Key Issue #1: How have urban areas grown?

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Urbanization – the process by which the population of cities grows

2 Dimensions:1. Increase in the number of people living in

cities2. Increase in the percentage of people living

in cities

A measure of development In PEDs – ¾ of people live in urban areas In PINGs – 2/5 of people live in urban areas An exception – Latin America Why do people move to the city?

o In PEDs – the result of the Industrial Revolution and service jobs

o In PINGs – search for jobs; declining opportunities on the farm

PEDs have a higher percentage of people in cities, but PINGs have more of the large urban settlements

Most of the top ten cities are currently in PINGs

Top Ten cities ranking

Tokyo, Japan

Growth of urban areas in PINGs is the reversal of Western Europe…it is not a measure of development

Where is the growth coming from?o 50% is coming from the countrysideo 50% results from high natural increase

rates

In rural areas – you know the other inhabitants

You might be related to them!

In urban areas – you only know a small percentage of the other inhabitants

The only way for large numbers of people to survive in a small area is through specialization

Each person in an urban area plays a special role to allow the system to function smoothly

High density causes people to compete for survival in limited space

The larger the settlement, the greater the variety of people

Urban areas provide for more freedom to pursue an unusual profession, sexual orientation, or cultural interest

Urban residents are more tolerant of diverse social behavior

His distinctions between urban and rural settlements may still apply in PINGs, but in PEDs, distinctions have blurred

Geographers look for physical definitions to distinguish between urban and rural

City – an urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent, self-governing unito Elects officialso Can raise taxeso Responsible for providing essential services

Central city – a city that is surrounded by suburbs

A central city plus and its contiguous built up suburbs where population density exceeds 1000 people per square mile

About 70% of the U.S. population live in urban areas, divided equally between the central city and surrounding areas

An MSA includes the followingo A central city with a population of at least

50,000o The county within which the city is locatedo Adjacent counties with a high population

density and a large percentage of residents working in the central city’s county

A county between two central cities may send commuters in either direction

Megalopolis – metropolitan areas that overlap

Bosnywash – the areas from D.C., to New York and Boston form a large complex of cities