Topic 6.

Patterns of urbanisation in developed and developing countries

PATTERN OF URBANISATION IN DEVELOPED CONTRIES

Urban centres or Cities have been the pacemakers of change from centuries; as
they have been the centres of history's great cultural achievements,
technological innovations and political movements, the expansion of these
cities owing to increase in their population either through processes of natural
increase or migration is termed as ‘Urbanisation’. 'Urbanisation as a concept
became widely established throughout the world with the onset of British
agricultural and industrial revolution in the late 18th century as it laid the
foundation for the unprecedented growth in urban population over the course
of the 19th, both through continued migration from the countryside and due
to the tremendous demographic expansion during that period. In England and
Wales, 72% of total population was urbanized in 1981 followed by 37% in France,
41% in Prussia and 28% in the United States. The countries of Europe, North
America and Oceania which includes New Zealand and Australia form the realm of
Developed countries, who today have high levels of urbanisation, accompanied by
low urban growth rates.

Urbanization in Developed Countries:

Prior to 1950, the majority of urbanization occurred in developed countries. Rapid
urbanization took place during the period of industrialization in Europe and North
America in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The present urban system of developed countries is the evolutionary outcome

of more than two millenniums of activities of people living in or migrating to the
countries, but it is only between the decades of 1960 and 1990, that the patterns
of urbanisation became profoundly evident. The people founded, built and
expanded human settlements at suitable locations and made them into cities,
centres of culture, trade and industry. Cities flourished because of their natural
resources or agricultural hinterlands, the skills of their citizens or their
strategic trade location or because they became political or ecclesiastical
centres of power, information and communication. The relatively balanced
growth of urban centres is a distinct and unique pattern of developed
countries’ urbanisation which is in contrast to the average African, Asian, or South
American cities, which are marked by formation of huge urban Agglomerations.
This balanced urban system is a result of certain events and historical processes
that have shaped the present urbanisation pattern initially beginning with high
levels of transportation costs, which transformed the dynamics of the developed
nations.

Pattern of Urbanization In Europe

the internationalization of regional economies in Europe, which in turn has either

strengthened or weakened the role and function of cities in Europe. The pattern
of urbanization in Western Europe at the national regional level therefore differs
from country to country. Some distinct patterns of the urbanisation in Europe in
1990 can hence be described as-
1) Core vs. Periphery in individual countries - In the countries of France, United
Kingdom, Ireland, Greece and Austria one large metropolis dominates the
national urban system, whereas in other peripheral regions there is lack of
connectivity to basic public institutions.
2) South vs. North in individual countries - There is a sharp contrast to the
divergence between the industrial North and the developing South of Europe, but
during the last decade this gap has widened as the southern parts are becoming
prosperous owing to be existing in early phases of urbanisation whereas north is
facing declining growth rates and deurbanisation.
3) Functions of cities - Cities perform a multitude of service and industrial or
political and cultural functions, therefore functional categorization of cities in
Europe is based upon the dominant function that cities perform within an
urban system and also as per the requirement of modern industries.
 Thus, these are the patterns evident within the European system at
national regional level.

Counter Urbanization:
Counter urbanization is the movement of people out of cities, to the surrounding
areas. This process has been occurring in developed countries, since 1950. There
are four main reasons for counter urbanization:
(i) The increase in car ownership over the last 40 years means people are more
mobile. This has led to an increase in commuting. Also, the growth in information
technology (e-mail, faxes and video conferencing) means more people can work
from home.
(ii) Urban areas are becoming increasingly unpleasant places to live as a result of
pollution, crime and traffic congestion.
(iii) More people tend to move to rural areas, when they retire to lead a peaceful
life.
(iv) New business parks on the edge of the cities (satellite towns) mean people no
longer have to travel to the city centre. People now prefer to live on the outskirts
of the city to be near where they work.
This trend has given rise to the growth of suburbs.

The developed nations have come a long way, from being

experiencing massive population increase to declining growth rates, and
experiencing counter-urbanisation to today achieving balanced urban systems,
they are the torchbearers for all the developing and least developed
Nations, globally. The developed countries, with time are now witnessing new
growing challenges in the dynamic process of urbanisation and are countering
them with technological innovations, Government interventions and Public Policy.
Europe, North America and Oceania are all projected to further experience even
lower growth rates, and declining total urban population. The share of these
countries of total urban population has declined all over the world, and today
they have minimum urban population share. Therefore, there has been a
transforming and revolutionary change in trends and patterns all over the world
since 1950s to the present day and projected to change even further.

Urbanization trends in developed and developing regions of the world

 PATTERNS OF URBANIZATION IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
The features of contemporary urbanization in developing countries differ markedly
from those historical experience. Around 1950 most of the erstwhile countries
became independent countries. Most of these countries fall under the developing
country category. Since 1950 rapid growth in urbanization has occurred in these
countries. These are the countries located in South America, Africa and Asia.
Between 1950 and 1990 the urban population in the developing countries doubled
whereas in the same period in the developed countries it was less than half. While
the developing world was still overwhelmingly rural, it already contains over one
third of the world’s urban population and some of the world’s largest cities.

There are two main causes of urbanization in these countries-

1. Rural to urban migration is happening on a massive scale due to population

pressure and lack of resources in rural areas. People living in rural areas
emigrate into the city because they often believe that the standard of living
in urban areas will be much better than in rural areas.
2. Natural increase is caused by a decrease in death rate while birth rates
remain high.
The differences in characteristics of urbanization among the developing countries
can be exemplified by some broad regional groups (Southern Europe, Middle east
and North Africa, East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, Sub-Saharan
Africa and low income Asia).

Pattern of urbanization in middle-income countries of Latin America

This regional group comprises the highly urbanized middle income countries of
Latin America. In this group more than half of the populations already lived in urban
areas in 1975. Although the rate of rural-urban migration is likely to slow down
considerably as this high degree of urbanization is reached. Cities will continue to
grow rapidly as long as natural population growth is not curtailed. The pattern of
urbanization in these countries is characterized by a heavy concentration of
economic activities and wealth in a few very large urban centers, providing a stark
contrast to the economic stagnation and much lower average incomes in many of
the peripheral regions. Although average urban incomes are relatively high,
poverty remains a serious problem in many cities.

Urbanization in Latin America increased in fifty years (1925-1975) from 25.0 to

61.2%. The pace of urbanization, however, declined between 1975 and 2000 and
currently the proportion of people living in urban areas reached 75.3%. Whereas
for the region as a whole during the period 1925-1950 the urban growth rate
almost doubled the total growth rate and the urbanization rate was 2.0%, more
recently, between 1975-2000 the urban growth rate was just almost 50% higher
than the total growth rate and the urbanization rate fell to 0.8%.

Pattern of urbanization in rural countries of Sub-Saharan Africa

This group are the predominantly rural countries of Sub-Saharan Africa where
urban growth is a relatively recent phenomenon but is now very rapid because of
high natural population growth and massive rural-urban migration. Historically,
migration has been one of the major factors shaping urbanization in Africa since
pre-colonial periods. Colonial interests and, later, urban bias in independent states’
policies have long influenced the direction of movement from the rural areas
towards the urban centres. The urban population of sub-Saharan Africa has been
characterized by very high rates of growth since the 1950s. However, in these
countries of Africa the proportion of people living in urban areas will remain small
through the remainder of this century in comparison to the first country group and
most of the cities are of the moderate size by international standards. Urban
poverty is a relatively minor problem when compared with these countries’ rural
poverty. However, not all regions in the continent have experienced the same rates
of urbanization, and there are considerable variations, for example between
Eastern Africa, with only around 22 per cent of its population estimated to be living
in urban areas, and Southern Africa with around 48 per cent. Since this group of
countries is still in the early stages of a very rapid urbanization process, the policies
for guiding the transformation take on special importance.
Pattern of urbanization in low-income Asia

Asia is the largest of all major regions with 30 per cent of the global land mass and
60 per cent of world’s population. With an urbanization rate of 42.2 per cent in
2010, Asia ranked as the second least-urbanized major region of the world after
Africa’s 40.0 per cent. Though they have some of the world’s largest cities, the
countries in this group are predominantly rural and despite intense population
pressures on agricultural land, the level and rate of urbanization are expected to
remain low. This is mainly because cities generally do not offer more attractive
working and living conditions. Indeed, the incidence of poverty is severe in urban
as in rural areas. Nevertheless, the absolute size of urban population in this region
is already very large. For example, in 1975 the urban population of India exceeded
the combined urban population of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

Many large Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are still
predominantly rural, with about one-third of their population living in urban areas.
In the largest countries such as China and India, economic growth is a more recent
phenomenon and has a significant influence on the region’s urban population
growth. China is expected to become 50 per cent urban sometime between 2010
and 2014, while India will have to wait until 2044 to reach this mark. Among the
countries of Asia, Japan is the most urbanized country while Nepal is the least
urbanized country.

In the past, urbanization patterns in Asia were a function of trade and colonization,
with the region already a major contributor to world trade. Settlements developed
with trade along the land-based Silk Road and maritime routes within Asia and all
the way to the West. Colonization spawned urban processing and trade centres
specializing in raw materials and agricultural products. Many settlements
developed as harbour towns or administrative centres. More recently, economic
growth on the back of manufacturing and services sector expansion has led to
accelerated urbanization in Asia. Both demographic and economic patterns have
remained diverse across the region, although up until the 1960s economic growth
was concentrated in a few highly urbanized countries, with most others remaining
largely rural. Subsequent accelerated growth in the 1980s and 1990s changed
Asia’s demographic features and four distinct patterns have emerged in the region,
as follows:
(i) Well-developed countries combine high rates of urbanization (exceeding
60 per cent) and low urban growth rates, like Japan and the Republic of
Korea.

(ii) Other countries, like Malaysia and the Philippines, feature urbanization
rates (40 to 60 per cent) and urban growth rates (two to four per cent)
that are both moderate to high.

(iii) Some other countries combine low rates of urbanization (under 40 per
cent) and fast-growing urban populations, as is typical of China and India.

(iv) Another pattern of urbanization matches low with slow growing urban
populations, as is the case in Myanmar, Nepal and the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic.

Urbanization trends in Asia