Urbanization

1. Urbanization

2. Section I • A. Defining Urban Center • United Nation’s classification of different definitions of urban center • Concepts of suburban, rural urban fringe and urbanism • B. Defining Urbanization • C. Five stage process of population concentration: Gibbs Model • D. Degree of Urbanization and its measure

3. A. Defining Urban Center

4. Urbanists define urban areas by their high population density. They maintain that this characteristic makes cities physically and sociologically distinct from rural areas. • However, cities/urban areas/ urban centers/ urban settlements are defined differently in each country

5. Census organization of different countries classify their population into rural and urban population on the basis of the definition of an urban center which takes into account the local conditions. • No standard definition of an urban center.

6. Problem of recognizing urban regions • Within each nation, we can delimit formal and functional culture regions separating urban and rural domains • There is no agreed-upon international definition of what constitutes a city • India defines an urban center as 5,000 inhabitants, with adult males employed primarily in nonagricultural work • The United States Census Bureau defines a city as a densely populated area of 2,500 people or more • South Africa counts as a city any settlement of 500 or more people

7. United Nation’s classification of different definitions of urban center • Those countries which define and urban settlement on the basis of • Group I - Historical, political and administrative status. Example: any districts, communes. • Group II - Statistical criterions. Example: a minimum size of the population is a basic criterion. • Group III – Some local self government such as municipality, borough, chartered town. • Group IV – Layout and amenities. Example: street plan, contiguously aligned buildings, public utility services like electricity, water supply, sewerage system, school etc. • Group V – Functions. Examples: Certain percentage of workers to be engaged in non agricultural activities.

8. Examples from different countries • Venezuela: less than 1000 pop. – Rural, More than 2500 pop. – Urban • Japan: Minimum settlement size 30,000 population • Sweden: Minimum settlement size 200population • U.K. : Urban designation on the basis of local governments such as country, boroughs, municipal boroughs and urban districts. • Canada: more than 400 people per square kilometer and has more than 1,000 people. • USA: Extra Credits – Homework

9. Urban areas are more than cities. • An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. This term is at one end of the spectrum of suburban and rural areas. An urban area is more frequently called a city or town. • A urban agglomeration (metropolitan area) includes a city, its suburbs and its labor market from which people commute.

10. Some other concepts • Suburbs: Are commonly defined as residential areas on the outskirts of a city or large town. Most modern suburbs are commuter towns with many single-family homes. Many suburbs have some degree of political autonomy and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods. • The urban rural fringe: Also known as the outskirts or the urban hinterland, can be described as the "landscape interface between town and country", or alternatively as the transition zone where urban and rural uses mix and often clash. Alternatively, it can be viewed as a landscape type in its own right, one forged from an interaction of urban and rural land uses. • Urbanism: The process by which a section of population adopts an urban way of life even while residing in the country side.

11. B. Defining Urbanization • Urbanization is the increase in the population of cities in proportion to the region's rural population. • Geographers use the term urbanization more commonly to refer to the process of transformation. • Transformation in three aspects • Behavioral: experience of elders over time and the changes to the pattern of their behavior. • Structural: changes in economic structure of the economic activities of the whole population. • Demographic: process of population concentration.

12. Riessman, 1964 defined Urbanization as the whole process of change and its consequences when a society gets transformed from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy and from a small homogenous society to a large heterogeneous mass. • Geographers are more concerned with the spatial implications which the process carries rather than the process itself.

13. C. Five stage process of population concentration: Gibbs Model • Stage I: The urban settlements emerge, but the percentage increase in the urban population is either equal to or less than the percentage increase in rural population. • Stage II: The rate of increase in urban population exceeds the rate of increase in rural population, largely because of rural urban migration. • Stage III: Rural depopulation takes place because of increased magnitude of rural-urban migration. The natural increase in rural areas also gets wiped out. The rate of urban concentration excels further.

14. Stage IV: The requirement of big cities become more sophisticated and oriented towards specialization. Big cities starts attracting migrants from small towns. Small towns starts stagnating. Big cities grow rapidly at the cost of small towns. The volume of rural urban migration declines. • Stage V: There is a decline in the territorial divisions with regards to population density, that is, a change towards more even spatial distribution of population. Improvement in transport and communication reduce the physical and time distance and enable the pop to live without high level of concentration. Satellite town emerge on the periphery of huge metropolitan areas.

15. D. Degree of Urbanization and its measure • The extent to which an area is urbanized

16. Percentage Distribution: The percentage of urban population to total population is considered an index of degree of urbanization. • Size and spacing: Average size of the urban center coupled with average spacing has been used as a measure of degree of urbanization. This is calculated by dividing the total urban population of the concerned region by the number of urban places. Average spacing is calculated by diving the total area of the region by the total number of urban centers. • Urban densities: Total urban population divided by the total area of the region.

17. Gini concentration ratio: • Rank size rule: This implies a inverse correlation between the number of places and the size category. It means that the number of small sized urban places in a fairly large sized country and it goes on declining with the increase in the size level. • Primacy index: Primate city is the one which is several times larger than the second ranking city.

18. Some more information on Rank size rule: • The Rank Size Rule notes the relationship between the ranks of cities and their populations. • It was advanced by Zipf in 1941 • The formula is Pn=P1/n where Pn is the population of towns ranked n, P1 is the population of the largest town and n is the rank of the town. • For example, if the largest town has a population of x, the second largest town will have a population of x/2, the 3rd largest will have a population of x/3 and so on.

19. Some more information on Primate city: • Primate city — a settlement city that dominates the economic, political, and cultural life of a country • Factors that affect high primacy include • Having an underdeveloped economy • Having an agriculturally dominant economy • A rapidly expanding population • A recent colonial history • Example of Mexico City — far exceeds Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico, in size and importance • Primate cities are also found in developed countries —London and Birmingham; Paris and Marseilles.

20. Section II • A. Determinants of urbanization • B. World pattern of urbanization • C. Origin and Diffusion of the City The first cities Models for the rise of cities Urban hearth areas The diffusion of the city from hearth areas

21. A. Determinants of urbanization • Broadly three categories • Economic • Social • Demographic

22. Economic • Type of economy • The degree of commercialization of agriculture • The extent of diversification of economy • The changing size of agricultural landholdings • The stage of economic advancement • Degree of development of means of transportation and communication

23. Social • Degree of socio economic awakening • Desire for higher living standard • Appreciation of benefits of urban living • The social value system • The break up joint family system • The stage of technological advancement • The public policies • The government decisions

24. Demographic • The rate of population growth • Magnitude of migration • Pressure of population on agricultural resources

25. B. World pattern of urbanization

27. Imagine humankind’s sojourn on Earth as a 24-hour day • Settlements of more than a hundred people are only about a half-hour old • Towns and cities emerged only a few minutes ago • Large-scale urbanization began less than 60 seconds ago

28. Problem of recognizing urban regions • Some countries revise definitions of urban settlements to suit specific purposes. • China revised its census definitions with criteria that vary from province to province causing their urban population to swell by 13 percent in 1983.

29. Generalizations • Generalizations made about the differences in the world’s urbanized population • Highly industrialized countries have higher rates of urbanized population than do less-developed countries • Developing countries are rapidly urbanizing • Caused by massive migration away from the country • People flock to the cities searching for a better life

31. World cities • Over half of the world’s 20 largest cities are in the developing world. • Thirty years ago, the list of world cities was dominated by Western, industrialized cities. • Now the list is even more dominated by the developing world.

32. Urbanization in the last 200 years has strengthened links between culture, society, and the city • “Urban explosion” has gone hand in hand with the industrial revolution • Estimates demonstrate the world’s urban population more than doubled since 1950 • Urban population doubled again by 2000

33. Urbanization • In 1950 29.7% of the world population lived in urban areas. 83 metropolitan areas with one million population. 8 areas with 5million pop. • By 2000 nearly 50% of the world population lived in urban areas. 372 metropolitan areas of a million pop. And more than 45 areas with above 5 million pop. • By 2025 almost 65% people will live in urban areas. • 75% of Americans live in urban/suburban environment.

34. World urbanization: Continuing to Increase

35. Percentage of population residing in urban areas, 1975 - 2030 Data source: UN Population Division, 1999

36. Trends in Urbanization, by Region Urban Population Percent Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision (medium scenario), 2004.

37. Trends in Urbanization, by Region • Currently, world regions differ greatly in their levels of urbanization. In more developed regions and in Latin America and the Caribbean, over 70 percent of the population is urban, whereas in Africa and Asia, under 40 percent of the population is urban. By 2030, however, the urban proportion of these two regions will exceed 50 percent. • By 2030, roughly 60 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas.

38. Largest Cities, Worldwide Millions 1950 2000 2015 Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision (medium scenario), 2004.

39. Largest Cities, Worldwide • The largest cities in the world are growing rapidly, and they are shifting from the more developed regions to the less developed regions. In 1950 the three largest cities were in more developed countries; by 2000, only Tokyo remained in the top three. • In 1950, New York was the largest city in the world, with a population of about 12 million. By 2015, the largest city worldwide is projected to be Tokyo, with triple this population size: 36 million.

40. Urbanization in Central America Population Living in Urban Areas Percent Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision (medium scenario), 2004.

41. Urbanization in Central America • Central American countries are urbanizing rapidly, at a pace similar to that of their South American neighbors 20 years earlier. Sixty percent or more of the population in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama is projected to be urban by 2010; the projection for Central America as a whole is 71 percent. • South America has nearly the highest rate of urbanization of any world region, projected to achieve 84 percent by 2010 (virtually tied with Northern Europe).

42. Urbanization: Sao Paulo, Brazil

43. Urbanization: Sao Paulo, Brazil • Sao Paulo epitomizes the dynamics of urbanization, especially capitalism. Starting as a coffee exporting center, it had less than 32000 inhabitants by 1872. Today metropolitan Sao Paulo is a primate city of more than 20 million. Economic development and flat land engendered population increase and sprawl, rising land costs in the center, and a boom in construction.

44. Urbanization: Sao Paulo, Brazil • Economic success is denoted by the high-rises which are a mix of industrial, commercial and professional office blocks, as well as apartment complexes. City planning is only a recent phenomenon. Rural to urban migration is a serious problem and the city’s rapid growth has outstripped its ability to provide jobs, housing and adequate services.

45. http://www.openhistory.net/

46. C. Origin and Diffusion of the City • The earliest towns were around the Mediterranean Sea. • Babylon is the oldest recorded town.

47. The first cities • In seeking explanation for the origin of cities, we find a relationship between: • Areas of early agriculture • Permanent village settlement • The development of new social forms • Urban life • Early people were nomadic hunters and gatherers who constantly moved

48. The first cities • As they became increasingly efficient in gathering resources, their campsites became semi-permanent • As quantities of domesticated plants and animals increased settlement became more permanent • The first cities appeared in the Middle East • Developed about ten thousand years ago • Farming villages modest in size, rarely with more than 200 people • Probably organized on a kinship basis

49. The first cities • The first cities appeared in the Middle East • Probably organized on a kinship basis • Jarmo, one of the earliest villages • Located in present-day Iraq • Had 25 permanent dwellings clustered near grain storage facilities • Lacked plows, but cultivated local grains — wheat and barley • Domestic dogs, goats, and sheep may have been used for meat • Food supplies augmented by hunting and gathering

50. The first cities • In agricultural villages, all inhabitants were involved in some way in food procurement • Cities were more removed, physically and psychologically, from everyday agricultural activities • Food was supplied to the city • Not all city dwellers were involved in actual farming • Another class of city dwellers supplied services — such as technical skills, and religious interpretation