Page 53 - ICSE GEOGRAPHY

Theme 4: Urbanisation

4 Urbanisation

e oft en think of the city as a modern an increase in the number and expanse of
Wor recent development, but cities have cities. It symbolises the movement of people
existed for thousands of years and have their from rural to urban areas. Th e fundamental
roots in the great river valley civilisations diff erence between urban and rural habitats is
of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Indus that the urban population lives in larger, denser
Valley and Ancient China. Cities play an and more heterogeneous areas as opposed
to smaller, more sparse and homogenous
important role in all our lives today and will
continue to do so in the years ahead. Aft er rural places. Urbanisation is a process of
transforming human societies. Rural culture
the Industrial Revolution, urban centres grew
is being rapidly replaced by urban culture.
rapidly and over the past 50 years, there has
Urbanisation is closely linked to
been an explosion in the growth of cities, modernisation and industrialisation.
both in their numbers and in their size. Th is
Urbanisation has intensifi ed recently in terms
is called urbanisation. of the growing megacities.

During the last century, global populations
have urbanised rapidly.
Urbanisation
• 13 per cent of people lived in urban
Urbanisation refers to the general increase settlements in the year 1900.
in the population and the extent of • 29 per cent of people lived in urban
industrialisation of a settlement. It includes settlements in the year 1950.

100%
90% 85% 84%
80% 76% 79% 80%
73% 73% 75%
70% Asia
% urbanised 60% 37% 37% 55% 54% Africa
50%
Europe
40%
30% Oceania
Latin America & the Caribbean
20% Northern America
10%
0%
2000 Year 2030
A graph showing the urbanisation trend of today and in the near future

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