KIBABII UNIVERSITY

NAME: KOECH DENIS KANGOGO

REG NO: EDA/0277/19

UNIT CODE: GEO 222

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 16th May 2021

TASK: TAKE AWAY ASSIGNMENT

PHONE NUMBER: 0701827616

INTRODUCTION

Urbanization refers to the large migration of people from rural to urban areas, as well as the
physical changes that occur as a result of this movement.

Cities are recognized to provide a variety of purposes in all cultures. They are at the core of
many countries' technical advancement and economic progress, while also acting as a breeding
ground for poverty, inequality, environmental dangers, and infectious illnesses. When huge
groups of people gather in cities, a slew of issues arise, especially for the poor. Many rural
migrants who move in an urban slum area, for example, bring their families as well as their
domesticated animals, including pets and livestock. As a result of the inflow of people and
animals, all migrants are vulnerable to circulating infectious illnesses, which has the potential to
create an urban transmission cycle. Furthermore, the majority of the urban poor live in slums that
are unregulated, overcrowded, located near open sewers, and confined to physically hazardous
locations such as hillsides, riverbanks, and water basins susceptible to landslides, floods, or
industrial hazards. All of these variables contribute to the spread of infectious and non-infectious
illnesses, pollution, poor nutrition, road traffic, housing conditions, and infrastructure. Other city
residents are affected by the poor's issues. As the world's population continues to urbanize, the
spillover effect grows and takes on a global dimension as more and more people are impacted.

INFRUSTRUCTURE

The infrastructure of a city is critical to its inhabitants' quality of life, social inclusion, and
economic possibilities. It also assesses the city's resiliency to a variety of global threats,
including environmental, social, and health-related threats, as well as economic threats like
unemployment. Many of the problems encountered by rapidly urbanizing cities in poor nations
are related to infrastructure availability and quality, whereas underinvestment poses comparable
challenges in most industrialized economies.

Most industrialized countries' infrastructure investments are inadequate to sustain infrastructure

quality.
Failure of infrastructure would have serious consequences for municipal authorities, as well as
local and national government agencies, in terms of property and commercial continuity. Insurers
may assist in these areas by providing risk engineering advice on infrastructure maintenance as
well as the necessary levels of insurance coverage for property damage and business disruption.

Cities are quickly expanding, and there is a danger that infrastructure may not keep up with their
expansion or the rising demands of their citizens. To bridge the infrastructure deficit and
minimize the danger of catastrophic cascade consequences, immediate action is required.

Given that many governments are operating on limited budgets and that many developing
nations spend a large portion of their national revenue on addressing the fundamental needs of
their people, this level of funding may not be feasible.

HEALTH

Throughout the twentieth century, city residents' health improved as a result of improved access
to education and healthcare, improved living circumstances, and focused public-health
initiatives. Emergency medical care may be obtained within hours in industrialized economies,
and sophisticated facilities for longer-term therapies are easily available. When urbanization is
hasty and unplanned, however, a combination of high population density, poverty, and a lack of
infrastructure may have the opposite impact, creating circumstances conducive to the spread of
infectious illnesses.

Poor people's nutritional health suffers greatly as a result of urbanization. The urban poor lack
healthy meals due to their limited financial means and the greater cost of food in cities, which
leads to sickness, which adds to loss of appetite and poor nutrient absorption among those
afflicted. Furthermore, pollution of the environment adds to malnutrition; street food is often
cooked in unsanitary circumstances, resulting in outbreaks of food-borne diseases (e.g., botulism,
salmonellosis, and shigellosis). Over nutrition and obesity, a rising worldwide public health
issue, affect city residents as well. Obesity and other lifestyle factors have a role in the
development of chronic illnesses (such as cancers, diabetes, and heart diseases). Although
obesity is more prevalent among the affluent, international organizations have recently noticed a
rise in obesity among the middle class and poor.
The effect of micronutrient insufficiency on immune system development and function has
increased vulnerability to infection in populations in impoverished countries suffering from
protein-energy malnutrition. Simultaneously, the World Health Organization is worried that a
pandemic of obesity is developing in developing nations, leading to non-communicable illnesses
such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, and stroke.

Obesity is induced by a combination of increased calorie consumption and reduced physical

activity, both of which have traditionally been linked to income. People in developing nations'
urbanized regions, on the other hand, are more susceptible to obesity owing to a lack of physical
space, constant sitting in offices, and excessive calorie intake and inadequate energy expenditure.
Infrastructure, particularly enough room for leisure activities, is often inadequate in these
regions. Furthermore, major employers often locate their headquarters in metropolitan capitals in
emerging nations, just as they do in affluent ones, and employment is becoming increasingly
sedentary. Another factor linked to the development of obesity is the shift in food consumption
that has resulted in the so-called nutrition transition (increased consumption of animal-source
foods, sugar, fats and oils, refined cereals, and processed foods) in urban areas.

CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE

Rapid, insufficient, and poorly managed urban development may expose urban people to the
impacts of climate change. The increased frequency of severe weather is driving migration from
rural to urban regions; yet, cities tend to be situated near the sea or natural rivers, which puts
them at greater danger of floods. In coastal areas vulnerable by sea-level rise and storm surges,
fifteen of the world's twenty megacities are situated. Both municipal governments and the private
sector should prioritize making cities more robust to severe weather disasters. During the rainy
season, flooding is a major issue in metropolitan areas, particularly in poor nations. The drainage
system is inadequate, making it impossible to access the roadways during floods, resulting in
flood disasters in certain underdeveloped nations.
INSTABILITY IN THE SOCIETY

Cities' ability to create wealth already has a significant impact on global growth: cities house
little over half of the world's population, but they generate more than 80% of global GDP. In the
end, new migrants in cities are anticipated to provide more economic value than those in rural
areas. This, in turn, has the potential to increase personal wealth and the need to safeguard
personal assets and income, providing the insurance sector with yet another function. Even when
cities succeed, however, the process of integrating migrants into metropolitan economies is not
always easy. While relocating to a city provides people with more chances to better their living
circumstances, the high cost of living and fierce competition for jobs may trap them in poverty.

Rapid and uncontrolled development may result in urban violence and social instability very
rapidly. Widening disparities are much more apparent in cities than in rural regions. Inequality,
rivalry for limited resources such as land, legal impunity, and poor municipal administration all
raise the likelihood of violence and possible law and order breaches. Some towns in emerging
nations, such as San Pedro Sula in Honduras, are already very hazardous.

Connected and cascading impacts may also be created by urbanization. High population density,
for example, drives property bubbles, while a lack of affordable housing leads to social
exclusion, posing a danger to the broader economy and increasing social instability.

Finally, urbanization offers possibilities while also increasing dangers, and the rate at which it
occurs puts our ability to plan and adapt to a test. This is especially true in emerging markets.
Careful urban planning and excellent administration with adequate regulatory frameworks are
needed for fast urbanization to offer opportunities for everyone. Many urban problems in
underdeveloped nations stem from governments' failure to provide enough infrastructure and
public services.

Furthermore, as the globe becomes more urbanized, power will become more concentrated in
cities. This economic and social strength not only makes cities the center of gravity, but it also
gives them more room to discover practical answers to the world's most urgent problems. Indeed,
rather than concentrating their attention on the national level, many individuals and organizations
are increasingly focused on cities and the relationships between them. The ability of city-level
institutions to be flexible, creative, and dynamic, as well as successfully engage diverse
stakeholders in governance, will mainly decide whether urbanization makes the globe more
robust or more susceptible in the face of global threats.

LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Due to a lack of affordable housing, well-organized squatters have taken over vacant properties
to live rent-free or delay demolitions. As a result of the fast employment growth and rising
housing prices, there is a shortage of housing vacancies. Inadequate housing, particularly for
low-income families, is a problem, resulting in congestion in already crowded regions, the
continued degradation of dilapidated neighborhoods, significant social costs, and immeasurable
human suffering. Less exclusionary zoning regulations, reduced tax burdens, cooperation with
private builders, encouragement of cooperative housing organizations, promotion of
industrialized building techniques, use of low-cost building materials, and cheaper mortgage
credit are among the measures proposed to offset rising costs in public housing.

THE MAKE-UP OF SLUM

One of the major issues caused by fast industrialization and urbanization is the development of
slums in cities. To eliminate slums in urban societies, the following projects are introduced:
extensive slum clearance, rehabilitation and rebuilding, slum improvement scheme, construction
of a network of expressways to alleviate urban decay and ensure the future propensity of the
central areas, relocation of inhabitant to the suburb, slum upgrading scheme which makes
provision of some basic amenities such as streets.

CRIME

As the population grows, the rate of crime rises as well. Due to the high degree of urban
unemployment, inactivity, and joblessness, the majority of individuals in metropolitan centers
have seen a significant rise in crime rates. "Crime is unavoidable in the absence of economic
security and in the presence of deplorable living circumstances."

It may be due to traffic congestion and overcrowding. There is an overpopulation of a route in

traffic, resulting in a sluggish and inefficient flow that makes travel difficult. Congestion on the
roadways has come from large growth in the use of automobiles. Accessibility is limited in
metropolitan areas due to traffic congestion. Various laws, regulations, and signs that are utilized
to keep traffic flowing smoothly may be used to regulate traffic flow. Collisions and other
hazards may be avoided thanks to the traffic movements.

POLLUTION

Another significant factor to ill health in urban areas is pollution. The impoverished are
frequently exposed to harmful waste because they live in crowded areas near open sewers and
stagnant water. Helminths and other intestinal parasites may be transmitted due to poor
sanitation. Pollution (e.g., CO2 emissions) from crowded metropolitan areas leads to localized
and worldwide climate change, as well as direct health issues including respiratory ailments,
cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, which affect both the wealthy and the poor.

Animals and insects, in addition to human-to-human transmission, are effective vectors for
illnesses in urban environments and do not discriminate between the wealthy and the poor.
Tuberculosis (TB), malaria, cholera, dengue fever, and other infectious illnesses, such as
tuberculosis (TB), are well-known and cause worldwide concern.

Despite the fact that national and international academics and policymakers have investigated
different methods to solve such issues, the issues persist. These investigations found that
pollution, unreliable energy, and non-functioning infrastructure are priority efforts; nevertheless,
air pollution, water quality in cities, traffic, disaster management problems, and infrastructure are
not being handled in a systematic manner.

CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that urbanization has become an irreversible process, others believe that in order
to alleviate city issues, we must address the underlying causes, such as improving the
socioeconomic condition of the urban poor. Populations will continue to move to metropolitan
regions until circumstances in rural areas improve. The underlying reasons are unlikely to be
resolved in the foreseeable future, given the difficulties that rural development presents. As a
result, governments and development organizations should focus on adjusting to urbanization's
problems while also attempting to minimize unplanned urbanization.
REFERENCES

1. McMichael AJ. The urban environment and health in a world of increasing globalization:
issues for developing countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2000

2. Alirol E, Getaz L, Stoll B, Chappuis F, Loutan L. Urbanization and infectious diseases in a

globalized world. The Lancet infectious diseases. 2011

3. Harpham T, Stephens C. Urbanization and health in developing countrie. 1991.

4. Moore M, Gould P, Keary BS. Global urbanization and impact on health. Int J hygiene and
environment