Contemporary Urban Environments

Urban area

Region surrounding a city within which most inhabitants have secondary-quaternary level jobs

Features of urban areas

Higher population density

Services and transport- integrated transport system

Increased risk of natural hazard (greater property and land value + higher population density)

Increased housing and employment opportunities

Secondary, tertiary and quaternary industry

Home of local and/or national government

Greater education and further education opportunities

Population of London (medieval city, greater, urban area, metropolitan area)

Medieval City of London- 11,500

Greater London- 7.5 million

Greater London urban area- 8.5 million

London metropolitan area- 14 million

How can different definitions of urban area influence data

Different boundaries can affect range and area of data collection- e.g. if measuring the London metropolitan area it is a megacity (14 million), if measuring Greater London urban area population it’s a millionaire city (8.5 million), if measuring medieval city of London it isn’t even a city (<50,000)

Metacity

20 million+ people

e.g. Pearl river delta (120 million population)

Megacity

10 million+ people

e.g. London metropolitan area (14 million)

Millionaire city

1 million+ people

e.g. Birmingham (1,444,900)

City

50,000+ people

How has the distribution of the most populated cities changed

2020- All Asian/Euroasian, 7/10 were in NEEs, 2/10 in LICs, all mega cities, all known for industry

1950- As many Asian as European, one North American, 7/10 are in current HICs, only one mega city (New York), all known for industry at the time

Change in global urban population

1950 33% urban

2022 56.2% urban

highest rate of urban growth in LICs

Urban pull factors

Job opportunities (factories etc), better health services, further education + higher standards of education, less vulnerability to drought and weather events, aid and international support tends to be focused in urban areas

Rural push factors

Increase in extreme weather events with climate change making agriculture less successful, few education & health facilities, low wages, militia and rebel groups in unstable countries

Government policy promoting urban living

Urban populations easier to control and understand, more concentrated populations are easier to distribute funding for

e.g. Chinese government plan to merge 9 cities together at the Pearl river delta to create an urban area 26x bigger than Greater London (population 120 million)

Counter urbanisation examples

Detroit & New Orleans have experienced population decline- urban farms established in free space

Counter urbanisation reasons

Lack of affordable housing, availability of land for new industry in rural areas, increase in transport systems in rural areas, unemployment, better QoL in suburbanised villages

Conurbation

City that has undergone urban sprawl and has absorbed surrounding towns, villages and smaller cities

e.g. Greater Manchester urban area absorbed Salford

Urban sprawl

Expansion of an urban area into the surrounding countryside

Urban growth

Increase in the number of urban dwellers based on the census definition of an urban area

Urbanisation

Increase in the proportion of a countries population living in urban areas

Alpha++/World cities

Cities that have a great cultural, political and economic influence on a global scale due to their financial status, worldwide commercial power and government influence

Golden triangle- London, New York, Tokyo

Alpha+ cities

Highly integrated cities that complement World cities, filling in advanced service needs and housing multinational governments

Largely in Pacific Asia- e.g. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris

Alpha/alpha- cities

Link major economic regions and states into the world economy

e.g. Chicago, Milan, Mumbai

Beta cities

Cities instrumental in linking their region into the national economy

Gamma cities

Link smaller regions into the national and world economy but aren’t large enough to house advanced producer services

e.g. Zagreb, Lahore, Bristol

Characteristics of world cities

Large population size (generally megacities, some expectations like London)

Global economic influence (London economy> Denmark and Portugal combined)

Geographic location (time zone, accessibility, vulnerability to hazards)

Preferred HQ for TNCs

Global service centres

Major telecom and transport hubs

Resource and learning centres

Politically and culturally developed and diverse

Population of South East England

7.6 million

London economy size

greater than Denmark and Portugal combined

London’s global economic power

Foreign exchange turnover- $1.9 trillion, 37% of global share

598 foreign companies listed on London Stock Exchange

251 foreign banks in London

3 of top 5 law firms in the world are international firms based in London

London as a transport hub

750 thousand people commute into the city every day

5 international airports

Heathrow caters for more international passengers than any other airports in the world

London universities

Imperial College London and UCL in the top 20 universities in the world

London multiculturalism

More than 300 language spoken

Causes of urbanisation

Natural increase (birth rate> death rate)- decrease in future, England death rate exceeded birth rate for the first time in over 50 years

Rural-urban migration

International migration

Global population growth

Global population predicted to reach 8 billion in 2024, reached it in 2023

Rural- urban migration Somalia

Rural inhabitants fled to major cities like Mogadishu (capital city) as internally displaced people in the hope of receiving aid and escaping rurally focused conflict

Pattens of urbanisation since 1945

1945- less than a 1/5th world population lives in urban areas

2008- 56% urban population

2030- almost 70% urban population

Importance of urban areas

Concentration of financial services

Exchange of ideas and creative thought- e.g. universities

Social and cultural centres

Centres of political power and decision making

Economic concentration in UK cities

64 largest cities in UK:

• 54% of businesses

• 54% of population

• 58% of jobs

• 63% of GVA (value of goods and products produced)

• 72% of high skilled jobs

• 78% of new migrants

Urbanisation rate HICs vs NEEs vs LICs

HICs average urbanisation rate of +0.1

NEEs average urbanisation rate of +1.3

LICs average urbanisation rate of +2.2

How does global net urban population change

1.3 people added to global urban population evert second

Suburbanisation

The movement of urban populations, services and employment out of inner urban area into suburbs

Urban resurgence

The movement of people back into urban areas that have experienced decline/counter urbanisation associated with upwardly mobile young people

Changes in significance of urbanisation/counter urbanisation/ suburbanisation/urban resurgence

60s and 70s- suburbanisation as increasing car ownership made commuting more viable

80s and 90s- counter urbanisation most dominant

2000s+ Urban resurgance (mainly Southern cities while Northern cities remain in decline)