Urbanisation, megacities and urban growth
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Question
Define urbanisation.
Answer
The rising **proportion** of a population living in **urban areas** (towns and cities).
Question
Urbanisation vs urban growth?
Answer
**Urbanisation** = the rising **share** that is urban; **urban growth** = the rising **number** of people in a city.
Question
Define a megacity.
Answer
A city with a population of **more than 10 million** people (e.g. Tokyo, Lagos, Mumbai).
Question
What is natural increase?
Answer
**Births minus deaths** - a youthful city population grows itself even without migration.
Question
What is rural-urban migration?
Answer
People moving from the **countryside to the city**, drawn by jobs, schools and hospitals.
Question
Push vs pull factors?
Answer
**Push** = things driving people OUT of rural areas (drought, poverty); **pull** = things drawing them INTO cities (jobs, services).
Question
Two processes that grow a city?
Answer
**Natural increase** (high birth rates) and **rural-urban migration** - together fastest in Africa and Asia.
Question
Name a social cause of urban growth.
Answer
Better **schools and hospitals**, family ties, or escaping rural hardship (NOT jobs/wages, which are economic).
Question
Why do some cities' growth slow?
Answer
**Falling birth rates**, the rural population running out, or out-migration - urbanisation nears its ceiling (e.g. Tokyo, Europe).
Question
Why do informal settlements form?
Answer
Growth outpaces formal house-building, so migrants self-build slums (Makoko, Dharavi) lacking water and sanitation.
Question
Name the challenges of rapid urban growth.
Answer
Housing, clean water and sanitation, jobs, transport/congestion, waste and pollution - all strained by the scale and pace of growth.
Question
What does a top [10] urban-growth essay need?
Answer
Two+ developed challenges, a named city (Lagos, Mumbai), a weighing of the scale/pace of growth, and a clear judgement.
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Full study notes for Urbanisation, megacities and urban growth
Topic 13.2 hub
Changing urban systems
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Geography exam skills
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