Issues of Urbanisation (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

Issues of Urbanisation

• Urban areas offer a variety of opportunities to some people and businesses

• For others, migration can result in poor housing, deprivation, and unemployment

• Rapid and unplanned urbanisation creates a range of problems, including:

  • congestion

  • transport

  • employment

  • crime

  • poor environmental quality

• The speed of development is greatest in emerging countries, e.g. Sao Paulo in Brazil

  • Sao Paulo grew from 7 million people to over 20 million in 40 years

  • It is now the second-largest urban area in the Americas

Congestion

• Rapid development leads to large-scale congestion of people and industry

• As rural migrants, with little or no money arrive, there is a lack of affordable housing and demand is high

• Transportation issues mean people will have to live close to their employment

• Temporary or informal settlements develop

  • These add to overcrowding and poor living conditions, contributing to already cramped/congested conditions around the city

Transport

• The provision of roads and public transport tends to be poor in quality, size, and reliability

• Transport systems become easily overloaded and overcrowded

• Urban congestion varies over the week

  • it is affected by the time of day, the weather, and the season

• High numbers of vehicles create high levels of atmospheric pollution: smog

Housing

• Housing is expensive in relation to general wages

  • Many families share one house or just a room

• This creates opportunities for landlords to set high rents and no building maintenance (slum landlord)

• Poor transport links, make inner city housing the most desirable and expensive

• Many houses have no running water or sanitation

• Waste removal is inadequate or non-existent, leading to the spread of diseases

• Lack of access to electricity leads to people burning wood for fuel

  • This causes increased indoor pollution which affects people's health

Employment

• Many people are unable to find formal, regular employment leading to high levels of:

  • unemployment

  • underemployment

  • self-employment

  • informal employment

• The informal sector is the main employment for many people in emerging and developing cities

• Even when there are new factories with regular paid opportunities, these are often too far away from areas where newcomers live

Crime

• Crime is concentrated in areas of high population densities: the congested areas

• Crime is partly due to a lack of job opportunities and large-scale unemployment

• Main criminal activities are:

  • drug and human trafficking

  • drug abuse

  • violence (domestic and social)

  • rape

  • robbery

• The poorest areas of the city (informal settlements) are often ruled by gangs and intimidation

• The wealthier areas experience

  • car theft

  • kidnapping

  • property damage

Education

• Rapid growth of the city means a lack of schools, colleges, and universities due to a lack of places

  • This leads to a lack of general education and skills

• Most families expect their children to work to help support the family

  • This means many children don't attend school regularly

• Literacy & numeracy rates are lowest in emerging countries

Environmental issues

• Waste products and disposal are major issues

• Rubbish dumps are usually just outside city limits with limited or no collection of waste leading to rats etc. 

• Most emerging cities have no adequate sanitation or sewage disposal

• Open defecation is common in local rivers,

  • This increases the spread of diseases

• Air pollution is common from traffic congestion and industrial manufacturing

  • This leads to breathing issues, cardiac and lung problems

• Water pollution is widespread as rivers are used to dump chemicals and other toxic wastes due to a lack of regulations

• Water shortages are common due to over-abstraction

• Water quality is often poor

  • This forces people to buy water from sellers at a high price

• Noise pollution from traffic, people talking, music in public places, etc. 

• Light pollution from street lighting, homes, shops, factories, and offices

• Visual pollution from graffiti, slum housing, traffic congestion, advertising, etc. 

• Urban spread into the surrounding countryside: unplanned and unregulated