meaning of urbanisation essay

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urbanization

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• World History Encyclopedia - Urbanization
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urbanization , the process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities.

The definition of what constitutes a city changes from time to time and place to place, but it is most usual to explain the term as a matter of demographics . The United Nations does not have its own definition of “urban” but instead follows the definitions used in each country, which may vary considerably. The United States , for instance, uses “urban place” to mean any locality where more than 2,500 people live. In Peru the term is applied to population centres with 100 or more dwellings.

Whatever the numerical definition, it is clear that the course of human history has been marked by a process of accelerated urbanization. It was not until the Neolithic Period , beginning at roughly 10,000 bce , that humans were able to form small permanent settlements. Cities of more than 100,000 did not exist until the time of Classical antiquity , and even those did not become common until the sustained population explosion of the last three centuries. In 1800 less than 3 percent of the world’s population was living in cities of 20,000 or more; this had increased to about one-quarter of the population by the mid-1960s. By the early 21st century more than half of the world’s population resided in urban centres.

The little towns of ancient civilizations, both in the Old World and the New, were only possible because of improvements in agriculture and transportation . As farming became more productive, it produced a surplus of food. The development of means of transportation, dating from the invention of the wheel about 3500 bce , made it possible for the surplus from the countryside to feed urban populations, a system that continues to the present day.

Despite the small size of these villages, the people in early towns lived quite close together. Distances could be no greater than an easy walk, and nobody could live out of the range of the water supply . In addition, because cities were constantly subject to attack, they were quite often walled, and it was difficult to extend barricades over a large area. Archaeological excavations have suggested that the population density in the cities of 2000 bce may have been as much as 128,000 per square mile (49,400 per square km). By contrast, the present cities of Kolkata and Shanghai , with densities of more than 70,000 per square mile, are regarded as extremes of overcrowding .

With few exceptions, the elite—aristocrats, government officials, clergy, and the wealthy—lived in the centre of ancient cities, which was usually located near the most important temple. Farther out were the poor, who were sometimes displaced beyond the city walls altogether.

The greatest city of antiquity was Rome , which at its height in the 3rd century ce covered almost 4 square miles (10 square km) and had at least 800,000 inhabitants. To provide for this enormous population, the empire constructed a system of aqueducts that channeled drinking water from hills as far away as 44 miles (70 km). Inside the city itself, the water was pumped to individual homes through a remarkable network of conduits and lead pipes, the equal of which was not seen until the 20th century. As in most early cities, Roman housing was initially built from dried clay molded about wooden frameworks. As the city grew, it began to include structures made from mud, brick, concrete, and, eventually, finely carved marble.

Essay on Urbanization for Students and Children

500 words essay on urbanization.

Urbanization refers to the movement of the population from rural areas to urban areas. It is essentially the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas. Furthermore, urbanization is quite a popular trend in the contemporary world. Moreover, people mostly undertake urbanization due to more work opportunities and a better standard of living. According to the expert prediction, by 2050, 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be urbanized.

Causes of Urbanization

First of all, political causes play a big role in urbanization. Many people get forced to leave rural areas for urban areas due to political unrest. Therefore, many families go to urban areas in search of food, shelter, and employment .

Another important cause of urbanization is an economic cause. Furthermore, poverty is a widespread phenomenon in rural areas. Moreover, farmers are finding it very hard to earn enough money and make a living. Consequently, rural people move to urban areas in search of better job opportunities.

Education is a strong cause of urbanization. Urban areas offer opportunities for seeking high-quality education. Moreover, urbanization offers opportunities for studying at universities and technical colleges. Such handsome education opportunities attract many young people in rural areas to move to urban areas.

Environmental degradation also plays a part in contributing to urbanization. Deforestation destroys the natural habitat of many farming families. Furthermore, mining and industrial expansion also harm the natural habitat of farming families.

The social cause is another notable reason for urbanization. Many young rural people migrate to urban areas in order to seek a better lifestyle. Moreover, many young people want to escape the conservative culture of rural areas. Most noteworthy, urban areas offer a more easy-going liberal lifestyle. Furthermore, cities have clubs to attract youth.

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Benefits of Urbanization

First of all, urban areas are much more efficient in providing resources than rural areas. Important and basic amenities like housing, clean water, and electricity are easily available in urban areas.

People in urban areas find it quite easy to access to various important services. Most noteworthy, these services are high-quality education, expert health care, convenient transportation, entertainment, etc. Furthermore, some or all of the services are unavailable in rural areas.

Urban areas offer better employment opportunities. Furthermore, these employment opportunities are the result of industrialization and commercialization.

Urban areas play a critical role as creators and disseminators of knowledge. This is because of the highly connected urbanized world. Most noteworthy, the geographical proximity of people in urban areas helps in the propagation of ideas.

Urban areas enjoy the benefits of technological development. Furthermore, many types of technologies get implemented in urban areas. Moreover, urban people quickly get in touch with the latest technology. In contrast, many rural individuals remain ignorant of many types of technologies.

To sum it up, urbanization is a process which is on a continuous rise. Furthermore, urbanization ensures the transformation of rural culture into urban culture. Moreover, the government must be vigilant to the rapidly increasing urbanization. A fully urbanized world looks like the ultimate destiny of our world.

FAQs on Urbanization

Q1 State any two causes for urbanization?

A1 Any two causes for urbanization are high-quality education and good job opportunities in urban areas.

Q2 Why urban areas offer better employment opportunities?

A2 Urban areas offer better employment opportunities due to high industrialization and commercialization.

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Essay on Urbanisation | Urbanisation Essay for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on Urbanisation: Urbanization is the typical characteristic of human civilization and is the center of social life, economy, and politics. Urbanization is a term derived from a Latin word ‘urb’ which means city. The primary need for Urbanization is because it helps people under poverty and pushes them towards the progress of some industrialized urban centers. If the development is not administered aptly, it leads to the rise of pollution, crime, and slums.

Urbanization has demerits more than merits. With planned policies and sustainable land use, urban growth and development can thrive and minimize ecological degradation. Therefore, the government must create a well-developed plan of action and cannot ignore it.

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essays on Urbanisation for Students and Kids in English

We have mentioned two essays 500 words Long Essay and 200 words Short Essay. The long Essay on Urbanization consists of 400-500 words. The Long essay provides a framework that helps students with their competitive exams and assignments. The Short Essay on Urbanization is written for 200 words and is suitable for children and kids with their classwork.

Long Essay on Urbanization 500 words in English

Given below is a long Essay on Urbanization for aspirants of competitive exams and students belonging to classes 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The Urbanization essay helps the students with their class assignments, comprehension tasks, and even for competitive examinations.

Urbanization is the movement of the population residing in rural regions to urban areas. Urbanization has become a popular trend in today’s world. It is one of the most common economic attributes and its gradual growth shifts to the surplus population and industrialization growth. Urbanization holds two conceptual meanings sociological and demographical. Demographically, Urbanization refers to the balance of a population of a region that resides in cities. The sociological reference for Urbanization relates to behavior, worldly things, or institutions that have an identity as an Urban origin.

Urbanization occurs due to the vast opportunities and better standards of living. Experts predict that by 2050, 84 percent of the developed nations and 64 percent of the developing countries will become urbanized. Urban development is highly essential for the national economic development of a society.

Employment is one major cause of Urbanization. The movement of people from rural to urban areas is mainly in search of job opportunities, shelter, and food. Political unrest also plays a vital role in Urbanization. Economic factors are another major cause of Urbanization. Due to the existence of poverty, and the plight of farmers living in rural regions, people move to the urban part looking for opportunities.

The next important cause of Urbanization is high-quality Education facilities. Urban areas offer opportunities for studying at technical colleges and universities that attract students from rural to urban. Ecological imbalance, environmental degradation, industrial expansion, and mining destroy the natural habitats of agriculture-dependent families and contribute to Urbanization.

The social cause is an essential reason for Urbanization. Many young people migrate from urban to rural to escape the conservative culture and seek a better lifestyle. Urban regions contain clubs and pubs, and an easy-going liberal way of living that attracts young people.

Benefits of Urbanization Essay

Urban regions provide efficient resources like clean water, electricity, housing, and other basic amenities than rural areas. The urbanization offers better access to essential services like transportation, entertainment, healthcare facilities, high-quality education, etc. Industrialization and commercialization are the end-products of Urbanization that provide better employment opportunities. Urbanizations are critical creators and disseminators of values and knowledge. The geographical proximity of diverse people aids the procreation of different ideas.

Urbanization holds the benefit of technological development and the implementation of different technologies. Urban people discover and experience the latest tech developments contradicting the rural individuals who remain ignorant of any newest event. Furthermore, some or all of the services remain unavailable in rural regions.

Effects of Urbanization Essay

Urbanization has made life affordable, which has to lead to an increase in population. The migration of people from rural regions to urban has lead to overcrowding and congestion of public spaces and transportation.

Population growth is one major factor that has led to unemployment with a high cost of living. Urbanization has, in turn, made fierce competition in every field to attain more senior positions. Urbanization has also led to elevated rental rates and the increase of slum accommodations.

Urbanization leads to inadequate facilities and contributes to problems such as typhoid, diarrhea, and plague. This has led to the elevation of crimes, kidnaps, thefts, rapes, murders, and hijackings. Traffic and road congestion is other main challenges faced by urban city people. Thus, Urbanization is a solution and harm to humanity. With is vast benefits, it also holds effects that cause the problem to man.

Short Essay on Urbanization 200 words in English

The 200 words short essay mentioned below is suitable for kids and children up to 6th standard. The essay is written to guide the children with their school works-assignments and comprehension exercises.

Urbanization means the movement of man from least developed parts in search of better facilities. Urbanization leads to the disappearance of forests and agricultural lands for modern buildings that lead to the migration of farmers into the cities.

A developed region facilitates resources like electricity, clean water, housing, and other necessities than rural areas. The urbanization offers better services like entertainment, transportation, high-quality education, healthcare facilities, etc. that fosters better lifestyle and living conditions.

The large-scale urban development has contributed to India’s economy. It expands the production system, thus paving the way to large scale manufacture of goods and services. The booming economic development leads to the growth of cities and towns.

Rapid Urbanization around the world has lead to the growth of severe causes in big cities. It has lead to an increase in population all around the world. The advancement in the field of science and medicine, have decreased death rates and increased birth rates. Thus, the population is a growing factor of Urbanization.

Rapid Urbanization and growth of expanding trade and businesses in India have lead to rural-urban migration. The extension of cities and towns has led to the destruction of many agricultural lands in rural regions.

Thus, Urbanization is a continuous rising process. It ensures the transformation of rural culture into the urban culture, and the government must be observant of the rapidly pacing Urbanization.

10 Lines on Urbanization Essay in English

• Urbanization is the transformation of rural areas into urban. It leads to the movement of people from rural to cities.
• Urbanization impacts the concentration of population towards the regions that provide higher income categories.
• Experts have stated that by 2050, 84 percent of the developed nations and 64 percent of the developing countries will become urbanized.
• Urbanization occurs mainly in search of job opportunities, shelter, and food.
• Urbanization leads to environmental degradation, industrial expansion, ecological imbalance, and mining.
• Urbanization leads to commercialization and industrialization and provides people with housing, electricity, and clean water.
• Urbanizations leads to overpopulation, unemployment, traffic, and congestion of public spaces.
• Urbanization has led to an increase in crimes, kidnaps, thefts, rapes, murders, and hijackings.
• The urban development increases the economic development of a country through higher though income capita.
• Creating awareness can resolve problems related to Urbanization.

FAQ’s on Urbanisation Essay

Question 1. What is meant by Urbanization?

Answer: Urbanization is the transformation into cities. This sees the movement of a particular section of the population from the rural regions migrating to urban areas.

Question 2. State a few critical causes of Urbanization.

Answer: Urbanization has led to high-quality education, excellent job opportunities, quick access to basic amenities, technological enhancements, etc.

Question 3. How does Urbanization benefit People?

Answer: Urbanization has led to the advancement of industries, thus providing people with resources like clean water, electricity, housing, transportation, entertainment, healthcare facilities, etc.

Question 4. What are the harmful effects faced due to Urbanization?

Answer: Urbanization causes a plethora of problems such as increased population growth, deforestation, traffic and road congestion, increased crime rates, a decrease in natural resources, pollution, etc.

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Urbanisation Essay

500+ words urbanisation essay.

Urbanisation is an integral part of development. It is an index of transformation from traditional rural economies to modern industrial ones. The process of urbanisation started with the industrial revolution and resulted in economic development. Urban areas are an integral part of India’s development and growth. It accounts for two-thirds of India’s GDP. India’s urban population has increased rapidly over the past decade and this rapid urbanisation is set to continue in the future. This urbanisation essay discusses the opportunities that urban areas have and the major challenges faced by them. So, students must go through this essay to gather the information and then try to write the essay in their own words. They can also get the list of CBSE Essays on different topics to practise essays on various topics.

Meaning of Urbanisation

When people move from village or rural areas to towns/cities or urban areas for better job opportunities where they can get involved in non-agricultural occupations such as manufacturing industry, trade, management etc. is known as urbanisation. People mainly migrate to cities in search of jobs, new opportunities and to have a better lifestyle.

Urbanisation in India – History and Present Situation

Urbanisation in India is said to have begun somewhere around 600 B.C. culminating in the formation of early historical cities. During ancient and medieval periods of Indian history, the kings established various capital regions, which developed into towns. For example, Pataliputra (now Patna) and Vaishali developed as towns during the Magadh rule. Kanauj was the capital town of Harshavardhana in Uttar Pradesh. The establishment of the East India Company and the onset of British colonial control of India from the seventeenth century led to the growth of the urban centres of Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. These cities (except Delhi) developed along the seacoast in the respective regions where the British had established administrative systems in various provinces.

In the present scenario, the urban population is growing rapidly. Because of this, opportunities are also increasing. Urbanisation in India is mainly due to the expansion of cities and the migration of people. Investments are made in housing, urban transport, road network, water supply, smart cities, power-related infrastructure and other forms of urban management.

Consequences of Rapid Urbanisation

Rapid urbanisation often leads to both healthy and unhealthy consequences and aspects.

Positive Aspect of Urbanisation

Urbanisation resulted in the development and setting up of many industries in the cities. Manufacturing units and the service sector started to grow in the urban areas. This has created employment opportunities for the people. This has resulted in rural-urban migration and caused the “industrialisation urbanisation process” to set in. The growth of cities has given rise to external economies. Urbanisation results in changes in the attitudes and mindset of the urban people resulting in modernisation in behaviour. This indirectly helped the country to attain faster economic development.

Negative Aspect of Urbanisation

Growing urbanisation has increased the congestion in urban areas, which has resulted in problems like traffic jams and too much concentration of population. Too much population is another unhealthy aspect of urbanisation. It has created urban chaos related to housing, education, sanitation, pollution, medical facilities, growth of slums, unemployment, violence, inadequate water supply, overcrowding etc. All these resulted in deteriorating the quality of human life.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Urbanization.

Urbanization is the process through which cities grow, and higher and higher percentages of the population come to live in the city.

Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies

Crowded Tokyo Street

With more than 40 million residents, Tokyo, Japan, is a megacity. Another effect of urbanization is urban sprawl.

Photograph by Pola Damonte via Getty Images

Human populations have tended to increase over time. As more people were born, small groups of individuals found reasons to come together to form groups and, with the advent of agriculture , small sedentary communities. A small number of these settlements grew into what we now call cities. This kind of growth often corresponds with a shift from one way of organizing labor to another.

The world population has grown significantly and our economies have become more industrialized over the past few hundred years. As a result, many more people have moved into cities. This process is known as urbanization . Even after cities emerged, however, a large majority of people lived and worked in rural areas. It was not until large-scale industrialization began in the eighteenth century that cities really began to boom. Nearly half of all people now live in urban areas. They are attracted by jobs in manufacturing and the professions, as well as by increased opportunities for education and entertainment.

Urbanization is often discussed in reference to countries that are currently in the process of industrializing and urbanizing, but all industrialized nations have experienced urbanization at some point in their history. Moreover, urbanization is on the rise all over the globe.

One effect of this huge increase in people living in urban areas is the rise of the megacity , which is a city that has more than 10 million inhabitants. There are now cities with even more than that. Tokyo, Japan, for example, has nearly 40 million residents. Another effect of urbanization is urban sprawl . Urban sprawl is when the population of a city becomes dispersed over an increasingly large geographical area. This movement from higher density urban cores to lower density suburbs means that as cities expand, they often begin to take up significant tracts of land formerly used for agriculture . Sprawl also increases the need for travel infrastructure, such as roads, because people’s homes are likely to be farther away from where they work and the amenities they enjoy.

As we move forward in the 21st century, the global population is likely to continue growing. Urban areas will continue to grow with the population. This continual growth presents complex challenges as we prepare for the cities of the future. How we choose to manage urbanization will have consequences for our world for many years to come.

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Urbanization

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Urbanization is the process by which rural communities grow to form cities , or urban centers, and, by extension, the growth and expansion of those cities. Urbanization began in ancient Mesopotamia in the Uruk Period (4300-3100 BCE) for reasons scholars have not yet agreed on. It is speculated, however, that a particularly prosperous and efficient village attracted the attention of other, less prosperous, tribes who then attached themselves to the successful settlement.

The historian Lewis Mumford notes that:

...though permanent villages date only from Neolithic times, the habit of resorting to caves for the collective performance of magical ceremonies seems to date back to an earlier period…The outline of the city as both an outward form and an inward pattern of life might be found in such assemblages (1).

This process, then, gave rise to the densely populated centers which came to be known as 'cities'. The historian Helen Chapin Metz proposes that the growth of the cities in Mesopotamia was the result of the inhabitants struggling to cope with the environment. She writes:

The civilized life that emerged at Sumer was shaped by two conflicting factors: the unpredictability of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which at any time could unleash devastating floods that wiped out entire peoples, and the extreme fecundity of the river valleys, caused by centuries-old deposits of soil. Thus, while the river valleys of southern Mesopotamia attracted migrations of neighboring peoples and made possible, for the first time in history, the growing of surplus food, the volatility of the rivers necessitated a form of collective management to protect the marshy, low-lying land from flooding. As surplus production increased and as collective management became more advanced, a process of urbanization evolved and Sumerian civilization took root (2).

The Rise of the City

The earliest city to rise in the region of Mesopotamia is considered by modern-day scholars to be Uruk, around 4500 BCE, and then that of Ur around 3800 BCE, both of which were then situated in proximity to the banks of the Euphrates River. To the Sumerians , however, the first city was Eridu which was founded in 5400 BCE but probably was not a `city' in the same way that Uruk or Ur would be defined (see definition of City). In the myth of Inanna and the God of Wisdom, the dictates of civilization, known as the meh , are taken from Eridu to Uruk and it is thought the subject of this poem represents the shift in paradigm from a more pastoral way of life (symbolized by Eridu) to one more urbanized (represented by Uruk). The structure of the city, and the security of urban living, seems to have attracted the populace of the region to urban centers although the theory has been suggested that the populace was forcibly removed from agricultural holdings and re-located in the cities whose rulers then appropriated the lands for the state. This theory, however, fails to account for the continuation of urbanization throughout the history of Mesopotamia or its replication in other nations.

By the year 2600 BCE Ur was a thriving metropolis and, by 2900 BCE, was a walled city with a population of approximately 65,000. Urbanization, however, continued as the city expanded out from the center and, in time, the once fertile fields which fed the populace were depleted. The over-use of the land, combined with a mysterious shift in the Euphrates which drew the waters away from the city, resulted in the complex finally being abandoned around 500 BCE. Eridu, for perhaps similar reasons, was abandoned in 600 BCE and Uruk in 650 BCE. Though many factors no doubt contributed to the decline of cities such as Ur ( Sargon of Akkad plundered the city in 2340 BCE, for example, and repeated military excursions against the city persisted through the ages with the Elamites finally sacking the city in 1750 BCE), it has been suggested that urbanization and, especially, the over-use of the surrounding lands for farming, was a central cause.

Urbanization & Overuse of Resources

At the center of Ur, as with all of the cities in ancient Mesopotamia, was the great temple which was the locale of ceremonial, commercial and social functions. Religious activities, such as festivals, were the main social gatherings of the time and these occasions were often used to distribute surplus food and supplies to the populace of the city. The priests of the temple, who were also the rulers of the city from about 3400 BCE, were responsible for this distribution and relied heavily on the farmers of the region to supply such surplus as they needed (a role which would eventually be taken over by the king, as royalty superseded the priestly class in power in the third millennium BCE with the emergence of the warrior-king known as the 'Lugal', meaning “Big Man”). This excess production of the countryside not only supplied the population of the city with food but also increased long-distance trade with other cities along the Euphrates such as Tikrit and Eridu. As urbanization continued, however, the need for more and yet more raw materials depleted the natural resources of the region and, eventually, led to a lack of necessary assets and the abandonment of the city.

Egypt 's Answer to Urbanization

Urbanization spread from Mesopotamia to Egypt and, from there, to Greece and it seems, early on, that the lesson of the city of Ur, and others, was heeded by later urban centers. In Egypt, especially, great care was taken with the land to prevent the less desirable consequences of urbanization from toppling the great cities of Pharaoh so that focus could remain steady on cultural aspects such as the development of writing , architecture , laws, administration, sanitation, trade, and craftsmanship (all thought to have originated in Mesopotamia at Uruk). Professor George Modelski, of the University of Washington, writes:

Some students of the ancient era have been known to argue that, unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt lacked anything that could be regarded as cities in modern terms. That great country did have temples, palaces, and cemeteries, often of monumental proportions, as early as the fourth and third millennia, but its capitals seem to have lacked remarkable size and have left little evidence either of intellectual life or of commercial activity. As John A. Wilson put it: `For nearly three thousand years, until the founding of Alexandria , Ancient Egypt was a civilization without a single major city'.

This claim, however, is countered by Professor M.E. Smith of Arizona State University who claims that:

Because archaeologists have failed to find large cities in Egypt prior to Akhenaten 's capital at Amarna in the New Kingdom period (1350 BCE) Egypt has sometimes been contrasted to Mesopotamia as a `civilization without cities'. This label masks a distinctive form of urbanism, however…Egypt did not lack cities; rather its urban systems were structured differently from the more familiar form of Mesopotamian cities ( The Sage Encyclopedia of Urban Studies , 26).

Egypt, it seems, understood both the benefits and the costs of urbanization and opted for “dispersed urbanization characterized by smaller, more specialized urban settlements” (26). This same paradigm holds true for the urban centers of the Maya , at least in their planning, but the seemingly universal progression of urbanization led to the depletion of natural resources and, as Smith notes,

Nearly all ancient urban societies engaged in deforestation, often with disastrous consequences for soils and the water table. In temperate latitudes forests were cut down for firewood and construction materials…In tropical forest settings, forests were cleared for agricultural production. Most ancient cities were ultimately destroyed or abandoned (27).

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The rise & fall of cities.

The artificial environment of the city, which subjugated the surrounding natural environment to the needs of the populace, consistently is seen to eventually deplete and destroy the very resources which gave rise to the city. As urbanization increased, rural lands decreased and, as Mumford writes,

...the blind forces of urbanization, flowing along the lines of least resistance, show no aptitude for creating an urban and industrial pattern that will be stable, self-sustaining, and self-renewing. On the contrary, as congestion thickens and expansion widens, both the urban and the rural landscape undergo defacement and degradation, while the unprofitable investments in the remedies…serve only to promote more of the blight and disorder they seek to palliate (14).

This cycle of rise and fall of cities is seen repeatedly in many cultures around the world. Why it happened so frequently in some regions, such as Mesopotamia, and not in others, such as Greece, is a question still debated by scholars and historians. Some assert it is simply a matter of over-population (as in the case of the Maya) while others point to an overuse of the land (as at Ur and other Mesopotamian cities). Neither answer is completely satisfactory and most likely it is a combination of many factors, a lack of forethought among them, which led to the destruction or abandonment of so many ancient cities.

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Bibliography

• Helen Chapin Metz: Iraq - A Country Study , accessed 1 Dec 2016.
• The Natural History of Urbanization by Lewis Mumford, Chicago, 1956 , accessed 1 Dec 2016.
• Leick,G. The A to Z of Mesopotamia. Scarecrow Press, 2010.

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Mark, J. J. (2014, April 07). Urbanization . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/urbanization/

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Mark, Joshua J.. " Urbanization ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified April 07, 2014. https://www.worldhistory.org/urbanization/.

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Urbanization

The world population is moving to cities. Why is urbanization happening and what are the consequences?

By: Hannah Ritchie , Veronika Samborska and Max Roser

This article was first published in September 2018, and last revised in February 2024. We'd like to thank Diana Beltekian for great research assistance.

More than half of the world's population now live in urban areas — increasingly in highly dense cities. However, urban settings are a relatively new phenomenon in human history. This transition has transformed the way we live, work, travel, and build networks.

This topic page presents an overview of urbanization across the world, extending from the distant past to the present, and projections of future trends.

See all charts on urbanization ↓

Urbanization across the world today

Number of people living in urban areas, more than 4 billion people – more than half of the world – live in urban areas.

For most of human history, most people across the world lived in small communities. Over the past few centuries – and particularly in recent decades – this has shifted dramatically. There has been a mass migration of populations from rural to urban areas.

How many people live in urban areas today?

In the visualization, we see estimates of the number of people globally who live in urban and rural areas. More than 4 billion people now live in urban areas.

This means over half of the world lives in urban settings. The UN estimates this milestone event – when the number of people in urban areas overtook the number in rural settings – occurred in 2007.

You can explore the data on urban and rural populations for any country or region using the "Change country or region" toggle on the interactive chart.

Share of population living in urban areas

How does the share of people living in urban areas vary between countries?

In the chart shown below, we see the share of the population that is urbanized across the world.

Across most high-income countries – across Western Europe, the Americas, Australia, Japan, and the Middle East – more than 80% of the population lives in urban areas. Across most upper-middle-income countries – in Eastern Europe, East Asia, North and Southern Africa, and South America – between 50% to 80% of people do. In many low to lower-middle-income countries, the majority still live in rural areas.

But this is changing quickly. You can see how urbanization rates are changing with time using the "Edit countries and regions" toggle on the interactive chart. For many countries, you see a rapid migration of populations into towns and cities.

How urban is the world?

What we know about urban populations and why it matters.

Before looking in more detail at the differences in estimates of urban populations, we should first clarify what we  do know:

• Globally more people live in urbanized settings than not (disputes in these figures are all above the 50% urban mark);
• The broad distribution and density of where people live across the world (sometimes at very high resolution);
• Although it can seem like our expanding cities take up a lot of land, only a bit more than 1% of global land is defined as built-up area; 1
• rates of urbanization have been increasing rapidly across all regions (in 1800, less than 10% of people across all regions lived in urban areas );
• urbanization is expected to continue to increase with rising incomes and shifts away from employment in agriculture ; 2
• disagreements in urban population numbers arise from definition or boundary differences in what makes a population 'urban'.

Whilst disagreement on the numbers can seem irrelevant, understanding cities, urbanization rates, the distribution, and the density of people matters. The allocation and distribution of resources — ranging from housing and transport access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities — should all be dependent on where people live. Understanding the distribution of people in a given country is essential to make sure the appropriate resources and services are available where they're needed.

The UN's 11th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to " make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable ". If our aim is to develop resource-efficient, inclusive cities, understanding how many people they must provide for is essential for urban planning.

Let's, therefore, look at the conflicting estimates of how urban our world is, and where these differences come from.

UN estimates: More than half of the world’s population live in urban areas

At first glance, this seems like a simple question to answer. Figures reported by the United Nations (UN) deliver a straightforward answer. 3

In the chart here we see the share of the world's population living in urban and rural areas, extending from 1960. 4 This is based on nationally-collated census figures, combined with UN estimates where census data is unavailable. As of 1960, the rural segment constituted more than 60% of the population. By the year 2007, the distribution between urban and rural residents had equalized, representing a balanced share of the population. However, since then, the share of individuals residing in urban areas has escalated, exceeding 50% of the total population.

The UN figures are the most widely referenced and cited on global urbanization. However, they're not without their critics: some researchers suggest that far more people live in urban areas than these figures suggest. Why are they so contested?

How is an urban area defined?

'What defines an urban area?' lies at the center of these debates.

There is currently no universal definition of what 'urban' means. The UN reports figures based on nationally defined urban shares. The problem, however, is that countries adopt very different definitions of urbanization. Not only do the thresholds of urban versus rural vary, but the types of metrics used also differ. Some countries use minimum population thresholds, others use population density, infrastructure development, employment type, or simply the population of pre-defined cities.

In the table, we highlight the varied definitions across a selection of countries. The UN World Urbanization Prospects database also provides a full  downloadable list of statistical definitions for each country.

National definitions of 'urban area' as used for a custom selection of countries 5

The table illustrates the broad range of definitions between countries which compromises cross-country comparisons. And since the reported global figure is simply the sum of nationally reported shares, the lack of a universal definition is also problematic for these aggregated figures.

Even if we could define a single metric to use — such as a minimum population threshold in a settlement — countries adopt very different thresholds.

In the chart here we have mapped the minimum population threshold for countries that adopt this within their definition of 'urban'. 2000 and 5000 inhabitants were the most frequently adopted threshold. However, the variation across countries was vast. Sweden and Denmark set this threshold at only 200 inhabitants; Japan at 50,000 (a 250-fold difference).

European Commission estimates: More than 8 in 10 people live in urban areas

Critics of current UN figures, therefore, say that such varied definitions of 'urban' lead to a significant underestimation of the world's urban population. Researchers from the European Commission, for example, reported that 85% of people live in urban areas. 6

Its project, Atlas of the Human Planet , combines high-resolution satellite imagery with national census data to derive its estimates of urban and rural settlements.

The European Commission applied a universal definition of settlements across all countries:

• Urban centers (cities) : must have a minimum of 50,000 inhabitants plus a population density of at least 1500 people per square kilometer (km 2 ) or density of build-up area greater than 50%.
• Urban clusters (towns and suburbs) : must have a minimum of 5,000 inhabitants plus a population density of at least 300 people per square kilometer (km 2 ).
• Rural areas : fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.

Using these definitions, it reports that around 44% of the world lived in cities, 43% in towns and suburbs, and 13% in rural areas in 2020 . This makes the total urban share 87% in 2020 ( more than 6.8 billion people ). The reported urban share by continent is shown in the chart below.

The European Commission's estimates are also not without its critics. Researchers at the Marron Institute of Urban Management (New York University) challenged these figures as a gross overestimation. 7

The authors suggest multiple reasons why such figures are too high: based on agricultural employment figures, they estimate urban populations cannot exceed 60%; the low urban-density threshold adopted by the European Commission means entire cropland regions are classified as urban; and that this low-density threshold is inconsistent with observed population densities on the fringes of cities.

Will we ever reach a consensus on urban population?

Clearly how we define an urban area has a significant impact on its estimated population. The UN figures report one-third fewer people residing in urban areas compared to the figures reported by the European Commission.

While there are clear differences in estimates at the global level, the overall trend in urbanization at national levels (regardless of their definition) is still important. It's vital for India, for example, to know that since 1990, its urban population has more than doubled . The rate of this change is important for its evaluation of progress, demographic change, and national planning. The lack of consensus on figures at the global level therefore shouldn't overshadow what they represent at national levels.

But would the world adopt a standardized definition? The UN Statistics Division has convened multiple expert groups in recent years to try to work towards a common definition, but none have been successful.

With such a wide array of national definitions, achieving this would be a difficult task. Countries have the right to define what they consider to be urban and rural settlements. One proposed option is to maintain individual definitions for national figures but to adopt a new universal definition for estimating the global and/or regional share.

This may, at least, bring us one step closer to an agreement on how urban the world really is.

Urban slum populations

Share of people living in slums, just under 1-in-4 urban dwellers live in slum households.

Quality of living standards in urban centers is of course an important measure of wellbeing. One metric of living standards is the share of the urban population living in slum households. A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, and durability of housing.

The most recent global estimates suggest just under 1-in-4 people in urban areas live in slum households.

The share of the urban population living in slums by country is shown in the chart. This data is available from the year 2000. Here we see that in the latest data, most countries across Asia and Latin America had between 10 to 50% of urban populations living in slum households. Slum households are most prevalent across Sub-Saharan Africa; in most countries, more than half of the urban populations live in slum households, and in some (such as Chad) around 8 in 10 people live in slum households.

We see that over time, for most countries, the share of the urban population living in slums has been falling. For example, in Vietnam, almost half of the population lived in slums in 2000. This figure has dramatically reduced to approximately 5% in recent years.

Number of people living in urban slums

This map shows the total number of people living in urban slum households in each country.

Urban density

Urban agglomerations.

Although the definition of 'urban' gives us some indication of population densities, it does not differentiate between those who live in small versus large urban settings. In the chart, we show the percentage of the total population that lives in agglomerations greater than one million people (i.e. large urban agglomerations). These figures are available in absolute terms (the total number of people living in large urban settings), found here .

Here we see large differences across the world. Smaller city-based nations such as Kuwait, UAE, Japan, Puerto Rico, and Israel tend to have high rates of large urban agglomeration: more than half live in large cities. Across much of the Americas, 40 to 50% live in large urban agglomerations. Most other countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa lie somewhere in the range of 10 to 40%.

There are a few countries that have a very low prevalence of large cities — in Germany and Poland, for example, less than 10% of the population live in cities over 1 million despite having large urbanization rates .

Population in largest city

We can also look at this centralization effect through the share of the urban population that lives in the single largest city. This is shown in this chart.

Here we have a handful of countries — such as Mongolia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Liberia, and Armenia — where more than half of the country's urban population live in its largest city. Overall, this share tends to be higher in countries across Africa and Latin America; a share of 30 to 50% is common. Rates across Europe, Asia, and North America are highly variable, ranging from over 40% to less than 10%.

City populations

Population of the capital city.

In the chart below we see the world mapped based on the population of each country's capital city. In 2018, Japan's capital — Tokyo — had the largest population of the world's capital cities at over 37 million people. This was followed by Delhi (India) at over 28 million; Mexico City (Mexico) at 21 million; and Cairo (Egypt) at 20 million.

Across the world, the most common capital size was in the range of 1 to 5 million people.

Population of cities

Many cities across the world have grown rapidly over the past 50 years in terms of their total population. The chart shows the estimated population of the world's 30 largest cities (by 2015 population) from 1950 to 2015, with projections through to 2035. 8

Beijing in 1950, for example, had a population of around 1.7 million. By 2015 this was more than 10 times higher, at more than 18 million. By 2035 it's expected this will increase further to more than 25 million. Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh) increased from less than half a million in 1950 to almost 18 million in 2015 (and is projected to reach more than 30 million by 2035). Using the "Edit cities" in the top-right of the chart, you can browse trends for the largest 30 cities.

Related chart – population density of cities. This chart shows the population density of cities across the world

Long-run history of urbanization

Urbanization over the past 500 years, migration to towns and cities is very recent – mostly limited to the past 200 years.

How has urbanization changed over longer timescales – over the past 500 years?

In the map below we see how the share of populations living in urban areas has changed in recent centuries. Data on urbanization dating back to 1500 is available only for select countries, with an estimated share at the global level. Using the timeline on the map (or by clicking on a country) you can see how this share has changed over time.

Here we see clearly again that urbanization has largely been confined to the past 200 years. By 1800, still, over 90% of the global (and country-level) population lived in rural areas. Urbanization in the United States began to increase rapidly through the 19th century, reaching around 40% by 1900. 9 By 1950 this almost reached 65% and by 2000 1 in 8 people lived in urban areas.

China and India had similar rates of urbanization until the late 1980s. 10 By then, both had around 1-in-4 living in urban areas. However, China's rate of urbanization increased rapidly over the 1990s and 2000s. Over this 30-year period, its urban share more than doubled to more than half. India's rise has continued to steadily rise to around 1-in-3 today.

Urbanization over the past 12,000 years

The recency of urbanization becomes even more pronounced when we look at trends for countries and regions over even longer timescales – the past 10,000 years. This is shown in the visualization here, derived from the work of the History Database of the Global Environment . 11

As we see, urban living is a very recent development. For most of our history, humans lived in low-density, rural settings. Prior to 1000, it's estimated that the share of the world population living in urban settings did not reach 5%. By 1800, this share reached around 8%; and by 1900 had increased to around 16%.

Related chart – urban land area over the past 10,000 years. This chart shows the change in urban land area dating back to 10,000 BC.

Future urbanization

What share of people will live in urban areas in the future, by 2050, more than two-thirds of the world will live in urban areas.

The past 50 years in particular have seen a rapid increase in rates of urbanization across the world. Are these trends likely to continue?

The UN World Urbanization Prospects provide estimates of urban shares across the world through 2050. These projections are shown in the chart — using the timeline you can watch this change over time.

Across all countries, urban shares are projected to increase in the coming decades, although at varied rates. By 2050, it's projected that 1 in 7 people globally will live in urban areas. In fact, by 2050 there are very few countries where rural shares are expected to be higher than urban. These include several across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Pacific Island States, and Guyana in Latin America.

Why, when most countries are expected to be mostly urban , is the global total just over two-thirds? This seems low but results from the fact that many of the world's most populated countries have comparably low urban shares (either just over half or less). For instance, India, which is anticipated to become the world's most populous nation, is estimated to have slightly over half of its population living in urban areas by the year 2050.

The other map shown here provides a snapshot overview of how the world is expected to continue to become more urbanized. It shows, for any given country, whether more people (the majority) live in urban or rural areas. Using the timeline feature and "play" button in the bottom-left of the chart, you can explore how this has changed over time. In 1950, it was predominantly high-income countries across Europe, the Americas, Australasia, and Japan that were largely urban. A century later — in 2050 — it's projected that most countries will have more people living in urban areas than not.

How many people will live in urban areas in the future?

By 2050, close to 7 billion people are projected to live in urban areas.

In the chart, we see estimates of urban and rural populations in absolute terms, projected through to 2050. Projected population growth based on the UN's medium fertility scenario. By 2050, the global population is projected to increase to around 9.8 billion. It's estimated that more than twice as many people in the world will be living in urban than in rural settings.

These trends can be explored by country or region using the "Change country or region" function in the top-right of the chart.

Using our timeline map of urbanization you can explore how countries are expected to transition from predominantly rural to urban in the coming decades. There we see that by 2050 it's projected that the majority of countries will have a majority (greater than 50%) of people living in urban areas.

How do living standards change as people move to urban areas?

Populations urbanize as they get richer.

In the chart, we show the relationship between the share of the population living in urban areas on the y-axis, and average income (gross domestic product per capita) on the x-axis. Here we see a strong relationship between urbanization and income: as countries get richer, they tend to become more urbanized.

The link between urbanization and economic growth has been well documented. 12

Urbanization is complex, however: there are many recognized benefits of urban settings (when developed successfully) including high density of economic activity, shorter trade links, utilization of human capital, shared infrastructure, and division of labor. 13

Is there causal feedback by which urbanization is also a predictor of future economic growth? The evidence for this is relatively weak  — assessments of this effect suggest that countries with a higher initial urban population share do not achieve faster or slower economic growth than countries with a low initial urban population share. 14

Urban populations tend to have higher living standards

There are many examples —  across broad areas of development —  that suggest that, on average, living standards are higher in urban populations than in rural ones. Some examples include:

• in nearly all countries electricity access is higher in urban  areas than in rural areas;
• access to improved sanitation is higher in urban areas;
• access to improved drinking water is higher in urban areas;
• access to clean fuels for cooking and heating is higher in urban areas;
• child malnutrition is lower in urban settings.

Note, however, that it is difficult to infer causality between urbanization and these examples. Since urbanization shows a strong correlation with income, such relationships may instead simply show the effect of higher incomes on electricity access, sanitation, drinking water, and nutrition. Furthermore, there can also be significant inequalities within urban areas; this is evidenced by the fact that across many low-to-middle-income countries, a high share of the urban population lives in slum households (which lack access to all of the basic resources).

Agricultural employment falls with urbanization

It would be expected that changing where populations live will have an impact on types of employment. Rural-urban migration has been empirically linked with the structural transformation process: as urban population shares increase, employment tends to shift from agriculture towards industry/manufacturing, or services. 15

In the chart, we see the share of people employed who are in agriculture (y-axis) versus the share of the population living in urban areas (x-axis). Here, in general, we see that agricultural employment tends to decline with urbanization. In our blog post 'Structural transformation: how did today's rich countries become deindustrialized?' we discuss and look at the data on this agriculture-industry-services shift in more detail.

Although this agriculture-urbanization link tends to hold true for most countries, there are a couple of clear outliers. Sri Lanka, Samoa, and Barbados, for example, appear to show relatively low levels of agricultural employment despite being predominantly rural. For Sri Lanka, this anomaly is explained by low urbanization rates, rather than relatively low levels of agricultural employment  — a labor share of just under 30% in agriculture is similar to neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In the case of Barbados and Saint Lucia, low agricultural production and employment are common for many small island states .

Definitions and measurement

How is an urban population defined.

There is no universal definition of what constitutes an 'urban area'. Definitions of an urban settlement vary widely across countries, both in terms of the metrics used to define them, and their threshold level. The UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018) database provides a downloadable list of underlying data sources and the statistical concepts used to define 'urban' by country. 5

In the chart, we have mapped the minimum threshold level of the number of inhabitants in a settlement needed for it to be classified as an 'urban area'. The data shown for a given country is its nationally-defined minimum threshold. When we look at the frequency at which a given threshold level is used by a country, we see that 2000 and 5000 inhabitants are the most frequently adopted (by 23 countries each). However, these ranges vary widely: Sweden and Denmark, for example, use a threshold of only 200 inhabitants whereas Japan adopts a very high threshold of 50,000 inhabitants.

Note that 133 countries do not use a minimum settlement population threshold in their 'urban' definition. Some use a variation of population density, infrastructure development, pre-assigned city populations, or in some cases no clear definition.

The UN adopts national definitions in its reporting of urban versus rural populations. This means urban populations are often not comparable across countries. Global urbanization trends also encounter this issue: world urban population is reported as the sum of nationally defined urban populations (therefore summing metrics/thresholds that are not directly comparable).

How is a slum household defined?

UN-HABITAT defines a slum household as a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area who lack one or more of the following 16 :

• Durable housing of a permanent nature that protects against extreme climate conditions.
• Sufficient living space which means no more than three people sharing the same room.
• Easy access to safe water in sufficient amounts at an affordable price.
• 4. Access to adequate sanitation in the form of a private or public toilet shared by a reasonable number of people.

Sometimes a fifth criterion is included:

• Security of tenure that prevents forced evictions.

It should be noted that although a single categorization of a 'slum household' is given, the conditions and level of deprivation can vary significantly between slum households. Some households may lack only one of the above criteria, whereas others may lack several.

How is urban density defined?

The density of a geographic area is measured on the basis of the average number of people per unit of area (for example, the number of people per square kilometer, km 2 ). It's therefore calculated as the population divided by the land area for that given population.

But what does urban density mean? Here, again, we encounter difficulty in agreeing on the standard boundary definition of what constitutes an urban area. The standard metric adopted (and encouraged) by the UN for urban density is the so-called "urban agglomeration population density".

An urban agglomeration is defined by the UN as:

The term “urban agglomeration” refers to the population contained within the contours of a contiguous territory inhabited at urban density levels without regard to administrative boundaries. It usually incorporates the population in a city or town plus that in the suburban areas lying outside of, but being adjacent to, the city boundaries. Whenever possible, data classified according to the concept of urban agglomeration are used. However, some countries do not produce data according to the concept of urban agglomeration but use instead that of ‘metropolitan area’ or ‘city proper’. If possible, such data are adjusted to conform to the concept of ‘urban’ agglomeration. When sufficient information is not available to permit such an adjustment, data based on the concept of city proper or metropolitan area are used.

This figure, which shows the urban definition boundaries for Toronto, is used by the UN to demonstrate these differences. 17

Here we see that the most commonly used definition of "urban agglomeration" is based on the population and area size of the central city or town plus its close suburban sprawls.

Interactive charts on urbanization

Built-up area is defined as cities, towns, villages, and human infrastructure.

In 1800 when urbanization rates were low, agricultural employment was very high — including in today's rich countries. For example, around 60% of the workforce in France was employed in agriculture in 1800. Today this figure is only a few percent.

UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018). Available at:  https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Download/ .

Note that this data can be viewed for any country or region using the "Change country or region" function in the top-right of the chart.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition. Available at:  https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/ .

Pesaresi, M., Melchiorri, M., Siragusa, A., & Kemper, T. (2016). Atlas of the Human Planet - Mapping Human Presence on Earth with the Global Human Settlement Layer.  JRC103150. Publications Office of the European Union. Luxembourg (Luxembourg): European Commission, DG JRC . Available at:  https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/atlas-human-planet-mapping-human-presence-earth-global-human-settlement-layer .

Angel et al. (2018). Our Not-So-Urban World. The Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University. Available at:  https://marroninstitute.nyu.edu/uploads/content/Angel_et_al_Our_Not-So-Urban_World,_revised_on_22_Aug_2018_v2.pdf

Projections through to 2035 are published by the UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018) based on its medium fertility scenario of population growth and urbanization rates.

US Census Bureau. Population: 1790-1990. Available at:  https://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/table-4.pdf .

Bairoch (1988). Cities and Economic Development. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Klein Goldewijk, K. , A. Beusen, and P. Janssen (2010). Long-term dynamic modeling of the global population and the built-up area in a spatially explicit way, HYDE 3 .1. The Holocene20(4):565-573. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0

Bloom, D. E., Canning, D., & Fink, G. (2008). Urbanization and the wealth of nations.  Science ,  319 (5864), 772-775. Available at:  http://science.sciencemag.org/content/319/5864/772.short

C. M. Becker, in International Handbook of Development Economics, A. Dutt, J. Ros, Eds. (Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, MA, 2008).

Henderson, V. (2003). The urbanization process and economic growth: The so-what question.  Journal of Economic Growth ,  8 (1), 47-71. Available at:  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1022860800744 .

Ciccone, A., & Hall, R. E. (1993).  Productivity and the density of economic activity  (No. w4313). National Bureau of Economic Research. Available at:  http://www.nber.org/papers/w4313 .

Montgomery, M. R., Stren, R., Cohen, B., & Reed, H. E. (2013).  Cities transformed: demographic change and its implications in the developing world . Routledge. Available at:  https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781134031665 .

Black, D., & Henderson, V. (1999). A theory of urban growth.  Journal of Political Economy ,  107 (2), 252-284. Available at:  https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/250060 .

Michaels, G., Rauch, F., & Redding, S. J. (2012). Urbanization and structural transformation.  The Quarterly Journal of Economics ,  127 (2), 535-586. Available at:  https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/127/2/535/1824278 .

UN-HABITAT (2007). State of the World's Cities. Available at:  http://mirror.unhabitat.org/documents/media_centre/sowcr2006/SOWCR%205.pdf

United Nations (2017). The World's Cities in 2016. United Nations Population Division. Available at:  http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/urbanization/the_worlds_cities_in_2016_data_booklet.pdf .

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Urbanization: Problems and Remedies

Last updated on October 6, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

Urbanization is the movement of people from rural to urban regions, expanding cities and towns. It is the process through which cities grow as higher percentages of the population come to live in the city.

Urbanization involves a complex set of economic, demographic, social, cultural, technological, and environmental processes that increase the proportion of the population of a territory that lives in towns and cities.

Urbanization is often discussed in countries that are currently in the process of industrializing and urbanizing, but all industrialized nations have experienced urbanization at some point in their history. Moreover, urbanization is on the rise all over the globe.

Table of Contents

What leads to urbanization?

Industrialization: Industrialization has improved job prospects by allowing individuals to work in contemporary sectors in occupations that contribute to economic progress. Because of better job possibilities, more individuals have been drawn to relocate from rural to urban regions since the Industrial Revolution.

Commerce: Commercialization and commerce are associated with the belief that towns and cities provide better business possibilities and returns than rural regions.

Facilities: There are several social advantages to living in a city or town. Better educational facilities, higher living standards, improved sanitation and housing, improved health care, improved recreation facilities, and improved social life are only a few examples

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Job prospects: Higher-value-added occupations are created and increased by services and industries, resulting in additional work possibilities

Cities also emerge when rural regions gradually transition into urban landscapes. Such a transition may be a result of mineral discoveries, resource exploitation, or agricultural operations.

Urbanization in India

India along with China and Nigeria are the most rapidly urbanizing countries as they account for 35% of world urban population growth projected for the 2018-2050 period.

In 2018 a large number of India’s cities had a population of between 300,000 and 1 million inhabitants. There are 120 medium-sized cities of such population size and only five urban settlements with 20 million or more inhabitants.

In India, the urban population amounts to 461 million people. This number is growing by 2.3 percent each year. By 2031, 75 percent of India’s national income is estimated to come from cities.

Providing the necessary urban infrastructure is the big challenge as 70 to 80 percent of the infrastructure that will be needed by 2050 has not been built yet, and the estimated investment gap amounts to approximately 827 billion US dollars.

Also read: Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

State-wise data:

• More than 75% of the urban population of the country is in 10 States: Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kerala.
• Maharashtra has 50.8 million persons which are 13.5% of the total urban population of the country.
• Uttar Pradesh accounts for about 44.4 million, followed by Tamil Nadu with 34.9 million.
• Goa is the most urbanized State with a 62.2% urban population.
• Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Gujarat have attained over 40% urbanization.
• Among the North-Eastern States, Mizoram is the most urbanized with 51.5% urban population.
• Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh continue to be at a lower level of urbanization than the national average.
• The NCT of Delhi and the UT of Chandigarh are most urbanized with 97.5% and 97.25% urban population respectively, followed by Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep.

Global scenario

At the international scale, levels of urbanization are closely correlated with levels of economic development, while rates of urbanization are inversely correlated with levels of economic development.

Demographic processes of immigration and migration, as well as natural population growth, are important determinants of urbanization, but these are in turn underpinned by other processes, especially structural economic change.

The most urbanized regions are Northern America with 82% of its population living in urban areas (as of 2018), Latin America and the Caribbean (81%), Europe (74%), and Oceania (68%).

Asia has about 50% level of urbanization in Asia and Africa remains mostly rural, with only 43% of its population living in urban areas.

Significance of Urbanization

Some of the beneficial effects of urbanization include job development, technical and infrastructure improvements, better transportation and communication, educational and medical facilities, and higher living standards.

Urban living is linked with higher levels of literacy and education, better health, longer life expectancy, greater access to social services, and enhanced opportunities for cultural and political participation.

Urbanization and economic growth are strongly related in terms of industrialization, employment generation, and increase in productivity.

Also read: Sustainable Livestock Production

Drawbacks of urbanization

Dwelling crisis: There is a continuous scarcity of housing as the number of people living in metropolitan areas grows.

Overcrowding: Overcrowding, urban congestion is a constant, and it is an element that is growing day by day as more people and immigrants migrate to cities and towns in quest of a better living.

Unemployment: Lack of highly skilled jobs is most prevalent in metropolitan areas, especially among educated individuals.

Slums: Industrialization is fast-paced but there is a shortage of developed land for housing. The increasing migration of rural immigrants to the city, and the inflated prices of land beyond the urban poor contribute to the rise of slums and squatters in metropolitan areas.

Sewage infrastructure: In most metropolitan areas, insufficient sewage infrastructure is observed concerning the rapid population growth.

Health crisis: Communicable illnesses like typhoid, dysentery, plague, and diarrhea eventually can spread rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic is a live example of how overpopulated cities and medical facilities collapse under the weight of a pandemic.

Pollution: The need for transportation increases with the increase in population, resulting in traffic congestion and pollution.

Urban Heat Islands (UHI): These are significantly warmer urban areas than their surrounding rural areas due to human activities. Urban Heat Island is a major problem associated with rapid urbanization.

Crime rates: Shortage of resources, overcrowding, higher poverty rates, unemployment, and a loss of social services and education lead to social issues such as violence, drug misuse, and crime.

Government schemes to manage urbanization

Smart cities mission 

The National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal mission launched in 2015, to promote cities to provide core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment, and a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’.

AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) mission

The purpose of AMRUT   which is mainly for urban rejuvenation is to:

• Ensure that every household has access to a tap with an assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.
• Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) and
• Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling).

Swacch Bharat mission

It was launched in 2014 to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to ensure that the open defecation free (ODF) behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Mission is moving towards the next Phase II of SBMG i.e ODF-Plus.

Swacch Bharat mission Urban 2.0 was allocated funds in Union Budget 2021 . The goal of the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 is to make all the cities garbage-free with sophisticated waste management systems.

HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana)

National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) was launched on 21 January 2015 to bring together urban planning, economic growth, and heritage conservation in an inclusive manner to preserve the heritage character of each Heritage City.

PM Awas Yojana

The Housing for All scheme was an initiative of the Indian government to establish housing facilities for slum dwellers and was introduced by the Indian government’s Ministry of Housing and urban affairs. The mission has an Urban part and Gramin part to comprehensively acknowledge the diversity of the Indian landscape.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India Mission) is a campaign launched by the Central Government of India which included an Rs.20 lakh crore economic stimulus package and several reform proposals. The five pillars of the mission are- economy, infrastructure, system, democracy, and demand.

Way forward

Sustainable, planned, and eco-friendly cities: Governments’ efforts to build smart, safe, environmentally friendly, and affordable cities should get more boost and legal backing as well.

Private investments: More investments can be encouraged for green living and other urban initiatives for sustainable landscapes.

Access for all: every resident should be able to access all the services, without discrimination of any kind. Disabled friendly and inclusive infrastructure should be made mandatory in urban areas.

Employment: To mitigate the negative consequences of increasing urbanization while still protecting natural ecosystems, private investments in environmental resource utilization and employment creation should be promoted.

Health and Population management: population control is important to manage the spread of diseases. It will help in creating a healthy society with medical facilities accessible to all.

Poverty alleviation: A bottom-up approach can be adopted to better understand unique challenges faced by the urban poor and worked upon.

As we move forward in the 21st century, the global population is likely to continue growing. Urban areas will continue to grow with the population. By 2050, it is projected that two-thirds of the urban population will be living in urban areas, that are close to 7 billion people in cities alone.

This continual growth presents complex challenges as we prepare for the cities of the future. How we choose to manage urbanization will have consequences for our world for many years to come.

Previous year question

UPSC Mains-GS 1, 2017

The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment but has also created new problems. Substantiate this statement with examples. (15 marks, 250 words)

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Urbanization: Concept, Mechanism, and Global Implications

• First Online: 22 September 2019

Cite this chapter

• Yuji Murayama 7 &
• Ronald C. Estoque 8  

Part of the book series: Advances in Geological Science ((AGS))

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Urbanization has two types of impacts: positive and negative. On the one hand, urbanization brings positive impacts to society as it helps improve the social and economic aspects of people’s lives. On the other hand, urbanization brings negative social and ecological impacts, both locally and globally. This chapter discusses the concept of urbanization in the context of human geoscience, including its history, mechanism, and trend in the modern world. It presents an overview of the negative ecological and social impacts associated with urbanization, such as urban heat island, air pollution, flooding, health, urban poverty, crimes and violence, and traffic congestion. This chapter also discusses the inclusion of urbanization to the global sustainable development agenda, as well as the importance of geospatial technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, for urban monitoring towards sustainable urban development.

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Murayama, Y., Estoque, R.C. (2020). Urbanization: Concept, Mechanism, and Global Implications. In: Himiyama, Y., Satake, K., Oki, T. (eds) Human Geoscience. Advances in Geological Science. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9224-6_19

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Urbanisation

• 21 Sep 2021
• GS Paper - 1
• Urbanization
• Population and Associated Issues
• Poverty and Developmental Issues
• GS Paper - 2
• Government Policies & Interventions

Introduction

• Urbanization refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change.
• Natural increase of population: It occurs when the number of births exceeds the number of deaths.
• Employment opportunities, educational institutions and urban lifestyle are the main pull factors.
• Poor living conditions, lack of educational and economic opportunities and poor health care facilities are the main push factors.
• The most urbanized regions include Northern America (with 82% of its population living in urban areas (as of 2018)), Latin America and the Caribbean (81%), Europe (74%) and Oceania (68%).
• The level of urbanization in Asia is now approximately 50%.
• Africa remains mostly rural, with 43% of its population living in urban areas.

Urbanisation in India

• The World Urbanization Prospects, 2018 report produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) notes that future increases in the size of the world’s urban population are expected to be highly concentrated in just a few countries.
• By 2050, it is projected that India will have added 416 million urban dwellers.
• Currently, India’s population stood at 1210 million in 2011, with an urbanisation level of 31.1% ( Census of India 2011 ).

• Over 75% of the urban population of the country is in 10 States: Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kerala.
• Maharashtra leads with 50.8 million persons (13.5% of the total urban population of the country).
• Uttar Pradesh accounts for about 44.4 million, followed by Tamil Nadu at 34.9 million.
• Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Gujarat have attained over 40% urbanisation.
• Among the North-Eastern States, Mizoram is the most urbanised with 51.5% urban population.
• Low-Scoring States: Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh continue to be at a lower level of urbanisation than the national average.
• Union Territories: The NCT of Delhi and the UT of Chandigarh are most urbanized with 97.5% and 97.25% urban population respectively, followed by Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep (both above 75% urbanisation).
• The SDGs Goal 11 promotes urban planning as one of the recommended methods for achieving sustainable development.
• It puts forth principles for the planning, construction, development, management, and improvement of urban areas.
• The UN-Habitat (2020) suggests that the spatial conditions of a city can enhance its power to generate social, economic and environmental value and well-being.
• Paris Agreement : India’s National Determined Contributions (NDCs) includes the goals to reduce the emission intensity of the country's GDP by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level.
• Smart Cities
• AMRUT Mission
• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana
• Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India)

Significance of Urban Living

• Living in proximity to these services results in improved emergency care and general health.
• For instance, women living in towns and cities are more likely to be informed about family planning which results in reduction in family size and less frequent childbirth.
• Individualism: Multiplicity of opportunities, social diversity, lack of familial and social control over decision making leads to more self interest and facilitates decision-making by an individual and choosing one’s career and actions by oneself.

Issues Associated to Urbanisation

• Consequently, the cities suffer from the problems of slums, crime, unemployment, urban poverty, pollution, congestion, ill-health and several deviant social activities.
• As much as 65% of Indian cities have adjoining slums where people live in small houses adjacent to each other.
• A vast majority of urban population live under conditions of poor shelter and in highly congested spaces.
• In India, more than half of the urban households occupy a single room, with an average occupancy per room of 4.4 persons.
• Unplanned Development: The model of building a developed city comprises unplanned development, which only bolsters the dichotomy prevailing in urban cities between the rich and the poor.
• The sudden implementation of complete Covid lockdown severely affected the ability of slum dwellers to earn their living.
• Most relief funds and benefits do not reach slum dwellers, mainly because these settlements are not officially recognised by the government.

Way Forward

• Integrated policies to improve the lives of both urban and rural dwellers are needed, while strengthening the linkages between urban and rural areas, building on their existing economic, social and environmental ties.
• Improving sanitation and transportation facilities in slums and establishing clinics and healthcare facilities.
• Aiding nonprofits and local support bodies who have better reach to these marginalised communities.
• Necessary actions should be taken to build sustainable, robust and inclusive infrastructure.
• Instead of a top-down approach, a bottom-up approach shall be adopted to better understand unique challenges faced by the urban poor.

112 Urbanization Essay Topics, Questions, and Examples

🏆 best questions to ask about urbanization, ✍️ urbanization essay topics for college, 📌 discussion questions about urbanization, 👍 good research questions on urbanization, ❓ questions about urbanization.

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Urbanization Essay These resources are easily exploited because of the availability of facilities and labor in the cities, which leads to economic development and improvement of living standards of the city dwellers.
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• Urbanization Merits and Challenges Urbanization is in most cases associated with the human movement from the rural to the urban areas. This is as a result of increased population in the rural areas in relation to the lands and […]
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• Urbanization and Technological Development in Third-World Countries Extensive consolidation is necessary to get rid of poverty and improve the internal situation in third-world countries. It is essential to establish cooperation in all spheres of human life and competently use the resources of […]
• US Urbanization and Migration Trends at the End of the 19th Century It discussed the factors leading to successful urbanization, the challenges of urban life, and the effects this trend caused on the history of the state and its further development.
• Impacts of Immigration and Urbanization Urbanization is a special term that describes the decreasing proportion of people who live in rural areas, the population shift from rural to urban areas, and the possible ways of societies’ adaption to these changes. […]
• Technology and Migration in the Industrial Urbanization The history of the United States has a life-changing period between the end of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth – industrial urbanization.
• Information and History of Ecuador: Urbanization, Natural Resources and Politics Official Name: Republic of Ecuador Area: 272,046 square kilometers Official Language: Spanish Currency: US dollar Capital: Quito Largest City: Guayaquil Regime: Unitary presidentialconstitutional republic Constitution: August 10, 1998.
• United States History in 1864-1900 Years: Industrialization, Urbanization, and the Commercialization of Farming The Western frontier advanced in the years 1864 and 1900 by the establishment of democracy in America, industrialization, urbanization and the commercialization of farming.
• Urbanization and American Immigrant Myth The questions of urbanization and the growth of megacities have raised the significant attention of many people recently. The are several reasons for that, such as “the neoliberal globalization since 1978”, the wrong actions of […]
• Rapid Urbanization and Underdevelopment The essay through examples of the developing world and the developed world establishes the linkage between rapid urbanization and underdevelopment in both; the cities as well as the outlying peripheral areas.
• The Relationship Between the High Rate of Urbanization in Africa and AIDS Spread This movement results in to increase in the number of people in the towns and cities in a particular year. The increased social interaction of people in towns has led to increased HIV/AIDS infections in […]
• New Urbanism: The Problems of Urbanization The scales of differentiating private to public space include the following: spatial, degree of exclusivity and openness, and modes of social encounter.
• Rural Residents in “Rapid Urbanization” by Jennifer Weeks Research shows that many rural dwellers in developing nations move to towns and as cities struggle to accommodate the high growth, the rural residents often end up living in slums that are already teemed.
• Urbanization and Sub-Urbanization in the United States The exposition resulted in the creation of a beautiful urban space, and people acknowledged the benefits of city planning as well as the cooperation of different professionals.
• Urbanization Processes in Post-Socialist China To explain this phenomenon, this paper answers three questions what is the cost of forming this middle class what led to the emergence of this middle class how has the formation of the middle class […]
• Industrialization, Urbanization, and Migration The beginning of the Industrial Revolution is shown both in the article and the book focusing on terrible working conditions in the factories.
• Urbanization in Hong Kong and Effects on Citizens However, “while the proportion of people living in small cities is expected to decline, the million-plus cities accounting for about 40% of the total urban population in 2011 is expected to increase to 47% percent […]
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Urbanization Challenges As documented in the literature, Port-au-Prince is faced with many urban challenges and problems, ranging from social and geographic segregation to elevated poverty levels and occurrence of natural disasters which compound the problem of poverty.
• China’s Success in the Urbanization Process The current paper aims at reflecting and analyzing the article to comprehend the reasons of why the challenges appear during the process of urbanization when it is so important for the society and becomes a […]
• How do Migration and Urbanization Bring About Urban Poverty in Developing Countries? When there is a high rate of rural to urban migration, there is pressure on the limited resources in the urban centers.
• History of Urbanization in Brazil in 1980 In addition, according to Morrison, “there is a disparity in term of salary or wage differentials, and therefore aspirations and lifestyles, among classes in the country”.
• Urbanization in Mexico Some services are available in the urban areas but most of the residents are not in the position to pay for them.
• Baseball and Urbanization For instance, at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, the urban population in the United States was 5% of the total population.
• Human Geography: Urbanization The high prices of food in some regions of the world make most of the people to starve. Most of the people in developed countries like in US, UK, Canada and Australia are well endowed […]
• The Pressures of Urbanization on the Environment
• Urbanization Problems And Sustainable Development
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• Urbanization Migration And Development In Asia Economics
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• Letter to the Editor
• Open access
• Published: 02 January 2020

Urbanization: a problem for the rich and the poor?

• Md Abdul Kuddus 1 , 2 , 4 ,
• Elizabeth Tynan 3 &
• Emma McBryde 1 , 2  

Public Health Reviews volume  41 , Article number:  1 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Urbanization has long been associated with human development and progress, but recent studies have shown that urban settings can also lead to significant inequalities and health problems. This paper is concerned with the adverse impact of urbanization on both developed and developing nations and both wealthy and poor populations within those nations, addressing issues associated with public health problems in urban areas. The discussion in this paper will be of interest to policy makers. The paper advocates policies that improve the socio-economic conditions of the urban poor and promote their better health. Further, this discussion encourages wealthy people and nations to become better informed about the challenges that may arise when urbanization occurs in their regions without the required social supports and infrastructure.

Urbanization refers to the mass movement of populations from rural to urban settings and the consequent physical changes to urban settings. In 2019, the United Nations estimated that more than half the world’s population (4.2 billion people) now live in urban area and by 2041, this figure will increase to 6 billion people [ 1 ].

Cities are known to play multifaceted functions in all societies. They are the heart of technological development and economic growth of many nations, while at the same time serving as a breeding ground for poverty, inequality, environmental hazards, and communicable diseases [ 2 ]. When large numbers of people congregate in cities, many problems result, particularly for the poor. For example, many rural migrants who settle in an urban slum area bring their families and their domesticated animals—both pets and livestock—with them. This influx of humans and animals leads to vulnerability of all migrants to circulating communicable diseases and the potential to establish an urban transmission cycle. Further, most urban poor live in slums that are unregulated, have congested conditions, are overcrowded, are positioned near open sewers, and restricted to geographically dangerous areas such as hillsides, riverbanks, and water basins subject to landslides, flooding, or industrial hazards. All of these factors lead to the spread of communicable and non-communicable diseases, pollution, poor nutrition, road traffic, and so on [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. The problems faced by the poor spill over to other city dwellers. As the trend to urbanization continues, this spillover effect increases and takes on a global dimension as more and more of the world’s populations are affected [ 3 ].

Some of the major health problems resulting from urbanization include poor nutrition, pollution-related health conditions and communicable diseases, poor sanitation and housing conditions, and related health conditions. These have direct impacts on individual quality of life, while straining public health systems and resources [ 6 ].

Urbanization has a major negative impact on the nutritional health of poor populations. Because they have limited financial resources and the cost of food is higher in cities, the urban poor lack nutritious diets and this leads to illness, which contributes to loss of appetite and poor absorption of nutrients among those affected. Furthermore, environmental contamination also contributes to undernutrition; street food is often prepared in unhygienic conditions, leading to outbreaks of food-borne illnesses (e.g., botulism, salmonellosis, and shigellosis) [ 6 ]. Urban dwellers also suffer from overnutrition and obesity, a growing global public health problem. Obesity and other lifestyle conditions contribute to chronic diseases (such as cancers, diabetes, and heart diseases). Although obesity is most common among the wealthy, international agencies have noted the emergence of increased weight among the middle class and poor in recent years [ 7 ].

Populations in poor nations that suffer from protein-energy malnutrition [ 8 ] have increased susceptibility to infection [ 9 ] through the impact of micronutrient deficiency on immune system development and function [ 10 ]. Around 168 million children under 5 are estimated to be malnourished and 76% of these children live in Asia [ 11 ]. At the same time, the World Health Organization is concerned that there is an emerging pandemic of obesity in poor countries that leads to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, and stroke [ 12 ].

Obesity is caused by increased caloric intake and decreased physical activity [ 13 ], something historically associated with wealth. However, people in urbanized areas of developing countries are also now vulnerable to obesity due to lack of physical space, continually sitting in workplaces, and excessive energy intake and low energy expenditure. In these areas, infrastructure is often lacking, including sufficient space for recreational activities. Further, in developing countries, as in developed countries, large employers frequently place head offices in urban capitals and work is increasingly sedentary in nature [ 14 ]. Another culprit associated with the risk of developing obesity is the change in food intake that has led to the so-called nutrition transition (increased the consumption of animal-source foods, sugar, fats and oils, refined grains, and processed foods) in urban areas. For instance, in China, dietary patterns have changed concomitantly with urbanization in the past 30 years, leading to increased obesity [ 15 ]. In 2003, the World Health Organization estimated that more than 300 million adults were affected, the majority in developed and highly urbanized countries [ 16 ]. Since then, the prevalence of obesity has increased. For example, in Australia, around 28% of adults were obese in 2014–2015 [ 17 ].

Pollution is another major contributor to poor health in urban environments. For instance, the World Health Organization estimated that 6.5 million people died (11.6% of all global deaths) as a consequence of indoor and outdoor air pollution and nearly 90% of air-pollution-related deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries [ 18 ]. Poor nutrition and pollution both contribute to a third major challenge for urban populations: communicable diseases. The poor live in congested conditions, near open sewers and stagnant water, and are therefore constantly exposed to unhealthy waste [ 6 ]. Inadequate sanitation can lead to the transmission of helminths and other intestinal parasites. Pollution (e.g., from CO 2 emission) from congested urban areas contributes to localized and global climate change and direct health problems, such as respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer for both the rich and the poor.

In addition to human-to-human transmission, animals and insects serve as efficient vectors for diseases within urban settings and do not discriminate between the rich and poor. The prevalence and impact of communicable diseases in urban settings, such as tuberculosis (TB), malaria, cholera, dengue, and others, is well established and of global concern.

National and international researchers and policy makers have explored various strategies to address such problems, yet the problems remain. For example, research on solutions for megacities has been ongoing since the early 1990s [ 19 , 20 ]. These studies have concluded that pollution, unreliable electricity, and non-functioning infrastructure are priority initiatives; nevertheless, air pollution, quality of water in cities, congestion, disaster management issues, and infrastructure are not being systematically addressed [ 19 , 20 ].

The impact of inner city transportation on health, such as road traffic, is emerging as a serious problem. Statistics show that a minimum of 10 people die every day on the railways in the city of Mumbai, India [ 21 ]. Vietnam is another example of a country that has seen a remarkable increase in road traffic accidents [ 22 ]. Improvements to the country’s infrastructure have not been able to meet the increasing growth of vehicular and human traffic on the street. Vietnam reportedly has a population of 95 million and more than 18 million motorbikes on its roads. A deliberate policy is needed to reduce accidents [ 21 ].

Although urbanization has become an irreversible phenomenon, some have argued that to resolve the problems of the city, we must tackle the root causes of the problem, such as improving the socio-economic situation of the urban poor.

Until the conditions in rural areas improve, populations will continue to migrate to urban settings. Given the challenges that rural development poses, the root causes are unlikely to be addressed in the near future. Therefore, governments and development agencies should concentrate on adapting to the challenges of urbanization, while seeking to reduce unplanned urbanization.

Some examples of policies and practices that should be considered include (i) policies that consider whole-of-life journeys, incorporating accessible employment, community participation, mobility/migration and social transition, to break generational poverty cycles; (ii) policies addressing urban environmental issues, such as planned urban space and taxes on the use of vehicles to reduce use or to encourage vehicles that use less fuel as well as encourage bicycle use, walking, and other forms of human transportation; (iii) greater cooperative planning between rural and urban regions to improve food security (e.g., subsidies for farmers providing locally produced, unprocessed and low cost food to urban centers); (iv) social protection and universal health coverage to reduce wealth disparity among urban dwellers; including introduction of programs and services for health, for example by establishing primary healthcare clinics accessible and affordable for all including those living in urban slums [ 23 ].

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editor for his/her thoughtful comments and efforts towards improving the manuscript.

This work was conducted as a part of a PhD programme of the first authors and funded by the College of Medicine and Dentistry at the James Cook University, Australia (JCU-QLD-933347).

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MAK planned the study, analyzed, and prepared the manuscript. ET and EM helped in the preparation of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Kuddus, M.A., Tynan, E. & McBryde, E. Urbanization: a problem for the rich and the poor?. Public Health Rev 41 , 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-019-0116-0

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Received : 02 September 2019

Accepted : 09 December 2019

Published : 02 January 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-019-0116-0

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Annual Review of Environment and Resources

Volume 42, 2017, review article, linking urbanization and the environment: conceptual and empirical advances.

• Xuemei Bai 1 , Timon McPhearson 2,3 , Helen Cleugh 4 , Harini Nagendra 5 , Xin Tong 6 , Tong Zhu 7 , and Yong-Guan Zhu 8,9
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia; email: [email protected] 2 Urban Systems Lab, The New School, New York, NY 10003, USA 3 Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York 12545, USA 4 Climate Science Centre, CSIRO, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia 5 School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bangalore 560100, India 6 Department of Urban and Economic Geography, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 7 BIC-ESAT and SKL-ESPC, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 8 Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China 9 Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
• Vol. 42:215-240 (Volume publication date October 2017) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-102016-061128
• First published as a Review in Advance on August 14, 2017
• © Annual Reviews

Urbanization is one of the biggest social transformations of modern time, driving and driven by multiple social, economic, and environmental processes. The impacts of urbanization on the environment are profound, multifaceted and are manifested at the local, regional, and global scale. This article reviews recent advances in conceptual and empirical knowledge linking urbanization and the environment, focusing on six core aspects: air pollution, ecosystems, land use, biogeochemical cycles and water pollution, solid waste management, and the climate. We identify several emerging trends and remaining questions in urban environmental research, including ( a ) increasing evidence on the amplified or accelerated environmental impacts of urbanization; ( b ) varying distribution patterns of impacts along geographical and other socio-economic gradients; ( c ) shifting focus from understanding and quantifying the impacts of urbanization toward understanding the processes and underlying mechanisms; ( d ) increasing focus on understanding complex interactions and interlinkages among different environmental, social, economic, and cultural processes; and ( e ) conceptual advances that call for articulating and using a systems approach in cities. In terms of governing the urban environment, there is an increasing focus on public participation and coproduction of knowledge with stakeholders. Cities are actively experimenting toward sustainability under a plethora of guiding concepts that manifests their aspirational goals, with varying levels of implementation and effectiveness.

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Urbanization

Urbanization is the process by which people move from rural to urban regions, which results in a decline in the number of people living in rural areas, and the way communities adjust to this transition.

• According to NITI Aayog, cities in India occupy only 3% of the land, but they contribute 60% of the GDP.
• India is the world's second largest urban system, with almost 11% of the total global urban population residing in Indian cities.
• Within the next two decades, India's urban population is predicted to exceed 50% of the total population.
• By 2036, urban growth is predicted to account for 73% of overall population growth.
• Number of urban agglomeration /towns has grown from 1827 in 1901 to 7935 in 2011.
• Number of the total population has increased from 23.84 crores in 1901 to 121.7 crores in 2011 whereas number of the population residing in urban areas has increased from 2.58 crores in 1901 to 37.71 crores in 2011.

Factors leading to Urbanization

• It is influenced by both Push factors (that drive people away from rural regions) i.e., Poor living conditions, lack of educational, economic opportunities and poor health care facilities.                
• Pull factor (that lure people to cities) i.e. Employment opportunities, educational institutions and urban lifestyle etc.

Problems and Issues with Urbanization

Social Consequences of Urbanization:

• Population Density Growth: Urbanisation leads to an increase in population density. Cities like Tokyo, Delhi, and New York are prime examples of areas where population density is extremely high due to urbanization .
• Changes in Family Structure: In rural areas, joint families are more prevalent. However, due to the small space in urban areas, nuclear families become more common, as seen in cities like London or San Francisco.
• Gentrification: This is a process of changing the character of a neighbourhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses.
• Cultural Diversity: With people migrating from various regions and countries, urban areas become cultural melting pots. For instance, cities like Toronto and New York are known for their multiculturalism.
• Increase in Crime Rates: With increased population density, crime rates often increase. For example, crime rates are typically higher in urban areas such as Chicago or Johannesburg compared to rural regions.
• Lack of Social Control: The process of urbanization also leads to breakdown in the functioning of traditional institutions and patterns of behaviour and of social control. It leads to a situation of continuity and change in the sense that the traditional forms often continue to persist, but their functions undergo major re-adaptations in the face of urbanization.
• Maladjustment: In the field of economic activities, even in a rapidly growing city, the number of opportunities for successful adjustment are smaller than the number of competitors. In such a situation, several among those, who are the losers, fail to suitably adjust to the reality, and become victims of frustration, inferiority complex and loss of a meaningful integration with the totality of city-life. All such failures give rise to the problem of maladjustment.

• Environmental Degradation: Rapid urbanization often results in environmental problems like pollution and habitat destruction. Beijing and Delhi, for instance, are grappling with severe air pollution issues.
• Social Inequality: Inequality can become more pronounced in urban areas, with visible divides between affluent and poor neighborhoods. Cities like Rio de Janeiro, with its stark contrast between favelas and upscale districts, exemplify this .
• Economic Opportunities and Disparities: Urban areas offer increased job opportunities but also heightened competition. Silicon Valley, for example, is a hub for tech jobs, but also has high costs of living and socioeconomic disparities.
• Loss of Community Bonding: I n many urban areas, individuals can experience a sense of anonymity and isolation, compared to tight-knit rural communities. The relationships of community-living tend to become impersonal, formal, goal- oriented, contractual and transitory.
• Alienation: Urban citizens often report a loss of sense of belongingness as they move away from their cultural and social roots.

  Impact of Urbanization on Rural Areas

• Rural-to-Urban Migration : Urbanisation attracts people from rural areas in search of better living conditions and opportunities. According to the 2011 census, approximately 35% of India's population lived in urban areas, up from 27.8% in 2001. This trend continues, leading to a reduction in rural populations.
• Changes in Agricultural Practices : Urbanisation can impact the agricultural practices in rural areas. With fewer people available to farm, mechanization increases, which can have both positive (efficiency) and negative (small farmers can't afford) impacts.
• Remittances : Migrants often send money back home, contributing to the rural economy. As per the World Bank, in 2020, India was the largest recipient of remittances globally, a significant portion of which flowed into rural areas.
• Urban Sprawl : As cities expand, they begin to encroach on rural lands, leading to loss of farmland and natural habitats. This is evident around cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
• Improved Infrastructure : Urbanisation can lead to improved infrastructure in nearby rural areas, such as better road connectivity, electricity, and internet access. However, disparities persist between remote rural areas and those close to cities.
• Education and Health Services : Urbanisation can lead to better access to education and healthcare in rural areas, with more schools, colleges, and hospitals being built in these regions. However, quality and accessibility remain significant issues.
• Environmental Impact : Urbanisation can cause environmental degradation in rural areas, due to increased pollution and waste from nearby urban areas, as well as deforestation for construction purposes.
• Social Changes : Rural societies are traditionally organized along caste and kinship lines. Urban influences can disrupt these social structures, sometimes leading to tension but also possibly fostering greater social mobility and equity.
• Economic Diversification : With urban influence, rural economies often diversify, with increases in non-agricultural occupations such as rural tourism, retail, and small-scale industries. However, this also leads to changes in traditional livelihoods.

Urban Planning and Role of Urban Bodies

Urban Planning in India

• Master Planning : Urban planning in India often involves creating master plans for cities. These plans dictate the use of land, transportation lines, and locations for different types of buildings like residential, commercial, and industrial.
• Zoning Regulations : Urban planning includes creating zoning regulations that control the types of structures and activities that can take place in different parts of the city, ensuring orderly growth.
• Infrastructure Development : Urban planning involves designing and implementing infrastructure like roads, parks, sewage and waste disposal systems, and public transport networks.
• Sustainability and Environment : Modern urban planning places emphasis on sustainable growth and green initiatives, ensuring that the impact on the environment is minimized.

Role of Urban Local Bodies in Urbanization in India:

• Basic Amenities Provision : Urban local bodies (ULBs), like Municipal Corporations, are responsible for providing basic amenities like water supply, sewage treatment, garbage disposal, and street lighting.
• Implementing Urban Plans : ULBs have the role of implementing the master plans drawn up by urban planners, including the construction of infrastructure and regulation of building activities.
• Regulatory Functions : ULBs also have regulatory functions such as granting building permits, ensuring compliance with city codes and regulations, and managing public health and safety.
• Local Governance and Citizen Engagement : ULBs serve as the primary point of contact for citizens, addressing grievances, and facilitating citizen participation in local governance. They are essential for ensuring the democratic process at the local level.

Problems of Slums

Slums in India:

The Government of India, for purposes of the implementation of various schemes relating to urban development, has defined a slum area as follows: “ A slum area means any area where such dwellings predominate, which by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and design of buildings, narrowness and faulty arrangement of street, lack of ventilation, lack of sanitation facilities, inadequacy of open spaces and community facilities or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to safety, health or morale. “

  Challenges associated with Slums

• Social exclusion and marginalization due to stigmatization, discrimination, and limited opportunities for social and economic mobility.
• Limited access to basic services , lack of adequate healthcare services
• Inadequate sanitation and hygiene
• High crime rates and insecurity due to factors such as unemployment, limited law enforcement presence, and social disorganization
• Inadequate waste management , pollution, and lack of access to clean water sources.
• low-wage informal employment and a lack of access to skill development and training programs.
• Poor housing conditions : Slum dwellings often lack basic amenities and infrastructure, such as clean water, sanitation facilities, and proper ventilation. The housing structures are often overcrowded, poorly constructed, and vulnerable to natural disasters, posing significant health and safety risks.

  Initiatives by Government of India for Slum Dwellers:

• PM AWAS Yojna-Urban: The provision of “in-situ” redevelopment for providing houses to all eligible slum dwellers.
• National Urban Housing & Habitat Policy 2007
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (National Urban Livelihoods Mission)
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana
• National Slum Development Programme (NSDP)
• Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programmes
• Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
• Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP),

  Conclusion: Urban development plays a vital role in shaping the social, economic, and environmental aspects of a city or urban area. It encompasses various factors such as infrastructure, housing, transportation, sustainability, and quality of life. Effective urban development practices can contribute to the growth and prosperity of cities, while addressing the challenges and opportunities they face.

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Essay on Urbanization in India

In this essay we will discuss about Urbanization in India. After reading this essay you will learn about: 1. Meaning of Urbanisation 2. Trends of Urbanisation in India 3. Degree 4. Causes 5. Consequences 6. Role in Economic Development of India.

• Essay on the Role of Urbanisation in Economic Development of India

Essay # 1. Meaning of Urbanisation:

Urbanisation is one of the common characteristics of economic development. With the gradual growth of the economy, the process of urbanisation depends on the shift of surplus population from rural to urban areas along-with the growth of some industrialised urban centres.

Due to social and economic pressures, people from backward villages started to move towards urbanised centres in search of job, where newly established industries and ancillary activities continuously offer job opportunities to those people migrating to cities.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The pace of urbanisation is fast if the industrial growth is fast. The pace of urbanisation gradually declines only when the proportion of urban population to total population of the country becomes too high.

Essay # 2. Trends of Urbanisation of India :

In India, an increasing trend towards urbanisation has been recorded from the very beginning of this present century. The census data on the rural-urban composition reveal a continuous rise in the rate of urbanisation in India and more particularly during the second half of the present 21st century.

The proportion of urban population to total population which was only 11 per cent in 1911 slowly increased to 11.3 per cent in 1921 and then gradually rose to 14 per cent in 1941.

With a liberal definition of urban area adopted in 1951, the proportion of urban population suddenly rose to 17.6 per cent. But with a slightly strict definition, the proportion of urban population recorded a small increase to 18.3 per cent in 1961. In the 1971 census, a new definition of an urban unit was adopted and that definition was continued in 1981 census.

This definition was as follows:

(a) All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee etc.

(b) All other places which satisfy the following criteria:

(i) Minimum population of 5,000;

(ii) At least 75 per cent of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and

(iii) A density of population of at least 400 persons per sq km (1,000 persons per sq mile).

The definition of an urban unit in 1961 census was also similar to the above mentioned definition. Thus the data on rural-urban distribution during the last three censuses are comparable. The proportion of urban population to total population of India as per this new definition was estimated at 20.2 per cent in 1971 census and then marginally rose to 23.7 per cent in 1981.

Again in 2001, the total size of urban population in India increased to 285 million as compared to that of 217 million in 1991. This shows that the proportion of urban population to total population of India has increased from 25.8 per cent in 1991 to 27.8 per cent in 2001.

The provisional figure of total urban population of India in 2011 is estimated at 377 million which is estimated at 31.16 per cent of the total population of the country. Moreover, the total number of towns in India which was only 1627, gradually rose to 3060 in 1951, 3126 in 1971, 4029 in 1981 and then to 5166 in 2001. Table 6.7 reveals the detailed picture of this trend in urbanisation.

Moreover, urbanisation has an increasing impact on the concentration of population towards relatively higher income categories. Therefore, urban areas have higher percentage of lower middle income, middle income, upper middle income and higher income group of people than that of rural areas. Table 6.8 clarifies this point.

Thus it is found from Table 6.8 that the percentage of households in the lower middle income category was 34.75 per cent in urban areas as compared to that of 23.88 per cent in the rural areas.

Similarly, the percentage of households in the middle income and the upper middle income categories were 17.89 per cent and 6.46 per cent in the urban areas as compared to that of only 7.06 per cent and 1.16 per cent in the rural areas. Again, the percentage of households in the higher income category was 3.75 per cent in the urban areas in comparison to that of only 0.56 per cent in the rural areas.

The size of total urban population increased from about 26 million in 1901 to 62 million in 1951, showing an increase of 36 million in just 50 years.

But during the next three decades (1951-81), the absolute increase was to the extent of 94 million and this shows that the population absorption capacity in urban areas has increased substantially due to industrialisation in the country. The census data shows that the annual growth rate of urban population which was 3.26 per cent during 1961-71, gradually increased to 3.86 per cent during 1971-81.

Essay # 3. Degree of Urbanisation in India:

Measurement of the degree of urbanisation in a country like India is considered very important. Various measures are being used for the purpose. As per the first simple method we observed that the total urban population in India in 1981 was a little less than one fourth of the total population in comparison to that of one-ninth in 1921 and one-sixth in 1951.

The second method, i.e., the urban-rural growth differential (URGD) method also revealed that the growth rates of both rural and urban population are very close to each other at present.

Third method showing the growth of urban population reveals that as the total population of the country rose by about three times since 1921 but the total urban population of the country increased by about six-times. Thus all the methods observed more or less same results.

If we compare degree of urbanisation in India with that of developed countries then we can find that India is lagging far behind the high-income countries. In 1985, the proportion of urban population to total population was 92 per cent in U.K., 86 per cent in Australia, 76 per cent in Japan, and 74 per cent in U.S.A. as against only 25 per cent in India.

In India, towns are classified into six different classes. From the census data, it has been observed that in Class I town (having a population more than 1 lakh) the proportion of urban population concentration has increased from 25.7 per cent in 1901 to 60.4 per cent in 1981. Thus there is an increasing trend towards huge concentration of population in the bigger towns.

In Class II and Class III towns together, the proportion of urban population remained almost constant at the level of 26 to 28 per cent during the period 1901-81. But in the remaining Class IV, Class V and Class VI towns together, the relative proportion of urban population concentration declined sharply from 47.2 per cent in 1901 to only 13.6 per cent in 1981.

Besides continuation of urbanisation process, a number of Class II towns have been transformed into a Class I town and the number of Class I towns has thus increased from 74 in 1951 to 216 in 1981.

Accordingly, the total population of Class I towns also increased from 273 lakhs in 1951 to 943 lakh in 1981 showing an increase of nearly 245 per cent. During the same period, the number of Class II towns has increased from 95 to 270 and that of Class III towns increased from 330 to 739 in 1981.

Total population of Class II and Class III towns increased from 330 to 739 in 1981. Total population of Class II and Class III towns increased by 130 per cent, i.e., from 97 lakh in 1951 to 224 lakh in 1981. While the number of class IV towns has increased from 85 lakh to 149 lakh, the number of Class V and class VI towns and their total population declined sharply during the same period.

Again the number of big cities with million plus population has increased from 12 in 1981 to 27 in 2001 and their total population also increased from 42.1 million in 1981 to 73.0 million in 2001. As per 2001 census the size of population of four-cities of India are 11.9 million for Mumbai, 4.58 million for Kolkata, 9.8 million for Delhi and 4.2 million in Chennai.

Essay # 4. Causes of Rapid Urbanisation in India:

Rapid urbanisation is taking place in different parts of the country in and around some big cities and towns of the country. The growing trend of urbanisation as reflected in growing concentration of major proportion of urban population in some big cities.

The factors which are largely responsible for such rapid urbanisations are mentioned below:

(i) Natural Increase in Population:

Rapid unbanisation is taking place as a result of high rate of natural increase in population. Natural increase is taking place when the birth rate in urban areas exceeds the death rate. The natural growth rate of urban population is higher than that of rural due to higher net survival rate arising out of better health and medical facilities.

Improvement in health and medical facilities, drinking water supply and sanitation facilities have reduced the incidence of water-borne diseases, communicable diseases etc.

Accordingly, the birth rate in urban areas in 1971 was estimated at 30.1 per thousand as compared to the death rate of 9.7 per thousand which subsequently reduced to 24.3 and 7.1 per thousand in 1991. Thus the natural growth rate is stated too high because of large difference between birth and death rates.

The death rate in urban areas declined considerably due to better availability of medical and health service, safe drinking water supply and improved sanitation facilities.

This natural increase in population is largely responsible for phenomenal growth of population in urban areas i.e. 46 per cent in 1971-81 and 36 per cent in 1980-91 decade as compared to that of 19 per cent and 20 per cent growth rate attained in rural areas of India during these two decades.

(ii) Migrations:

Rural-urban migration is considered another important factor responsible for rapid urbanisation in India. The rural to urban migrations have been resulted due to many factors during the post independence period. Creation of many activities of manufacturing and trading as a result of industrial development has resulted migration of rural people to urban areas for seeking jobs and higher incomes as well.

After the partition of the country in 1947 rural uprooted people started to settle down in urban areas. Poor living conditions and negligible arrangement in respect of education and health have also attracted large number of rural people to migrate and settle in urban areas in search of good education, health facilities, better living conditions and securities of life.

As a result of heavy public investments in industry and mining, huge industrial development and sustained agricultural development urbanisation takes place. Thus due to these “pull factors”, large number of rural people migrate to urban areas.

However there are certain “push factors” where due to worse economic conditions a number of rural people are pushed out of villages due to economic compulsions. Thus in the current phase of urbanisation both the “pull factor” and “push factor” are very much operational.

(iii) Expansion of Industry and Trade:

In recent years, urbanisation takes place with the growing expansion of industry and trade in a particular state of region. Growth of an industry with its ancillaries along with localisation of industry would always create a favourable situation for the growth of an urban set up.

Similarly, growth of business and trade along with establishment of an active market always provides adequate support toward growing urbanisation in those places related to the development of industry and trade.

(iv) Boundary Changes of Towns:

With the extension of the boundaries of cities and towns, more and more rural areas are gradually being included in rural areas. Although life in these newly extended areas remains rural initially but the inclusion of these areas into these towns and cities necessarily increases the number of urban population.

Essay # 5. Consequences of Rapid Urbanisation:

The rapid urbanisation is subjected to both healthy and unhealthy consequences and aspects.

(i) Healthy Aspects:

Rapid industrialisation results the development and setting up of many industrial cities. Along with manufacturing units, ancillaries and service sector started to grow in those urban areas. Secondly, new and additional employment opportunities are created in the urban areas in its newly expanding manufacturing and service sector units.

This would result rural-urban migration and “industrialisation- urbanisation process” to set in. Thirdly, growth of cities can give rise to external economies so as to reap the benefit of economies of scale for various services and activities.

Finally, urbanisation results changes in attitudes and mind set of the urban people resulting modernisation in behaviour and proper motivation which indirectly helps the country to attain faster economic development.

(ii) Unhealthy Aspects:

Although development of the economy are very much associated with urbanisaition but it has resulted some serious problems. Firstly, growing urbanisation is largely responsible for increasing congestion in the urban areas. Too much congestion has resulted problems like traffic jams, too much concentration of population, the management of which is gradually becoming very difficult and costly.

Secondly, too much of population is another unhealthy aspect of urbanisation which creates urban chaos related to housing, education, medical facilities, growth of slums, unemployment, violence, overcrowding etc. All these would result in deterioration in the quality of human life.

Finally, as a result of urbanisation, large scale migration takes place from rural to urban areas. Such large scale migration of active population from rural areas would result loss of productivity in rural areas, leading to poor conditions in village economy. Thus urbanisation, beyond a certain point, would result in unhealthy consequences.

(iii) Urban Policy Measures:

Considering unhealthy consequences of rapid urbanisation, it is quite important to formulate an urban policy which can provide urban development with minimum undesirable effects.

The measures which can be largely followed include:

(i) Integrating urbanisation process with the development plans of the country for developing non-agricultural activities like manufacturing services and infrastructure leading to attainment of external economies,

(ii) Making arrangement for selective urban development so as to minimise the disadvantages of these large sized towns,

(iii) To develop rural districts, by developing towns in highly rural districts,

(iv) To develop satellite townships in and around large cities; and

(v) Relieving pressure on large urban centres by developing urban amenities in adequate quantities so as to make urban living peaceful.

Essay # 6. Role of Urbanisation in Economic Development of India:

Urbanisation and economic development are closely associated. Economic development of a country indicates increase in the level of per capita income and standard of living along-with the enlargement of employment opportunities for its growing population. With the attainment of economic development and growing industrialisation, the process of urbanisation starts at a rapid scale.

Some areas emerge as a large urbanised centre with large scale industrial and trading activities. These areas started to offer increasing number of employment opportunities leading to a shift of population from rural areas to these urbanized centres. Thus economic development of a country assists in its process of urbanization.

Growing industrialisation raises the rate of economic development along-with the pace of urbanization in the country. Increase in the rate of economic development raises the level of per capita income and standard of living of the people which in turn enlarges the demand for various goods and services.

This increase in aggregate demand expands the production system leading to a large scale production of various goods and services.

All these lead to increase in the pace of urbanization in the country. Thus there is a good correlation between the level of per capita income and the pace of urbanization. In India, the coefficient of correlation between the proportion of urban population to total population and the level of per capita income is estimated at 0.5, which is significant.

Moreover, economic development paves way for growth of cities and towns. Thus with the increase in the number of cities and towns the proportion of urban population to total population is also increasing.

But higher degree of urbanisation cannot reduce the degree of unemployment in India significantly through the absorption of increasing number of surplus labour force from rural areas as the scope for raising urban employment is also limited. In India there is an insignificant positive correlation (0.18) between the proportion of urban population and the rate of daily status of unemployment.

Moreover, there is a mild negative correlation, i.e., 0.22, between the proportion of urban population and the percentage of population below the poverty line in India.

Factors which are responsible for this typical situation are:

(a) neglect of urban slums in our planning coverage;

(b) growing exploitation of unorganised sectors by capitalists, contractors, landlords etc. and

(c) increasing application of capital intensive techniques in urban areas.

Thus in comparison to the degree of urbanisation achieved in India, the absorptive capacity of the urban centres is very low. This shows the reason why urbanised centres in India could not make much headway in reducing the degree of unemployment in the country.

Thus, in conclusions, it can be observed that the attainment of high rate of economic development paves the way for growing urbanization along-with the increase in the level of per capita income and the development of various urbanized infra-structural facilities like transportation and communication, housing, education, health, trade, banking etc.

But this growing urbanisation has also led to huge concentration of population in urban areas, resulting in various evils side by side such as growth of slums, increasing congestion and pollution, problems of transportation, housing, water supply, health services, unemployment and poverty.

Related Articles:

• Demographic Profile in India
• Work Force Participation in India
• Main Features of India’s Population
• 8 Main Features of Occupational Structure in India

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What is Urbanization and Its Effect on Society? An Important Topic for Upcoming UPSC Exam

India has a population of 461 million people living in cities. This figure is increasing at a rate of 2.3 percent every year. Cities are expected to generate 75% of India’s national GDP by 2031. It’s a major job to build the essential urban infrastructure: 70% to 80% of the infrastructure required by 2050 has yet to be completed, with an estimated investment deficit of $827 billion.

Read on to learn from the basics including what urbanization is and its effect on society.

What is Urbanization and Its Effects on Society?

Urbanization is the movement of people from rural to urban regions, allowing cities and towns to expand. It may also be described as a gradual growth in the population of towns and cities. The idea that cities and towns have accomplished better economic, social, and political achievements than rural regions has a strong effect.

Now that you have understood the meaning of urbanization, let’s move on to the causes, effects and solutions.

Various Causes of Urbanization

Industrialization in urbanization.

Industrialization is a movement that represents a transition away from traditional agricultural economics and toward a new non-agricultural economy, resulting in a modernised society. Because of better job possibilities, more individuals have been drawn to relocate from rural to urban regions since the industrial revolution.

Industrialization has improved job prospects by allowing individuals to work in contemporary sectors in occupations that contribute to economic progress.

Also Read: How do Interest Groups Influence Public Policy in India? Here’s All You need for UPSC Notes

Commercialization in Urbanization

In the process of urbanisation, commerce and trade play a significant role. The contemporary era’s distribution of products and services, as well as commercial transactions, has resulted in the development of modern marketing organisations and exchange techniques, which have accelerated the expansion of towns and cities.

Commercialization and commerce are associated with the belief that towns and cities provide better business possibilities and returns than rural regions.

Social Benefits and Services in Urbanization

There are several social advantages to living in a city or town. Better educational facilities, higher living standards, improved sanitation and housing, improved health care, improved recreation facilities, and improved social life are only a few examples.

As a result, an increasing number of individuals are being compelled to relocate to cities and towns in order to access a wide range of social benefits and services that are not available in rural regions.

Employment Opportunities in Urbanization

There are plenty of work possibilities in cities and towns, attracting individuals from rural regions in search of a better life.

As a result, the majority of people typically relocate to metropolitan regions in search of well-paying work in a variety of development sectors, including public health, education, transportation, sports and leisure, industries, and business operations.

Higher-value-added occupations are created and increased by services and industries, resulting in additional work possibilities.

Modernization in Urbanization

In the course of urbanisation, modernization is extremely essential. People feel they may have a happy life in cities as cities grow more technologically advanced, with extremely sophisticated communication, transportation, medical facilities, clothing code, enlightenment, liberalism, and other social amenities available.

People in urban regions also accept changes in their lifestyles, such as housing habits, attitudes, clothing, cuisine, and beliefs. As a consequence, people migrate to cities, and cities expand as a result of the daily influx of people.

Rural-urban Transformation in Urbanization

Cities emerge as rural regions transition into urbanisation as places grow more fertile and affluent as a result of mineral discoveries, resource exploitation, or agricultural operations. Productivity growth boosts the economy and more high-value-added job possibilities.

This necessitates the development of greater infrastructure, better educational institutions, stronger health facilities, better transit networks, banking institutions, improved governance, and good housing.

Also Read: What Happened in the 2008 Crisis? An Important Financial Crisis Topic for 2021 UPSC Notes

Effects of Urbanization

Positive effects of urbanization.

If urbanisation occurs within reasonable bounds, it has a number of beneficial consequences. As a result, some of the beneficial effects of urbanisation include job development, technical and infrastructure improvements, enhanced transportation and communication, high-quality educational and medical facilities, and higher living standards. Extensive urbanisation, on the other hand, almost always has negative consequences.

Housing Problems

People are drawn to cities and towns as a result of urbanisation, resulting in rapid population growth. There is a continuous scarcity of housing as the number of people living in metropolitan areas grows.

This is owing to a lack of expanding space for housing and public services, as well as poverty, unemployment, and expensive building materials that only a few people can afford.

Overcrowding in Urbanization

Overcrowding occurs when a large number of individuals share a small place. Because of overcrowding, urban congestion is a constant, and it is an element that is growing day by day as more people and immigrants migrate to cities and towns in quest of a better living.

Most individuals from rural or underdeveloped regions have a strong desire to migrate to the city, which usually results in crowding in a small space.

Unemployment in Urbanization

Joblessness is most prevalent in metropolitan areas, and it is much more prevalent among educated individuals. More than half of the world’s unemployed youngsters are thought to dwell in urban areas.

And, while urban earnings are high, the living costs make them appear to be tragically low. The primary reason for urban unemployment is the rising migration of individuals from rural or developing areas to city environments.

Development of Slums

The cost of living in cities is quite expensive. When this is paired with unpredictably high growth and unemployment, the expansion of illegal resident settlements such as slums and squatters occurs.

Fast-paced industrialisation, a shortage of developed land for housing, a significant migration of rural immigrants to the city in pursuit of a better life, and the inflated prices of land beyond the grasp of the urban poor all contribute to the rise of slums and squatters in metropolitan areas.

Water and Sanitation Problems

In most metropolitan areas, insufficient sewerage infrastructure is widespread due to overcrowding and rapid population growth.

In the administration of sewage infrastructure, municipalities and local governments are facing a significant resource issue. As a result, sanitation suffers, sewage flows erratically, and sewage is discharged into nearby streams, rivers, lakes, or oceans.

Communicable illnesses including typhoid, dysentery, plague, and diarrhoea eventually spread rapidly, causing pain and even death. Water shortage is exacerbated by overcrowding when supply falls short of what is required.

Also Read: Uniform Civil Code in India: Suggestions, Challenges and Essay for UPSC Notes

Poor Health and Spread of Diseases

Access to and usage of public health care services in crowded metropolitan regions is influenced by social, economic, and living factors. Slum communities, in particular, suffer from inadequate sanitation and a lack of water supply, making slum residents more vulnerable to infectious illnesses.

Pollution in cities causes a variety of health issues, including allergies, asthma, infertility, foodborne illness, cancer, and even early mortality.

Traffic Congestion for Urbanization

One of the biggest problems faced by increasing numbers of people moving to towns and cities is in the transportation infrastructure. As the population grows, so does the number of cars on the road, resulting in traffic congestion and pollution.

Many individuals in metropolitan regions commute to work, which causes serious traffic congestion, particularly during peak hours. People will also relocate to buy and access other social necessities as cities increase in size, causing traffic congestion and obstruction.

Urban Crime

Resources shortages, overcrowding, poverty rates, unemployment, and a loss of social services and education are all common causes of social issues such as violence, drug misuse, and crime.

Murder, rape, abduction, rioting, assault, theft, burglary, and hijacking are among crimes that are considered to be more prevalent in metropolitan areas. Furthermore, poverty-related crimes are most prevalent in fast-growing metropolitan areas. The calm and tranquillity of cities/towns are usually disrupted by these acts of urban crime.

Solutions to Urbanization

Building sustainable and eco-friendly cities.

Governments should enact laws that design and offer ecologically sound cities and smart growth strategies, recognising that people should not live in dangerous or polluting regions.

The goal is to create sustainable cities that have better environmental conditions and safe environments for all urban residents.

Governments must also support and encourage investments in green infrastructure, viable industries, composting and environmental initiatives, pollution control, renewable energy, eco-friendly public transportation, and wastewater reuse and reclamation, as well as an economy based on sustainable settings.

Provision of Essential Services

All residents of metropolitan areas should have access to enough vital social services, such as education, health, cleanliness, and clean water, as well as technology, energy, and food.

The goal is to create and execute job opportunities and wealth-creation activities so that individuals may earn enough money to pay for the services’ upkeep.

The government can also use subsidies to reduce the price of basic healthcare, education, electricity, public transit, communication networks, and technology.

Creation of More Jobs for Urbanization

To mitigate the negative consequences of increasing urbanisation while still protecting natural ecosystems, private investments in environmental resource utilisation and employment creation should be promoted.

More employment for urban populations can be created through tourism promotion and sustainable resource oppression. Foreign and private investment in eco-friendly developmental projects that create jobs may also be eligible for subsidies and incentives.

Also Read: PM Matru Vandana Yojana for Women & Child Development: Here’re the Important Points for UPSC Notes

Population Control in Urbanization

To assist lower the increased rates of population increase, key stakeholders in metropolitan areas must provide campaigns and counselling for effective medical centres and family welfare.

With the goal of managing illnesses and population increase, medical health clinics geared toward family planning choices must be made available across the whole urban area.

Urbanization in India

Urbanisation in India is largely attributable to the deregulation of its economy in the 1990s, which facilitated the growth of the private sector. Despite the fact that India’s urbanisation is accelerating, barely one-third of the country’s population lives in cities.

As per the 2011 census , India has 53 cities with a population of one million or more, with that number expected to increase to 87 by 2031. A few of these metropolitan regions will grow into significant economic powerhouses, with GDPs exceeding those of nations like Israel, Portugal, and the United Arab Emirates.

Because cities have a high number of people in a limited area, they offer a considerable economy of scale that provides employment, housing, and services, they offer tremendous potential for sustainable development. It is critical to fully achieve Indian cities’ economic, ecological, and social sustainability possibilities.

Level of Urbanization in India

The National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh are the most urbanised of all the States and Union territories, with 97.5 percent and 97.25 percent urban population, correspondingly, followed by Daman and Diu (75.2 percent) and Puducherry (68.3 percent).

Goa is currently the most urbanised state in the country, with 62.2 percent of the population living in cities, up from 49.8 percent in 2001. Kerala is another notable example of increasing urbanisation; its urban population is currently 47.7%, up from 25.9% a decade earlier.

Level of Urbanization in the NE States

Mizoram is the most urbanised of the NE states, with 51.5 percent urban population, while its absolute proportion to the country’s overall urban population is only 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Sikkim, which was just 11.0 percent urbanised a decade earlier, was over 25% urbanised in 2011. Tamil Nadu remains the most urbanised state in the country, with 48.4% of the population living in cities, followed by Kerala (47.7%), which has surpassed Maharashtra (45.2 percent).

In Which Age Urbanization Commenced?

Urbanization refers to the transformation of rural settlements into cities or urban centres, as well as the rapid expansion of those areas. For reasons that academics have failed to agree on, urbanisation began in ancient Mesopotamia during the Uruk Period (4300-3100 BCE).

How to Make NCERT UPSC Notes on Urbanization?

Making notes is an integral part of the UPSC preparation. Follow the points below to learn how to make notes from NCERT.

Read The Books

When preparing UPSC Notes, the first thing is to study the books without highlighting or writing it down. Alternatively, you’ll have to rewrite everything since you could miss anything crucial. So, take a short look at it and attempt to grasp the main aspects. You would know what is crucial if you studied the curriculum and prior years’ papers. As a result, only take notes on that section during the second reading!

Make Bullet Points

The second reason you should not overlook is bulleted writing. Never write UPSC notes in paragraph style since reading and filtering them would be difficult! As a result, when taking notes, always use bullet points and highlight whatever is important. It will assist you in rapidly filtering information. To make revision easier, use sticky notes to separate the chapters.

Describe in Short Sentences

The second thing you should remember when writing UPSC Notes for NCERTs is to use brief phrases. It is not a good idea to write lengthy sentences since they are difficult to read. Write notes in your primary language. It is not required to rewrite the sentences exactly as they appear in the book. To create your notes clear and brief, rewrite them to make them shorter.

For everything, digital is the new era approach! To write UPSC notes, you should utilise applications like Evernote. It will help you save a lot of time when writing! It also makes it simple to amend or update the notes. You won’t have to worry about physically rescuing them.

Make Flow Charts

Flow charts can be used to replace the wordy content. Whenever feasible, use flow charts since pictographic information is simpler to comprehend and remember than long phrases. Flow charts make it simpler to remember information when there is a series of events, particularly in history. As a result, create flow charts for your UPSC notes.

Keep Revising

Revising your notes on a daily basis serves two purposes. The first is to remember what you’ve learned, and the second is to remember what you’ve written.

Most students, as amusing as it may seem, forget the syntaxes they used or the half-sentences they wrote if they read their notes after a long period! As a result, constantly rewriting your notes to keep them fresh in your mind. Simultaneously, keep it up to date with current events and fresh information.

Current affairs are an important component of UPSC CSE preparation. It is covered under the heading “Issues of National and International Importance” in the Prelims curriculum. As a result, it is critical for Civil Services candidates to acquire a regular practise of reading current events. Read more about the urbanization in India topic here .

Catch all the current affairs and informative articles on UPSC topics on UPSC Pathshala now!

Also Read: What is the Delimitation Commission? UPSC Notes for GS Paper 2

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Urbanization: here is your essay on urbanization.

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Urbanization: Here is your Essay on Urbanization!

Urbanization is the movement of people from rural to urban areas, and the result is the growth of cities. It is also a process by which rural areas are transformed into urban areas. Urbanization is a process that has occurred, or is occurring, in nearly every part of the world that humans have inhabited. People move into cities to seek economic opportunities. Urbanization is measured by the percentage of people, who are urban in a society, a region or the world. Urbanization, therefore, summarizes the relationship between the total population and its urban component. That is, it is mostly used as a demographic indicator or in the demographic sense, whereby, there is an increase in the urban population to the total population over a period of time.

Image Courtesy : upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Suburbia_by_David_Shankbone.jpg

The concept of urbanization has a dual meaning—demographically and sociologically. The demographic meaning refers to the increasing proportion of population in a country or a region that resides in cities. Sociologically, it refers to the behaviour, institutions and materialistic things that are identified as urban in origin and use. In other words, it is a social process which is the cause and consequence of a change in the man’s way of life in the urban milieu.

In the urban areas, one can find a range of features like the loss of primary relationship and increasing secondary group relationship, voluntary associations, plurality of norms and values, weaker social control, increasing secularization and segmentary roles—a greater division of labour, greater importance of the mass media and the tendency for the urbanites to treat each other instrumentally. Sociologists believe that all these are caused due to large number of population, which is heterogeneous, having come from various backgrounds.

Thus, the more denser, larger and heterogeneous the community the more accentuated are the characteristics associated with the urban way of life. Another aspect is that in the social world, institutions and practices may be accepted and continued for reasons other than those that originally brought them into existence and that accordingly the urban mode of life may be perpetuated under conditions quite foreign to those necessary for its origin.

John Palen in demographic terms defines Urbanization as ‘an increase in population concentration; organizationally it is an alteration in structure and functions’.

Eldridege substantiates this view. According to him, urbanization involves two elements such as the multiplication of points of concentration and the increase in the size of individual concentration.

Thompson Warren in Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences states ‘Urbanization is the movement of people from communities concerned chiefly or solely with agriculture to other communities, generally large whose activities are primarily concerned with the government, trade, manufacture or allied interests’.

According to Anderson, ‘Urbanization is not a one-way process, but it is a two way process. It involves not only movement from villages to cities and change from agri­cultural occupation to business, trade, service and profession, but it involves change in the migrants’ attitudes, beliefs, values and behavior pattern.’ Thus, according to him, urbanization involves the following

i. Concentration of people at population densities higher than those associated with agricultural populations with only very rare exceptions on either side.

ii. Population shift (migration) from rural to urban areas.

iii. Occupational shift from agricultural to non-agricultural.

iv. Land-use shift from agricultural to non-agricultural.

From the above definitions, one can conclude that sociologists meant urbanization as a process of diffusion of certain modernizing traits or characteristics in a population. It is often considered to be a causal factor of modernization. Thus, urbanization can be summarized as a process which reveals itself through temporal, spatial and sectoral changes in demographic, social, economic, technological and environmental aspects of life in a given society.

Related Articles:

• Effect of Urbanization on our Environment (316 Words)
• The Demographic Aspect of Urbanization

Urbanization

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Sdg 11.3 assessment of african industrial cities by integrating remote sensing and spatial cooperative simulation: with mfez in zambia as a case study.

1. Introduction

2. research area and data sources, 2.1. research area, 2.2. data sources and preprocessing, 3.1. urban expansion analysis using ntl, 3.1.1. threshold determination with pifs method, 3.1.2. urban growth indicators, 3.2. simulation of land-use and population changes, 3.2.1. driving factors of land use and population, 3.2.2. ca-based feature simulation, 3.2.3. initial and step-wise cooperative simulation with cafs, 3.3. accuracy validation, 3.4. spatiotemporal assessment of sdg 11.3.1 indicator, 4.1. spatial and temporal changes in urban expansion, 4.1.1. extracting urban built-up area from ntl images using pifs method, 4.1.2. calculation of the spatial and temporal change index for urban expansion, 4.1.3. characterization of urban expansion standard deviation ellipse (sde), 4.2. synergistic land-use population modeling, 4.2.1. temporal and spatial variation in land use and population, 4.2.2. spatial cooperative simulation of lulc-population, 4.3. spatiotemporal variation in land consumption and population growth (sdg 11.3.1), 5. discussion, 5.1. effectiveness of extracting built-up areas based on dmsp-ols and npp-viirs data, 5.2. drivers of significant urban expansion and population explosion, 5.3. analysis of land-use simulation results under sdg frame, 5.4. limitations and future perspectives, 6. conclusions, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Huang, Y.; Ming, D. SDG 11.3 Assessment of African Industrial Cities by Integrating Remote Sensing and Spatial Cooperative Simulation: With MFEZ in Zambia as a Case Study. Remote Sens. 2024 , 16 , 2995. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16162995

Huang Y, Ming D. SDG 11.3 Assessment of African Industrial Cities by Integrating Remote Sensing and Spatial Cooperative Simulation: With MFEZ in Zambia as a Case Study. Remote Sensing . 2024; 16(16):2995. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16162995

Huang, Yuchen, and Dongping Ming. 2024. "SDG 11.3 Assessment of African Industrial Cities by Integrating Remote Sensing and Spatial Cooperative Simulation: With MFEZ in Zambia as a Case Study" Remote Sensing 16, no. 16: 2995. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16162995

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The Crisis of Disclosure on Our Campuses

As students reveal upsetting personal information to us, we must help them transform it in ways that become meaningful, writes Deborah J. Cohan.

By  Deborah J. Cohan

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When I started teaching in the mid-90s, student disclosure of terrifying and heartbreaking memories felt sacred. It was even before I heard the phrase “hold space,” but I realized that I was indeed being tasked with holding something carefully and gently. Simultaneously, I was attending to other students’ reactions so that the classroom could be an open and comfortable space for discussion of highly charged and complicated issues.

I even recall in 2002 having a student who shared that the reason she had enrolled in my family violence class was because she was insistent on breaking the cycle of it in her own family. Her grandfather killed her grandmother, her great grandfather killed her great grandmother, and her stepfather threatened her mother constantly. And my student, too, was abused by her stepfather, sexually, when her mother was working the night shift as a nurse. Not only did she share the horror of that, but she also shared another secret that felt equally brave: she had once considered folding rat poison into a casserole, hoping to kill him.

I read so many papers detailing family dynamics similar to this. And I remember trying to catch my breath as I was reading, letting my heart and my head catch up with each other.

The terror of it all gripped me, but perhaps what was the most compelling—and which had the strongest hold on me and still does—is the resistance that such students conveyed. It was also because of that resistance that I was able to help students make meaning of their experiences, most often by sharing with them sociological concepts and theories that would give language and voice to what they had endured.

Resistance can take many forms, and in my students, I’ve witnessed it in terms of writing and other art they’ve created and shared with me that wasn’t done for class but for the purpose of their own healing. I’ve also watched with profound admiration as students have organized events, rallies and concerts on the campus to assert their voices. Over the years, I’ve also invited some students back to speak at my classes about their experiences of survivorship, resistance and healing, and in so doing, newer students have seen them as real mentors.

A Different Context

Fast-forward to the present moment, and I’m struck by something else. I realize that I’ve come to think about student disclosure in a different way: It doesn’t look quite as brave anymore. Not because of anything that the students really did wrong, but because the social context for their sharing differs so significantly.

When I started to teach, students weren’t posting every hiccup of their private lives on social media, performing for the crowd. Nor were images of others doing that swirling around them. And they were talking about their struggles years before this country announced that young people were having a mental health crisis.

Nowadays, when students share, there’s a flattening to it that’s in keeping with their more overall flat emotional affect. Whereas students used to display great angst when disclosing things, they now share such information in a routinized, mundane way. I still hear about brutal transgressions that students have witnessed and endured in their lives, experiences that are every bit as horrific as years back. Yet, today they share it in a tone and cadence similar to how they tell me or their classmates what they ate for lunch. That steely cold reporting reveals the way that students are actively relying on and using what they know to be true in the culture. They are drawing on the messages that they know are concerning to adults.

While I don’t mean the word manipulating in a malicious way, students are indeed manipulating the language and the telling. For example, when students express themselves, they are not simply sad, they are depressed. They are not nervous, they are anxious. They are not having performance anxiety about an upcoming presentation or test, they are having full-blown panic attacks. Words like trauma even lack meaning now when people use it to describe anything and everything distressing, and we begin to lose sight of what those words truly mean.

Students announce in classes that they’ve attempted suicide. So hungry for a diagnosis, they’ll refer to themselves as having depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, even if they’ve never sought counseling. In large classes, they very publicly report their diagnoses—self-proclaimed or offered by professionals—unlike students from years past, who spoke of such things in hushed tones in my office upon realizing they could trust me after a long conversation.

The Allure of the Reveal

These current students have quickly bought into a paradigm of disease—fully medicalizing any sort of feeling ill at ease. And in all our talk about the mental health of college students, nowhere are we really seeing an important discussion about what all this disclosure means and will mean going forward.

Judith Herman , whose groundbreaking work on incest changed the field of family violence and gave it new direction, refers to what she calls a crisis of disclosure. It describes what happens both when a survivor of sexual abuse goes through the process of disclosing a series of traumatic events and the fallout of that for not only the person but the constellation of the family in light of the secrets and silence. As a sociologist, I want to extend the idea of a crisis of disclosure beyond the family unit to see that we are now in the midst of a public crisis of disclosure on our college and university campuses.

But the concern isn’t just in the telling; it’s also in the way that meaning is lost. Catharsis is not enough. My former students from years back know this well. Disclosure was contextualized, and classroom concepts became a container for holding the sharing. Together with their peers, I’d push them to see the connections to what we were learning, as well as encourage them to take positive action in the form of volunteering, advocacy and social change.

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When I think about catharsis, I think back to when I was writing a book about caregiving for my adoring and abusive father, and people often asked if it felt cathartic to me. I found myself perpetually confused by the question as it seemed to reduce the writing of such a book into a series of tawdry diary entries or the like. So much more was at stake, and so much more was involved.

Of course, I trusted that the question was well-intended and that people asked because they wanted to know that I was OK—they wanted the reassurance of healing. And in some cases, they wanted to know if they themselves set out to write whether they, too, might be able to expect catharsis.

But the problem is that disclosure on its own may not be enough. Neither disclosure nor catharsis are enough. And that’s because the heart of the telling and the heart and art of the healing are firmly rooted in the meaning of the disclosure—or you might say the meaning-making of the catharsis.

As a culture, we are caught up in the allure of the reveal. We see this in happy events like a pregnancy announcement complete with a dramatic gender reveal. We also see it in the titillation that some people have revealing family secrets. But if the real purpose of revealing secrets is to break the silence and initiate a healing process, then what is most transformative goes far beyond the telling. It goes to the kind of acts of resistance and meaning-making that I’ve previously described.

And that’s where we as educators are responsible for not just holding space, but holding students accountable for what and how they share so that it is not gratuitous, but instead meaningful. By doing this, we help students move beyond the paralysis of despair and empower them to change the course of their lives; we walk our students to the farthest edge of courage, all the while helping to ensure that they don’t fall.

Deborah J. Cohan is professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and the author of Welcome to Wherever We Are: A Memoir of Family, Caregiving, and Redemption (Rutgers, 2020).

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My Favorite Simone Biles Moment Wasn’t When She Won Gold

By Liriel Higa

Opinion Audience Director

GOAT. Most decorated. Winningest. It sounds hokey, but the most satisfying and joyful part of the Olympics for me is not which country is leading the medal count but when the best athletes in the world show their respect and admiration for one another, especially after an underperformance. On Monday, the last day of the artistic gymnastics competition, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles, the Americans who took silver and bronze medals in the floor exercise final, showed such sportsmanship to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who won gold.

During the medal ceremony, Biles and Chiles bowed down to the Brazilian as she climbed the podium to receive her medal. Andrade had already come in second to Biles in the all-around and vault event finals , but she took advantage of Biles’s two out-of-bounds landings to take first on floor.

Andrade was runner-up to Biles at the 2023 World Championships and second to Suni Lee at the Tokyo Olympics all-around. It may have been frustrating to keep coming in second, but she has been consistently supportive over the years, saying, for instance, that it was an “honor” to compete against Biles.

For her part, Biles has acknowledged her own fallibility and reminded us that just because she makes winning look easy does not mean that it is. After the all-around final, Biles said of Andrade: “She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes, and it brought out the best athlete in myself.”

Of course, it’s easy to be gracious when you’ve won the gold. On Monday, in what might be her final Olympic performance, Biles took the silver on floor after a disappointing fifth-place finish on the balance beam. But when Chiles suggested that they bow down to Andrade, Biles eagerly agreed, creating one of the most iconic images from these Olympics.

Chiles explained their thinking during an interview after the competition. “Why don’t we just give her her flowers?” she said. “Not only has she given Simone her flowers but a lot of us in the United States our flowers as well. So giving it back is what makes it so beautiful. So I felt like it was needed.”