Cause of Urban Change (College Board AP® Human Geography)

Movements of Urban Population

• The movement of urban populations leads to several economic and social challenges

• Movements of urban populations take multiple forms, including:

  • urbanization

  • suburbanization

  • counterurbanization

  • reurbanization

Urbanization

• Urbanization is the growth of cities as people move from rural to urban areas

  • Urbanization results from pull factors including:

    • job opportunities

    • educational access,

    • government services

    • healthcare services

  • Urbanization can result in rapid population growth that puts strain on infrastructure and may result in overcrowding and pollution

Suburbanization

• Suburbanization is the movement of people from urban areas to suburban areas

  • The causes of this movement are the presence of highways and automobiles and the desire for larger homes and more property

  • The results of suburbanization include:

    • urban sprawl

    • car dependency

    • urban decline in the original city center

Counterurbanization

• Counterurbanization is the opposite of urbanization and describes the process of people moving from urban to rural areas

  • The causes of counterurbanization include the desire for more land and to leave crowded urban areas

  • Counterurbanization leads to the creation of exurbs

Reurbanization

• Reurbanization refers to the movement of people back to urban centers

  • People often make this move after the revitalization of urban areas and a desire to have access to urban entertainment and business centers without a long commute

  • This process is often accompanied by gentrification and can lead to increasing property values in the city center, which pushes out lower-income residents