1. Growth of Urban Areas

2. Rank-Size Rule
Defined: the country’s nth-largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement
In other words – the second largest city is ½ the size of the largest

3. Rank-Size Rule Name Population 1 Charlotte 630,478 2 Raleigh 356,321 3
Name
Population 1
Charlotte
630,478 2
Raleigh
356,321 3
Greensboro
236,865 4
Durham
209,009 5
Winston-Salem
196,990 6
Fayetteville
168,033 7
Cary
112,414 8
High Point
97,796 9
Wilmington
95,944 10
Asheville
72,789 11
Greenville
72,052 12
Gastonia
69,904 13
Jacksonville
69,688

4. Rank-Size Rule Rank Name Population 1 New York 8,143,197 2 Los Angeles
3,844,829 3
Chicago
2,842,518 4
Houston
2,016,582 5
Philadelphia
1,463,281 6
Phoenix
1,461,575 7
San Antonia

5. Primate City
The leading city of a country. The city is disproportionately larger than the rest of the cities in the country. (Some books define as – The largest city…)
For example: London, UK
Mexico City, Mexico
Paris, France
- the rank-size rule does not work for a
country with a primate city

6. 1
Mexico City
Federal District
8,841,916 2
Ecatepec de Morelos
State of Mexico
1,734,701 3
Tijuana
Baja California
1,590,420 4
Puebla
1,590,256 5
Guadalajara
Jalisco
1,564,514 6
Ciudad Juárez
Chihuahua
1,407,849 7
León
Guanajuato
1,397,446 8
Zapopan
1,260,381 9
Monterrey
Nuevo León
1,138,711

7. Primate City
These cities tend to represent the perceived culture of the country.

8. Rural Population Year % Rural Population 1900 87 1950 71 2000 53 202038

9. World Maps of Urban Pop. Knox, 394,395 39.7 58.9 7.9 39.9 49.7 17.2
% of total Pop. in Urban Areas
% of Urban pop. In cities of less than 500,000
& of Urban pop in cities of 5 mil or more
Africa
39.7
58.9
7.9
Asia
39.9
49.7
17.2
L. America
77.6
48.0
20.6
N. America
80.8
37.5
20.5
Europe
73.3
63.3
8.5
Oceania
41.7
0.0
World
49.2
51.37
15.3

10. World Cities

11. Megacities
Large cities characterized by both primacy and a high degree of centrality within their national economy – population of 10 million+
UN anticipates by 2015 – 22 cities of 10 mil.+
With some cities at 25 mil.+
Fastest growing cities are not in core regions
Map of megacities- Fellman, 370

12. Largest Cities Ten Most Populous in A.D. 1975 1. Tokyo 19.8 million
2. New York million
3. Shanghai million
4. México million
5. São Paulo million
6. Osaka million
7. Buenos Aires million
8. Los Angeles million
9. Paris million
10. Beijing million
Source: U.N., 2001
* Note that five of these cities are in the Core or more developed world. 12

13. Megacities
Ten Most Populous Today 13

14. Largest Cities Ten Most Populous by A.D. 2015 1. Tokyo 28.7 million
2. Bombay million
3. Lagos million
4. Shanghai million
5. Jakarta million
6. São Paulo million
7. Karachi million
8. Beijing million
9. Dhaka, Bangladesh million
10. México million
Source: U.N., 2001
* Note that only one of these cities is in the Core of the more developed world! 14

15. Megacities examples Bangkok Beijing Cairo Kolkata (Calcutta) Dhaka
Jakarta
Lagos
Manila
Mexico City
New Delhi
Sao Paulo
Shanghai
Tehran

16. Overurbanization – cities grow more rapidly than the jobs and housing they can sustain. Leading to
Instant slums, open sewers, no basic utilities
Squatter settlements-
Chile – callampas (mushroom cities)
Turkey – gecekondu (built after dusk and before dawn)
India – bustees
Tunisia – gourbevilles
Brazil – favelas (a wildflower that live on the hillsides over Brazil)
Argentina – villas miserias
Peru - barriadas
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 80% of pop. are homeless or live in unfit housing