AQA GCSE Geography: Urban Change PDF

13.1 13 The global pattern of urban change ✪ KEY LEARNING Urban trends ³ How the world’s urban population is growing How is the world’s urban population changing? ³...

13.1 13 The global pattern of urban change ✪ KEY LEARNING Urban trends ³ How the world’s urban population is growing How is the world’s urban population changing? ³ Where the world’s largest Over half the world’s population now lives in cities. By 2030, it is expected cities are that 60 per cent of the world’s population will live in urban areas, and by 2050 it will be 70 per cent. This process is known as urbanisation. ³ How rates of urbanisation differ between continents Where are the world’s largest cities? The world’s largest cities, with populations over ten million, are known as megacities. In 1975 there were only four megacities – Tokyo, New York, Mexico City and São Paolo. Today, there are over twenty (Figure 13.1) and the number is rising year by year. You may notice that London, the UK’s largest city, is not among the world’s megacities. Its population is not predicted to reach ten million until 2030. That might give you an idea of how big megacities really are. Paris Beijing Tehran Seoul Tokyo New York City Istanbul Shanghai Los Angeles Lahore Delhi Osaka/Kobe Cairo Dhaka Guangzhou Karachi Shenzhen Mexico City Mumbai Kolkata Manila Bangkok Lagos Kinshasa Jakarta Lima Rio de Janeiro São Paolo Buenos Aires Figure 13.1 The world’s megacities in 2015 New York Tokyo City Mexico City São Paolo Figure 13.2 The world’s megacities in 1975 198  Section A: 13 The global pattern of urban change How do rates of urbanisation vary around the world? Rates of urbanisation differ between continents (see Oceania. In these countries, urbanisation has slowed Figure 13.3). The highest rates of urbanisation are in down as the majority of the population already live, in poorer, low-income countries (LICs) in Asia and Africa. In cities. The urban population is ageing, so the rate of most of these countries, a majority of the population still natural increase has also slowed down. live in rural areas and the rate of rural–urban migration One exception to this pattern is South America, with is high. The population of cities is younger, so the rate of many newly emerging economies like Brazil. Here, natural increase is also high. urbanisation happened earlier and has slowed down, There are lower rates of urbanisation in richer, high- even though these countries are not yet among the income countries (HICs) in Europe, North America and richer, high-income countries. 100 90 80 70 Percentage urbanisation Africa 60 Asia Europe 50 South America North America 40 Oceania 30 20 Predictions 10 0 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2011 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 Year Figure 13.3 The urbanisation of the world’s continents, 1950–2050 Geographical skills Activities 1 Look at Figure 13.1. Describe the distribution of the world’s megacities 1 Look at Figure 13.3. by continent. Which continent has most megacities? How many a) Which continents had megacities are in each continent? the highest rates of 2 Compare Figures 13.1 and 13.2. urbanisation in 1950? a) How has the number of megacities changed since 1975? b) Which continents had b) How has the distribution changed? the highest rates of urbanisation by 2015? 3 Make a list of the world’s megacities in Figure 13.1, and name the countries in which each one is found. Try to do this without an atlas. c) Explain why your Then check the atlas to see if you named the correct countries. answers to (a) and (b) are different. 199 13.2 Paper 2: Challenges in the Human Environment J KEY LEARNING How urbanisation happens ➤ Factors affecting population growth What factors affect population growth? ➤ Factors affecting the rate Population growth is the difference between birth rate and death rate. When of urbanisation the birth rate is higher than the death rate, population grows. This is natural increase. When the birth rate is lower than the death rate, population falls. ➤ How the world’s This is natural decrease. megacities have grown World population grows because on average, globally, birth rates have been ➤ Where the world’s higher than death rates. However, there are important differences in birth megacities will be rates and death rates between countries. in future What factors affect the rate of urbanisation? A large proportion of the world’s megacities are in Asia. There are two main reasons: n Asia is where over half the world’s population lives. China and India both have more than a billion people. n The majority of Asia’s population is still rural, although this is changing as people move to cities. Over 50 per cent of China’s population now live in cities compared to just 20 per cent in 1980. There are a number of factors that have led to urbanisation, not just in Asia, Figure 13.4 Shanghai, a megacity in China but in other parts of the world too. Migration Natural increase Rural–urban migration is the main driver of The young population in many urbanisation. Most of these migrants are young. cities leads to high rates of natural They migrate from the countryside to cities increase. Cities also tend to have because of pull factors, like jobs and a better better health care than rural areas, education. so death rates are lower and life expectancy is higher. Location Historically, cities have grown on rivers, Economic development coasts and other busy transport routes Cities that trade are also a good place for business, so where trade can thrive. Even today, they grow economically. It is economic growth that many of the world’s megacities are ports, creates jobs, which attract people, and it is people who which are a good location for trade. bring the ideas and enterprise on which cities thrive. 200  Section A: 13 The global pattern of urban change How have the world’s megacities grown? Cities do not grow at a constant rate. Some cities that grew rapidly in the twentieth century, such as Tokyo in Japan, have now slowed down. Meanwhile, other cities that grew slowly in the twentieth century, such as Lagos in Nigeria, are now urbanising rapidly (Figure 13.5). 40 35 30 25 20 2015 15 2000 1975 10 1950 5 (Population each city ➔ Going further reached by date) 1 Find out more about a 0 city you know. It could Tokyo Mumbai Mexico City Sáo Paulo New York Delhi Shanghai Kolkata Jakarta Dhaka Lagos Karachi Buenos Aires Los Angeles Cairo Manila Beijing Rio de Janeiro Osaka-Kobe Istanbul Moscow be a city in the UK, e.g. London or Birmingham. Answer these questions for your city to explain how Figure 13.5 Growth of the world’s megacities urbanisation happened. n Why did the city first grow? Where will the world’s megacities be in future? n When did its most rapid growth occur? What By 2050, the world’s largest megacity is likely to be one that does not even caused this? exist at the moment! At least, it does not have a name. China has plans to merge cities in the Pearl River Delta to create one large megacity with a n What is the present day population of 120 million. The existing cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and population? Guangzhou would merge to form an urban area twenty times the size of n How is the population London, with a population twelve times bigger. Most of the new megacities changing now, and why? in future are likely to be in Asia, particularly in China and India. Activities 1 Look at Figure 13.4. Explain how each of these 3 Suggest why some megacities are growing faster factors affects the rate of urbanisation. Write a than others in the twenty-first century. For example, sentence for each one. why is Lagos growing faster than Tokyo? (You can a) migration c) location find out more about Lagos in Chapter 14.) b) natural increase d) economic development. 4 a) How many of the megacities in Figure 13.5 have 2 Look at Figure 13.5. By which date – 1950, 1975, a coastal location? Make a list, then check in an 2000 or 2015 – did each of these cities reach a atlas or the map in Figure 13.1 on page 198. population of ten million? b) Why is coastal location an important factor in urban growth? a) Tokyo c) Shanghai b) Mexico City d) Lagos 201