Chapter 11

The Urban Transition

Chapter Outline• Defining Rural And Urban• The Proximate Determinants Of The

Urban Transition• The Urban Transition In The Context

Of The Demographic Transition

Chapter Outline• The Urban Evolution That

Accompanies The Urban Transition• Cities As Sustainable Environments

Urban Transition• In 1850 - 2% of the entire population of

the world lived in cities of 100,000 or more people.

• By 1900 - that figure had risen to 6%.• By 1950 - it had risen to 16%.• In 2000 - virtually one in every two people

was living in a place labeled as urban.

What Is Urban?• Urban means nonagricultural.• Rural means any place that is not urban. • Urban is a function of

population size space (land area) ratio of population to space economic and social organization

Overview of Urbanization• Urbanization refers to the change in

the proportion of a population living in urban places.

• It is a relative measure ranging from 0% , if a population is entirely rural or agricultural, to 100%, if a population is entirely urban.

Industrialized Nations Are Highly Urbanized

Current Patterns of Urbanization• 24% of the countries of the world have

less than 33% of the population living in urban places.

• 43% of the world’s nations have between 33 and 65% of the population living in urban places.

• The remaining one-third of the world’s nations have 66% or more of their population residing in urban places.

World Urbanizing at Rapid Pace Since 1950

Urban PopulationPercentage Urban

1950 1975 2000 2030

North America 64% 74% 77% 85%

Latin America and Caribbean

41% 61% 75% 84%

Europe 52% 67% 73% 81%

Oceania 62% 71% 74% 77%

Africa 14% 25% 37% 53%

Asia 17% 25% 38% 54%

Source of Urbanization• The underlying source is the rate of

natural increase of the rural population. • The decline in death rates in rural places,

without a commensurate drop in the birth rate, has led to overpopulation in rural areas and causes people to seek employment elsewhere.

• The speed of urbanization depends partly on the difference in the rates of natural increase between urban and rural areas.

Urbanization and Fertility• By the early 1990s, fewer than 2% of

women in the U.S. of reproductive age were living on farms.

• Their fertility was only slightly higher than the other 98% of the population.

• In rural areas, large families may be useful, but even if they are not, a family can “take care of” too many members by encouraging migration to the city.

Largest Metropolitan Areas in United States

Metropolitan areaPopulation

(millions) in 2005

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA

18.3

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA

12.4

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI9.1

Largest Metropolitan Areas in United States

Metropolitan areaPopulation

(millions) in 2005

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE

5.7

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 5.2

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL

5.0

Largest Metropolitan Areas in United States

Metropolitan areaPopulation (millions) in

2005

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD

4.8

Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX 4.7

Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 4.5

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 4.4

World’s Largest Urban Agglomerations

Suburbanization• After 1920, the suburbs began to grow in

population at a faster pace than the central cities.

• Two factors related to suburbanization: People’s desire to live in the less-

crowded environment of the outlying areas.

Increasing wealth and the availability of transportation, especially automobiles.

Trends• There has been a westward tilt to

urbanization in the U.S. which has facilitated suburbanization through the creation of new places.

• Many of those new places are edge cities within the suburbs, replacing the functions of the old central city.

• Older parts of cities have been gentrified.

Regional Segregation• Beginning in the 1930s, the proportion of

whites living in central cities declined and the proportion of African-Americans rose.

• From 1910–30, there was a substantial movement of African-Americans out of the South to cities of the North and the West.

• The urban population of African-Americans grew by more than 3% per year during that 20-year period.

Factors that Maintained Regional Segregation1. Discriminatory mortgage lending

policies.2. African-Americans who sought housing

in white areas faced intimidation and violence.

3. After World War II, suburbs developed strategies for keeping African-Americans out.

4. Federally sponsored public housing encouraged segregation in many cities.