Urbanisation

Urbanisation = the growth in the proportion of a country's population living in urban areas.

Most urbanisation is happening in LEDCs and at a fast rate.

Urbanisation is linked with economic development.

Urban sprawl = the outward growth of urban areas:

Urban areas develop - growing demand for building land - amount of land is limited - pressure to build on the rural-urban fringe.

The number of people moving away from urban areas to live in the suburban fringe is increasing.

• more space, better living environment, close enough to city centre for work and leisure activities.

Wealthy people in MEDCs are moving from the city centres to the suburbs.

• safer environment, away from slums and squatter settlements.

Rural-urban migration is a major cause of urbanisation. It is the movement of people from the countryside to the cities.

LEDCs

• shortage of services in rural areas, better standard of living in urban areas
• more jobs in urban areas
• subsistence farmers in rural areas - poor harvests and crop failure leads to no income and starvation

MEDCs

• urbanisation occured during the Industrial and the Agricultural Revolutions - machinery replaced labour and leaf people unemployed - people moved to urban areals to work in the factories
• people who left the run down urban areas are going back due to redevelopment

Young people move to cities to find work - young people have children - increase in the proportion of the population living in urban areas (urbanisation)