Urban Growth

Starter
PUSH PULL
The Developed World
Urbanisation in the developed world has
steadied relative to that in the developing
world.
New York, which was the largest city in the
world, is now the fifth largest, having been
overtaken by Tokyo, but more significantly,
Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.
It is still important that you have an
understanding of the reasons behind the
growth of cities in the developed world.
London

Many Western European cities have very
long histories as Roman or medieval cities.
For example, London was a very important
city in Roman times as a communication
centre.
They have, however, experienced the most
rapid urbanisation in the last two centuries...
London
As you can see, there was significant growth in the 1800's.
The drop in population is a result of counter-urbanisation.
Year Population
1500? 75,000
1700? 575,000
1801 959,000
1851 2,363,000
1901 4,425,000
1951 8,193,000
1961 7,992,300
1991 6,337,900
Reasons For Growth In UK Cities
The Industrial Revolution in the latter half of the eighteenth century
stimulated a major redistribution of the population. People moved to locate
adjacent to factories. This was further prompted by the decline of the
traditional cottage industries.
Towns started to benefit from specialisation, prompting further growth.
Birmingham grew considerably as a consequence of specialising in brass
manufacturing.
The multiplier effect states that if an area receives a financial investment,
this will stimulate further growth. For example, alongside the early
factories, the following industries would have been likely to grow.
Construction to build houses for the workers, navies to dig canals, people to
work on the emergent railway network, engineers such as Brunel.
Constant improvements in the removal, transportation and manufacturing
of raw materials increased the wealth of the towns/cities and the nation.
This allowed further investment.
Reasons For Growth In UK Cities
New transport links (railways) allowed further migration from
rural areas.
Towns and cities increased in size as Victorian developers built
larger properties on the outskirts of towns/cities.
This is an early example of sub-urbanisation where people
move to the areas around a town/city.
The suburbs can grow as transport links increase and people
decide to move away from the densely populated inner city
areas.
Growth has continued today as businesses and retail compete
for areas close to the CBD (Central Business District).
Slum clearance and the building of high-rise developments
have increased population densities.
Other Reasons
The growth in car ownership, improvements in road networks
and the congested nature of many city centres has seen the
decentralisation of many retail and entertainment functions
to 'out-of-town' shopping centres, whilst a significant
percentage of the population are choosing to live in rural
areas (see counter-urbanisation).
The Developing World
Cities in the developing world have
experienced rapid urbanisation over the last
fifty years.
Since 1960 Mexico City's population has
grown from around 5 million to an estimated
25 million - an average growth of half a million
a year!
Reason 1
High natural growth rates.
Countries experiencing the most rapid
urbanisation are in stages two and three of
the Demographic Transition Model.
In these stages, natural increase is high so
there is inevitably population growth.
This population growth will be most marked
when there is already a large population, as
you would find in a city.
Reason 2

Developing world cities are experiencing a
massive movement of the population from the
rural countryside areas to the urban cities -
rural to urban migration.

People are leaving the countryside in
thousands with the hope of a better life in the
cities.
Activity 1
Using P.36 and 37, answer the following
questions Pay attention to the command
words.

1. Describe the actual and projected rates of
urban growth in Africa, Asia and Europe.
2. Explain how push and pull factors encourage
rural-urban migration.
Activity 2
Using the united nations website or the world
fact book identify the projected largest cities in
2015

1. Plot them onto a world map.
2. Describe the pattern that you see.
3. Explain the possible reasons for this pattern.