How Does The Global Population Increase In Urban Areas

The world that we have grown up in is changing. By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth’s population will reside in urban areas. This will

The period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century is important in the urban development history of Canadian and American. Urbanization is a historical process that contains urban development. Urbanization is a process of population concentration as well as a process that advanced production modes substitute backward modes. At the same time, it is also the process to adapt to the mode of production and to innovate lifestyle. Hence, urbanization is a dynamic process that many aspects of economics, society and culture comprehensively transform caused by the revolution of social productive forces.

Urbanization is a concept that is deeply rooted in the increase in a population within a region in response to the availability of unique opportunities. The opportunities may include the availability of employment chances in factories, investments opportunities in the urban areas, and the presence of sufficient housing and social infrastructure. It is apparent that urbanization began centuries ago in different regions of the world. However, the development of suburban areas has also been an interesting phenomenon over the centuries. Initially, people strived to live in the luxurious houses in major towns and cities. Nevertheless, there was a gradual shift in the desire to live in the cities when various negative impacts of overpopulation

Every settled nation will at some point go through urbanization – the mass movement to urban areas. In the United States, one of the largest examples of urbanization was in the time period 1865 to 1910. By 1900, almost forty percent of all Americans lived in urban towns and cities. This rapid movement brought about substantial change in all aspects of the country. Some aspects were altered more than others, for example society as a whole, the economy, and city government. Urbanization has had a substantial impact on city government, the economy, and society in the time period 1865 to 1910 through various contributing factors in each area. However, this impact was not always beneficial, and many times contributed to the detriment of the

Urban development is the social, cultural, economic and physical development of cities. The development of cities is the main topic of human geography. Urban development can be used in different ways by the researchers. It can cause the price of things to increase fast. Urban development occurs in major cities like New York City, Tokyo, Japan. Urban development started back in the earlier cities like Mesopotamia, Egypt. This spreads the culture that affect people which makes them want to go to the major cities. Over fifty percent of the earth’s population lives in urban areas. Studies show by 2045 that the number of people living in a urban area will increase.

Recently, urbanization has become the newest form of progress. However, it seems that urbanization has created some unforeseen problems. Bocquier suggests “economic uncertainties that prevail in most urban settings lead to a deterioration of living conditions…this deterioration particularly affects the urban poor” (pg. 1). As society began to change and progress at such a quick pace, many people have been left behind and have had to adapt to survive to their new environments.

If the population of the United States grows from 325 million to 400 million over the next 35 years, we will see a greater population in urban areas and the rural areas will turn into cities: “The urban population of developing regions will grow rapidly as people migrate from rural to existing urban areas and transform rural settlement into cities ”. More people and more and larger cities will increase the demand for natural resources.

According to the data from United Nations urbanization prospects 2014, in the early 20th century the urbanized population only accounted 15 percent of the world’s total population. Half century later the pace of urbanization rate accelerated and the figure reached 30 percent in 1950. After nearly 60 years of development, in year 2008 it was the first time that urban population outstripped rural population. Now in 2014 there has been 54 percent of world’s population become urban dwellers. However due to historical geographical and economic reasons, the level of urbanization varies significantly across regions. Highly urbanized regions include Northern America and Caribbean and Latin America with over 80 percent of their total population urbanized.

At the start of the 21st century, for the first time, the global population of cities outnumbered the rural population. In 1950, there were a mere fifty cities with a population of over one million; today there are over five hundred. By 2020, rural populations will cease to increase and virtually all population

In the eighteenth and nineteenth century urban populations grew rapidly through migration from rural areas to find new jobs in the cities created by the industrial revolution, which led to 6,5 million inhabitants in London. In the twentieth century cities kept growing and in the 1950’s around thirty percent of world’s population was urban. The first mega city in the world emerged, as New York City broke the boundary of ten million inhabitants around 1930 (Wendell Cox Consultancy, 2005). In 1990 there were ten megacities that were home to 153 million people which is less than seven percent of the global urban population. In 2014 the amount of megacities has almost tripled to 28 with a population of 453 million people, which account for twelve percent of the global urban population. The total urban population in 2014 was 54 percent (UN, 2014). These numbers can be related to the second important event,

In both developed and developing countries of the world, urban centers have been an alternative center for human settlement and hence, the rate of urbanization is increasing at the turn of this century. Recent studies indicate that at the beginning of the twentieth century, only 10% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. However, currently, half of the world’s population has become urban dwellers (UNCHS, 2002). This shows that urbanization all over the world is expanding from time to time and the change has vast implication on the living conditions of the urban society. Due to rapid urbanization, the concentration of people especially, in cities and towns of developing countries increasingly aggravated the problem of housing.

With the start of globalization and international expansion cities became a more significant part for various industry sectors. By 2000, more than 500 cities had more than one million inhabitants. According to the United Nations, 54% of the world’s population currently live in urban areas. Urbanization combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050, with close to 90 percent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. This significant change of urbanization will lead to challenges in satisfying the needs for housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy supply and employment, as well as for basic services such as education and health care .

If we look at our recent past, cities of the 20th century were built on the basis of function, rationality, technical innovation and changes in social structure; which have laid a foundation for concentrated human population and habitats in the urban area. We thought we were making a great progress in creating a better environment around us, but due to our neglecting urban policies and lack of leadership, we are seeing crisis every day which is facing the global environment leading to the loss of our culture.

Between the years 2017 and 2050, “the United Nations projects that global population will increase significantly by nearly 2.5 billion people putting the global population at around an estimated 9 to 10 Billion people” (Jiang). In the near future it is predicted that the global urban population will nearly double if not possibly triple in size. Which will create a global imbalance in quality of life and put an even greater strain on our planet’s resources as we reach earth’s carrying capacity.

Urbanization according to Aluko O.E is rather subjective and can be given various interpretations. However in this concept it can be defined as the expansion of the number of people living in an urban area that depicts the rate at which people move from rural areas and populate the urban areas. Reports however, from the united nation show that the population at the urban centres has multiplied four times its initial growth since 1960 and would have risen to a projected number of about 5 billion in the year 2030. Report also has it that over 70 per cent of these populations would settle in