Lec 03 Trends in Urban Growth

ARCHITECTURE & TOWN PLANNING
BS CIVIL 8TH SEMESTER
TRENDS IN URBAN GROWTH

Introduction:
In order to understand the topic, trends in urban growth at first it is imperative to ask; what is
meant by urban growth? Urban growth is the rate of growth of an urban population The phrase
urban growth also described with its synonym urban sprawl which means; The unplanned,
uncontrolled spreading of urban development into areas adjoining the edge of a city. Similarly
another concept is of urbanization that needs to be understood while understanding trends in
urban growth. Urbanization is the physical growth of rural or natural land into urban
areas as a result of population in-migration to an existing urban area. While the exact
definition and population size of urbanized areas varies among different countries, urbanization
is attributed to growth of cities. Urbanization is also defined by the United Nations as movement
of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration. In the
following the trends in urban growth shall be discussed in details.
Global Urban Population in Developed and Developing Countries:
The human population has lived a rural lifestyle through most of history. The worlds population,
however, is quickly becoming urbanized as people migrate to the cities. In 1950, less than 30%
of the worlds population lived in cities. This number grew to 47% in the year 2000 (2.8 billion
people), and it is expected to grow to 60% by the year 2025. Developed nations have a higher
percentage of urban residents than less developed countries. However, urbanization is occurring
rapidly in many less developed countries, and it is expected that most urban growth will occur in
less developed countries during the next decades.
The definition of an urban area changes from country to country. In general, there are no
standards, and each country develops its own set of criteria for distinguishing cities or urban
areas. A city is generally defined as a political unit, i.e., a place organized and governed by an
administrative body. A way of defining a city or an urban area is by the number of residents. The
United Nations defines settlements of over 20,000 as urban, and those with more than 100,000 as
cities. The United States defines an urbanized area as a city and surrounding area, with a
minimum population of 50,000. A metropolitan area includes both urban areas and rural areas
that are socially and economically integrated with a particular city.
Cities with over 5 million inhabitants are known as megacities. There were 41 in the year 2000.
This number is expected to grow as the population increases in the next few decades. It is
predicted that by the year 2015, 50 megacities will exist, and 23 of these are expected to have
over 10 million people. Table below is a list of the worlds 25 largest cities in 1995.
The World's 6 Largest Cities, 1995 Population (Millions)
Tokyo, Japan 37.8
Sao Paulo, Brazil 20.8
New York, USA 18.5
Mexico City, Mexico 20.8
Delhi, India 24.9
Shanghai, China 22.9
WAQAR ALI

Why is the urban population increasing so fast?

The rapid growth of urban areas is the result of two factors: natural increase in population
(excess of births over deaths), and migration to urban areas. The natural population growth
rate has always been less than the population growth rate due to migration therefore we must
concentrate understanding the phenomenon of migration in detail.
Migration is defined as the long-term relocation of an individual, household or group to a new
location outside the community of origin. Today the movement of people from rural to urban
areas (internal migration) is most significant. Although smaller than the movement of people
within borders, international migration is also increasing. Both internal and international
migration contributes to urbanization. Migration is often explained in terms of either push
factors conditions in the place of origin which are perceived by migrants as detrimental
(harmful) to their well-being or economic security, and pull factors the circumstances in new
places that attract individuals to move there. Examples of push factors include high
unemployment and political persecution; examples of pull factors include job opportunities or
moving to a better climate.
Typically, a pull factor initiates migration that can be sustained by push and other factors that
facilitate or make possible the change. For example, a farmer in rural Sindh whose land has
become unproductive because of drought (push factor) may decide to move to Karachi City
where he perceives more job opportunities and possibilities for a better lifestyle (pull factor). In
general, cities are perceived as places where one could have a better life, because of better
opportunities, higher salaries, better services, and better lifestyles. The perceived better
conditions attract poor people from rural areas.
International migration includes labor migration, refugees and undocumented migrants.
Similar to rural-to-urban migration, individuals move in search of jobs and a better life. Income
disparity among regions, and job opportunities, are key motivating factors. The migration
policies of sending and receiving countries also play a key role. The best current estimate from
the United Nations Population Fund indicates that more than 100 million people were living
outside their countries of birth or citizenship in 1998. There are a number of reasons why this
figure is rising, but an important one is that the native labor pool in the industrialized countries is
shrinking, while the developing worlds workforce is rapidly increasing. Today, international
migration is at an all-time high. About 2% of the Earths population has moved away from the
country of origin.
What are the Problems Associated with Rapid Urban Growth?
The urbanization process refers to much more than simple population growth; it involves
changes in the economic, social and political structures of a region. Rapid urban growth is
responsible for many environmental and social changes in the urban environment and its effects
are strongly related to global change issues. The rapid growth of cities strains their capacity to
provide services such as energy, education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation and physical
security. Because governments have less revenue to spend on the basic upkeep of cities and the
provision of services, cities have become areas of massive sprawl, serious environmental
problems, and widespread poverty.
WAQAR ALI

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, urbanization resulted from and contributed to
industrialization. New job opportunities in the cities motivated the mass movement of surplus
population away from the countryside. At the same time, migrants provided cheap, plentiful
labor for the emerging factories. Today, due to movements such as globalization, the
circumstances are similar in developing countries. Here the concentration of investments in cities
attracts large numbers of migrants looking for employment, thereby creating a large surplus labor
force, which keeps wages low. This situation is attractive to foreign investment companies from
developed countries that can produce goods for far less than if the goods were produced where
wages are higher. Thus, one might wonder if urban poverty serves a distinct function for the
benefit of global capital.
One of the major effects of rapid urban growth is urban sprawl"- scattered development that
increases traffic, saps local resources and destroys open space. Urban sprawl is responsible for
changes in the physical environment, and in the form and spatial organization of cities.
Developed and less developed countries of the world differ not only in the percent living in
cities, but also in the way in which urbanization is occurring.
In Mexico City (950 square miles), as in many other megacities in the developing world, urban
sprawl exists as nearly 40% of city dwellers live in the urban periphery in poverty and
environmental degradation. These high density settlements are often highly polluted owing to the
lack of urban services, including running water, trash pickup, electricity or paved roads.
Nevertheless, cities provide poor people with more opportunities and greater access to resources
to transform their situation than rural areas. In the United States, and Pakistan poorly planned
urban development is threatening environment, health, and peoples quality of life.
Consequences of Urban Growth:
Increases traffic and Squatter Settlements,
Pollutes air, water and other threats to natural environment,
Worsens the existing degraded built environment,
Destroys agricultural land, parks, and open spaces,
Costs cities and counties millions of dollars for new housing, water and sewer lines, new schools,
and increased police and fire protection
Creates crowded schools in the suburbs and empty, crumbling schools in center of cities
Solutions to decrease Urban Growth:
Enacting growth boundaries, parks and open space protection,
Planning and promoting public participation in housing and transportation.
Reversing government programs and tax policies that help create sprawl.
Revitalizing already developed areas through measures such as attracting new businesses,
reducing crime and improving schools:
Preventing new development in floodplains, coastal areas and other disaster- prone areas.
WAQAR ALI

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ARCHITECTURE & TOWN PLANNING

BS CIVIL 8TH SEMESTER

TRENDS IN URBAN GROWTH

Sao Paulo, Brazil 20.8

New York, USA 18.5

Mexico City, Mexico 20.8

Delhi, India 24.9

Shanghai, China 22.9

ARCHITECTURE & TOWN PLANNING

Why is the urban population increasing so fast?

ARCHITECTURE & TOWN PLANNING

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