Chapter 11: An Urban World

Garbage

________ and refuse lay uncollected in open spaces and on the streets, and human sewage was dumped into the city drains because centralized sewerage systems could not be built fast enough to accommodate the speed of urban growth.

Industrial Revolution

In the more developed countries, ________ was partly caused by the increase in migration of people from rural to urban areas.

Industrial Revolution

Before the ________, most cities were concerned with marketing, commercial activities, and craft industries and served as religious and administrative centres.

Define Urban Area.

Urban area is a concentration of people living at a relatively high density and perhaps engaging in some forms of work.

Define City.

It is a legally defined entity, a municipality. They are incorporated places, typically bigger than a town or village, with fixed boundaries and a locally elected government.

Define Urbanisation.

Itis the proportion of the world's population who live in cities. The result of natural increase of a population (births minus deaths) plus migration.

What is Urban growth?

It is increase in area covered by cities.

In rich countries, what percentage of the population live in cities?

Over 60%.

What are the two main reasons cities get bigger?

- Rural- Urban migration- the movement of people from the countryside into towns and cities.
- Natural increase- where the birth rate is higher than the death rate

What causes rural to urban migration?

Push and pull factors. Real or imagined disadvantages of living in a rural area and advantages of living in a town or city.

Push factors for rural to urban migration:

1) Farming is hard and poorly paid
2) Desertification and soil erosion making farming difficult
3) Drought and other climate hazards reduce crop yields
4) Farming is often at subsistence level, producing only enough food for the family, leaving nothing to sell.
5) poor harvests may lead to malnutrition or famine
6) few doctors or hospitals
7) schools provide only a very basic education
8) rural areas are isolated due to poor roads

Pull factors for rural- urban migration

1) Well paid jobs
2) Higher standard of living is possible
3) friends and family living there
4) better chance of getting an education
5) Public transport is better
6) a range of entertainment are available
7) better medical facilities

Define Megacity.

Cities with a population of over 10 million.

What are the three types of megacities?

Slow growing, growing and rapid-growing.

How did four urban hearth areas arose?

Four urban hearth areas arose from:
- Mesopotamia - between Tigris and Euphrates River is modern day Iraq.
- Northern Egypt - adjacent to the Nile River
- Indus River Valley - modern day Pakistan
- Huang Yellow RIver Valley - modern day China

What are the properties and importance of global cities?

-they are key centres for financial institutions, such as banking, insurance, specialized investment organizations, and stock exchanges.

-they contain the headquarters of large corporations, many of which are transnational companies.

-they are typically home to national and/or subnational governments and/or supranational organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank.

-culturally, they are commonly heterogeneous, serving as home to diverse ethnic identities, linguistic groups, and cultural traditions.

-they are transportation and communications centre, with efficient intra-urban movement and various interregional and international links.