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ECOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

URBANAIZATION

ANKIT BHARADWAJ
NITESH KAMAL
PRAVALIKA S.

URBANIZATION
INTRODUCTION
Urbanisation is a major change taking place globally.It is the movement of people from
rural to urban areas, and the result is the growth of cities. It is also a process by which
rural areas are transformed into urban areas. Urbanization is a process that has
occurred, or is occurring, in nearly every part of the world that humans have inhabited.
People move into cities to seek economic opportunities. Urbanization is measured by
the percentage of people, who are urban in a society, a region or the world.
Urbanization, therefore, summarizes the relationship between the total population and
its urban component. That is, it is mostly used as a demographic indicator or in the
demographic sense, whereby, there is an increase in the urban population to the total
population over a period of time.
The concept of urbanization has a dual meaning demographically and sociologically.
The demographic meaning refers to the increasing proportion of population in a country
or a region that resides in cities. Sociologically, it refers to the behaviour, institutions and
materialistic things that are identified as urban in origin and use. In other words, it is a
social process which is the cause and consequence of a change in the mans way of life
in the urban milieu.
Urbanization refers to the concentration of human populations into discrete areas,
leading to transformation of land forresidential, commercial, industrial & transportation
purposes. It can include densely populated centers, as well as their adjacent peri urban
or suburban fringes, and can be quantified in many different ways. Definitions used to
classify areas as urban or developed include:

Core areas with population density 1,000 people per square mile, plus
surrounding areas with population density 500 people per square mile (U.S.
Census Bureau, for 2000 Census)
Areas characterized by 30% constructed materials, such as asphalt,
concrete, and building

Urbanization is a big problem in India. It is rapidly increasing. Urbanization means


shifting of rural population to urban areas. It also means the making of rural areas more
developed. It includes setting up of factories, creating opportunities to infrastructure, etc.

Urbanization has put great pressure on urban infrastructure. It has made existing cities
crowded with people. Towns are turning into cities, new colonies and settlements have
mushroomed everywhere. Wide inequality in development and economic growth has
become a major cause of urbanization. Rapid industrialization has also contributed to
the growth of urbanization.

Although urbanisation continues to be critically important, it is also important to


recognise that in some
ways the rural/urban dichotomy is losing its salience. The boundary between rural and
urban is increasingly blurred, and many of the traditional distinctions between urban and
rural cultures, lifestyles and enterprises are eroding or reforming.
Urbanisation is often used more loosely, however, to refer to a broad-based rural-tourban transition involving population, land use, economic activity and culture, or indeed
any one of these. Thus, it is frequently used to refer to changes in land-use for specific
areas (usually on the periphery of urban concentrations) as this land becomes
urbanised and is sold and developed for urban use (e.g. the sale of plots for housing).
The problem with applying the term urbanisation to simultaneous changes along these
different dimensions is that they do not occur together, and the very notion that there is
a clear rural/urban distinction in economic activities or cultural norms is difficult to
maintain. Even the distinction between urban and rural land and populations is
becoming blurred.
Perhaps more importantly, shifts along these different dimensions can have very
different drivers and different implications: thus, the shift in population from rural to
urban settlements involves a shift to more dense settlement patterns; whereas the shift
from rural to urban land use is increasingly the result of shifts to less dense urban
settlement patterns.
There is an emerging consensus that urbanization is critically important to international
development, but considerable confusion over what urbanization actually is; whether it
is accelerating or slowing, whether it should be encouraged or discouraged and more
generally, what the responses should be.

CONCEPTS OF URBANISATION
Some of the important concept of urbanization are as follows:
Urban Locality : According to United Nations, localities are of three types, admistrative.
Economic and ecological urban locality is a population cluster, in which the inhabitants
live in closely adjacent structures. They can be classified into three divisions :
1. Clusters of population with official boundaries and administrative functions.
2. Localities with fixed boundaries and some form of local government.
3. Minor civil divisions such as communities with fixed bounderies.
Urban Place : Urban place is the demarcation of an area as urban regardless of
boundary. It is determined by certain characteristics of urban population UN has
suggested that each country should decide for itself, which area is urban and which is
rural. An urban place should have a population of 20,000 or more.
Urban Agglomeration : Agglomeration means a cluster of a population.It is an
geographical unit which includes more than one locality. City or town is often a part of
the urban agglomeration.
Urban Population : Urban population means, the population or the people which lives in
urban areas.
Urban growth : Urban growth is the growth in urban place and in the urban population
Urbanism : Urbanism is used for the way of life associated with living in urban areas.
The important characteristics of urban life are individualism, impersonal relations,
transportation and communication, complex life and better technological facilities.

URBAN AREAS
The boundaries of urban areas or identify when a settlement is urban is based on
population size and density criteria, and some countries have adopted such definitions
in some cases with allowances to include commuters living beyond the bounds of the
dense agglomeration. In many countries, however, settlements designated as urban are
expected to serve certain administrative functions. Administrative responsibilities, and
the associated status of urban, are rarely conferred on the basis of physical features
alone. Alternatively, some countries have multiple criteria, perhaps including size,
density and administrative level, but also extending to indicators of what could be
considered urban employment (e.g. non-agricultural workers), facilities (e.g. higher-level
schools), infrastructure (e.g. street lighting). As well as varying between countries,
definitions also change over time.

For the Census of India 2011, the definition of urban area is as follows
1. All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area
committee, etc. 2. All other places which satisfied the following criteria
i) A minimum population of 5,000
ii) At least 75 per cent of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural
pursuits
iii) A density of population of at least 400 persons per sq. km
The Rise of Megacities
Urbanisation is an irreversible process. The 20th century has seen the emergence of
megacities (cities with population greater than 10 million). Such large population
concentration in cities is a significant historic change. The number of megacities has
risen from two in 1950 to twenty in 2005. Moreover, 17 out of the 20 megacities in the
world are located in the worlds less developed regions. Ancient Megalopolis, built by
Epaminondas in 371368 B.C., was the capital of the Arcadian
alliance in Greece. It was considered to be the model of a prosperous, happy and
peaceful city.

Most current megacities (that share the same name with the ancient
city) but also metropolitan cities (cities up to 5 million) do not experience a similar
quality of life, since global population growth is becoming an urban phenomenon mainly
in the less developed regions. It is ironic that much of what were once considered the
major advantages of life in the city, like security, better housing conditions, and services
provision have now become major disadvantages of urban life, like criminality, slums
and lack of services. Massive displacement of people to megacities perpetuates
environmental degradation and climate change resulting in the shrinkage of areas
available for agricultural, and causing the loss of livelihoods based on agricultural and
animal breeding. It is clear that sustainable development cannot be achieved without
sustainable urbanisation.

WORLDS POPULATION LIVING IN THE


RURAL POPULATION (in billions)
URBAN AREAS

GROWTH OF URBAN Vs

GROWTH OF URBAN Vs RURAL POPULATION


Between 2007 and 2030, the worlds population is expected to increase by 1.8 billion.
Almost all population growth during this period will be in urban Areas.
The rural population will actually decrease by about 20 million.
Although the number of large cities is increasing, much of the urban population lives in
small cities
In 2000, 24.8% of the worlds population lived in urban settlements with fewer than
500,000 inhabitants. By 2015 that proportion is likely to rise to 27.1%
CAUSES OF UNCONTROLLED URBANIZATION
To begin with, it is a good point to dig up the reasons for people to come to larger cities.
First of all, by all accounts, cities are perceived to offer a wide variety of job
opportunities on the grounds that there are very different branches of businesses in
cities. Inasmuch as unemployment level is hugely high in the rural areas and the work is
only about farming in contrast to countless business sectors in chief cities, more and
more people choose searching for their chances in the metropolis.
Secondly, comes another significant reason: There are better services in cities. As a
matter of fact, transportation is extremely developed so as to make use of time
efficiently. Medical services are supported with the latest technological improvements,
there are unbelievably modern hospitals. Besides, education is taken into account
seriously. There are very high-quality schools with excellent teachers, teaching with upto-date techniques. None of these can be found in the rural areas, at this stage.
Apart from these pull factors causing migration to big cities, there is a strong push
factor stemming from absence of enough land. It would be very hard and useless to
cultivate the land if it is too small to make an agricultural production. One important
thing triggers this incident increasingly during the last years; namely, division of land. To
explain, in the rural areas when someone dies, the inheritance would usually be the
land. Yet, the land is divided into many parts due to the fact that in the countryside it is
common to have lots of chmigrationildren and they all have rights to take one part of the

inherited land. Therefore, what they get are useless small lands rather than a gigantic
land which is capable of making a great deal of agricultural production itself. The
inability to do the only thing, farming, again brings about migration to big cities with the
hopes of making money. The rapid growth of urban areas is the result of two
factors: natural increase in population (excess of births over deaths), and migration to
urban areas.
Migration : migration is defined as the long-term relocation of an individual, household
or group to a new location outside the community of origin. Today the movement of
people from rural to urban areas (internal migration) is most significant. Although
smaller than the movement of people within borders, international migration is also
increasing. Figure 1 shows the annual net international migration totals and migration
rates in the worlds major areas between 1990 and 1995. Both internal and
international migration contribute to urbanization.
Migration is often explained in terms of either push factors conditions in the place of
origin which are perceived by migrants as detrimental to their well-being or economic
security, and pull factors the circumstances in new places that attract individuals to
move there. Examples of push factors include high unemployment and political
persecution; examples of pull factors include job opportunities or moving to a better
climate.
International migration : includes labor migration, refugees and undocumented
migrants. Similar to rural-to-urban migration, individuals move in search of jobs and a
better life. Income disparities among regions, and job opportunities, are key motivating
factors. The migration policies of sending and receiving countries also play a key
role. The best current estimate from the United Nations Population Fund, indicates that
more than 100 million people were living outside their countries of birth or citizenship in
1998. There is a number of reasons why this figure is rising, but an important one is
that the native labor pool in the industrialized countries is shrinking, while the
developing worlds workforce is rapidly increasing. figure 2 shows the countries whose
populations have the largest percentage of migrants. Today, international migration is at
an all-time high. About 2% of the Earths population has moved away from the country
of origin.

Fig 1 : Annual net international migration totals and migration rates in the world's major
areas

Fig : Ten country with largest stocks of Migrants

Internal Migration : In order to better illustrate the causes of rural migration, we will
consider policies that have led to migration in many developing countries. In order to
pay foreign debt and to be more competitive in international markets, national
governments have encouraged the export of national resources and agricultural
products. Agricultural products (sugar, flowers, coffee, etc.), and primary-sector goods

(timber, fish, minerals, etc) become natural resource capital that can be traded to bolster
the national economy. In order to produce agricultural products quickly, efficiently, and
for a decent prize, national governments often look to decrease the number of small
producers, and turn agricultural production and resource extraction over to larger
enterprises, with larger production facilities, and a lower per-unit cost of
production. This trend turns land into a commodity, that can be bought and sold, and it
is viewed only in terms of its productive capabilities. Free market economics pursues
economic efficiency to deliver goods at the lowest possible price, and its advocates
maintain that any government intervention diminishes this efficiency. Consequently,
they seek to eliminate farm programs such as farm subsidies, cheap credit policies, etc.
intended to help the farmer, and to maintain stable prices. This scenario leaves farmers
to shoulder the burden of farming, sometimes with no alternative but to sell their land to
a foreign investor or a domestic-owned enterprise, and move to the cities, where the
farmer hopes to have a better life.
Other policies reinforce the above scenario. In this case, in order to boost the
production of cheaper goods, governments have maintained artificially low food prices
in urban areas. The strategy here is to maintain urban food prices below market levels
to reduce the cost of urban labor and urban life. This policy has resulted in inadequate
compensation of rural producers for the costs they incur to produce food products and
thus have aggravated rural poverty. On the other hand, these policies have also made
city life more attractive and pulled them from rural areas.
Noteable Causes of Urbanisation:
The pattern of urbanization in India is characterized by continuous concentration of
population and activities in large cities. Kingsley Davis used the term "over-urbanization
"where in urban misery and rural poverty exists side-by-side (Kingsley Davis and
Golden, 1954). Another scholar named Breese depicts urbanization in India as pseudourbanization wherein people arrive at cities not due to urban pull but due to rural push
factors (Breese, 1969). Rezaan Kundu talked of dysfunctional urbanization and urban
accretion which results in a concentration of population in a few large cities without a
corresponding increase in their economic base. Urbanization process is not mainly
"migration led" but a product of demographic explosion due to natural growth. Besides,
rural out-migration is directed towards class I cities (Premi, 1991). The big cities
attained inordinately large population size leading to virtual collapse in the urban
services and quality of life. Large cities are structurally weak and formal instead of being
functional entities because of inadequate economic base. The urban population in India
has gone up gradually from about 11 percent in 1901 to 17 percent in 1951 and then to
28 percent in 2001. The urban growth rate during 194151 was fairly high at 3.5 per
cent per annum, but then reduced to 2.3 per cent in the following decade. It has been
pointed out that the figure for the 1940s was on the high side, since the definition of
urban centre could not be standardized in the first Census conducted after
Independence and also because massive ruralurban migration occurred due to
partition of the country. The highest rate of urban growth (3.8 per cent) was recorded
during the 1970s, but has subsequently reduced to 3.1 per cent in the 1980s and 2.7

per cent in the 1990s.

It has certain unique features which are as follows:i. Industrialization:


Industrialization is a major cause of urbanization. It has expanded the employment
opportunities. Rural people have migrated to cities on account of better employment
opportunities. The Industrial Revolution changed material production, wealth, labor
patterns and population distribution. Although many rural areas remained farming
communities during this time, the lives of people in cities changed drastically. The new
industrial labor opportunities caused a population shift from the countryside to the cities.
The new factory work led to a need for a strict system of factory discipline.
During this time, child labor and the unsafe working conditions rampant in many
factories led to reform movements. Population movement was caused by people living
in small farming communities who moved to cities. These prospective workers were
looking for wage labor in newly developed factories.
When urban population growth rate is 40% in India, the industrial growth rate is about
60% per annum. The Seventy Five Year Plan population an industrial growth rate of
8.0% per annum. This growth takes care of the additional job requirement in the cities.
The fertility sector is also provides refuge to the migrants though their earning remain at
low level.
ii. Social factors:
Many social factors such as attraction of cities, better standard of living, better
educational facilities, need for status also induce people to migrate to cities. Social push
factors can include ethnic, religious, racial, and cultural persecution. Warfare, or the
threat of conflict, is also a major push factor. In the Australian context, most asylum

seekers arriving by boat in the last decade have come from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and
Sri Lanka. All of these countries, apart from Iran, have undergone extremely
destabilising conflicts in recent years. On the other hand, while it is free of violent
conflict, Iran has one of the worst human rights records in the world leading many of its
citizens to seek asylum outside of its borders.
Social exclusion can be a affecting factor in the criteria of social factors. Exclusionary
processes can have various dimensions:
Political exclusion can include the denial of citizenship rights such as political
participation and the right to organise, and also of personal security, the rule of
law, freedom of expression and equality of opportunity. Bhalla and Lapeyre
(1997: 420) argue that political exclusion also involves the notion that the state,
which grants basic rights and civil liberties, is not a neutral agency but a vehicle
of a societys dominant classes, and may thus discriminate between social
groups.
Economic exclusion includes lack of access to labour markets, credit and other
forms of capital assets.
Social exclusion may take the form of discrimination along a number of
dimensions including gender, ethnicity and age, which reduce the opportunity
for such groups to gain access to social services and limits their participation in
the labour market.
Cultural exclusion refers to the extent to which diverse values, norms and ways
of living are accepted and respected.
These relationships are interconnected and overlapping, and given the complexity of
influences on individuals, it is impossible to identify a single specific cause in the context
of social exclusion. People may be excluded because of deliberate action on the part of
others (e.g. discrimination by employers); as a result of processes in society which do
not involve deliberate action; or even by choice. However, more generally, the causes of
social exclusion that lead to poverty, suffering and sometimes death can be attributed to
the operations of unequal power relations.
iii. Employment opportunities:
In rural sector people have to depend mainly on agriculture for their livelihood. But
Indian agriculture is depending on monsoon. In drought situations or natural calamities,
rural people have to migrate to cities.

Economic factors relate to the labour standards of a country, its unemployment situation
and the overall health of its economy. If economic conditions are not favourable and
appear to be at risk of declining further, a greater number of individuals will probably
emigrate to one with a better economy. Often this will result in people moving from rural
to urban areas while remaining within the confines of their state borders. As the lowand middle-income countries of today continue to develop and the high-income
countries experience slower economic growth, migration from the former could decline.
Economic migrants are drawn towards international migration because of the prospect
of higher wages, better employment opportunities and, often, a desire to escape the
domestic social and political situation of their home country. These migrants are most
likely to come from middle-income countries where the population is becoming
increasingly well educated. Salaries and wages, however, are likely to remain relatively
low compared to those of individuals with a similar educational background in other,
higher-income countries. This disparity has the potential to lead to some highly-skilled
individuals from developing countries migrating to more developed countries. This form
of migration is known as south-north migration and has historically been the main form
of economic migration.
iv. Modernization:
Urban areas are characterized by sophisticated technology better infrastructure,
communication, medical facilities, etc. People feel that they can lead a comfortable life
in cities and migrate to cities.
Certain characteristics being common between urbanization and modernization make
the distinction between the two processes blurred. It is because of this that these
concepts often appear to be overlapping. The rationality, scientific temper, individualism,
secularism, temperament of progress and mobility are the defining socio-cultural
characteristics of both urbanization and modernization.
Modernization refers to new cultural values, which emerged with Renaissance and
Industrial Revolution and prevailed in European societies replacing the existing
traditional social, cultural and political norms, e.g., feudalism was replaced with free
democratic state, church was disjointed from state and secular nation-state was
established, traditional agrarian and cottage and handicraft economy was replaced with
industrial economy, customary laws were replaced with written legal system and people
started becoming rational in their world view and individualistic in their relations
breaking their subjugation to primordial authority of community.
Following industrial development the process of urbanization is accelerating at much
faster rate. Urbanization brings about social and cultural changes in community life,
which also correspond to modernization.
Rural urban transformation:
It is an interesting aspect that not only cities are growing in number but rural community
is adopting urban culture, no longer rural communities are retaining their unique rural

culture. Rural people are following the material culture of urban people. Urban rural
transformation can be observed in the following areas.
Rural-urban linkages can be defined as the tangible and intangible exchanges between
rural and urban areas, people and enterprises. These linkages are spatial, in the sense
that they include the physical movement of goods, people, money and information, as
well as the social networks and relations that span rural and urban locations. Ruralurban linkages also refer to sectoral interactions between agriculture, manufacturing
and services. These include agricultural productions backward linkages (the
manufacturing of inputs) and its forward linkages (processing, transport, distribution)
Rural-urban linkages are central to the production and consumption of food, as urban
demand for agricultural produce has great importance for rural incomes. A key issue is
whether the growing and changing demand for food and other agricultural products
linked to urbanisation, which reflects 2 dietary changes as well as the higher number of
net food consumers, can underpin rural prosperity. This is especially important in the
light of global declines in agricultural land per person, soil degradation and water
constraints all of which are likely to be exacerbated by the impacts of climate change,
which also have the potential to disrupt production, processing and distribution of food.
Urbanization is widely recognised as one of the major trends of this century, and one
that offers great opportunities as well as significant challenges for poverty reduction in
both urban and rural areas8 . In demographic terms, urbanisation refers to the share of
people living in areas classed as urban. Since 2009, more than half the worlds
population live in such settlements. Between 2009 and 2050, urban areas are projected
to absorb the entire worlds population growth while the worlds rural population is
expected to start decreasing in about a decade. Perhaps more significant is that virtually
all population growth will be in cities and towns of Africa and Asia. This will substantially
change the population distribution of these two regions, which are currently the least
urbanised with on average 40 and 48 percent of their populations living in urban
centres, against around 70-80 percent in the rest of the world.
Urbanisation is inextricably linked to transformations in the structure of national and
global economies. Changes in urbanisation levels reflect changes in the proportion of
GDP generated by industry and services and the proportion of the workforce employed
in these sectors, as the shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy, which generally
coincides to higher incomes, involves a concentration of economic activities.
As the global, regional and national structures of the economy undergo major shifts,
access to nonfarm employment becomes increasingly important for the livelihoods of
rural residents. Figures on the proportion of rural incomes derived from non-agricultural
sources vary, and should be taken with some caution as part-time and seasonal
occupations are usually under-counted, especially if they take place in the informal
sector.
Spread of education:

The literacy rate has increased among the rural people. They have become more
modernised.
i. Change in Dress habits.
ii. Adoption of modern Technology
iii. Enlightenment of women.
iv. Modern transport and communication. E.g.: Cell phones have become common even
among rural people.
v. Active involvement in politics.
vi. Growth of infrastructure like Banks, Post office.
vii. Awareness among rural consumers.
viii. Increasing demand for sophisticated products like cosmetics etc.
Thus it can be noticed that there are significant changes in the life style of village
people. Indian villages have adopted urban culture and urban style of living. However,
all villages in India are not transformed. Only certain villages situated close to the cities
have been transformed.
Mans control on nature:
The extension of mans power over nature has been the primary condition of the growth
of modern cities. Man has exploited natural resources through technological
improvement to a great extent. Now few people can supply basic need of many people,
whenever a society or group with in it, gains control over resources, cities grows and
fulfill the basic need of life.
Transportation and Communication:
Transportation and Communication is another reason of urbanization, industries
depends upon transportation, so, that the raw material and manufactured goods can be
transferred in large volume. The cities are connected with other part of the country.
Communication facilities usually available in urban centre such as telephone, telegraph,
far, computer, wireless and postal services etc. these are the facilities due to which
people move from the rural centers to the cities. So, in development of society transport
and communication plays a significant role and is a best source of urbanization.
Better recreational facilites:
People migrate to the cities for the availability of easy and good recreational facilities
cities has moved recreational facility such as parks, playground, stadium, cinemas and

clubs. These facilities are not available in rural areas and people tend to move toward
urban areas.
Urban planning :
The urban life is based on pre planed conditions and programs while in rural areas there
is no adequate planning, so, people easily migrated to planned cities and avail all the
facilities of the urban life.
The topic what are the cause of the urbanization concluded that due to the above
factors people are migrating from urban to rural areas. During the middle of 18 th century
the three lakes people migrated to cities in the world. In 1940, it was 60% increased.

EFFECTS AND IMPACTS OF URBANISATION


Humans have inhabited the planet for the least period of time yet they have become a
very powerful environmental force over the last 10000 years. With the advent of
agriculture 8000 years ago, we began to change the land and this is where it all began.
Later came Industrial revolution and globalization and we started affecting the our
environment; air, land, water, almost every natural resource which was in our disposal.
The recent increase in population has magnified the effects of our agricultural and
economic activities. The growth in world population has masked what may be an even
more important human-environment interaction; while the world's population is doubling,
the population living in the urban areas is tripling. Within the next few years, more than
half of the worlds population will be living in urban areas.
The growth of urbanization differs considerably by reign. The major growth in urban
population is among developing countries, majority is from south and east Asia and
Latin America. In developing countries the rate of urbanization is three times that of
developed countries. Almost all the future world population growth will be in towns and
cities. Both the increase in and distribution of the earth's population are likely to affect
the natural systems of Earth and the interaction between urban environments and
populations.
In 1800's only 2 percent of the world's population lived in urban areas. Until a century
ago, urban areas were some of the unhealthiest places for people to live.
Consequently, death rates in urban areas were higher than in rural areas until medical
facilities got some breakthrough and this maintained the urban growth, fuelled by rural
migration.
In only 200 years, the urban population has grown from 2 percent to nearly 50 percent
of the world's population. This can be seen from the example that in 1975 there were
only 4 mega cities with population of 10 million or more; in 2000 the number increased

to 18. And by 2016 there will be 22 as UN estimates. All this growth started as small
agglomeration which eventually became megacities.
A big reason for increase in urban population is the urban and rural fertility rate which
has a huge impact on urbanization. Rural population migrates to cities in the hope for
better life and the advantages like education, health care, services and entertainment.
The urban poor has less opportunity for anything than non poor, but still it is definitely
more than rural population. But with migration comes the rural issues of too many
children, which again invokes population increase more burden on resources. In
developing countries, this fertility rate plays a bigger role because for them more
children means more hands to work. In sub-Saharan Africa, the urban fertility rates are
about 1.5 children less than in rural areas; In Latin America the difference is almost 2
children.
This increase in urban population changes the way it interacts with their environment.
Urban people change their environment through consumption of food, energy, water,
land, resources etc. And in order to provide all these facilities to the urban population we
pollute the air, water, land and what not. And in turn, the polluted urban environment
affects the health and quality of life of the urban population.
People who live in the urban areas have very different consumption patterns that in rural
areas. For example, urban population consumes much more food, energy and durable
goods than rural population. In China, during the 1970's, the urban population
consumed twice as much porn as the rural population who were raising the pigs. With
economic development the difference in consumption declined as the rural
populations ate better diets. But even a decade later, urban populations had 60
percent more pork in their diets than rural populations. The increasing consumption
of meat is a sign of growing affluence in Beijing; in India where many urban
residents are vegetarians, greater prosperity is seen in higher consumption of milk.
Urban populations not only consume more food, but they also consume more
durable goods. In the early 1990s, Chinese households in urban areas were two
times more likely to have a TV, eight times more likely to have a washing machine,
and 25 times more likely to have a refrigerator than rural households. This
increased consumption is a function of urban labour markets, wages and household
structures.
Energy consumption for electricity, transportation, cooking, and heating is much
higher in urban areas than in rural villages. For example, urban populations have
many more cars than rural populations per capita. Almost all of the cars in the world
in the 1930s were in the United States. Today we have a car for every two people in

the United States. which leads to so much natural resource consumption to run a
city.
Same goes for consumption of coal, for generation of electricity. As the population
increases the load on coal for production of electricity for the city will increase and
the shortage of resources will make the standards o living high. Urbanization of the
world's population is increasing aggregate energy use, despite efficiencies and new
technology. And the increased consumption of energy is likely to have deleterious
environmental effect. Urban energy consumption leads to formation of heat islands
that can change the local weather patterns and have tremendous environmental
effects. The heat island phenomenon is created because cities radiate heat back
into the atmosphere at a rate 15 percent to 30 percent less than rural areas. The
combination of the increased energy consumption and difference in albedo
(radiation) means that cities are warmer than rural areas. And these heat islands
become traps for atmospheric pollutants. Cloudiness and fog occur with greater
frequency. Precipitation is 5 percent to 10 percent higher in cities; thunderstorms
and hailstorms are much more frequent, but snow days in cities are less common.
Urbanization also affects the broader regional environments. Regions downwind
from large industrial complexes also see increases in the amount of precipitation, air
pollution, and the number of days with thunderstorms. Urban areas affect not only
the weather patterns, but also the runoff patterns for water. Urban areas generally
generate more rain, but they reduce the infiltration of water and lower the water
tables. This means that runoff occurs more rapidly with greater peak flows. Flood
volumes increase, and the flood causes water pollution downstream when it reaches
water bodies.
The urban environment has a big implication on the health of the people. most part
of the urban population has access to all the amenities like water and sanitation but
then there is a small still substantial part that has no access to all these, plus there
is so much pollution and the way o life itself is derogatory. Leading to a reduced
average lifespan of urban citizens. All of the environmental factors affect human
health, like respiratory problems, water borne diseases, infant mortality. all these
need amenities and more land. the pressure on land resources is insane in cities
and the land prices itself are insane, so such amenities aren't given much heed and
the common people can't afford such amenities. the only option is to expand to stop
this problem leading to more pleasure on forest land, agricultural land, pastures,
etc. all in all its a vicious cycle starting with increasing human demand.
All the major environmental problems like melting polar ice caps, global warming,
climatic changes, pollution, fresh water scarcity are all because of continuing and
sharpening of present problems that don't receive enough attention or are just
ignored for some profit or certain factors. People are more interested in Miley
Cyrus's affair that what is happening to the Amazon forests. This can also be called
an effect of urbanization. And moreover, when the issues might be detected, still no

actions take place as most government is concerned about development that


environment. These problems are very complex but the root cause mostly is very
simple but still we lack information on how the issues are linked., on what degree
they interact and what measures can be taken to stop it.
Urban population as mentioned earlier has 2 vehicles for one person as per the UN.
So all these vehicles and the factories and other machineries release a wide range
of emissions into the environment including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide,
sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, lead and many more which lead to respiratory
problems and also effect the habitat and weather pattern of the area and even
ozone depletion, currently the biggest human challenge. Cities can even change the
pattern of precipitation as the head island can disarray wind pattern and
condensation process affecting the surroundings where it could have rained.
Urbanization is the other term for rapid development as people come and demands
increase, more things get constructed which reduces the green cover, effects the
water runoff and the major issues of desertification and erosion. As Even Sahara
Desert was also a lush green forest. Urban population creates too much non
degradable waste which ruins the land quality of the place and creates scars in the
form of landfills.

The present urbanization pattern in the world.


An urban heat island (UHI) is a city or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than
its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The phenomenon was first
investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s, although he was not the one
to name the phenomenon. The temperature difference usually is larger at night than
during the day, and is most apparent when winds are weak. UHI is most noticeable
during the summer and winter. The main cause of the urban heat island effect is from
the modification of land surfaces. Waste heat generated by energy usage is a
secondary contributor. As a population center grows, it tends to expand its area and
increase its average temperature.

Monthly rainfall is greater downwind of cities, partially due to the UHI. Increases in heat
within urban centers increases the length of growing seasons, and decreases the
occurrence of weak tornadoes. The UHI decreases air quality by increasing the
production of pollutants such as ozone, and decreases water quality as warmer waters
flow into area streams and put stress on their ecosystems.
There are several causes of an urban heat island (UHI); for example, dark surfaces
absorb significantly more solar radiation, which causes urban concentrations of roads
and buildings to heat more than suburban and rural areas during the day; materials
commonly used in urban areas for pavement and roofs, such as concrete and asphalt,
have significantly different thermal bulk properties ie. heat capacity and thermal
conductivity and surface radiative properties (albedo and emissivity) than the
surrounding rural areas. This causes higher temperatures than surrounding rural
areas. Another major reason is the lack of evapotranspiration (for example, through lack
of vegetation) in urban areas. With a decreased amount of vegetation, cities also lose
the shade and cooling effect of trees, and the removal of carbon dioxide.
Other causes of a UHI are due to geometric effects. The tall buildings within many urban
areas provide multiple surfaces for the reflection and absorption of sunlight, increasing
the efficiency with which urban areas are heated. This is called the "urban canyon
effect". Another effect of buildings is the blocking of wind, which also inhibits cooling
by convection and prevents pollution from dissipating. Waste heat from automobiles, air
conditioning, industry, and other sources also contributes to the UHI. High levels of
pollution in urban areas can also increase the UHI, as many forms of pollution change
the radiative properties of the atmosphere. As UHI raises the temperature of cities, it
also increases the concentration of ozone, a greenhouse gas whose production
accelerates with an increase in temperature.

Fig. showing the UHI created beacuse


albedo caused
of disrupted wind pattern.
reflection.

Fig. showing the

repititive

Nearly everyone have probably experienced the warming effect of wearing dark clothes
in sunlight. This effect is due to the fact that less visible light is reflected off of dark
substances. What we perceive as colours are the specific combinations of wavelengths
of the radiation reflected off a surface. The definition of albedo according to Stull is: the
ratio of total reflected to total incoming solar radiation (i.e., averaged over all solar
wavelengths). About 30 % of the annually received solar radiation is reflected or
scattered, which gives Earth an effective albedo of approximately 0.3. The average
surface albedo is around half of that but bear in mind that most of Earth's surface is
covered by water, which has a very low albedo. With the definition, the relationship
between the colour of different objects and its albedo is clear; darker objects usually
having a lower albedo than light coloured objects. The reason why substances have
different characteristics in reflectivity, absorptivity and emissivity has to do with the
nature of the substance. The particle structure, size and molecular composition etc.,
give each substance a unique spectral signature. The green colour of vegetation, as
another example, is a result of the spectral signature of the chlorophyll molecule inside
leaves and other parts. Albedo not only varies between substances and surfaces, it also
varies for the same surface over the coarse of a day or a year. Diurnally, the albedo can
double from early morning to midday and then decrease again toward the evening as a
result of the changing angle of incoming solar radiation. Table 2.1 showes effectively
how albedo varies annually.

As mentioned before, the geometry of the urban environment affects albedo in the same
way vegetation canopies do; by enabling multiple reflections of the incoming short-wave
radiation. In modelling contexts the concept of urban canyons are frequently used to
describe a generalized situation. The figure above gives a simplified idea of the
concept. Considering the energy balance, the geometry also increases the total surface
area, thereby, along with temperature, increasing cities' long-wave radiation and heat
storage capability. Just like multiple short-wave reflections, inter-element long-wave
emission help making urban areas more effective in capturing energy than horizontal
surfaces made of the same materials. Generally, as reported by Arnfield (2003), the
energy balance of urban canyons is thought to be very dependant on the ratio of the
height of walls to the distance between buildings (i.e. the aspect ratio, an indicator of

urbanization density). Also, generally, higher buildings mean lower albedo .It also shows
the geometry to be important in determining the diurnal variability of urban albedo and
that heterogeneity in building heights seem to increase the albedo. With an aspect ratio
of 1, few people simulated the effect of building geometry two-dimensionally, and found
a reduction of the urban albedo by 2-15 % when other variables where held constant
and the ratio of building width to the distance between buildings was 0.5-2.
The City life not only1has a strong socio-cultural impact on its surrounding rural
areas but also distances far off. Delhi might influence areas near it bit it also attracts
people from all over the country. This all started because of mass media. The media
depicts city life far too superior when compared to rural life, the "standard" language
is deemed that of the capital, and better services are received in the city due to its
commercial status. But in fact the truth is city life is also hard as the cost o living is
higher; to sustain in cities is much harder compared to rural areas. There are less
water, land and building material available, and greater congestion problems. As a city
decays in this way, governments often do not meet the service needs of residents and
urban development is dominated by private capital. Unemployment grows, as do drug
abuse, crime and homelessness.
With all the above discussed there are some pros of urbanization which can't be
undermined. The economy of a country is predominantly determined by how
urbanized it is. it is somewhat a reflection of the infrastructure the country has. The
migration must take place because cities have that pull in terms o lifestyle, in terms
of opportunities, scope etc. people come to cities and have a better lifestyle and for
that city needs people who can provide them man power to satisfy the needs of the
people and here comes jobs for thousands of people who were either famished or
had no respectable source of income.
OVER POPULATION LEADS TO
There is increasing competition for facilities due to the high standard of living in urban
areas, which has triggered several negative effects:Slums and its consequences of overcrowding.
Lack of sanitation,
Poverty,
Illiteracy,
Unemployment and
Crime is the worst impact of urbanization.

Global warming, air ,pollution, water scarcity and pollution and loss of forest cover,
agricultural land and depletion of wildlife as a result of urban sprawl, pose serious
threats to the environment.
BENIFITS
Improvement in economy
Growth of commercial activities
Social & cultural integration
Efficient services
Resources of utilization

CONCLUSION
We need the imagination to see the potential of cities; to rescue the much forgotten
concept of the public good and its importance on development and in environmental
management. We need city governments with the bravery to engage with all their urban
citizens and their own organizations, not just the wealthier, better connected ones. We
need civil servants and politicians with the bravery to see low-incomes groups and their
community organizations living in informal settlements and working in the informal
economy as very real partners with knowledge and capacity to help build and improve
cities. See them as obstacles and they will be obstacles. Quite rightly, they will fight
attempts to evict them, to close down their enterprises. See them as allies and partners
and look what can be achieved. Look at what the Thai governments Community
Organizations Development Institute has achieved by seeing low income communities
as partners in finding and implementing solutions. In more and more nations, slum and
shack dwellers are forming their own organizations and offering city and national
governments partnerships.
We need to be far more innovative in thinking how to make urban land markets work for
the whole city, that allow low-income households to get decent housing We need all city
governments to think about how they can adapt to global warming although
fortunately, there are so many synergies between adapting to climate change and good
development and in their plans contribute to keeping down greenhouse gas
emissions. In the end, almost all the cities with very low greenhouse gas emissions are
in low-income nations. These are also often the cities with the worst health. The
challenge for these cities is to show another model of development. To show the
gasoline guzzling, greenhouse gas emitting rich world that it is possible to develop as
high quality cities that are high quality and healthy for their whole population without
high greenhouse gas emissions.

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