The Implications of Rapid Urbanization

1669 Words4 Pages

Urbanization is the process of human migration from rural areas to towns and cities, thus rapid urbanization means that the rate at which the migration from rural to urban takes place is hurried that a country has no time to plan for their existence at the cities. The situation differs from country to country as the number of cities and rural areas in the countries are different. Another possible reason for the difference is the development nature of the countries; some countries are developed, others are developing while others are considered least developed. Urbanization in developed areas can be traced from the industrialization era when the populace migrated from the rural/ancestral home to towns in search of employment.

According to a report compiled by the University of Michigan, the percentage of the human global population living in cities in 1950 was less than 30% and by the year 2000, the figure stood at 47%. The study predicted that by 2025, the figure would be at 60% (World watch, 2011). Rapid migration is as a result of factors which induce the migrations from rural to urban; these factors have been categories into two broad groups- push and pull factors. Push factors are those factors that are influenced by the conditions of the rural areas thus making people move away into cities. Pull factors on the other hand are the incentives that attract people to the cities. Examples of push factors may be political instability of the rural area, insecurity, low standard of education, unemployment, and scarcity of resources. Pull factors are the promise of what is missing at the rural areas: employment, better education, better lifestyle, variety of resources, better health facilities, and a some what political stable...

... middle of paper ...

... Urbanization and mega Cities: The Need for Spatial Information Management.’ FIG REPORT publication No. 48, January 2010. Retrieved on March 9, 2011 from www.fig.net/pub/figpub/pub48/figpub48.pdf

*

University of Michigan, ‘Urbanization and Global Change’ April 1, 2006. Retrieved on March 9, 2011 from http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/urban_gc/

*

WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE. ‘Rapid Urbanization Catching Experts’ Attention.’ Vision for a Sustainable World, March 9, 2011. Retrieved on March 9, 2011 from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/64

*

Zhou, Hongjian, et al. ‘Rapid Urbanization and Implications for River Ecological Services Restoration: case study in Shenzhen, China.’ Journal of Urban Planning and Development: 10.1061. Retrieved on March 9, 2011 from http://ascelibrary.org/upo/resource/3/jupdxx/33

Open Document