Global Population Trends and Urban Geography
Population Dynamics
Population Growth Rates
When there is a high birth rate, the population grows. The birth rate in developing countries is 23%, but it has decreased. A significant reason for a high birth rate is high infant mortality. There are differences in fertility rates between countries; in countries with strong birth control policies, the rate is below 3 children per woman. In others, it is more than 5.
Population Structure: Age and Life Expectancy
Low Life Expectancy and Young Populations
The life expectancy in less developed countries is lower than in developed ones. In some countries in Africa, the average life expectancy is less than 50 years. High birth rates and low life expectancy result in a young population. Only 5% of the population is over 65 years old.
High Life Expectancy and Ageing Populations
In developed countries, the life expectancy is around 77 years. Developed countries have older populations; 16% are over 65. The largest ageing populations are found in Japan and some countries in Europe.
Population Pyramids
Population pyramids are bar graphs that show the age and sex structure of a population.
Population: Problems and Policies
High natural population increase can lead to overpopulation. This means there are too many people for the available resources. There aren’t enough food and jobs, and there are too many children for schools, so the country cannot provide basic services. Developing countries have implemented family planning policies to deal with overpopulation, but these policies have had mixed results.
Ageing populations in developed countries create different problems: governments must pay higher costs for pensions, elderly care, and healthcare. Government policies aim to deal with the problems caused by ageing populations by encouraging births and covering the social costs of ageing populations through increased taxes, reducing pensions, etc.
Migration
Migratory Movements Defined
Migratory movements are the movements of people for reasons other than leisure that involve a change in the place of residence. This excludes leisure travel.
- Emigration: The act of people leaving a place for another. An emigrant is the person who leaves their place of residence.
- Immigration: The act of people arriving from another territory. An immigrant is a person who arrives in a place from another territory.
Migrations can be described in terms of 3 factors:
- Nature: Forced or voluntary
- Duration: Temporary or permanent
- Place: Internal or international
Reasons for Migration
People migrate because of push and pull factors:
- Economic reasons: Related to employment, such as job opportunities, higher wages, better working conditions.
- Social reasons: Seeking a better quality of life, a higher standard of living, or to be near family.
- Political reasons: Escaping from wars or persecution. For example, 42 million people emigrate for political reasons.
- Environmental reasons: Escaping from natural disasters. If people have lost their possessions, they may want to start a new life elsewhere.
Most migrants are young adults and represent both unskilled and skilled workers. In destination countries, unskilled workers often work in construction, agriculture, or domestic services. Unskilled labour is often poorly paid, and there is a lot of unemployment. The situation of skilled individuals is different; they often hold good jobs with good salaries.
Types of Migration
- Seasonal: Movement linked with a short-term job.
- Commuting: Movement within the same day for work or study.
- Temporary: Movement where the person does not intend to reside permanently in the country.
- Permanent: Movement in which people have the aim to reside permanently.
Where Migrations Occur Today
Migration has increased over the last two centuries. The majority of migrations are internal; 750 million migrants are internal migrants. Reasons explaining variations in migratory flows include the high cost of transport to distant countries and immigration restrictions in destination countries.
- Internal migration: Depends on a country’s level of development. In developing countries, migration occurs from rural areas to urban areas (rural exodus). In developed countries, migration occurs between cities for study or work. Older people may leave cities for smaller places. Internal migration can cause regional inequalities, including underpopulation and ageing populations in certain areas.
- International migration: Approximately 3% of the world’s population lives outside their country of birth. The three main international migration flows are:
- Between developing countries in the same region with higher living standards or better work opportunities.
- Migrations between developed countries, involving skilled workers who cannot find work at home.
- Emigration from developing countries to developed countries, involving less skilled workers.
Migration in Spain
- Internal migration: In Spain, internal migrations historically moved from rural areas to cities. More recently, flows are between cities and within suburban areas. In the 19th century, the mechanization of agriculture meant less labour was needed, and the industrialization process was beginning, so farmers found work in cities. From 1960-1975, there was a significant rural exodus. Emigrants came from rural areas with stagnant economies and high population growth, such as Andalusia, Galicia, the Castilian Plateau, and Extremadura; they went to Madrid, Valencia, the Basque Country, and Catalonia. Rail transport encouraged these migration flows. The global crisis of 1973 reduced the rural exodus, factories closed, and migrants returned to their places of origin. In the 1980s, internal migration flows were primarily between cities and within suburban areas. Foreign residents move house more frequently than Spaniards.
- International migration: At the end of the 19th century, there was significant Spanish emigration as people escaped poverty. Later, they emigrated for political reasons, becoming political refugees from the Civil War and the dictatorship. In the 20th century, Spanish emigrants left to settle in America. By the 1950s, richer European countries became the main destinations. By 1973, 2 million Spanish people lived abroad.
Cultures and Civilizations
Cultures of the World
Today, there are major civilizations. Each civilization has units called cultures or ways of life. Many distinctions can be made within each culture. Examples of cultures include Western civilization, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, and Mediterranean. Factors that define a civilization include history, religion, language, society, and customs. Each culture is located in a specific place and can span several countries. Within a country, there may be different cultural regions. People from different civilizations can coexist in the same space. Different cultures contribute richness and diversity to the world.
Disappearance of Cultures
Cultures are not static; they change and incorporate contributions from other cultures. A problem arises when one culture is replaced by another, leading to the disappearance of cultures and impoverishing the planet. There is now concern over the support of world heritage. Approximately 300 million people belong to 5,000 indigenous cultures, and many are disappearing. Contacts between cultures can be peaceful, but violent contacts have been common throughout history; nations conquer other nations and implant their culture. The expansion of Western culture is sometimes called acculturation, because people around the world learn about the way of life in the USA and integrate these aspects into their lives.
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism refers to religious movements that apply the content of sacred texts to regulate the life of a society. They believe in one truth, which is contained in the sacred texts, leading them to become intolerant of others that do not share their views. Fundamentalist movements reject principles of the modern world, such as the equality of men and women or laws that are not based on religion. While Islamic fundamentalism is the most well-known and widespread, there are fundamentalists in all three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Urban Geography
Pre-Industrial Cities
Roman City Planning
Two main axes, the North-South (Cardo) and East-West (Decumanus Maximus), cut the grid. At the crossroads, there is a forum, to which other public spaces must be added (theater, amphitheater, baths, temples, circus…). A wall surrounds the city (e.g., Lugo).
Medieval City
Muslims founded some new cities (e.g., Madrid) and revitalized existing settlements (e.g., Toledo, Córdoba) due to their strategic, administrative, and commercial functions. Their plan is a maze of streets around the bazaar and mosque. The old city (medina) is walled. Christian cities arose from the 10th century as defensive enclaves, walled around a market square or main square, where the cathedral and city council are situated. Some maintain the shape of the hill on which they settle (e.g., Vitoria), others extend linearly along a road protected by a castle (e.g., Burgos), and others emerged as bridge control settlements (e.g., Miranda).
The Modern City
During the Modern Age, new towns were not created on the Iberian Peninsula. However, the new star-shaped walls in strategic cities (e.g., Pamplona, Ciudad Rodrigo, Palma) are notable. The checkerboard plan (blocks) was adopted for the new American cities.
Industrial City
The Industrial Revolution completely transformed cities from the 19th century onwards. Textile and metallurgical factories attracted thousands of workers from the countryside. The bourgeoisie abandoned the old town, which was unhealthy, uncomfortable, and constrained by walls, and constructed a new city (Ensanche). Workers were crowded into the old town and in slums or shanty houses. The new town followed the grid plan, with wide spaces between buildings, gardens, wide streets, and elegant homes, connecting the city with the railway station, the new transport system. The division of the kingdom into provinces (1833) also led to the growth of new capital cities, where industry arrived much later. Urbanization was stronger during the 1960s and 1970s (development period), leading to development centers (polos de desarrollo), metropolitan areas, and tourist towns.
Barcelona’s Ensanche
Ildefons Cerdá devised a widening plan for the new town (1855): wide open spaces that urban speculation later compacted. Chamfered corners ease traffic.
Urban Morphology and Structure
The appearance or outward form of a city is influenced by:
- Its location (on flat or raised ground, by a river or harbour, at a crossroads…).
- The plan (Radiocentric, checkerboard, labyrinth, star, irregular).
- The layout of buildings (open or closed blocks), height, and construction materials (brick, stone, tile, slate, painted buildings or not…).
- The land use, which depends on the city’s functions: commercial, residential, industrial, community facilities, cultural…
Urban structure refers to the division of the city into areas with characteristic morphology (appearance) and functions:
- Old Town
- Center or Downtown (North America)
- New Town (Ensanche)
- Outskirts
Spanish Urban System
The Spanish urban system is peripheral, despite the centrality of Madrid and its radial connections. This is partly due to the inland demographic vacuum and the layout of the mountains. There is a predominance of intermediate and small towns, with few large conurbations (e.g., Bay of Cadiz and Algeciras, central Asturias, Guipuzcoa coast, Costa del Sol). The largest are metropolitan areas (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Malaga, and Zaragoza). There is no major inner axis around which urban centers focus, except along the Ebro and Guadalquivir rivers. The highway network of Castile is relatively new. Larger settlements have more features and greater complexity.
Role of Cities in the System
Some cities are linked to the primary sector: coalfields in Asturias and Leon, Andalusian rural towns (olive oil), La Mancha and La Rioja (wineries), Levante and Murcia (horticulture). There are cities with clearly industrial functions (Basque Country, Catalonia, Asturias, Navarra, Madrid metropolitan area). Finally, major national cities (Madrid, Barcelona) specialize in business services, administration, or culture. In provincial capitals with little industry, services also tend to predominate. Some cities specialize in certain types of tertiary activities: ports (Vigo, Algeciras, Las Palmas), tourism (Benidorm, Marbella), universities (Salamanca), etc.
Area of Influence and Urban Hierarchy
Cities supply goods and services to an area that is more or less extensive, depending on their size and specialized functions. The German geographer Christaller (1933) tried to implement a theoretical model of a balanced system of urban centers, but urban areas are never truly homogeneous; relief, borders, or roads prevent this ideal distribution.
Population Dynamics Revisited
Population Growth Stages
The population of a country changes over the 4 stages of the demographic transition model. A Stage 5 has been added to show population decline in MEDCs like Switzerland and Germany.
[Reference to external table/diagram]
Population Structure Analysis
Population structure refers to the number of males and females in different age groups. It is typically shown as a pyramid with males and females on each side, with different age groups forming the layers. The structure of a population is determined by the proportion of males and females and the proportion of people in different age groups.
[Reference to external pyramid diagram]
Key Demographic Terms
Terms used to describe populations:
- High birth rate: A steeply rising population often indicates an LEDC. More children are born in LEDCs because less birth control is used. This is due to cultural and religious pressure, lack of education, or limited access to contraception.
- Infant mortality rate: The number of babies dying before 1 year old. A high infant mortality rate often indicates an LEDC, as healthcare is typically worse in LEDCs.
- Life expectancy: The number of years a person is expected to live. A high life expectancy often indicates a good healthcare system and a MEDC.
- Economically active: People between 16 and 64 years old. A high proportion of economically active people often indicates high earning potential and a MEDC.
- Dependents: People of non-working age supported by the economically active population. A high number of young dependents often indicates a high birth rate and an LEDC. A high number of elderly dependents often indicates a long life expectancy and a MEDC.