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For most of human history, the majority of people have worked in agriculture Keywords and so have lived in rural areas. The minority of people who lived in the urban urbanisation areas of towns and cities relied on the much greater numbers of agricultural workers to provide food. The 18th and 19th c...

For most of human history, the majority of people have worked in agriculture Keywords and so have lived in rural areas. The minority of people who lived in the urban urbanisation areas of towns and cities relied on the much greater numbers of agricultural workers to provide food. The 18th and 19th centuries saw a great change in agriculture in a number of countries that were becoming industrialised. Changes in agricultural practices meant fewer people were needed to keep the supply of food available. With no work in the local rural area. people moved elsewhere, often to a town or city. As more countries around the world have become industrialised, so an increasing proportion of the world's population is living in cities. This process of increased urban living is called urbanisation. Around the world, people feel attracted to the benefits of urban areas. These include a greater range of services like health and education, better facilities, including water, sanitation and electricity supplies, and more amenities such as parks and entertainment venues. Many people also feel pushed from the rural areas because there is little work and few prospects for improvement. Problems of urbanisation Urbanisation does create some problems. Most people do not live very near their place of work and so they have to travel. Traffic congestion means that the roads become blocked. The emissions from all the vehicles can affect the quality of the air. Although the services in an urban area may be better than those in rural areas, they are put under greater pressure as more people move into that area. Increasing numbers of people have to be supplied with drinking water, for example. Greater numbers of people mean that more waste has to be dealt with. When more people want to live in a particular area it makes the price of land and housing increase. Sometimes this means that only a certain group of people can afford to live there. When people leave their rural communities there is an even smaller population left to work in local agriculture and to support local businesses. These businesses may have to close and other services may be cut.