Urbanisation Patterns

A world of cities

Around 2007, for the first time in history, more than half the world's people lived in towns and cities. That shift is called urbanisation, and it is still going on. This module tracks how urbanisation has risen worldwide, why it is fastest in some countries, and why UK regions differ.

The language of urbanisation

Four ideas run through this module:

Different countries, different speeds

Where a country is in its development shapes when and how fast it urbanises.

Define it

What does urbanisation mean?

• A growing share of people living in towns and cities
• People moving out to the countryside
• Cities shrinking in size
• Building more farms in the countryside

Plot the rising trend

This simplified graph shows the percentage of the world living in cities rising steadily: (1980, 40), (2000, 50) and (2020, 60) are marked, where x is the year and y is the percentage urban. Plot the point for 2040, continuing the same straight-line trend.

What pulls people in?

Select the TWO factors that PULL people towards cities.

• More jobs and higher wages
• Better schools and hospitals
• Drought ruining farm crops
• A lack of services in rural areas

The UK is not uniform

Within the UK, the degree of urbanisation varies by region. Areas around London, the old industrial North-West and Midlands are highly urban, while the South-West, mid-Wales and the Scottish Highlands are far more rural. The reasons: past industry concentrated people in cities, and physical geography left uplands sparsely populated.

Match each type to its trend

From countryside to city

Put the stages of rural-to-urban migration into order.

• Rural jobs and services decline, creating push factors
• Cities offer jobs, wages and services as pull factors
• People migrate from the countryside to the city
• The city's population grows
• The country becomes more urbanised

Extend the trend

On the simplified trend, the urban share was 40% in 1980 and rose by 10 percentage points every 20 years. If it kept rising, what percentage would be urban in 2060?

Urbanisation in words

_____ is the rising share of people living in towns and cities. It is driven by rural-to-urban _____, caused by _____ factors in the countryside and pull factors in the city. _____ countries urbanised earliest, while _____ countries are urbanising fastest today.

What urbanisation means

Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.

• Urbanisation means a growing share of people living in towns and cities.
• Emerging and developing countries are urbanising faster than developed ones today.
• Developed countries have only just started to urbanise.
• Push factors are the good things that attract people to cities.
• Every part of the UK is urbanised to exactly the same degree.

Read the pattern

Work out what each situation shows about urbanisation.

• A country urbanised long ago, is already highly urban, and now sees some people move out to rural areas. Which type is it?
• A farmer moves to the city because there are no jobs left in the countryside. Is this a push or a pull factor?
• Two UK regions have very different shares of people living in cities. What best explains this?

Why the speeds differ

Explain why the rate of urbanisation is faster in emerging and developing countries than in developed countries today. Refer to migration and to how far each type of country has already urbanised.

• State what urbanisation means
• Explain why developed countries urbanise slowly now
• Explain why emerging and developing countries urbanise quickly
• Explain the role of rural-to-urban migration