015… Plot them onto a world map. Describe the pattern that you see. Explain the possible reasons for this pattern.