Rearrange the words to define the two key terms

Key terms

• Urbanisation: an increasing proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas.

– MEDCs during and following the Industrial Revolution (driven by economic development)

– LEDCs since 1950 as a result of migration from rural areas and high rates of population growth in urban areas

• Mega city - a city with a population of more than ten million inhabitants

Urbanisation in LEDCs

• Understand the causes of urbanisation in LEDCs

• Be able to describe the consequences of rapid urbanisation in LEDCs with reference to examples

About one billion people live in ‘slums’The highest concentration is found in Asia – 60% of world slums in AsiaManila population– 10 million44.1% of urban population live in slumsTondo – poorest and most underdeveloped region in the PhilippinesBuilt upon a (now closed) landfill site called Smokey Mountain

Most densely populated global city - 41,014 people/km²Tondo has approximately 80 000 people/km²

Many houses in Manila constructed along the Pasig RiverManila is a natural flood basin and floods frequently

Chairman Tom was born and brought up in Tondo, and runs a community of about 4,000 slum dwellers there. He has six children, and according to Tom "everyday is a struggle".

He sells water for a living and he also makes US$40 a month from renting out property that he built on government land. "What I did is illegal," says Chairman Tom. "But I have to help my people because 90% of them are much worse off than me".

Jemma, a single mother, lives alongside the bridge in Tondo. She and her four children live in a tiny room with no water, no electricity and no sanitation.

Jemma washes clothes to make a living. None of her children go to school and her 14-year-old daughter is already working. "I sometimes get angry with myself because I cannot provide for my children," says Jemma, who starts to weep.

Estella and her husband Cricencio are an elderly couple who moved to Tondo slum from the countryside 20 years ago. They have seven children and they live at the end of an alleyway.

"I have spent many sleepless nights worrying about the threat of fires," says Estella. Her husband Cricencio has another major worry. "The land that we live on is owned privately. We have no contract, no rights, nothing," he laments.

Fire is a major risk in such densely populated shanty settlementsJanuary 2004 – 2500 homes were destroyed in Tondo

Problems of shanty settlements• Housing• Water supply – dirty and expensive• Population density – 80000/km2• Lack of jobs in formal sector• Insecure tender (land ownership)• Few children attend school• Lack of sewerage / sanitation• Rubbish in streets – no municipal waste collection• Disease• Narrow alleyways – a problem for access• ‘Disorder’ – lack of planning

Causes of urbanisation in LEDCs

• Rural to urban migration: movement of people for mainly economic reasons – push factors influence people to leave rural areas and pull factors attract them to the urban centres

• High rates of natural population increase: this tends to be higher in cities as there is a larger proportion of young adults

Push factors• Debt• Desertification• Lack of access to services e.g. medical, education• Poor transport access• Few job opportunities• Mechanisation of farming means fewer people

needed to work in agriculture = unemployment• Land fragmentation• War• Natural disasters e.g. flooding, famine

Pull factors

• Perceived opportunities – fed by media• Quality of housing• Access to services – healthcare and education• More job opportunities• Employment in service and manufacturing

industries will offer higher wages• Transport links

Urbanisation in LEDCs

• Do you?Understand the causes of urbanisation in LEDCs

• Are you?Able to describe the consequences of rapid urbanisation in LEDCs with reference to examples

Consequences of urbanisation in LEDCs

• 2000: 17/20 megacities were located in LEDCs• By 2025 there may be 11 cities with more

than 20million inhabitants in Asia alone• Sprawling conurbations are developing e.g.

Rio/Sao Paulo Extended Metropolitan Region (RSPER) – a 500km long urban corridor

• Increasing inequality within urban areas• Lack of planning/resources for new arrivals• Shanty settlements

Activities

1. Read P193 and describe how shanty towns change over time (flow diagram on P193)

2. Make notes on the ‘Problems of urbanisation in LEDCs’ under the headings economic, social and environmental– P196

3. Make notes on the ‘Benefits of urbanisation’ – P198