Vaidhehi Ammal EAP Reading to Writing Coursework 23/01/2022

Urbanisation
World urban areas are immensely growing in population over the decades due migration of rural
inhabitants, resulting in many benefits and thus numerous risks. The Open University (2016) defines
urbanisation as the increase in the number of people living in towns and cities. The two main ways
that this can be led to are by the migration of people from the rural to urban locations, and by
individuals living in locations that are being reclassified from rural to urban, McGranahan and
Satterwhite (2014). In this essay, I will be discussing some ongoing prominent global trends of
urbanisation, along with some few current regional trends, and the major factors for its cause,
before contributing a few personal observations and comments on the topic of discussion.

Cities globally, averagely accommodate over half of the world’s current population as the number of
people living in rural areas are soaring every year, with a yearly increase of 80 million (McGranahan
and Satterwhite, 2014). The Open University also affirms that, in 2007, the world urban population
crossed the world rural population and as per the statistics found by the university, only 34% of the
population were urban habitants in 1960. Although the urban population growth rates have been
crashing since then (McGranahan and Satterwhite, 2014), there was a 20% rise in the population in
54 years. The prediction made for the next 36 years by the Open University, (2016) says there will be
an increase of 12% in the world urban population (66% by 2050). Studying the urban growth by the
increment in the number of megacities, it has been an incredible development till date. Mega-cities,
which have over ten million people, have also increased from three in 1970 to seventeen in 2000,
and is expected to reach 41 by 2030, (The Open University, 2016). The trends in the urban growth
studied by the university says that the urbanisation rate is faster in the less developed parts of the
world than in the developed areas. Hence it is fair to say that the population growth may come to an
end in developed areas.

Global urbanisation can be further investigated by studying its regional trends. It will probably not be
shocking to know that the highest urbanisation rates are found in Asia, with an annual rate of 1.4%.
However, rates in Ethiopia are the highest in Africa (Open University, 2016). Despite the country’s
high urban growth rate, it is yet still the least urbanised country, says the Open University (2016).
Findings from the university’s research also claims that 25% of the urban population of Ethiopia was
found in Addis Ababa in 2007, which was over three million. Along with Asia, Africa is also
announced as the highest urbanising region with a rate of 4.0% per year, by McGranahan and
Satterwhite (2014). Although urbanisation rates in Asia are the highest, it is declining at the fastest
pace compared to other regions, except the Sub-Saharan Africa, which are falling at a 1.3% rate,
(McGranahan and Satterwhite, 2014). Sub-Saharan Africa, however, had the highest urbanisation
rate from 2010 to 2015. Regional rates are also falling, which it may reach a point in the graph where
urban locations are no more increasing in population.

The instability of the urban growth is evident, though it is exceeding annually, thus its causes now
need to be analysed. The two main causes found by the Open University (2016) of urbanisation are
the natural increase of urban population and the migration of people from the rural areas to the
urban. McGranahan and Satterwhite (2014) states that the reason for the shift in population towards
the urban areas are due to the high rates of population growth since the urban economy
productively accommodates a larger labour force. The Open University also encloses us to the two
main factors of the migration which are the push and pull factors. Push factors being the reason for
migrants to move away from the villages and pull factors being the reason to move into the cities.
People move into the cities basically for high living-standards. This attraction to economically grown
and technologically developed cities is considered a pull factor. Others include the high employment

Word Count: 900

Vaidhehi Ammal EAP Reading to Writing Coursework 23/01/2022

opportunities compared to rural areas and other facilities in the urban locations. Notable push
factors are conflicts and social disruptions in rural areas, poor living conditions such as lack of clean
water and unavailability of proper homes. Migration to urban areas can also sometimes be selective
based on age or gender. The Open University claims young adults are more likely to move to the
cities, leaving the children and the elderly behind.

It is obvious from the above discussion that the urbanisation rates have generally increased over the
past decades, with different parts of the world populating at different rates. From personal
understandings, this may also mean that rural areas are either becoming underpopulated or they are
developing into cities. It may also mean that it could get to a time where both cities and villages
would become equally populated. The growth of urban population can be advantageous as it can
bring about development in the urban areas resulting in better output from the economy. However,
if not taken care, it can lead to overpopulation resulting in lack of resources for an individual’s life,
hence government and corporations must manage the urban growth, along with the needs of the
people in the right way possible.

Word Count: 900