6-1: Urbanization
Urbanization
•
Urbanization
: the process
by which towns and cities
are formed and become
larger as more people
begin living and working in
central areas.
•
The process of rapid
urbanization has been
Defining Urban Settlements
1. City
defines an urban settlement that has been legally
incorporated into a self-governing unit.
2. An
urban area
is made up of a city area considered as the inner
city plus built-up surrounding areas. There are two types of
urban areas:
1. An
urbanized area
is an urban area with at least 50,000 inhabitants.
2. An
urban cluster
is an urban area with between 2,500 and 50,000
Metropolitan Areas
3. The functional area of a large city is known as the
metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
It includes:
•
An urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000
•
The county within which the city is located
Central Business District
•
Nearly all towns and cities have a main
business and commercial area known as a
central business district
. Services usually
found in these areas include:
1. Public Services
• Examples: city hall, courts, county and state agencies, and libraries.
2. Business Services
• Examples: advertising agencies, banks, financial institutions, and law firms.
3. Consumer Retail Services
Conurbation
•
Urban realms–parts of giant conurbations; self sufficient suburban sectors
(focused on their own independent Central Business District) – San
Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix (Tempe, Scottsdale)
•
Conurbation
- region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other
urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion
*A U.S. Geological Survey map from 1923, showing the separate towns of
Clovis, Las Palmas, and Tarpey.*
https://
Megalopolis
•
Some adjacent MSAs overlap so that they
now form one continuous urban complex.
•
Extending from north of Boston, MA to South of
Washington D.C., geographer Jean Gottmann
named this region
Megalopolis
, a Greek word
meaning “great city”.
•
Megalopolis
: a concentration of
A the list of world's most populated cities as reported by the UN.
•
1. Tokyo, Japan : 38 million.
•
2. Delhi, India: 25 million
•
3. Mexico City, Mumbai and São Paulo: Each around 21million.
•
4. Osaka, Japan: just above 20 million
•
5. Beijing, China: just below 20 million
World Population Growth
1750-2150
•
About 3 billion people, or 50 per cent of the global population,
already live in urban areas; over the next 25 years, more than 2
billion people are predicted to be added
Source: UN- HABITAT Report 2005; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects, The 1999 Revision
Beijing, the capital city of China, has experienced explosive growth since economic reforms in 1979
• 1978: Beijing in 1978
• 2000: Extent of urban
expansion is clearly visible
Explosive growth in Beijing
1977-1999: The population of Delhi was at 4.4 million in 1975 and grew to 12.4 million in 2000
Growing Delhi and its suburbs
Phenomenal growth in Dhaka
Bangladesh
1977-2000: the capital of Bangladesh has
Growing London city
United Kingdom
• Over 7 million residents
• Population projected to
Unplanned urban developments in Brasilia
Brazil
•1973-2001:
Unplanned urban development
resulted in a
Fastest growing megalopolis in the world
- Mexico City, Mexico
• 1973 -Urban growth is concentrated in the center of the city
• 2000 -Now expands dramatically into
surrounding rural areas
Las Vegas – Fastest growing metropolitan
area in the United States
• 1973: A small settlement
•
2000-2006:The landscape isnow dramatically modified
Drought in the Western United States
Lake Mead
2000
2004
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
Golf courses springing up around Lake Mead
United States
