Urbanization

Urbanization, removal of the rural character of a town or area, a process associated with the development of civilization.

Demographically, the term denotes redistribution of populations from rural to urban settlements. The earliest cities in the Middle East date from the 4th millennium bc. In the 16th century, London had a population of about 45,000 and was largely a collection of insanitary hovels grouped along the river. By 1600 the population had grown to 200,000; by 1800 it had reached 1 million; by 1900, 6.5 million. In 1995, it was estimated at 7,007,100. Mercantile cities developed in medieval times and great industrial cities in the 19th century. In the middle of the 20th century at least half of the population of industrial countries lived in towns and cities and about 15 per cent of the population of the non-industrial or developing nations. In 1990, 73 per cent of the developed world lived in urban areas, a figure estimated to reach 77 per cent by 2020. In developing countries in 1990, 37 per cent lived in urban areas, a total that is estimated to reach some 53 per cent by 2020.

Human beings spent the first million years of the existence of the species in scattered communities of inbred groups of approximately 150 people. Ancient peoples were accustomed to face-to-face relations. Now, increasingly, there is increased mobility, impersonality, and huge agglomeration of crowds and dwellings, with a growing number of basic units containing small families or isolated individuals. By the 20th century urban life dominated human society. In Britain, for example, between 1831 and 1931 the proportion of the population living in areas classified as urban rose from 34 to 80 per cent and now stands at 90 per cent.

By the beginning of the 21st century, the populations of world cities are expected to grow to record levels; Sao Paulo is expected to reach 26 million; Tokyo, 24 million; and New York, 23 million. However, as there is no universal agreement over what constitutes an urban area, there have been two different estimates of populations of major cities as predicted for the year 2000 (for example, Mexico City is predicted to reach 26.3 million according to one estimate, and 31 million according to another). More typically, there has been the extension of vast urbanized regions (the megalopolis), for example in New England and on the Pacific coast of California, in which the next phase of suburbanization has occurred. It is thus possible to find under-urbanization, as in provincial Russia where industrial plants have been constructed without the infrastructure of housing and recreation facilities, over-urbanization, as in the Latin American and African centres of urban population, and rapid suburbanization (also known as deurbanization), as in the United States, where towns are linked into a common labour market by advanced transport and communication. This, along with rural migration, has involved a rapid rise in commuting from outer suburbs and new towns. The rapid development of both communication and production has sped up the emergence of a global village.