Rise Of The Attractiveness Of Living In Cities – Urbanization

In recent years, more and more people are choosing to live in larger cities, resulting in urbanization. Global urbanization is going up every year. Currently, in several countries around the world, the percentage of the urban population is close to 100%. of the total population - these are Monaco, Singapore, Qatar and Malta. In countries where people prefer to live in larger cities, living conditions and wages are above average.

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What is urbanization?

Urbanization is one of the most well-known phenomena of the 20th and early 21st centuries, although it appeared in antiquity with the emergence of the first cities.

Urbanization is a process of economic, social and cultural changes leading to the development of urban infrastructure, and thus - increasing the population in urban areas. The creation and expansion of new metropolises leads to a situation where people increasingly choose to live in cities instead of less populated rural areas.

However, the concept of urbanization is heterogeneous and complex. It has an economic, demographic, spatial, social, legal and ecological dimension. It can be a process and a state at the same time. It can occur through the creation of new cities, the expansion of existing ones or the transformation of villages into cities.

This causes a change in the lifestyle of visitors. Due to the urbanization rate, countries can be divided into three categories: low (up to 40%), medium (40-60%) and high (above 60%).

How to calculate the urbanization rate?

The urbanization coefficient is expressed as a percentage, and the formula for its calculation is not complicated. To obtain it, the sum of all city residents (of a given region of the country or the entire country) should be divided by the total number of inhabitants in this area, and the result obtained should be multiplied by 100%. For example, if one of the regions is inhabited by 100,000 people, of whom 75,000 live in cities on a daily basis, the urbanization rate is 75%.

Urbanization factors

There are many reasons why people move to bigger cities. The influx of immigrants has been particularly noticeable recently. When such people decide to settle in a foreign place, they usually choose agglomerations. On the other hand, younger people are dominated by the desire to improve their qualifications by studying at the best universities.

An extremely important aspect is more jobs - it is a factor independent of origin or age category. People are opening up and also relocating businesses to more developed areas because there are more opportunities waiting for them. In big cities, there is also a greater tolerance for people with different views.

Advantages of urbanization

The positive effects of urbanization include various economic, social and health aspects. The former include increasing the possibility of finding a job, which in turn leads to a reduction in unemployment. In addition, higher wages guarantee a better standard of living, which has a positive effect on mental comfort. In larger cities, there is also much better access to specialist medical assistance.

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This makes it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle thanks to the help of specialists in a given field, and in the case of disturbing ailments, it is not difficult to find an effective solution to the problem. The process of urbanization has many other advantages. They will certainly become another stimulus for the population of cities by society in the coming years.

The dynamic influx of people to one point creates the need to adapt the space to the urban model.

As the population grows, so does the development of industry, services, transport and infrastructure. Urbanization is followed by spatial development of cities and a change in lifestyle. Large markets are being created, there is an increase in technical and technological innovation, new diversified jobs are being created and the development of enterprises is consequential. Accelerating the rate of economic growth brings with it higher wages and an increase in the quality of life.

Disadvantages of urbanization

However, in economically underdeveloped countries and regions, people coming from overcrowded rural areas end up in shantytowns, usually located on the outskirts. The growth of the urban population is not kept up with the development of infrastructure, and cities are not able to provide all new residents with jobs or housing. This is a phenomenon called apparent urbanization. Such urbanization may result in the growth of "poverty districts".

Source: Łękawa A. (2016)., Vademecum Maturzysty Geografia, Wydawnictwo "GREG", Kraków, Danielewicz J. (2013). "ZarzÄ…dzanie obszarami metropolitalnymi wobec globalnych procesów urbanizacji."