• What is urbanization?
• Types of urbanization
• Causes of urbanization
• Advantages of urbanization
• Disadvantages of urbanization

We explain what urbanization is and what are the causes of global urbanization. Also, its advantages and disadvantages.

The urbanization process was consolidated with the arrival of industrialization.

What is urbanization?

Urbanization is the process concentration of the population of a nation and its main economic activities in a city context, rather than a rural one.

This process began gradually in the world from the entry of the Modern age and the consolidation of its new industrial values ​​(the Industrial Revolution)It is currently the prevailing way of life in industrialized countries and even in developing countries.

Since the middle of the 20th century, more people have lived in urban contexts in the world (54% of the world's population) than in rural locations, and even future projections point to just a third of the population. population in rural environments by the year 2040. This represents a significant change from the global trend of past centuries, which favored rural life.

This boom in urban life is estimated to have reached its historical peak in the last six decades, going hand in hand with the globalization and the technological revolution, which is openly committed to an urban future. This has an undeniable impact on our values, our way of living and in the footprint that we leave from our passage through the planet.

There is also the phenomenon of counterurbanization or ruralization, which happens when there is exodus from the cities towards the rural area, but it occurs only in very specific historical conditions.

Types of urbanization

From an ecological point of view, a distinction is made between two modes of urbanization: sustainable and unsustainable. The first points to processes of urban life that cohabit with the natural environment and the ecosystem, trying to do as little damage as possible. The second, on the other hand, does not take into account these concerns, so it has a environmental impact notorious.

Other distinctions when talking about urbanization can be:

• Rural development. It occurs when the city exerts influence on the rural areas that surround it, but since its costs are so high, many of the economic and experiential activities that normally take place in its interior begin to be located on rural terrain, such as urban islands in the rural area.
• Periurbanization. It is about the appearance of spaces within the city that do not fulfill traditional purposes of Commerce, habitability or industry, but that provide a kind of "intermediate space" to the city, such as parks, transit facilities, highways, etc.
• Suburbanization. Also called urbanization by spill, it consists of the spread of the city towards the rural territories due to the excess of housing concentration in the city, for which new remote neighborhoods of low density, connected to the urban nucleus by expressways.

Causes of urbanization

Global urbanization responds to various causes, such as:

• The population increase in recent centuries, which expands cities and generates new demand of room.
• The industrialization It replaced rural jobs with machinery and opened new urban opportunities in bureaucratic administration, commerce and mass manufacturing, better paid and less effort.
• Greater urban diversity, facing increasingly complex cities that involve greater entertainment prospects.
• Greater incidence of basic services, and therefore a more modern standard of living.
• Expansion of the culture post-industrial thanks to globalization.

Urbanization has positive and negative consequences, which we will see separately:

Advantages of urbanization

Cities are areas more controllable by States.

• Sustained growth. The growth of cities is accompanied by a greater demand for services basic goods and consumption, which generates a larger market to satisfy.
• Population concentration. Cities are areas more controllable by state and with greater ease of coverage of service or distribution networks, since the population is concentrated in a few kilometers around.
• Labor complexity. The job market in the city is much more diverse and varied than in rural areas, thus allowing the development and complexity of industrial, commercial and service activities.

Disadvantages of urbanization

• Impoverishment of agriculture. The general preference for the urban life model tends to be to the detriment of rural life, which is impoverished and abandoned in many cases, since in some cases industry can supply its activities (as in importing countries).
• Greater urban poverty. The migration from rural areas to cities affects the quality of life of these, since many times the supposed opportunities are scarce and the migration Rural increases the marginal belts of large cities.
• Environmental impact. By concentrating the population in a few kilometers, the impact on the quality of the air, the Water and the land, which in turn affects the health of the population and the ecosystem.
• Maximization of consumption. Demand for electric power and of fuels It is much higher in cities, which affects world markets for raw material and on the adverse effects of available electricity generation methods.