Cities and Urbanization in a Global Perspective

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Cities and Urbanization in a Global Perspective

• Annegret D. Staiger

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Introduction

• Placing cities historically and globally

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Topics of Discussion

• 1) Kingsley Davis (1965) Theory of Urbanization
• 2) Cities in the year 2000 (links on website)

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1) Kingsley Davis (1965) Theory of Urbanization

• First cities 5,500 yrs ago
• Rapid growth of urbanization in last 100 yrs only
• Prediction by 1990, 50 of world population will
  be urban
• Index of urbanization used urban if 100.000
  people or more in a city

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a) Definition of Urbanization

• Proportion of countrys population in urban
  settlements
• Urban population vs population growth
• Urban spill-over (sprawl) makes definition of
  urban more difficult

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b) Degree of urbanization in whole societies

• Urbanized societies arose in NW Europe, not the
  Tigris/Euphrates
• Obstacles for growth
• Low agricultural productivity
• Feudal social system
• With industrialization, urbanization takes off

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S-Curve of Urbanization

• Example UK
• 1811-1851
• S curve flattens when urbanization reaches 50,
  and bottoms out at 75
• The S-curve graphically

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Where do the Urbanites come from?

• A) proportion in cities larger because rural
  towns grow larger and become cities?
• B) excess of births over deaths in city in
  contrast to country?
• C) people move from country to city?

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Rural-Urban Migration

• Why?
• Agricultural modernization uses more land/capita
• Requires more capital
• Makes it less accessible for rural folks
• Urbanized societies show shift from agricultural
  to non-agricultural employment

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At the end of the S-Curve

• The proportion of rural population is too small
  to provide enough people to cities to sustain a
  steady degree of urbanization
• End of urbanization does not mean the end of city
  growth
• Example Japan decreasing urbanization but cities
  grow by 50

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Does Urbanization in Underdeveloped Nations
Mirror the Experience of Industrialized Nations?

• No cities there grow much faster
• 1940s-50s
• More than 4 average annual gain in developing
  nations
• Compared to 2 average annual gain in
  industrialized nations heyday of urbanization
• Cause is not urban-rural migration but instead
• Natural population growth in country as a whole
• Developing country cities have improved mortality
  rates and only slightly lower fertility
• No decline in rural population, as occurred in
  developed countries
• Problem the rapidly growing population in
  countryside has been absorbed to a good extent by
  cities, leaving country side to be farmed more
  productively, and cities are taking care of some
  of the problems associated with fast-growing
  population
• Rapid growing population requires the same amount
  of land to feed more people than before

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Graphic Changes

• se

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How contemporary Third World Cities differ from
European Citys urban transformation

• Todays Third World Cities Growth is unhinged
  from
• Countrys economic development
• Their urban growth does not contribute to
  economic advancement as it did to industrialized
  cities development
• Predicts that largest city in India will have
  30-60 mio by 2000

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A) What does Kingsley Davis see as the main
problem for the future of cities?B) Was he
right with his predictions?
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Global Change not only of the Natural
environment, but also, the Built Environment

• Cities as symbols of transforming economies and
  societies
• Includes changing social and economic relations
  in our world
• A majority of people will live in urban
  environments
• MDC 75 in urban
• LDC 37 in urban

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Worlds Largest Cities 1995

• Table 1 The Worlds 25 Largest Cities, 1995
•  Country 
• Population (millions)
• Tokyo, Japan 26.8
• Sao Paulo, Brazil 16.4
• New York, USA 16.3
• Mexico City, Mexico 15.6
• Bombay, India 15.1
• Shanghai, China 15.1
• Los Angeles, USA 12.4
• Beijing, China 12.4
• Calcutta, India 11.7
• Seoul, Republic of Korea 11.6
• Jakarta, Indonesia 11.5
• Buenos Aires, Argentina 11.0
• Source United Nations. 1995. World urbanization
  prospects 1994 revisions.  New York, NY UN,
  pp. 132-139 and 143-150. Reprinted with the
  permission of the   United Nations Department of
  Public Information.
•  

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Projected Largest Cities by 2025

• Urban Agglomeration inPopulation(in Millions)
• Tokyo, Japan  28.7
• Bombay, India 27.
• Lagos, Nigeria 24.4
• Shanghai, China 23.4
• Jakarta, Indonesia 21.2
• Sao Paulo, Brazil 20.8
• Karachi, Pakistan  20.6
• Beijing, China 19.4
• Dhaka, Bangladesh 19
• Mexico City, Mexico 18.8
• New York, USA 17.6
• Calcutta, India 17.6
• Delhi, India 17.6
• Tianjin, China 14.7
• Metro Manila 14.7
• Source United Nations. 1995. World urbanization
  prospects. New York  United Nations
  Publication, p. 3.  Reprinted with the permission
  of the United Nations. 

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Los Angeles at Night
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Bangladesh Slum Clearance

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Recycling as a Way of Life - Waste Collecting as
Survival in Lagos, Nigeria
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Petrona Towers

• Petrona Towers,
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia