Urbanization

By

Mckenzie Kearl
GEOG 1700: Natural Disasters
Sally Timmins

WHAT IS URBANZATION?

Urbanization is the gradual increase in population from rural to urban

areas and how society reacts to these changes. This process forms the
cities we have in our world today. The U.S. uses the term urban places
to define an area with more or equal to 2,500 people living there.
WHAT CAUSES URBANIZATION?

The growing population over the last three centuries has resulted in our
worlds city expansion. The process of urbanization is caused by many
different situations. The improvements in transportation, technology and
employment are some of the major causes.
Technology has become an important part of society and increasing
knowledge of the subject can lead to even more creations in rural areas.
Our world is continuously gaining more information and creating even
bigger and better products in technology. For example internet service is
not available everywhere, but more and more peole need it and as a
result they move closer to the city. More people move closer to the city
so the city must grow and make room for these people. More than half
of Americans live in urbanized towns and cities and this number
continues to grow.
In the 19th centuries farming was an important aspect of life, it was a
nessesity for food, crops and income. As the towns began to grow and
technology began to improve more jobs were becoming available in the
towns rather than in the counrty. Many families moved into town to
create a better life style and acquire more money.
WHERE AND WHY IS URBANIZAION HAPPENING?

Urbanization is a process that is occurring all around the world. It is most

common in third world countries such as Mexico, Korea and Brazil. Great
Britain and most European countries were some of the first to be
urbanized at the turn of the 19th century. The growth of our nations cities
is determined entirely on human activity and population due to
procreation.
Generally urbanization occurs due to modernization and industrialization,
meaning it is controlled by global and social changes. The lack of
resources in rural areas has a lot to do with the cause and effects of this
process.

DOES URBANIZATION HARM THE ENVIRONMENT?

Urbanization is very harmful to our worlds environment and can cause

many issues in the future. Wetland, Forests and Farmlands, which are
home to many animals, are being destroyed to make room for new
buildings and homes. Air pollution is becoming a huge issue due to more
people using cars and harmful gasses that are being released into the air on
a continual basis.
Another issue with urbanization, although not completely centered on
environmental problems, is the growth of cars and people on the road
leading to traffic congestion. This happens when more people are the road
at a specific time period causing a slow in traffic.
WHAT IS BEING DOEN TO PREVENT THESE ISSUES?

There is a lot being done and a lot you can do to help prevent the problems
caused by urbanization. Many of these are just simple things someone can
do at home or on their way to work to help protect from these issues. Plant
more trees in your area to help clean the air around you and if possible try
to drive less if you know you can walk to your destination, carpool with a
friend or even use public transportation.
There are things the government can do to help reduce environmental
issues as well. There is always money being spent on things in our world
but if more of it was spent on public transport systems and research to
make these systems more efficient than people would be more likely to
use them.
As a solution to traffic congestion the states are putting in road systems to
make this less of a problem such as the carpool lanes and Real-Time
traveler information, which gives a person access to information such as
weather, accidents and construction on the road.
As for preventing urbanization there is not much anyone can do, other
than using public transportation systems. Our world is growing and is
going to continue to develop, with that being said I personally dont think
there is much to be done to stop the world from getting larger, but there

are things we can do to help protect our world from the dangers caused by
urbanization.

REFLECTION

Urbanization is a huge issue in our world today. In the 19th century

farming was a source of income for many people in America. Many of
these people lived in the country where they owned farmland to grow
crops and sell on the market, as technology began to take over the next
few decades many families moved to the city to find jobs and better
resources for living. The cities started to grow at a rapid pace and this
constant growth has caused urbanization.
Believe it or not this process is harming the world we live in.
Environmental issues such as pollution are a threat to us and can cause
many other problems in the future. No matter what we do our world is
going to continue to get larger, there is not much one can do to prevent
urbanization from happening but there are things we can do to protect our
world from the threats caused by it.