Urbanisation

Human Geography

Urbanisation:

the increase in the proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas

Urban growth:

the increase in total population in towns/cities

Urban expansion:

a city/town’s increase in size

What continents have had relatively had the least urbanisation?

Europe and North America

• London - 8.4 milli(1950) → 8.7milli (2015)

What continents have had the biggest, fastest changes in urbanisation?

Asia and Africa 1950

• Lagos : 0.3 milli(1950) → 12.2 m (2015)

Why is urbanisation important in human affairs?

• centres of political power and stable governments

• better opportunities and healthcare ; better technology → live longer

• good for business and company → organisation of economic production (London accounts for 22% of UK’s GDP) → brings up economy → multiplier effect

• meet new people→ allows growth for newer ideas to better the city

• more entertainment and social activities

• better infrastructure

• more money put in it

Megacity:

a city/urban agglomeration with a population of more than 10 million people.

Metacity:

a conurbation with more than 20 million people.

What are the 4 main forms of urbanisation?

• urbanisation

• suburbanisation

• counterurbanisation

• urban resurgence

Suburbanisation:

the outward growth of people,employment and services towards the edge of an urban area

counter-urbanisation:

population movement from large urban areas to smaller urban settlements/rural places

Urban resurgence:

population movement from rural back to urban areas (e.g. uni students), reviving inner city and CBD areas

rural-urban fringe:

the area at the very edge of the city beside the city

Counter-urbanisation:

movement of people from large urban areas to small urban areas or rural areas

Decentralisation:

• movement of population and industry from urban centres to outlying areas

• movement of government buildings/company headquarters away from country’s central area

Deindustrialisation:

the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector

• later half of 20th century in the UK

Edge city:

a self-contained settlement away from the city boundary but classified as a city in its own right.

Gentrification:

the buying and renovating of buildings, particularly in run-down areas, by wealthier individuals

Characteristics of suburbanisation:

• outward growth of urban development

• growth of public transport systems - more railway lines and arterial roads - allows wealthier workers to live further away but have a direct route

Suburbanisation in UK :

• (1930s)→past urbanisation meant planing controls and urban growth only occurred on main roads →ribbon development

• ribbon development became a cause for concern with more growth→ green belts created as open space areas and low density land controlling further development

• (1950 onwards) →suburban expansion not only increased but better controlled ; large scale construction of council homes built on suburban fringe

• (1970s) →move to house ownership on urban fringe, with more land for gardens and open space

• with more cars, there was more land available for car parking and with more development of factories and car parks, the strict control of green belt was ignored

Effects of green belt:

• new housing estates

• local shopping centers

• more people move to suburbs for quieter,less congested areas → less crime, key benefits of being rural-urban fringe

• well-established housing

• urban sprawl

• environmental impacts

• as wealthier move out, poor remain in inner city (social segregation)

• funding towards suburbs than inner city

Los Angeles - suburbanisation example

• attracts millions to the “Hollywood dream” → pop. of 24 million

• half a million people arrived within 40 years from the arrival of the transcontinental train

• people came for employment in the early 20th century within the discovery of oil, etc.

• as suburbs were far from city, safe and more space → better quality of life with accessible transport to city → people moved outwards

• Push factors from inner city: semi-derelict, poor city , high crime rate, pollution

• “donut city” - hole in the middle

• increasingly large suburbs called edge cities developed on freeways (e.g. Ontario)

• social segregation → migrants migrate to the middle in ethnic enclaves, searching hard for work, with water, waste and energy issues too.

Characteristics of counter-urbanisation:

• migration to smaller urban settlements or rural areas - growth in rural areas beyond main city

• difference between rural and urban reduced

Causes of counter-urbanisation:

• escaping air pollution, dirt and crime

• aspire the peace, clean rural environment

• land and house prices cheaper

• tech improvements mean freedom of location

Cause of suburbanisation:

• Greater value for money in house buying (bigger houses and gardens)

• Quieter and safer.

• Good transport links to the cities.

• Greater car ownership.

• Technology (internet) allows working from home.

Effects of counter-urbanisation (on the outlying areas):

• rising demand for second homes and earlier retirement → direct consequence of rising levels of affluence

• economic difficulties for agriculture

• affected layout for rural settlements

• tension between newcomers and locals → despite new people, local services may close down

Counter urbanisation of Melbourne, Australia:

• >60,000 people left Melbourne during 2020-2021 ; first time regional population is higher than capital

• away from claustrophobic city and since much work was finished during Covid, many left unemployed, having to move out

Characteristics of urban resurgence:

• regeneration of an urban area which was previously in decline

• city becomes more attractive, developing strong business sectors and increasing population

• may still contain old industrial buildings, which have been repurposed.

Causes of urban resurgence:

• often driven by gov-led regeneration schemes

• redevelopment by private companies

• city life more attractive→ more in-migration

• major sporting events can catalyse regeneration schemes (e.g. Olympics)

Effects of urban resurgence:

• greater pressure on urban infrastructure→housing demand increases→housing prices increase

• increasing inequality between rich and poor

• young people who moved in cities remain to start families→ natural increase

• increased demand for services and more prosperity

Example of urban resurgence : Central Birmingham

• Jewelry Quarter - in 1900s, over 20k people worked in making → during Blitz sharp decline in area’s fortunes → in early 2000s large-scale improvements → loft-style apartments, vibrant hubs for young people→urban resurgence

Urban sprawl:

the spread of an urban area into the countryside

Fortress landscapes:

landscapes designed around surveillance, protection and security

World cities:

interconnected global economic centres that have significant influence on the world economy

Why is it difficult to measure urban growth?

• classification of urban dwellers depends on census definitions of urban areas, varying from country to country

Causes of urban growth:

• natural increase:birth rate>death rate

• urban areas have young age profiles →migrate for higher paid jobs→migrants are in their fertile years → high rates of natural increase, like in Wandsworth

  • Rural - urban migration →when people move temp/permanently from rural to urban

Push factors in LICS for urban growth:

• bad weather - desertification

• lack of jobs

• isolation

• lack of transport

• education

• “better quality of life

• inadequate medical provision

Pull factors in LICS for urban growth:

• better transport links

• better services

• more housings

• high-paying jobs

• informal sector work

Consequences of urban growth:

• congestion/pollution/littering - pressure on local services

• overpopulation

• cultural diversity

• more multiplier effect

• increased house/land prices - increased demand

• loss of natural landscapes/green spaces (URBAN SPRAWL)- more likely in LICs due to less planning

• informal housing

• more competition

• high unemployment/under employment(people not making full ability of their skills/abilities)

Central Business District (CBD):

central area containing all major shops, offices and entertainment facilities

Inner city zone:

• area of old housing and light manufacturing industry

• dates back to Industrial revolution

• within last 3 decades, most British people have seen some sort of regeneration here

Residential zone:

• housing that increases in size and price as you move towards outskirts

• urban regeneration schemes and gentrification means that in “low class residential” areas mean that wealthier people can live there.

Green area zone:

• e.g. parks in an urban area

Out-of-town retail developments:

• large shopping complexes located outside of traditional city centers

• originally developed by large supermarkets, which expand to non-retail units and entertainment facilities and etc.

• have had a negative impact in some places

  • in 1994, UK actively discouraged it

Where is Bangalore?

• South India, Karnatka

• Besides Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, not surrounded by sea

Trickle down effect:

the diffusion of the benefits of urbanisation, such as prosperity, to poorer people.

Knowledge economy:

an economy based on creating, evaluating and trading knowledge/high level skills

What processes drive Bangalore’s urban growth:

• political processes

• economic processes

• social processes

• technological processes

• demographic processes

What is the Burgess model(LOOK AT IT ONLINE/BOOKS):

• based on Chicago

• did not take into account transport

What is the Hoyt model(LOOK AT IT ONLINE/BOOKS):

• did not take into account wind and transport

• did not take into account cars

Political processes in Bangalore:

• Texas Instruments was the first large TNC to move in, but only in 1990s that IT rapidly expanded

• 1970s- far-sighted state gov set aside land for high tech business park

Economic processes in Bangalore:

• economy relies on people and skills rather than manufactured goods

• capital of aeronautical, automotive, biotechnology, electronics and defence industries

Social processes in Bangalore:

• growing social divide and inequality gap between so-called middle class and those at the bottom of caste system

• less than half of slum dwellers have access to sanitation, clean water or electricity

• Bangalore favours the wealthier and the growing economy over wider society, by building more expensive housing that the poorer in society cannot afford.

• Slums in Bangalore tend to be situated further away from inner city, supporting Hoyt’s model

Technological processes in Bangalore:

• city’s 200 engineering colleges and many unis provide highly skilled workforce

• growth in home-grown IT companies (e.g. Keonics)

Demographic processes in Bangalore:

• population inn 2015 was 10.8 million, more than double of 2001

• Bangalore’s migrants are quite young, therefore population momentum will almost guarantee continued population growth for several decades.

Protectionism:

the theory /practice of shielding a country’s domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing inputs

Productivity:

a measure of how efficiently a person completes a task

Outsourcing:

• a cost saving strategy

• companies arrange for goods/services to be provided by other companies, usually at locations where costs are lower.

Urban prairie:

when natural processes take over a building/urban space

What are some factors as to why there was deindustrialisation after WWII

• reduced need for labour due to rapid mechanisation

• reduced demand as household incomes increased and money was spent on services

• globalisation of manufacturing, therefore no need for employing large numbers of workers in HICS.

• Increased costs of raw materials and poltitical decicion making (e.g. envirnoment decisions)

How many people in inner-city areas lost their jobs due to deindustrialisation in the UK?

2 mil

Why was deindustrialisation so severe in the UK in the 1950s onwards?

• high levels of protectionism

• trade unions being resistant to changes in industrial practices

• UK investors investing abroad

• outdated plants and machinery

• unfavourable exchange rates

Social characteristics of urban decline:

• poor quality of housing

• higher crime rate →increased fear of crime → segregation

• less services

Geographical characteristics of urban decline:

• inner city decline

Demographic characteristics of urban decline:

• ethinic minorities stay → racial segregation

• richer people mkove out, more working class people in area

Economic characteristics of urban decline:

• lack of employment → less taxes for council

  • youth unemployment

  • lower value housing

Political characteristics of urban decline:

• often areas are forgoteen

• higher political extremism

• civil unrest

Physical characteristics for urban decline:

• derelict buildings

• demolished buildings - >poorer qualty of housing

DIversification:

diversity in different sectors of work/industry

• in Detroit, all money was on car industries - lack of diversification

Decentralisation:

movement of population and industry from urban centre to outlying areas

Urban form

The physical characteristics that make up a built-areas, including shape, size, density and configuration of settlements

is urban form more influenced by physical or human factors?

human factors as technology has allowed humans to conquer some physical factors

Bid rent theory:

the price and demand for real estate changes as the distance from the CBD increases

• different land users such as industry, residential and retail will compete with one another for land close to CBD, as normallly there best land and comms links

Land Value in Urban forms:

with increasing distance from a central point known as the Peak Land Value Intersection ( PVLI), land value declines

what is the most valuable land in urban forms?

PVLI / CBD

Distance Decay:

the interaction between 2 zones of area declines as the distance between them increases.

Burgess model order:

high class housing→middle class housing →working class housing → factories/industries→ CBD

Twilight zone:

an urban zone of a city where industry and residential areas mix and the population is often transitory and constantly moving

What models is Bid Rent theory based on?

3 land use models- Burgess, Hoyt and Ulman

Harris and Ulman’s multiple nuclei model:

• attempts to explain structure of city taking into account complexity and growth over time

• activities and land scatter CBD

• scattered activities attract people from surrouding areas as smaller nuclei, until they grow in importance and influence land value and the growth of activities around them

WHy may bid rent throey model not be fully accurate:

• retailer have moved to locations where there is more space., cheaper

• secondary land value peaks - areas of elevated land price, edge of cities , key transport routes converge increasing accessibility

• regeneration of CBD and innercity areas push land price up

• modern industries like science parks not in models

• does no work well for LICS, squatter settlements

Tokyo’s urban form:

• no CBD - corridors

  • tech centre

WHy do LIC megacities have different urban forms to HICS:

• HICs more likely to have historical places due to being established earlier

• more socieal inequality in LiCS and NEES due to rapid developmet - social inequality

• LICS have to accustom to mass migration very quickly for urban centre → poor planning can raise many issues

Demographic characteristics of Detroit’s decline:

• 1910-1970: millions of African Americans from the South migrated to Detriot in pursuit of manufacturing opportunities → racial tensions

• 36% population below poverty level

• too much infrastructure relative to level of demand → unused builidngs

Characteristics of a world city (using London as an example):

• dominance of national region with great international significance - London

• hQs of international companies - Google, MCdonalds

• Centres of media and communications for global networks - BBC

• Centres of new ideas and innovation in business, economics culture and politics → London was world’s most innovative city ; unis(Imperial)

Physical characteristics of Detroit’s decline:

• white richer families moved to suburbs, city’s poor stayed in Detroit

• very large state - 138 square miles

• high levelf of pollution and contamination→ in 1948, oil pollution killed 11,000 winter ducks

Political characteristcs of Detroit’s decline:

• “crime capital”- 7 out of 10 crimes unsolved

• poor public realm→lack of vision+investment

• poor urban planning

Economic characterics of Detroit’s decline

• (1970s) when car industry experimented with automation, 10s of 1000s of jobs lost → industry shrank more with energy crisis→ 1980s economic recession

• unemployment rate:19%

• lacked industrial diversification ; too dependant on automation

Social characteristics of Detroit’s decline:

• racial tensions

• average police response time - 58 minutes

Contemporary characteristics of megacities:

• environmental problems

• car-dominated urban form - more accessible, higher

• residential differentiation

Differences between a megacity and world city:

megacities predominantly known for its high pop. of >10million

world city predominantly known for large economy and strong influence globally.

London - world city

Osaka - megacity

Urban morphology:

The study of the form of human settlements and the process of their formation and transformation, with refrerence to spatial and structure organisation.

many settlements have their form and morphology controlled by mix of both physical and human factors

Phys factors: Valleys, coastlines, mountains can restrict urban growth, and promte growth in others by offering transport, communication links, natural resources

human factors: political decicions, econ factors (e.g. land value)

technology has allowed humans to bypass some phys restrictions to city growth.