LESSON 15.6 Urbanisation and urban growth
LEARNING INTENTION By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: • describe urbanisation as a concept • explain the difference between urbanisation and urban growth • summarise the consequences of urbanisation in Australia and the United States.
Tune in Urbanisation rates have increased dramatically over the past 100 years and are predicted to continue.
FIGURE1 Urban and rural population projected to 2050, world, 1500–2050
8 billion
Urban
6 billion
4 billion
2 billion
Rural
0
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2050
1. When did urbanisation start to increase? What are some reasons for this? 2. Why do you think urbanisation is predicted to continue and rapidly increase?
15.6.1 What is urbanisation Urbanisation is the movement of people from the country to the city. It’s part of a country’s internal migration . Cities were formed as a result of people moving from the country and gathering and settling in a central area. The earliest cities emerged about 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia (part of present-day Iran, Iraq and Syria). Originally, these cities depended on agriculture. In 1800, 98 per cent of the global population lived in rural areas and most were still dependent on farming and livestock production — only 2 per cent of people lived in urban areas. However, as cities grew, primarily as a result of the Industrial Revolution and trade development, urban areas became centres for merchants, traders, government officials and craftspeople. By 2008, the proportion of people living in urban areas had increased to 50.1 per cent, and in 2022 the figure had risen again to approximately 57 per cent. It is important to note that the rate of growth has varied in different regions.
TOPIC15 Changing nations – urbanisation and migration 443
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