Urbanization and Urban Growth

Because the world is becoming increasingly urbanized, it is important to learn how to improve urban environments, to make cities more pleasant and healthier places in which to live and to reduce undesirable effects on the environment.

Urban Area

An urban area often is defined as a town or city plus its adjacent suburban fringes with a population of 2,500 or more. A rural area usually is defined as an area with a population of less than 2,500 people.

 Urbanization and Urban Growth 

Urbanization is the process in which people increasingly move from rural areas to densely populated cities; also involves the transformation of rural areas into urban areas. Historically, it has been closely connected with industrialization. A country’s degree of urbanization is the percentage of its population living in an urban area. Urban growth is the rate of increase of urban populations.

Urban areas grow in two ways: by natural increase (more births than deaths) and by immigration (mostly from rural areas).

Migration is influenced by ‘push factor’ and ‘pull factor’. People can be pushed from rural areas into urban areas by factors such as poverty, lack of land to grow food, declining agricultural jobs, famine, and war.

Rural people are pulled to urban areas in search of jobs, food, housing, health care, a better life, entertainment, and freedom from religious, racial, and political conflicts.

Cities are known to be places where money, services and wealth are centralized. Many rural inhabitants come to the city for reasons of seeking fortunes and social mobility. Businesses, which provide jobs and exchange capital are more concentrated in urban areas.