1. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Which is which?
Urban ecosystem[life] shapes/reshapes human behavior?
Human behavior determines/shapes urban ecosystem[life]?

2. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
How does urban ecosystem/life influence human behavior?

3. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Thickly Populated
Urban
Ecosystem/Life

4. Urban areas grow in 2 ways:
Urban Growth
Urban areas grow in 2 ways:
Natural increase of its population (births)
Immigration (mostly from rural areas – the biggest cause of urban growth)
Proportion of the global population living in urban areas:
2% (pre-industrial period)
46% (2001) (~160,000 people added to world’s urban areas each day)
UN projections: by 2050, ~63% of world’s people will be living in urban areas, with 90% of this urban growth in developing countries
Number of large cities (>1 million people): increasing rapidly throughout the 20th century

5. 2001: more than 400 cities have >1 million people
Megacities
1900: 19 cities had >1 million people (95% of the population then were rural)
2001: more than 400 cities have >1 million people
Increasingly, there are more megacities (cities with populations >10 million people)
1985: 8 megacities
2001: 16 (13 of them in developing countries)
As they grow and sprawl outward, separate urban areas may merge to form a megalopolis (= a very large city, or a region made up of several large cities and their surrounding areas in sufficient closeness to be considered a single urban complex)

6. World’s Largest Cities
Population in Millions
United Nations Population Division 2001

7. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Thickly Populated
Urban
Ecosystem/Life
Built environment

9. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Thickly Populated
Urban
Ecosystem/Life
Built environment
Non-self-sustaining

10. Urban areas are not self sustaining!
Survive only by importing food, water, energy, minerals, and other resources from somewhere else
Produce vast quantities of wastes
Affect the health of their inhabitants
but also the environmental health of rural areas
and the health of the planet
Often, agriculture and cities develop in similar areas
 expanding urban areas = using up agricultural land

11. U.S. city of 1 million people
Daily Inputs
Daily Outputs
U.S. city of 1 million people
Water
625,000 tonnes
Sewage
500,000
tonnes
Air pollutants
950 tonnes
Fuel
9,500 tonnes
Rubbish
9,500
tonnes
Food
2,000 tonnes

12. Most cities: have few trees and other plants
Most cities: produce little of their own food
Many cities: have water supply and flooding problems
Many coastal areas: popular for urban development
 Many natural coastal habitats have been cleared, drained, and filled in for urban development

13. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Thickly Populated
Urban
Ecosystem/Life
Built environment
Non-self-sustaining
Microclimate

14. Urban Microclimate
Materials used in urban construction: conduct more heat than vegetated areas
Buildings and vehicles: release significant amounts of heat energy from burning of fossil fuels
Urbanization can therefore its own microclimate
Temperature of a city: several degrees warmer than surrounding rural areas
Cities are urban heat islands

15. Urban Heat Island Profile
This means cities tend to be warmer, rainier, foggier, and cloudier.

16. Noise levels in decibels (dbA)
Urban Pollution
Urban residents suffer higher pollution levels than surrounding rural areas.
Sheer numbers of people in cities mean urban areas are major contributors to air pollution and enhanced greenhouse effect.
Most urban residents suffer from excessive noise.
Noise levels in decibels (dbA) 85
150
Normal breathing
Quiet
rural
area
Vacuum
cleaner
Permanent
damage begins
after 8-hrs
Rock
concert
Military
rifle

17. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Thickly Populated
Deviant behaviors,
Competition, urbanism,
resilience
Urbanization, elitism, globalization
Unemployment, blasé’ attitude,
Exploitation, resistance
Urban
Ecosystem/Life
Built environment
Non-self-sustaining
Heat islands, health
and sanitation, energy
consumption, traffic
Congestion, poverty, hunger,
slums, pollution, flood,
malnutrition
Microclimate

18. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Thickly Populated
Deviant behaviors,
Competition, urbanism,
resilience
Urbanization, elitism, globalization
Unemployment, blasé’ attitude,
Exploitation, resistance
Urban
Ecosystem/Life
Built environment
Non-self-sustaining
Heat islands, health
and sanitation, energy
consumption, traffic
Congestion, poverty, hunger,
slums, pollution, flood,
malnutrition
Microclimate

19. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
How does human behavior shape urban ecosystem/life?

20. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Competition
Urban
Human Behavior
Deviancy
Blasé attitude
Cooperation

21. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Competition
Culture of corruption, greed,
Exploitation, consumerism,
Sexism, ageism, classism,
Organized crime (smuggling,
gambling, prostitution, kidnapping)
Gated environment,
culture of insecurity, culture
of resistance, discrimination,
Fatalism, ghettoism/slumization
Urban
Human Behavior
Deviancy
Blasé attitude
Protectionism, elitism,
solidarity/protest
movements, underground
economy
Communalism, Fraternism,
Familism, ecumenism,
nepotism
Cooperation

22. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Way of life
Sociology
Psychology
Economics
Geography
Anthropology
History
Social
Behavior
Spatial
Behavior
Cultural
Behavior
Urban Ecology
Political
Economy
Anthro of
Poverty/Cities
Cultural
Evolution
Cultural
geography
Social
Psychology
Social
Psychology
Critical
Historiography
Postmodernism
Urbanization
Globalization

23. Urbanization & Human Behavior?
Which is which?
Urban ecosystem[life] shapes/reshapes human behavior?
Human behavior determines/shapes urban ecosystem[life]?