Urbanization is the study of the social, political, and economic relationships i
Urbanization is the study of the social, political, and economic relationships in cities, and someone specializing in urban sociology would study those relationships. In some ways, cities can be microcosms of universal human behavior, while in others, they provide a unique environment that yields their own brand of human behavior. There is no strict dividing line between rural and urban; there is a continuum where one bleeds into the other. However, once a geographically concentrated population has reached approximately 100,000 people, it typically behaves like a city regardless of its designation. There are three prerequisites for the development of a city.
First, a good environment with fresh water and a favorable climate; second, advanced technology, producing a food surplus to support non-farmers; and third, strong social organization to ensure social stability and a stable economy. Most scholars agree that the first cities were developed somewhere in ancient Mesopotamia, though there are disagreements about exactly where. Most early cities were small by today’s standards, and the largest city around 100 CE was most likely Rome, with about 650,000 inhabitants. The factors limiting the size of ancient cities included a lack of adequate sewage control, limited food supply, and immigration restrictions. For example, serfs were tied to the land, and transportation was limited and inefficient. Today, the primary influence on cities’ growth is economic forces.
Growth of Urban Populations
Urbanization levels are affected by two things – migration and natural increase. Migration is the movement of the population from one area to another. Some migrations are forced, voluntary, permanent, temporary, international, and regional. Rural-to-urban migration is the movement of people from the countryside to city areas. This type of migration happened in developed countries from the 18th century onwards on a large scale and has gradually slowed down. However, many developing countries are experiencing massive rural-to-urban migration, mainly of young males, into the major cities. The major reasons for migration can be classified into push and pull factors.
A push factor can force or encourage people to move away from a country. Push factors include famine (as in Ethiopia in the 1980s), drought, flooding, a lack of employment opportunities, population growth, overpopulation, and civil war. A pull factor encourages people to move to a city. Pull factors include the chance of a better job, better access to education and services, and a higher standard of living. These factors have contributed to millions of people in developing countries moving to cities, creating mass urbanization. Natural increase (a population increase due to more births and fewer deaths) also significantly affects urbanization rates. Natural increase is stimulated by better access to medical care, improved water supplies, sanitary conditions, and wealth.
Suburbs and Exurbs
As cities grew and