Urban Environments Definitions: Urbanisation: the process by which an increasing percentage of a country’s population comes to live in towns and cities Counterurbanisation: a process involving the movement of population away from inner urban areas to new towns, new estates, commuter towns or villages on the edge or just beyond the city limits/rural-urban fringe Reurbanisation: the development of activities to increase residential population densities within the existing built-up area of a city Suburb: a residential area within or just outside the boundaries of a city Suburbanisation: the outward growth of towns and cities to engulf surrounding villages and rural areas Urban Growth: the growth in the size of a city Urban Sprawl: the unplanned and uncontrolled physical expansion of an urban area into the surrounding countryside Brownfield Site: abandoned, derelict or under-used industrial buildings and land that may be contaminated but have potential for redevelopment Decentralisation: policies that encourage residential and manufacturing growth in towns away from the major state capitals Exurbanisation: when usually affluent people move from the city to rural areas Conurbation: the process whereby urban areas expand into each other to create huge metropolitan areas Urban village: a residential district within a city that houses a community of people sharing a common cultural background
Urbanisation •
Takes place when the urban population is growing more rapidly than the population as a whole
Factors causing urbanisation: • Migration to urban areas • Higher birth rates in urban areas (youthful age structure) • Higher death rates in rural areas (diseases, unreliable food supply, poor water, hygiene)
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Process of Urbanisation
2007
Inward and outward movements Centripetal Movements: the inward movement of people RuralUrban Migration: the movement of people away from the countryside to towns and cities • Occurs mainly in LEDCs and NICs • People believe they will be better off in urban areas than rural areas • Typical migrant is a young, single, somewhat adventurous male • Most migrants have few skills needed in a city
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Chain Migration • Step-wise • From village to nearby small town, then to larger town, then to city Circular Migration • Repeatedly return to home areas and back to city Push factors • Unemployment • Low wages • Natural hazards Pull factors • Better wages • More jobs • Education • Health care • Transport Consequences in LEDCs • Shanty housing and settlements • Distorted population structures (more young men than women) • Primate cities (at least 5 times the population of the next largest city) Gentrification: the reinvestment of capital into inner-city areas (refers mostly to improvement of residential areas) • Common in brownfield sites • May lead to the social displacement of poor people • Occurs when middle class people move into run down inner city areas with the intention of renovating the old buildings • Old buildings are usually restored in keeping with their original character • Increases value of area Urban Renewal: the rehabilitation of city areas that have fallen into decline • London Docklands
Centrifugal Movements: the outward movement of people Suburbanisation • Due to improvements in transport in early 20th Century • Rising wages and living standards met by rising expectations, so housing estates developed Reasons for boom in private housebuilding • Lower costs of living • Very low interest rates • Expansion of building societies • Willingness of local authorities to provide utilities • Increased public transport 3