Introduction
Urbanization is increasing in both the developed and developing countries. However, rapid urbanization, particularly the growth of large cities, and the associated problems of unemployment, poverty, inadequate health, poor sanitation, urban slums and environmental degradation pose a formidable challenge in many developing countries. Available statistics show that more than half of the world’s 6.6 billion people live in urban areas, crowded into 3 percent of the earth’s land area (Angotti, 1993; UNFPA, 1993). The proportion of the world’s population living in urban areas, which was less than 5 percent in 1800 increased to 47 percent in 2000 and is expected to reach 65 percent in 2030 (United Nations, 1990; 1991). However, more
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Government development policies and budget allocations, which often favour urban residents over rural areas, tend to pull people into the urban areas. In the cities, public investment, which often misses the urban poor, with expenditures biased towards the higher-income classes and poverty among vulnerable groups such as new migrants force them into slums and squatter settlements.
Challenges of urbanisation
Cities throughout the world exhibit an incredible diversity of characteristics, economic structures, levels of infrastructure, historic origins, patterns of growth, and degrees of formal planning. Yet, many of the problems that they face are strikingly familiar. For one thing, as cities grow, they become increasingly diverse. Every city has its relatively more affluent and relatively poorer neighborhoods. But in developing countries, poorer neighborhoods can have dramatically lower levels of basic services. Consequently, a large number of urban residents in developing countries suffer to a greater or lesser extent from severe environmental health challenges associated with insufficient access to clean drinking water, inadequate sewerage facilities, and insufficient solid waste disposal. A major recent United Nations report on the state of
Between the 18th century and the end of the Industrial Revolution, English cities began to see a rapid increase in urbanization and development. Great Britain, proud to show their economic splendor, hosted the Great Exhibition of 1851. This was a showcase of British industrial power, and was the first of a chain of World Fairs that let the wealthier countries show their wealth for all to see. It can be seen on document six, a map of the city of Manchester, that between 1750 and 1850 there was massive growth, industrialization, and restructuring including new railroads and canals. Document 8, an excerpt from Manchester in 1844, describes how the town of Hyde only had 800 total residents at the beginning of the 19th century, while in 1843 there
Midyear Essay Rewrite The expansion of trade led to the urbanization of Europe in the late Middle Ages through the development of towns, guilds, and the rise of education. Urbanization is the process by which cities form and expand. As trade expanded, a city's popularity could grow and more merchants would want to travel there to receive more business and customers.
All in all the industrial revolution had a positive effect on society, accomplishing things many do not realize and creating a turn of events that would put the USA as the world power. New farming methods meant better diets, which lead to lower death rates. Efficient and useful inventions, as well as machinery, made it easier for people to work, and made more job opportunities, as well as enjoyment in the workplace. More and easier ways of travel became commonplace, such as railroads. In addition, as cities began to grow, streetlights provided safety at night, and our economy grew greatly. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because it caused children to be used as workers and made school
Within the unprecedented challenges posed by the explosive growth of urban population, the lack of water supply and sanitation is one of the most urgent and harmful issues. The relationship between water supply and cities’ welfare is very important, as cities require a huge supply of fresh water, and in turn, the way in which the city makes use of water has an impact on the availability of fresh water. It is impossible to consider a city as being ‘sustainable’, if it cannot ensure safe access to drinking water and suitable sanitation to its habitants. (Naciones Unidas, 2010)
Recently, urbanization has become the newest form of progress. However, it seems that urbanization has created some unforeseen problems. Bocquier suggests “economic uncertainties that prevail in most urban settings lead to a deterioration of living conditions…this deterioration particularly affects the urban poor” (pg. 1). As society began to change and progress at such a quick pace, many people have been left behind and have had to adapt to survive to their new environments.
Bigio, G and Dahiya, B, (2004) “Urban Environment and Infrastructure towards Livable Cities.” The World Bank, USA.
With the advent of globalization and industrialization, urban migration and expansion of cities have become a global trend. South American nations are amongst being most rapid urbanized countries. As more people migrate to urban areas in search of better work opportunities, the cities here are growing in size and number (Ferguson & Navarrete, 2003). This problem is native to not just Latin American countries but is a major concern for most of the developing world. As estimated by the UN (United Nations, 2016), 3 billion people or about 40% of the world population would be living in substandard housing as a result of urban expansions and population growth. This is perceived to be a direct impact of rapid urbanization and excessive strain on
Rapid urbanisation has caused a variety of problems, including transport congestion, lack of sufficient homes and living conditions, sanitary and health care issues, and crime. For all these problems, city planners have attempted potential solutions, each with varying degrees of success. Cities including London, Manila and Mumbai have several of the aforementioned problems, and have each tried their own potential solutions. This essay will discuss how successful these schemes have been in resolving these issues.
Rapid urbanization in developing countries like India has resulted in a significant increase of the urban population within the country. The historic label of ‘the country of villages’ defies the current state of Modern India. Growing cities besides expanding the economic base have also contributed towards the degenerative decay of the urban core. Increasing unemployment, pressure on infrastructure, creation of slums in the urban core of cities and environmental degradation are a few results of the unplanned haphazard urbanization.
The National Geographic Education define an urban environment as, ‘the region surrounding a city. Urban areas are very developed, meaning there is a density of human structures such as houses, commercial buildings, roads, bridges, and railways.(1)’ The International Institute for Sustainable Development define sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (2)’ In 2014, approximately 54%(3) of the total global population live in urban environments. The global urban population has grown significantly from 34% in 1960(3)
Urbanization causes financial problems to the overwhelming majority of the people. This is because problems with money are widespread in urban areas. First of all, urbanization leads to the extreme growth of unemployment. For instance, as reported by the International Labour Organization, International unemployment rose to 210 million people in 2010 (David & Vicente 2012, p.154). According to David & Vicente (2012, p.156) vast amounts of unemployment results in human resources not being used efficiently across cities which cause social inequality. This evidence shows that urbanization causes unemployment. Urbanization leads to significant overpopulation in the central cities, which causes high competition and as a result lower job opportunities for most people in the labor market. As businesses and governments cannot produce enough jobs to meet the demand of a fast-growing population, a lot of individuals are faced with a shortage of employment and deprived of a vital source of income. As a result, lack of revenue leads to inequality in society. Secondly, urbanization leads to a lack of affordable housing for the overwhelming majority of urban people. According to Gan (et al., 2017, p.427) in the forthcoming future, the global urban population will reach around 6.3 billion people in 2050, and about 94% of them will be in developing countries. Furthermore, approximately 828 million people from developing countries currently live in inadequate housing and this number will rise
Urbanisation is a global problem with various impacts in different fields. “Urbanisation is the transformation of society from rural life to life in towns and cities” McDonald and McMillen (2010, p.8). The United Nations published, that in 1950 there was 2.54 billion of the population which equivalent to 29.1% of the world population was living in cities, but this percentage increased to 48.6% that means 6.5 billion of the world’s population in 2005. This indicates that the number of urban people had doubled about four times from 739 million in 1950 to 3.16 billion in 2005. It is expected to
“Inadequate sanitation and housing threaten the lives and health of some 600 million urban dwellers world-wide.” – CGAP (Bonnie Brusky)
However, despite the huge benefits of the growth and development of megacities across the world, most urbanists and economists have realized that, there is persistent overpopulation and poverty in most Asia, Africa and Latin America countries. This has incapacitated the urbanization efforts and strengths of most countries. Kaplan (2012) points out that, most megacities across the globe face
People in developing countries may not be aware of the consequences of waste disposal in their area, as they only consider whether they can get food to survive. Environmental protection is a luxury for them. This may cause deep-rooted and irreversible effects to the countries. Developed cities should help developing countries, but not to increase their burden and exploit their rights.