Urbanisation and the

growth of Mega Cities

Shanghai pop 18 million 2010

Urbanisation
Growth in the percentage of the
population living in urban areas
Urban Growth
Growth in the size of cities

IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN GNP &
URBANIZATION?
PLOT A
SCATTERGRAPH
TO SHOW THE
RELATIONSHIP.

GUIDING QUESTIONS
What is the relationship between wealth
and urbanisation?
Where are the anomalies? (Give
examples of countries and data)
Seek to explain the anomalies.
Classify the countries into 3 or 4
categories and explain the logic for your
classification.
Explain the overall pattern for the
relationship between urbanization and
wealth.

There has been examples of

more recent rapid urban
growth in MEDCs.
Japan has been rich enough
to invest in the provision of
urban services and the
development of
infrastructure to cope with
this growth. Also the
population of Tokyo have in
general had enough private
disposable income to
address their needs.

Key Questions
Describe and explain the variation in
global growth rates and patterns in
urbanisation.
Explain the global increase in the
number and location of megacities.
(pop over 10 million)

Mumbai - India

Latin America city growth 1950 1990

City

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

647,429

1,682,667

2,892,668

4,122,978

4,851,000

4,622,959

6,739,045

8,314,341

9,723,966

10,886,163

Caracas

683,659

1,346,708

2,174,759

2,641,844

2,989,601

Lima

645,172

1,845,910

3,302,523

4,608,010

6,422,875

Mexico City

3,145,351

5,173,549

8,900,513

13,811,946

15,047,685

Rio de Janeiro

2,885,165

4,392,067

6,685,703

8,619,559

9,600,528a

Santiago

1,509,169

2,133,252

2,871,060

3,937,277

4,676,174a

So Paulo

2,333,346

4,005,631

7,866,659

12,183,634

15,183,612a

Bogot
Buenos Aires

Lagos - Nigeria
1950 - 290,000
2010 over 20 million

Chinas urban population

Over the past 50 years, the countrys urban population has
increased more than seven-fold, from 72 million in 1952 to
540 million in 2004. If urbanization continues at the rate of 1
percent annually, an estimated 900 million Chinese will live in
cities by 2020.

TO BE MEGA-CITIES IN 2015
Country Urban agglomeration 1950 1975 2000 2015
Japan............................ Tokyo 6 920 19 771 26 444 27 190
Bangladesh .................. Dhaka 417 2 173 12 519 22 766
India ............................ Mumbai (Bombay) 2 981 7 347 16 086 22 577
Brazil........................... So Paulo 2 528 10 333 17 962 21 229
India ............................ Delhi 1 391 4 426 12 441 20 884
Mexico......................... Mexico City 2 883 10 691 18 066 20 434
United States ............... New York 12 339 15 880 16 732 17 944
Indonesia ..................... Jakarta 1 452 4 814 11 018 17 268
India ............................ Calcutta 4 446 7 888 13 058 16 747
Pakistan ....................... Karachi 1 028 3 990 10 032 16 197
Nigeria......................... Lagos 288 1 890 8 665 15 966
United States ............... Los Angeles 4 046 8 926 13 213 14 494
China ........................... Shanghai 5 333 11 443 12 887 13 598
Argentina..................... Buenos Aires 5 042 9 144 12 024 13 185
Philippines................... Metro Manila 1 544 5 000 9 950 12 579
China ........................... Beijing 3 913 8 545 10 839 11 671
Brazil........................... Rio de Janeiro 2 965 7 963 10 652 11 543
Egypt ........................... Cairo 2 410 6 079 9 462 11 531
Turkey ......................... Istanbul 1 077 3 601 8 953 11 362
Japan............................ Osaka 4 147 9 844 11 013 11 013
China ........................... Tianjin 2 374 6 160 9 156 10 319

Megacities are often primate cities

Primate cities (at least double the pop of the
second largest city in the country) are typical of
many LEDCs and NICs.
The city dominates the countrys urban system
and economy.
Advantages and disadvantages of primate
cities?
Nagle 291

World Urbanisation
and Mega City - References
BBC Special Report Urban Planet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2006/urbanisation/default.stm

Landmark 188/189
Hart 212/213
Nagle 289 293 (Primate cities)
Pop, Res, Dev 62 (Zelinskys Model of Mobility Transition)
Atlas data

Implications of urbanisation in
LEDCs and NICs
Urbanisation is most rapid in LEDCs and NICs because
of high natural increase and rural to urban migration.
Dont forget there are many large cities in the world of
over 2 or 3 million inhabitants. Dont just think, mega
cities.
These cities face the same problems that cities in the
UK faced in the nineteenth century. BUT they are not in
the same position that the UK was to face the challenge.

Urbanisation and urban growth has to be seen within the

contemporary geopolitical and economic context.

Scale of the challenge

Resources available
Terms of trade
Levels of economic growth
External debts
IMF/World Bank restrictions on public spending
Competition
Corruption and political indifference
Polarisation of society
Levels of pollution and resource use

More background reading

Access to Geography page 78-87

Nagle 289-297 (Cairo)
Hart page 212-246 (Mexico and Beijing)
Landmark 219-225 (Shanghai)
Planet Geog 252 (Shanghai)
Changing Environments 245-252 / 267277 (Mumbai)