What is Urbanization?

This blog is all about the process of Urbanization, Urban vs Rural Areas and Causes of Urbanization. It also discusses the Positive and Negative Impacts of Urbanization with detail. This blog will clear the concept of the reasons behind Urbanization and its impacts on Resources and the Environment.

1. What are Urban Areas?

Urban Areas are the regions that are surrounding a city. Most of the residents of Urban Areas have Non-agricultural jobs. These areas are developed, populated and density of Human Structures.

We can characterize the urban areas as the densely populated areas with developed infrastructure. These areas are the most modern areas and are a mix of commercial, residential and other land uses. These are considered as the most important areas and most of the Economic Stability and contribution relies on Urban Areas. There are some types of Urban Areas according to their area and characteristics.

2. What are the Types of Urban Areas?

Following are the Types of Urban Areas:

i. Conurbation:

It is a large urban area that is formed as a result of merge of two cities. This makes a very large area by the merging of two smaller or big cities. Conurbation is a big developed geographical area.

ii. Agglomeration:

Agglomeration is a central city that expands due to including of smaller towns. It is a small city that get extended by addition of nearby small towns into the city. It collectively is a big network.

iii. Metropolitan City:

A metropolitan city is a big city with a population between 1 to 5 million. It is a huge system in which millions of people live and settle in the city. It is a developed and full of opportunities, urban area.

iv. Mega city:

Mega city is a very big geographical area that accommodates more than 5 million people in its region. This is always a big city and have a high population density of more than 5 million people.

v. Megalopolis:

It is characterized as the chain or metropolitan areas and it is a heavily populated urban area. This area is a chain of many large urban areas that are densely populated. It is a biggest urban area network.

This blog is all about Urban vs Rural Areas, Causes and Impacts of Urbanization

2. What is the Definition of Urbanization?

Urbanization refers to the process by which large numbers of people move from rural areas to urban areas, resulting in the concentration of populations in cities.

The process of urbanization was not so frequent and common in the past time. Because the Economical conditions and Lifestyle of the people was almost the same when the world was not much modernized or developed. People mostly take advantages from Agriculture and Natural Resource Utilization as their profession and way of income for them. There were no Industries and also Transportation options. People were living a simple life in which they easily meet the needs of their Family.

After the start of Industrial era and Industrial Processes, the Urban areas started getting modernized and progressed as compared to Rural Areas. As this type of Lifestyle and industrialization grew, the work opportunities and living standards started to improve in Urban Areas. While rural areas, still relies on the agriculture, farming practices and small businesses. The Medical and education facilities were also improving in the Urban areas, while people in rural areas suffer a lot for getting good education and medical facilities. These differences influence the process of Urbanization.

In last few years, as now there is a big difference between Rural lifestyle and Urban lifestyle, so the Urbanization became more frequent and common. As everyone started migrating to Urban Areas in search of job opportunities and upgrading the living standards of their families and also enjoying all the luxuries and facilities of Urban areas. This blog is all about Urban vs Rural Areas, Causes and Impacts of Urbanization

3. What is the difference between Urban Areas and Rural Areas?

4: Why Urbanization is most common?

Urbanization is the most common because it plays a great role in raising the living standards of people living in Rural Areas. There are much more facilities in Urban areas, so people coming from other areas fascinates from its facilities, luxuries and living standards. The focus of this present era is development and progress. So everyone in this world want to raise the standards of living and this is the reason most of the people want to migrate to Urban areas and developed areas. Most of the people want to live luxurious life and are tired of less facilities for Health and Education. This is the reason why Urbanization is common in present era. This blog is all about Urban vs Rural Areas, Causes and Impacts of Urbanization

5. What are the main Causes of Urbanization?

There are many common causes of Urbanization. These causes are as follows:

1. Employment Opportunities:

The employment opportunities of Urban areas are much better than that of Rural areas. People mostly move towards the urban areas to find better job opportunities and work options. The main reason behind it is that, the urban areas contain big and small Industries, Factories, Shops and Offices to work. This is the one of the most Important Causes of Urbanization.

2. Industrialization:

Industrialization is an important factor for attracting the people towards urban areas. It includes all the steps that are required for Industrial processes and transportation for the products so this all collectively makes a network of developed and progressive system that creates many jobs for the people below poverty line. In this way, many people from the lower areas migrate to Urban areas in search of work.

3. Better Education Facilities:

Urban areas are famous for better Educational Institutes, Facilities, Faculty and Economic requirements. While rural areas and sub-urban areas lack Education institutions and resources, and there is a high rate of illiteracy. This quality makes urban areas better than rural areas and cause many people to shift their families to urban areas for better education resources.

4. Better Medical Facilities:

Rural areas and small cities do not have better and suitable medical and health facilities. There is high rate of mortality and diseases in less developed areas. So, people suffer a lot in getting proper medical facilities and Expert Medical Professionals. While Urban areas, have high quality Medical centers and institutes for better medical facilities. The people also want to enjoy better medical facilities.

5. Limited Employment:

There is a very limited Employment opportunities due to agricultural activities in Rural areas. All the basic employments are related to Agricultural Sector. Other employment options are very less mostly in rural areas. Urban areas have many employment opportunities and also the options to choose better work for them. Limited Employment in rural areas cause the people to migrate for better employment options.

These are few main causes of Urbanization. If we can deal with these cause we can control urbanization. This blog is all about Urban vs Rural Areas, Causes and Impacts of Urbanization.

6. What are the Negative Impacts of Urbanization?

Following are some of the Negative Impacts of Urbanization:

i) Water shortage:

As a high population density lives in a specific geographical area, so the fundamental resources such as Food, Water and Shelter become less for the population. The issue of water shortage is on the top of Environmental problems in the present era. Because freshwater is becoming scarce on Earth. Urbanization is the main reason behind water shortages in the world because it holds populations more than the capacity of the available resources.

ii) Pollution:

Urbanization is the biggest reason behind all types of pollution increase. This starts when many people lives in the same area and the city is over-crowded, this cause great levels of wastes and pollution of every kind. Industrial Pollution, Land Pollution, Water Pollution, Air Pollution and Plastic Pollution is very common in urban areas. The ratio of contribution of these pollutions is greater in urban areas as compared to rural areas. It also cause Deforestation in most of the cases.

iii) Green House Gases emissions:

The process of urbanization and development is the biggest source of Green House Gases emissions. It is because the urbanization is the enhancement of Industrial Activities that includes Fossil Fuel Burning, Transportation, Carbon emissions etc. All these gases contributes in Green house gases and produce Warming effect into the Environment, ending up into Global Warming and Climate Change. The excess of urbanization is raising average temperature of the Earth by producing GHGs.

iv) Residential Issues:

If many people from nearby villages and areas will come to a big city or developed urban area, it will be difficult to provide residents to all the migrated people. This is a common problem in urban areas that people struggle to get their homes and proper residents in big cities. There are many such issues include lack of land, lack of resources to afford residence and many other difficulties in Urban Areas. It is difficult to accommodate and live peacefully after migration in Urban areas.

v) Waste Disposal Problems:

When the population is high in a geographical region, the waste production is also high as the population. It is very difficult to plan and strategize the proper disposal and treatment of the wastes. There is no space for dumpsters, and the waste is a lot to manage properly. So, as compared to rural areas, it is difficult to manage and control the wastes in Urban areas, because of excessive consumption of goods and products and a huge amount of waste in comparison with the region.

vi) High Energy Consumption:

There is a high energy consumption in Urban Areas. The energy is consumed by too many appliances in use and the overall consumption become much more than the Rural areas. People of urban areas us more Electricity, Electrical Appliances, Assistive gadgets and many more things that consume Electricity or power in different ways. This makes Urbanization costly because the use of energy in these areas is very high and the consumption continues to increase in these areas.

These are some of the Negative Impacts of Urbanization on Natural Resources and Environment.

7. What is the list of some Positive Impacts of Urbanization?

Following list shows the positive Impacts of Urbanization on Earth:

• Urbanization provides you better Educational Facilities and Institutions.
• It also provides you better Safety and Law facilities than Rural areas
• This also offer better options for Employment and Work Opportunities.
• Urbanization lets you take advantage from better Medical Facilities and guidance from Health Experts in the city.
• It provides you better awareness about latest trends of the world and also the awareness about Development.
• Urbanization may bring Technological and Infrastructural Advances for the cities.

These are some of the positive Impacts of Urbanization. This blog contains Urban vs Rural Areas, Causes and Impacts of Urbanization.

8. Conclusion:

Urban areas are the densely populated and also developed areas in a city or they are made up of combined cities. These areas are of five types, Conurbation, Agglomeration, Metropolitan City, Megacity and Megalopolis. There are many differences between urban and rural areas and so as these differences are the reason behind increased urbanization. The cause of Urbanization includes Employment opportunities, Better Health facilities, Educational Facilities etc. The positive impacts of Urbanization includes Better Medical Facilities, Innovation and Technology, Industries, Job Options etc.

As Urbanization is very useful for progress and development, but it has very bad impacts on the Environment as it is the biggest cause of Pollution, Waste Disposal Problems, Green House Gases emissions etc. We should provide equal facilities to the people of villages and small cities to control Urbanization.

To learn about more topics, Click the links below: https://envinfomania.com/what-is-the-relation-of-industrial-pollution-and-environment/

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