World urbanization

 

Urbanization (from lat. Urbanos - City) is the process of city growth and the urban population, as well as increasing their role in the socio-economic and cultural life of society. Methods of cities' appearance of in human history have been different. Cities occurred as a joint settlement of craftsmen, which facilitates their production activities, like centers of trade, as military fortifications (fortress).

The first large cities appeared more than five thousands years ago in a the densely populated agricultural areas of Mesopotamia and the Nile valley, and later - in the valleys of the Indus (West Indies) and Huanghe (northern China). Because of weak development of transport in those days in the city food imported from far away did not receive, so the ancient city is not quite "spun off" from the countryside: agricultural production remained one of the major classes of citizens. On the the outskirts of dwellings interspersed with a "garden plots". It was a long time before the city's role in society has strengthened and increased. In the Middle Ages, the city has a serious impact on people's lives, contributing to the development of production and transport, the spread of commodity-money relations, strengthening of states. But despite the increased role of cities, the urban population grew very slowly. However, rapid urbanization has started only in connection with the rapid industrial development in Europe and was the obvious consequence of it. Despite the presence of very large cities, the total urban population remained insignificant and amounted to only 50 million, or 5.1% of all humanity (Fig.1).

Fig.1. The dynamics of the urban population of the world, thousands of people. For cities with populations greater than 40,000 people. (1200 BC. E. - 1350 AD. E.), logarithmic scale

 

 

XX century can justly be called the century of urbanization. In 1900, the world's population lived in urban areas was 14% of the total population, there were 12 cities - "millionaires." On the eve of the XXI century city has 45% of the world's population, there are about 2.4 thousands large cities (over 100 thousands of citizens in each) and over 200 cities - Millionaires. (Fig.2.)

Fig.2. The dynamics of the urban population of the world, millions of people. For cities with populations greater than 10,000 people. (5000 BC. E. - 2005 AD. E.), with predictions to 2350

 

The mankind has entered in the XX century already having an idea about city planning boom, of the painful consequences of population concentration in large cities, their pathology. Many thought that clearly showed disadvantages of large cities won’t leave chances them in the future. A.Babel spoke of the inevitable coming death of the big cities. H. Wells predicted the disappearance (or as he put it, "spray").

At the turn of the century in England E.Govard made ​​the idea of ​​a garden-cities, which should replace the existing city burdened with defects This idea had significant influence on the thinking of urban planners, but it could not be realized.

In the early 1960s in the U.S. and then in other developed countries, an intensive out-migration from large cities in the surrounding suburban areas began. Rapidly suburbs formed. This process, which received the name of suburbanizationhas resulted to the United States to the fact that the number of suburban population significantly exceeded the population of cities This gave the Americans the right to declare: "We - the nation is not only the city, we are a nation - suburban"Professor Irving Kristoll from New York University at that time an article," Urbanization without Cities ". Antiurbanisty going to celebrate. However, suburban areas, becoming an important reserve for urban development and adding to them, do not reduce their value Major centers remained sites territorial structure of the country's major socio-economic focus area, the generators of progress.

In the 1970s, and since the U.S. emerged in industrialized countries the process has received scathing counterurbanization name. This resulted in the influx of population from cities to rural areas in the hinterland towns. Statistics documented this phenomenon quite clearly. However, due to their counterurbanization modest scale has not brought about any noticeable change in the nature of urbanization and urban settlement.

According to some theoretical constructs after the stage of concentration of population in cities and their surroundings should occur dezurbanization stage. It was believed that large cities will be given a substantial part of its population rural areas and small towns, while they themselves will be reduced in size. It would seem that the above-mentioned phenomenon is confirmed counterurbanization. No vskore began a new, not предусмотренный vitok urbanizatsii. There was a return of activity and population centers of old cities. This process is very noticeable in the cities of the United States and Western Europe became known as Re-urbanization. It is celebrated in modern Russia (for instance, the revival of the central part - the "core" of Moscow).

Thus, XX century ended on a high note of urban in all developed countries. As urbanization of developing countries, there excessively high level of territorial concentration of population and economy in major cities continues to grow, though it has beaten all imaginable and unimaginable "records."

The course of urbanization in the XX century shows the complexity of this process, its wavelike character, the diversity of forms. On the whole, urbanization can be seen as a positive trend of development of society as a rush of humanity, to which people went millennium.

Even today in many countries, especially industrialized, urban population is 85-90%. According to the forecasts of the UN Commission on Population, at the beginning of the XXI century. will live in cities is not less than 51% of the total world population, while in 1970 the urban population was only 38.6%. There are millions and growing city - the mega-cities (New York, London, Tokyo, Moscow, etc.), increasing their number, size, and problems.

Urbanization refers to the growth of towns and cities, often at the expense of rural areas, as people move to urban centres in search of jobs and what they hope will be a better life. In most countries the percentage of the total population living in urban areas is increasing. In a number of small countries, such as Guadeloupe, Monaco, and Bermuda, 100 percent of the population lives in urban centres. On the other extreme, several of Africa’s poorest countries have an urban population of less than 10 percent of their total. Canada, with 79 percent of its population in urban centres, ranks 40th on the list of most urbanized countries in the world. It is predicted that by 2025 Canada will have 82 percent of its population in urban centres.

In 2000 in the cities lived more than half the world's population It can be argued that urbanization today has become global. Its present stage characterized by three features:

 

1.Rates of increase of urban population

 

(at the beginning of the nineteenth century in urban population of 3% of world population

 

at the beginning of the twentieth century. living in urban areas 14% of world population

 

at the beginning of the XXI century. living in urban areas 51% of world population).

2. Further concentration of population and economy at large (over 100 thousand inhabitants), towns and cities.

 

In 2000 there were about 400 major cities. The largest city in the world believe Tokyo, which is home to 26.4 million inhabitants.

3. Expansion of cities and towns located near merger, united together by political, labor, cultural, domestic, industrial, administrative and managerial ties into the whole - the urban agglomeration (from Latin - "connect").

At the beginning of the third millennium there were 20 urban agglomerations and their number is constantly growing. The highest stage is the formation of modern urban megalopolis (from Greek - "big city"). It occurs as a result of merging neighboring agglomerations to form a single infrastructure. By the end of the twentieth century. the world was six megalopolis, including:

three in U.S.

 

Bosvash - along the Atlantic from Boston to Washington with a population of about 50 million inhabitants;

 

Lakeside - the south coast of the Great Lakes, with a population of 35 million inhabitants;

 

California (18 million inhabitants).

 

two in Europe:

 

English (consisting of metropolitan London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool);

 

pryreynskyh (agglomeration Randstad in the Netherlands and the Rhine-Ruhr, Rhine-Main in Germany).

 

one in Japan

 

Tokaido (metropolitan Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto).

Significant differences exist between the level and pace of urbanization. Highest in the developed countries. In most developing countries the level of urbanization is comparatively low, but the urban population is growing rapidly, because due to the migration of rural population of the city This phenomenon is called pseudo because the sharp increase in urban population is not accompanied by the spread of urban lifestyles.

Natural population growth - a measure which, together with indicators of fertility and mortality characterizing the dynamics of the continuous renewal of generations of people, ie the process of population reproduction. It is characterized by the ratio of natural increase, calculated as the difference between fertility and mortality (per 1,000 of population).

Natural increase depends on many factors. In the XVIII century. growth of world population depended mainly on biological processes. At this level of fertility and mortality rates were very high and as a result - low natural increase (see chart on the map "Location of population"). Nowadays, more significant impact on the process of population acquire social and economic factors: the level of prosperity and people's living conditions, the level of medicine, health and nutrition, the extent of women participation in public life, the ratio between urban and rural populations, national and religious traditions, etc. Among the global historical reasons that hinder the natural growth of population - political upheaval, social crisis, deteriorating environmental conditions.

Rate of natural increase can be positive, negative or zero In most countries there is a positive natural growth High rates of population growth are called population explosion and became one of the global problems of mankind. Solving this problem is seen in the conduct of governments appropriate demographic policies.

The predominance of mortality on birth rate - a negative natural increase is called depopulation This phenomenon is typical for transition countries (Ukraine, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria) and some developed European countries (Germany, Sweden).