Processes of City Growth (College Board AP® Human Geography)

Urban Growth Processes

• Urban sprawl refers to the tendency of cities to grow consistently outward into the surrounding rural areas

• Urban sprawl is the result of the unrestricted growth in urban areas of:

  • housing

  • commercial development

  • transportation corridors 

• Continued growth in these areas results in urban areas taking over ever greater quantities of available land 

• Suburbs, edge cities, exurbs, and boomburbs all result from urban sprawl

Suburbanization

• Suburbanization is a population shift of upper- and middle-class people away from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts

  • Because of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, peripheral urban areas with lower population densities grow

  • Suburbs are characterized by lower population densities and an increase in single-family homes

  • Roads and private automobiles are associated with the growth of suburbs

Edge cities

• Edge cities are economic centers on the fringe of a city

  • They are characterized by extensive amounts of office and retail space

  • Edge cities are typically located along a major road, usually a ring road that surrounds the main city’s central business district (CBD)

Image: An edge city, with an emphasis on services offered and its location on a ring road around the CBD

Exurbs

• Exurbs are prosperous residential areas beyond the suburbs

  • They are characterized by homes significantly larger and more expensive than in either the city or immediate suburbs

Boomburbs

• Boomburbs refer to rapidly growing suburban cities

  • Boomburbs are defined as having more than 100,000 residents but are not the largest cities in their metropolitan areas

Challenges of Urban Growth

• Urban growth is often accompanied by significant challenges.

• Most fast-growing cities are in developing countries

  • Industrialization in these countries has led to less need for farm labor

  • People move to cities for work and educational opportunities

  • Wars, conflicts, and environmental degradation also act as push factors driving people to cities

• Many of these cities face:

  • overcrowding

  • pollution

  • poverty 

• The more rapid the population growth in cities, the more difficult it is for cities to successfully absorb more people

• The population growth of cities, especially in less developed countries, outmatches the economic growth, leading to poverty and inequality 

• There can be significant strain on infrastructure. High population density may overwhelm:

  • housing

  • transportation

  • public services, such as sanitation, water, and electricity