II: Changing Forms of Urbanization

Institute of Social & Cultural StudiesUniversity of the Punjab - Lahore

Types of Human Settlements

Hamletis a rural community — that is, a small settlement

— which is too small to be considered a village. With around 10-200 people living thereA hamlet could be described as an equivalent of a

neighborhood in a city or village. Residents of a hamlet often identify themselves

more closely with the hamlet than with the town

Villageis a clustered human settlement or community,

larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city.

With 200-1000 people living there; can go up to 10,000.

Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings.

Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape.

The Industrial Revolution caused many villages to grow into towns and cities;

this trend of urbanisation has continued, though not always in connection with industrialization.

The importance of village as human settlement has reduced.

TownA type of settlement ranging from a few to several

thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands) inhabitants,

Usually 1000-10,000 population; can go upto 100,000

Where rural-urban convergeUsually, a "town" is thought of as larger than a village

but smaller than a "city“Too large for all inhabitants to be acquainted yet

small enough for informal relations to predominateSocial Behaviour more like rural area and

infrastructure more like urban

Cityis an urban area with a large population and a

particular administrative and legal status.With population >10,000 – 100,000cities generally have systems for sanitation,

utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation and more.

A big city may have suburbs. Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas, creating large amounts of business commuters.

Types of Cities/Towns1. Temple Town/City2. Garrison Town/City 3. Political Capitals Town/City4. Industrial Town/City5. Resort Town/City6. Seaport Town/City7. Mining Town/City8. Educational Town/City9. Company Town/CityModern cities/towns have a wide range of diverse activities

Types of cities based on Population Size1. MEGA CITYis usually defined as a recognized metropolitan area with a

total population in excess of 10 million people Some definitions also set a minimum level for population

density (at least 2,000 persons/square km). A megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or

more metropolitan areas that converge upon one another The terms megapolis and megalopolis are sometimes used

synonymously with megacity.

In 1970, there were only two mega cities: Tokyo (23.3 mil) and New York (16.2)

In 1990, increased to 10:Tokyo (32.5), New York (16.1), Mexico City (15.3), Sao Paulo, Brazil (14.8), Osaka-Kobe, Japan (11), Kolkata (10.9), Los Angeles, USA (10.9), Seoul, Korea (10.5) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (10.5)

In 2011, there are 23 mega cities, within which 13 are in Asia alone. (Complete list attached)One Pakistani city makes the list: Karachi with 13.9 mil

By 2025, it is expected that there will be 37 cities crossing the 10 mil mark. (Complete list attached)Two Pakistani cities make the list with Karachi with

20.2 Mil and Lahore with 11.2 mil

2. META CITYThe term metacity is also sometimes used to describe

cities with more than 20 million people. e.g. Greater Tokyo has 37 million population.

In 2011, there are five meta cities including:Tokyo (37.2 mill), Dehli (22.7), Mexico City (20.4), New York (20.4) and Shanghai (20.2).In addition two borderline cities Sao Paulo, Brazil (19.9) and Mumbai (19.7)

By 2025 first Pakistani city makes the list, Karachi with 20.2 mil

Development/Expansion of Cities Classically (till 19th century) city consisted of a

central area with relatively high population density surrounded by supportive space of agricultural production.

After industrial revolution:Creation of two distinct classes

Affluent families moved away from city while retaining place there

Using transportation like carriages later crude steam powered trains finally automobiles

Suburbanization/Suburbs:Collectively, the suburbs are all of the continuous

urbanization that extends beyond the core city (all of the urban area except the historical core municipality and other adjacent historical municipalities).

A specific suburb can be an individual municipality or community in the suburbs.

Post World War II Economic prosperityGovt programmesLed to transformation of ordinary worker into a middle-

class with more buying power; in additionmass production of automobilesbetter roads (US 1950s highways for military

transportation)investment in real estate led to MASS Suburbanization

At each stage of urban development and population increase the city boundary were pushed outward from city center

The phenomena of SUBURBANIZATIONHowever the outside area was always economically

dependent on city center

Metropolitan areaSurrounding area under direct influence of the

city through road linkages, frequent transport and commuting facilities.

means a labor market, or the area from which the urban area draws its employees. For example, the Chicago metropolitan area (population nearly 10 million) includes the city of Chicago, the Chicago urban area, and adjacent rural areas from which many people travel to work in the urban area.

A metropolitan area will nearly always be larger than the urban area, because urban areas routinely draw a large number of workers from surrounding suburbs, exurbs and rural territory.

A metropolitan area may include more than one urban area.

Exurbia:Exurban refers to non-rural development that is

within a metropolitan area, but outside the urban area.

Exurb: An exurb is a municipality (or a community) or urban area in a metropolitan area that is separated by rural territory from the principal urban area.

Low density exurban development is generally large lot residential development that is not of sufficient density to be considered urban and is not agricultural.

The demand for this type of housing is on the increase. As the cities become more crowded, more and more people begin to yearn for space.

Many of them settle into a nice lot somewhere between the small towns and the city where they can still keep the comforts of an urban lifestyle, but have the pleasures of a rural setting.

This type of behavior not only affects the land, but also the current rural population.

These so-called 'city-folks' have different ideas and expectations for their land than the long-time dwellers on that land. Thus, many social and political conflicts arise in these suburban areas.

Multi-centered Metropolitan Region (MMR)

Once a city expands far enough to reach another city. It could be set of neighboring but spatially separate regions but linked because of good roads and transportation system.

Central City:The central city or core city is the municipality in

an urban area or metropolitan area that emerged historically as the

most prominent in the urban area. Almost without exception, the name of the core

city is also shared with the urban area and the metropolitan area e.g. Toronto, NY, Paris

Urban agglomeration.An urban area is also an agglomeration with out the

distinction of individual cities. An urban area that forms when two or more urban areas

grow together, which are converging into a single urban area. e.g. Rawalpindi-Islamabad

Refers to population contained within a contiguous territory inhabited at urban density levels without regard to administrative boundaries.

It usually incorporates the population in a city or town plus that in the sub-urban areas lying outside of but being adjacent to the city boundaries.

City by sizesThe world urban population is not distributed

evenly among cities of different sizes. Total World urban population 3.6 billion

50.9 per cent (1.85 billion ) of 3.6 billion lived in cities or towns with less than half a million inhabitants.

Such small cities (less than 50,000) account for:55 % of the urban population in the more developed

regions50.2 % in the less developed regions.

Cities with populations ranging between 500,000 and 1 million were home to:365 million people (10.1%) of the world urban

population. Taken together, cities with fewer than 1 million

inhabitants account for 61 % of the urban population (3 in every 5 people)

this proportion is expected to decline in the future. By 2025, only 1 out of 2 will live in cities of this size.

In contrast, cities of 1 million and more inhabitants, 2011 accounting for about 40 % of the world urban

populationBy 2025, expected to account for 47 % of the world

urban population

Indeed, the future urban population will be increasingly concentrated in large cities of one million or more inhabitants.

In fact, among the million plus cities, the megacities of at least 10 million inhabitants will experience the largest percentage increase.

This increasing urban concentration in very large cities is a new trend which contradicts previous observations.