Urbanization Trends: Population Growth and City Development
How Have Cities and Towns Grown?
The urban population refers to the number of people who live in cities. In 1800, only 3% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. In 1950, the figure had risen to 30%, as compared to 50% today.
In developed countries, 75% of inhabitants live in cities, against 40% in developing countries. However, cities in richer countries have stopped growing, while cities in developing countries are growing fast.
By 2017, half the population of developing countries will live in cities.
Most of the urban population lives in towns and medium-sized cities (less than 500,000 inhabitants). However, the number of cities with more than 10 million inhabitants has increased in the past few decades. These cities are called megacities.
In 1950, New York was the only megacity. In 2000, there were 19 megacities and, by 2015, there will be 26. Twenty of these will be in developing countries.
Today, Tokyo is the largest city in the world. More than 32 million people live in Tokyo and its surrounding area.
Cities grow and form extensive urban areas: metropolitan areas, conurbations, and megalopolises.
- The term metropolitan area refers to a large city or metropolis and its surrounding urban areas. This includes outlying towns and suburbs that depend on the city for work and services. Thus, we talk about the metropolitan areas of Madrid and Barcelona.
- If the metropolitan areas of two or more cities meet each other, they create a conurbation. This is the case of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague in Holland.
- If several conurbations meet, they create a megalopolis. These are hundreds of kilometers long. Amongst the largest megalopolises in the world are the Ganges River Valley (Delhi-Islamabad-Lahore and other metropolises), Boston-Washington, and Tokyo-Fukuoka.
What Is the World’s Urban Network?
Cities are the political, economic, cultural, communications, and transport centers for large areas. Moreover, cities are related to other cities and form an urban network. Life on the planet is organized through this network. However, not all cities have the same influence. They have a hierarchy, or order of importance.
- World metropolises, such as New York, Tokyo, and London, have global influence. Important international institutions, the main stock exchanges, and large multinational companies are based there.
- National metropolises are capital cities and cities which have influence in a particular country. Government bodies and large companies are based there. Every country generally has one or two national metropolises.
- Regional metropolises are cities with influence on a particular region of the country.
- Then there are smaller cities, which have influence on a smaller area.
What Are Cities in Developing Countries Like?
The poorest countries are located in Asia, Central and South America, and, above all, Africa.
Cities in these countries are characterized by strong contrasts, produced by differences in wealth. A wealthy minority lives in modern buildings in the best districts. The majority of the population lives in poor areas in the center and, particularly, in shanty towns on the outskirts.
In addition, modern factories live side by side with traditional craft workshops. Although the most advanced services are available to some people, a large part of the population lives by providing traditional services, such as street selling or cleaning shoes.
Urban Problems
In developing countries, economic growth has not been linked to urban growth.
This creates serious problems, such as a shortage of decent housing, high unemployment rates, and consequently poverty and crime; traffic congestion, and air and water pollution.
What Are Cities in Developed Countries Like?
North American and Canadian Cities
Cities in North America and Canada are not very old. They were planned and, thus, were built to a grid plan. The city center is the Central Business District (CBD), which is modern and dominated by skyscrapers.
European Cities
European cities are much older. The city center is the oldest part and is where most of the historic monuments are located. The layout of this part of the city is normally irregular because it was not built following a plan. The CBD is located in the city center, together with many old, refurbished buildings used for housing.
Common Features
In all parts of the developed world, the outskirts of the cities are growing. In North America, over 80% of the population lives in the suburbs.
The main problems in cities in developed countries are high housing prices, traffic, pollution, crime, and poverty.