Contemporary Urban Environments 1

Globally, the number and proportion of people living in urban areas has increased dramatically since 1945. In 1950, 30% of people lived in urban areas. In 2014, just over 50% lived in towns or cities.

In the developed world, the majority of people live in cities, but the urban population has only increased slightly since 1945. This is because urbanisation began much earlier in the developed world than in the developing world - during the Industrial Revolution, many people moved to cities in search of work in mills and factories. Although people are still moving to cities, such as London and New York, similar numbers of people are leaving these cities.

In the developing world, most people currently live in rural areas, but this is changing fast. In many developing countries and emerging economies, old cities are growing in size and new cities are forming, e.g. in Beijing, China, the urban population increased from 4.4 million in 1970 to 20.4 million in 2015.

There are four processes that involve the movement of people into and out of urban areas:

Urbanisation:

• The growth in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
• It usually occurs because of migration and natural increase. People often migrate to cities for easier access to schools and healthcare, and because there are more jobs available.
• Many migrants are young adults - if they have children, the population increases further.
• In developing countries, urbanisation can result in shanty towns - unplanned an often illegal settlements made out of any material available.

Suburbanisation:

• The migration of people from city centres to the outskirts of cities.
• As urbanisation increases, city centres become overcrowded and people desire more space. Improvements to transport links means people can live further away and commute to work. Many people choose to move to the suburbs when they have children or retire.
• A complex pattern of wealthy and poorer areas develop. Wealthier middle-class people may move to the suburbs where there is a better quality of life. Those left behind are poorer and may include foreign immigrants. This can lead to economic and ethnic segregation.

Counter-urbanisation:

• The movement of people out of…