Urban Growth in LICs & NEEs (AQA GCSE Geography)

Causes of Urban Growth

• The UN predicts that by 2030 over 60% of the world's population will live in an urban environment

• Urbanisation usually occurs because people move from rural to urban areas as a country develops

• HICs saw the majority of their urbanisation before 1950

• During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, industrialisation occurred in most towns and cities throughout Europe and North America 

• Many people migrated from rural to urban areas for jobs in the rapidly expanding industries 

Urban Population (% of total population)

United Nations Population Division License: CC BY-4.0

• Since the 1950s, LICs have seen rapid growth in urbanisation, particularly in South America, Asia and Africa

• Between the 1950s and 2000, urban population living in NEEs have doubled and LICs by 2021, developed countries saw growth slow by less than half

• There are three main reasons for urbanisation in LICs:

  • Mass rural-urban migration due to population growth and lack of resources in rural areas: Push factors

  • The lure of the city and the opportunities it represents, although many find informal employment and poor housing 

  • Natural increase: As development occurs, health care improves; this reduces infant mortality and death rates, although birth rates tend to remain high

Opportunities of Urban Growth

• Opportunities for urban growth in NEEs and LICs include:

  • The growth of urban industrial areas which increases further economic development

  • Industrial development increases job opportunities and higher wages

  • Increased market share through industries selling their goods overseas; this increases company profits and taxes paid to their country

  • Better access to services such as education, healthcare, and the internet

  • Access to resources such as clean water, sanitation and electricity

  • Improved living conditions with a safer environment through street lighting and policing

Challenges of Urban Growth

• A major challenge faced by LICs and NEEs is the growth of squatter settlements, particularly in megacities

• They are unplanned and unregulated housing (informal settlements) with little sanitary facilities, freshwater or reliable energy supply

• Depending on the country, these informal settlements are also called:

  • Favelas in Brazil

  • Shanty towns in the West Indies and Canada

  • Bustees on the Indian subcontinent

  • Skid row in the USA

  • Townships in South Africa

• In developing countries, about a quarter of urban inhabitants (1.6 billion) live in these impoverished squatter settlements and by 2030 the UN estimates that 1 in 4 people on the planet will live in some form of informal settlement

• Some cities have 'mega-slums', these are very large, overcrowded areas usually within megacities

  • The largest are found:

    • Nairobi, Kenya with a population of 1.5 million crowded into 3 sprawling settlements of mud huts and tin shacks - Kibera being the largest of the 3

    • Neza, Mexico City, Mexico with a population of 1.1 million people 

    • Dharavi, Mumbai, India with 1 million people in a warren of narrow lanes, interconnected shacks and single room living spaces that double as factories

    • Orangi Town, Karachi, Pakistan with an estimated population of 2.4 million people across 8000 acres of concrete block homes with 8-10 people sharing two or three rooms

    • Khayelitsha in Cape Town, South Africa with a population of 400,000 in iron and wooden shacks

• These unregulated housing present serious risks such as fire, flooding and landslides

• Other challenges are:

  • Dealing with the amount of waste produced as the city grows

  • Air pollution from burning fossil fuels, factories and car exhausts

  • Sewage and toxic chemical pollution of waterways

  • Congestion on poorly managed/planned road systems

  • Lack of public transport

  • Lack of qualified doctors, teachers etc. 

  • High levels of unemployment and crime

  • Informal employment and child exploitation

Case Study - Favela-Bairro Project, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Background

• Brazil is an important agricultural and industrial power, with the strongest economy in Latin America with Brasilia as its capital

• In 1950, Rio de Janeiro (Rio) was the capital of Brazil with a population of 3 million 

• Today it is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo) with a population of over 12.5 million

• Rio is a major trading port, with oil refining and shipbuilding industries

• Main exports are iron, steel and crude petroleum

• Rio is also a major tourist destination and hosted the 2016 summer Olympics and Paralympics

Housing

• Inward migration has put pressure on services and amenities which has led to a housing shortage

• Most rural migrants begin life in the favelas, of which Rocinha is the largest, most developed informal settlement, just south of Rio

• Over 20 per cent of the population live in around 1000 favelas in and around the city

• Found mainly on the edges of the city, on poor quality land that is not suitable for urban development

• People have no legal rights to the land they occupy

• Many of the favelas in Rio are now well-established

• 95% of favela homes are built of solid materials, such as brick, with 75% having a tiled floor

• Some have electricity, running water, televisions, computers and access to the Internet

• The newer and less well-established neighbourhoods are overcrowded, consisting of shelters made from materials like timber and corrugated iron and cling to the side of the mountain

• The majority of the favela's residents illegally tap into the main electrical grid, making electricity poles in the street unsafe with several households connecting to the one pole

• Many households in Rio do not have access to safe, running water as many of the main water pipes are damaged and are leaking  

• Very few houses in the favelas have water directly to their houses

Approaches to improvement

• The government has viewed favelas as eyesores which portray a poor image of the city

• Local communities, charities and government departments work in collaboration to improve conditions in favelas

• The government has to balance improvements without attracting further inward migration and therefore, further favella developments elsewhere

Site and service schemes in Rio

• The Favela Bairro Project (favela neighbourhood project), began in 1994 and ended in 2008

• The aim was to provide essential services to residents and to recognise them formally as neighbourhoods of the city

• Families were taught to build stable foundations using strong materials

• Residents living in homes deemed too unsafe on the steep hillside, were relocated by the local government

• Solid, brick homes were built with power, running clean water and sanitation pipes, reducing the impact of water borne diseases such as cholera

• Some residents were able to purchase the homes and were given legal rights to the land

• The success of these schemes has been mixed, but many living conditions have been improved, but the topography of the area (steep hillsides) has restricted full development

• Improvements are restricted by steep hillsides, heavy rains, floods and landslides

• Funding is limited, making improvement for all residents impossible

• Cultural activities such as samba, capoeira and reggae are run to stop youths from getting involved in gangs and organised crime

Case Study - Lagos, Nigeria

Background

• Nigeria, West Africa has borders with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon

• Nigeria is an oil-rich nation and is predicted to be one of the largest economies in the world

• Nigeria’s largest and most populous city, Lagos, developed on the west side of the sheltered Lagos lagoon, next to the Bight of Benin on the Atlantic Ocean

• Lagos’s population grew during the 1950s when oil was discovered in the Niger Delta, which attracted thousands of people to the city to work

• Although Lagos is not the capital (Abuja is), it is one of the world’s fastest growing megacities (600,000 people per year) and is Nigeria’s leading city in terms of trade and economy  

• Lagos has the fourth-highest GDP in the whole of the African continent

• Lagos has emerged as a major centre for the headquarters of national and global companies 

• The city is a well-connected transport hub with a major international airport and busy seaport providing raw materials for local industries

• The port facility on Tin Can Island in Lagos connects Nigeria to the world through global trade

Changes to Lagos over time

• Mainland Lagos is located on a flat expanse of land, enabling the city to sprawl north and westward

• Airport: major road network connects the airport to the port facilities and main areas (CBD)

• Squatter settlements are close to the lagoon, as many residents work in the informal economic sector or fish in the lagoon. Makoko settlement is built out into the lagoon itself and floods regularly

• Once the centre for the global slave trade, Tin Can Island is now the site of a major container port with imports and exports of national, local and global goods

• Industrial areas, such as Ikeja, provide jobs for low-skilled workers. The northern suburbs have cheaper land and room for expansion

• Lagos Island is the financial hub of the city (CBD), with the headquarters of companies such as Shell Nigeria

• Eko Atlantic is reclaimed land from the sea: A new business hub, close to Victoria Island

• There are wealthy areas such as Victoria Island with gated communities, but also some of the biggest squatter settlements, such as Makoko, home to around 250,000 people

• Rural to urban migration is responsible for the high rate of natural increase and the city’s youthful population

• Some of the 'push' factors include:

  • Poor education and health services in rural areas

  • Crop damage due to frequent droughts and floods 

  • Low wages and long hours for subsistence farming

  • There are few job opportunities other than farming

  • Oil pollution has degraded the land 

  • Climate change is bringing unreliable rainfall to the North of Nigeria

Opportunities available in Lagos

• Lagos attracts 600,000 new residents annually, all seeking a better way of life

• There are 6,300 millionaires that live in Lagos, 330 have a fortune of more than $10 million, 20 are worth more than $100 million; and there are 4 billionaires

• Education: 

  • 68% of the population of Lagos has secondary education

  • In rural areas, 40% of children don’t attend primary school 

  • There are more schools and universities in Lagos than in the rural areas, which attracts migrants with families to the city

  • With education, residents are more likely to find work in Lagos in one its growing industries like finance, film or fashion 

• Health care: 

  • Above average healthcare, and whilst healthcare in Lagos is not free, it is available unlike many rural areas 

  • Life expectancy is 53 years

  • Charities have set up floating healthcare centres on the lagoon in the slums of Makoko and provide primary care, reproductive and maternity care for free 

• Economic:

  • 80% of Nigerian industry is in Lagos

  • Main export is oil

  • Growing fashion and film industry (Nollywood)

  • The CBD and the Eko Atlantic development provide highly skilled jobs 

  • Industrial areas such as Ikeja provide low-skilled work, as does the large container port on Tin Can Island

• Access to resources, water and energy:

  • There are 2 power stations - one hydro-electric and one gas-fired

  • Wealthy houses and businesses have back-up generators in case of mains failure

  • Just 14% of the population of Lagos have a piped and treated water supply to their homes 

  • Rest use public taps, boreholes or buy from vendors

Large container port on Tin Can Island

Challenges of living in Lagos

• Housing:

  • Rapid urbanisation has led to large informal or squatter settlements being built such as Makoko and Ajegunle

  • 75% of families live in just one room, meaning people live in cramped conditions which can spread disease

  • They all have limited access to fresh water, electricity, sewage and education

  • 55% of people use pit latrine toilets; allowing sewage to seep directly into the ground, which can pollute drinking water 

  • Houses are poorly built and prone to flooding: 

    • Makoko: Nicknamed ‘the Venice of Africa’, it is home to approximately 250,000 people. Houses are raised on stilts above the lagoon and made from wood and metal sheeting. There is no running water or sanitation. People travel around by canoe and many work in fishing

    • Ajegunle: In 1972 an estimated 90,000 people lived in 8 km² of land. Now it is 1.5 million people in the same space

• Supplies of water and sanitation:

  • Drinking water in Lagos often contains bacteria or chemical pollutants that lead to diarrhoea

  • Only 14% of people in Lagos have piped water, many dig their own boreholes/wells, or are forced to buy from water vendors

  • Water from vendors can be contaminated if they also obtain water from contaminated sources

  • Water leakages and theft are common

  • Poor wastewater treatment has led to increases in cholera and dysentery 

  • There is a lack of a proper sewerage system in the city, with sewage being disposed of in open drains which flows into the rivers and lagoon

• Energy supplies:

  • Nigeria as a country has energy supply issues despite being an oil exporting nation

  • Street lighting is limited posing a danger to people from passing traffic or violent attacks particularly on women

  • Many people rely on wood or paraffin to cook with, adding to air pollution and health risks

  • Lagos has frequent blackouts, with many wealthy people and businesses relying on generators for their electricity

  • Electricity cables are hi-jacked by a number of people and presents a danger of overloading and fires

• Congestion and pollution:

  • Squatter settlements are overcrowded with narrow streets and little to no street lighting

  • Air pollution rates are 5 times higher in Lagos than the international recommended limit

  • Industrial areas such as Ikeja have poor air and water pollution controls

  • Commuters can spend up to 3 hours a day in traffic – increasing levels of air pollution in the city

  • The fatal accident rate is 3 times higher than in European cities

  • Air pollution lowers life expectancy, especially for people with respiratory diseases such as asthma

  • Animals share living spaces and also spread disease

  • Sewage finds its way into the drinking water, spreading diseases like cholera and dysentery quickly

  • Lagos is the largest producer of solid waste in Nigeria

  • It is estimated that 500 ‘rag pickers’ work at the Olusosun landfill, picking through an estimated 13,000 tonnes of waste a day

• Employment:

  • Unemployment is low at under 5%, but there are no unemployment benefits

  • Many slum residents are forced to work in the informal economic sector, such as street vending, car washing or waste recycling

  • These jobs are often dangerous, poorly paid and unregulated

  • Lagos has high crime levels especially in drug trafficking and gangs

  • The organized gangs of street teenagers and adult males are called the 'Area Boys' or 'agbero' who roam the streets and control slums

  • They extort money from passers-by, traders, motorists and passengers, pickpockets, and sell drugs

• Health and education:

  • Inward migration limits the availability of schools and hospitals

  • Healthcare is not free

  • Limited number of doctors and nurses and pay is poor

  • Lack of motivation for teachers due to poor behaviour of students

  • Poor school conditions and high dropout rates as cost of exams is expensive

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

Makoko floating slum 

Management of challenges

• There are a number of ways that some of the challenges in Lagos have been or are being managed:

  • Sustainable urban development: Through improving residents lives now without destroying opportunities and the environment for later generations

  • Top-down action: Intervention by local and national governments and business projects 

  • Bottom-up action: Communities and individual action

  • Help from non-governmental organisations (NGOs): Funding by donations with no formal links to any government (WaterAid, Educate Nigeria etc)

• Environmental issues, waste disposal, air and water pollution:

  • The authorities encouraging the residents of Makoko to recycle plastics, metals and paper

  • Some of the waste to Olusosun dump is diverted to Makoko, where it is gathered up, compressed down, covered in sawdust and sand to create new land in the lagoon

  • Helps to alleviate waste but also creates new land for the residents

  • Air pollution is being managed through improving the road and rail networks

  • The new light railway will reduce the amount of traffic and congestion along with reducing air pollution

  • Residents are encouraged to use public transport or car share to reduce congestion and air pollution

  • Public information and education have seen a reduction in the amount of raw sewage entering the waterways

  • Stricter pollution controls are enforced, with factories are being fined for polluting the waterways

• Traffic management:

  • Alternative transport options such as rail are being created

  • Seven new lines on a new light-rail network are being constructed

  • A Fourth Mainland Bridge along with improvements on 360 inner roads restored are due to begin in 2023

  • Google maps and radio bulletins advise on traffic issues

  • Businesses are encouraged to allow people to work from home or to work flexible hours to avoid “rush hour” traffic

• Employment:

  • Improved education allows for better job prospects

  • Eko Atlantic development aims to provide skilled employment opportunities as a new CBD for the city

  • Investment is from the local state government but also private investment

  • Building the development will provide several years of employment opportunities for low skilled employment from building roads, houses, offices and infrastructure needed to cope with the estimated 150,000 daily commuters and 250,000 residents

  • Grants via the Trust Fund Bill have helped people become self employed

  • The city has bought 3 helicopters for police to spot crimes such as armed muggings, burglaries and carjacking’s

Eko Atlantic, Lagos, land reclamation and new city hub

• Education:

  • There have been major improvements in the education system in Lagos with the rebuilding of decaying schools, building more schools in areas where access to education was limited and also initiatives where school exams are paid for by the government so that intelligent students from the squatter settlements are able to complete their education

• Urban planning:

  • A grant was awarded to build a floating school in Makoko, which is able to take up to 300 children

  • Designed by NLÉ architects along with the help of local people, and partly funded by the UN Development Programme and NGOs

  • The school is able to adapt to rising water, has solar panels on the roof for electricity, captures and stores rainwater, has an open space for play and classrooms are shaded from the sun

  • It is hoped that the design could be applied to housing on the lagoon

  • The Makoko Regeneration Group gives residents a voice in what happens within their community

  • They have started a regeneration programme where energy, housing and tourism opportunities are begun

  • The plan also encourages new developments such as energy supplies from biogas, a new hotel, low-income housing, a specialized health facility, a research centre on climate change and water resources, a floating market, guest houses on the lagoon and a water transportation scheme

Makoko Floating School, Lagos, Nigeria - a floating triangular frame