Location of urban settlements Urbanization

 It occurs when the proportion of urban population to total population increases.  Measures the % of total pop.  It is a process by which the no. of urban pop. increases while the rural pop. decreases.

Urban growth  It refers to the actual increase in the number of urban population.

Early Settlements  Iraq is pretty much where the first cities grew  The word 'Mesopotamia' is in origin a Greek name ( mesos 'middle' and potamos 'river', so 'land between the rivers').

The Fertile Crescent  Jericho, which is in the middle of the Israel- Palestinian issues, is an OLD city  May be as much as 9,000 years old!

The Indus Valley  Mohenjodaro and Harappa were major cities  Civilization from about 2500 BC to 1500 BC

The Nile Valley  The Egyptian civilization from about 3500 BC  The pyramids of Giza built at about 2500 BC

Causes of Urbanization Rural-urban migration

Rural-urban migration  Movement of people from rural to urban areas  Causes: --Population growth --Expansion of urban areas

Why more people in the city? This can be explained by push and pull factors.

Agricultural improvements  Farm mechanization  Opening up of rural land for urban uses  Food supply to cities  Release of farm labour

Industrialization  Agglomeration economies  Mushrooming of industries  Large demand for labour

Market potential  Market-oriented locations for industries  Jobs attracting population  Population = market (snowballing effect)

Industrial growth in cities Demand for labour in secondary industry attracting more people to come to the cities  rural-urban migration urban growth/ urbanization greater demand for goods and services growth of secondary and tertiary ind. to satisfy the demand Snowballing Effect of industrialization and urbanization

Increased service activities  Higher standard of living  Need for greater economic and social organization  Retailing, entertainment, catering, administration  Growth of urbanism

Transport improvements  Encourage the horizontal expansion of towns along major routes  Increase population mobility  Facilitate rural-urban migration

Social and cultural attraction  Availability of social facilities, e.g. theatres, art galleries  Centre of urban life

Increased education  People become more knowledgeable, ambitious  Cities provide opportunities to satisfy personal contentment

Natural population growth  Migrants are of fertile age  Greater wealth makes large families more viable

Urbanization in developed countries  Higher level of urbanization  Due to early industrialization  Which led to rural-urban migration  Pull factors being more important  rate of urbanization slows down as farm mechanization is almost complete

How do cities grow in developed countries?  Upward growth  Outward growth

Upward growth of the city  Skyscrapers  because of rising land price in the city centre  taller buildings can maximize floor space  made possible with the dev. of lifts and better building materials

Outward growth of cities: Baltimore & Washington areas in US  first took place along lines of communication  in a star or finger shape  improvement in transport  people travel faster & live further from their place of work  areas between roads are filled in by settlement

Reasons for outward growth of cities (urban sprawl)  lack of land  rising land price  desire to have larger homes with gardens  land price and rent is lower in outskirts of the city (lower density housing  suburbs)  improvement in transport + higher level of car ownership  live in suburbs

HAMLET VILLAGE TOWN CITY MEGACITY METROPOLIS CONURBATION MEGALOPOLIS METROPOLIS CONURBATION Hierarchy of urban settlements

Conurbation = large urbanized area

Megalopolis = joining of conurbation/many large cities SANSAN CHIPITTS BOSNYWASH

Urbanization in developing countries  lower level of urbanization  late urbanization (in the 20th century)  result of rural-urban migration  push factors being more important  urbanization is not accompanied by industrialization  slow growth of industry  living standard remains low  unemployment in cities and people living in poverty

Urban growth in developing countries  very rapid urban growth  due to high natural increase + rural-urban migration  low level of urbanization  increase of rural population

How do cities grow in developing countries?  concentrated in one single city  usually the capital city  built by the Europeans during the colonial rule   primate city  e.g. Manila

Slums  developed around the city margin  with shanty settlements  as government doesn’t have money to build houses