URB - Urbanization and Services Overview

Urbanization and Services Overview

Introduction

As you are reading this paragraph more than half of the world's seven billion people live in urban areas. This is a new trend; in fact, since the era of recorded history there has never been another time period with the majority of the population in cities. So why would this happen now? One answer to that question is the fact that suburbs are considered to be urban areas (when the only choices are urban or rural). So in modernized countries there are millions upon millions of people living outsides of central cites who are considered urban dwellers. Another reason is the economic sector. For thousands of years the majority of the people made their living working on the land, but in this era of technology and industry, this is no longer the case. The families that used to live on farmland, no longer do. Finally, the growth of urban sprawl has taken over prime agricultural real estate. Even with all of these changes it is important to remember that there are still areas of the world, such as Asia, where the majority of the people reside (and work) in rural areas.

Essential Questions

• How were the first cities formed?
• What are the patterns of migrations in relation to urbanization?
• What are the differences between urban areas of the world?
• What role does a city play in the economic and social growth of a country?
• What are the various urban models used to identify patterns and the economic focus of cities?
• How can social patterns (dealing with race, gender and socio-economic status) be seen in urban areas?

Key Terms

Select here to download the key terms document for this module. Links to an external site.

 

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