What is suburbanization? What is the difference between urbanization, deurbanization and suburbanization? Countries with a high proportion of urban population.

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The growth of urban processes in developing countries, due to their specificity, has a great restraining effect on the qualitative aspects of the development of world urbanization, and sharply enhances its spatial differentiation. Indeed, in this group of countries, the overwhelming majority of the townspeople are yesterday's villagers, who often contribute to the “villageization” of the city, introducing into it the norms of behavior and value systems inherent in the countryside. Deep structural changes do not automatically follow a change of environment, for example, when moving from a village to a city, especially when it comes to the resettlement of a large mass of the population in a short time.

This primarily refers to countries with a low share of urban population in the recent past and with the highest rates of urban population growth in 1950-1990, such as Nigeria (its capital Lagos during this period grew almost 27 times and, according to demographers UN, by 2000 will come to the 8th place among the agglomerations of the world), Turkey or Iran, as well as to the countries with the largest "urban mass" with high rates of its growth during this period - China, India, USSR, Brazil, Mexico , Indonesia.

At the other extreme are the developed and most urbanized countries of North America, Western Europe and Japan with a high proportion of the urban population and, at the same time, with rather significant growth rates in the second half of the twentieth century. (especially in Japan, USA, France). At the same time, the powerful forces of pushing out of the countryside and the success of economic growth led to a very high share of urban dwellers in the total population of a number of developing countries: in Venezuela (92.9% in 1995), Uruguay (90.3), Argentina (87.5 ), Chile (85.9), Brazil (78.7); in the United Arab Emirates (84.0), Saudi Arabia (80.2), Iraq (75.6); in Libya (86.0), Tunisia (59.0% in 1995).

It should be borne in mind that in most developing countries, due to an excessive influx of population into cities, they often have significantly more population than they are able to "digest" population and its real inclusion in the urban way of life (by the nature of employment, level of education, culture, etc.). The growth of the population in cities, significantly outstripping the demand for labor in modern industries, is accompanied not only by an absolute, but sometimes also by a relative expansion of those strata that do not participate either in modern production or in modern consumption and remain essentially non-urbanized. There is a phenomenon referred to in the literature as “false urbanization”. However, in developing countries, urbanization is still more connected with the development of industry and industrialization than it might seem at first glance, only this connection is not as direct and immediate as it was in Western Europe and the United States. Therefore, the noted disparities in the development of cities do not mean that there is no real urbanization at all in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, but that what is happening is “false urbanization”. On the contrary, these features explain the uniqueness of the urbanization process in developing countries (in comparison with Western Europe and North America), which focuses all aspects of their development, perhaps to an even greater extent than in developed countries.

From the middle of the twentieth century. the world's largest cities and agglomerations with a population of over 1 million inhabitants are rapidly growing; their number increased in 1950-1990. from 77 to 275, and the total population - from 187 to 800 million, respectively. The stage of “super-large-city” urbanization began with the formation of very large agglomerations and supra-agglomeration structures of settlement. As a result, in 1990, one-third of all urban residents of the world lived in agglomerations - “millionaires”. They grow especially rapidly in the countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa. In Asia (1990), there were 115 such agglomerations, most of all in China (38), India (24), Pakistan, Indonesia and South Korea (6 in each country); in Latin America - 40, in Africa - 24.

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The degree of urbanization of the regions of the world

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the number of urban settlements has multiplied. The intensive process of designing new cities covered all regions of the world, with the exception of overseas Europe (where the urban network is located until the beginning of the 20th century.

in fact, it has already been created). At the same time, urban settlements have been heavily formed in poorly regulated areas, with the creation of new cities "from the beginning", as well as by transforming the largest rural settlements into cities in which urban functions are developed, that is, urbanization spreads across the latitude. But gradually, in already highly urbanized areas, the proportion of urban settlements has increased, consisting of complex systems with existing cities.

This form of settlement was called urban agglomeration.

The first urban agglomerations created in the second half of the 19th century.

or in large cities (London, Paris, New York, etc.) or in areas close to the location of a large number of relatively small individual cities (the coast of the Netherlands, the Ruhr coal basin in Germany, etc.). Agglomeration of the first type is called monocentric (since they have one main center), and the other type is polycentric (they have more centers of approximately the same value). Monocentric agglomeration is widespread, although polycentricity in the modern world is very high, especially in the mountainous type of basin of origin.

Towards the end of the 20th century.

Urban agglomerations have become the main form of settlement in the most urbanized regions of the world, replacing isolated cities almost entirely (which are contained in relatively poorly urbanized areas, but concentrated on only a small fraction of the urban population). Metropolitan areas are developing rapidly in the media and even in underdeveloped countries, but there are few of them.

Very often this is only one agglomeration, formed around the largest state in the country (capital or economic capital).

Thus, urban agglomerations are interconnected groups of settlements, especially urban ones, uniting workers, cultural, household, recreational, infrastructural, industrial and other ties. The most important are working relations, which in the day cycle, through individual fluctuations in population, connect individual settlements with a single whole.

At the same time, such unusual migrants work or study mainly in the capital (core) of the agglomeration, but live in other settlements.

The cultural community and the recreational link between the settlements is mainly realized within the weekly cycle, although the mass may exceed the daily portion of the trip. Infrastructural connections arise when the settlements of the agglomeration are divided into a larger transport infrastructure (railways, airports, etc.), City structures (pumping stations, treatment facilities). Industrial communications are carried out between companies in the context of cooperation, when subsidiaries, component suppliers, grocery warehouses, research and test facilities move from one place to the agglomeration (usually its main center) to other localities in the agglomeration.

Scientists from different countries approach differently determination of the boundaries of urban agglomerations. Abroad, the outer boundary of an agglomeration is in many cases determined after the end of continuous urban development.

In this sense, the agglomeration is the same as the actual site and is often called conurbation. Thus, the population of the Moscow agglomeration (settlement) is estimated by European scientists at the level of 10-11 million.

human. Internal scientists within the agglomeration include all localities that connect a significant part of the population with working trips to the capital of the agglomeration. As a rule, such points are no more than 1.5 hours of travel from the core of the metropolitan area.

With this approach, the population of the Moscow agglomeration is estimated at 12.5-14 million people. People. In the standard US Metropolitan Statistical Regions (SMSA), which are designated as aggregate calculations that fully include the primary territorial units (municipalities) that meet certain criteria, the relationship to capital must have at least 50 thousand. Inhabitants (registered and continuous development, labor relations and population density).

After all, regardless of the methods for defining the boundaries of urban agglomerations in developed countries, current population estimates are intended specifically for agglomerations, and not for places within their legal constraints.

3.3. Accommodation of urban and rural population

The same applies to the largest cities in developing countries. Indeed, the distribution of individual settlements in the agglomeration "when viewed from the outside" (outside the agglomeration) is unreasonable, since it is a single socio-economic system, artificially divided by legally established legal boundaries (boundaries of individual settlements).

Thus, the population of Paris is currently around 2 million within the city's legal restrictions. But no one doubts that many formally independent settlements outside the city (for example, the Place de la Defense Skyscrapers) are also Paris. And the total number of the metropolitan area in Paris ("Greater Paris") is estimated at 11-12 million.

human. List of the largest urban agglomerations in the world since the beginning of the 21st century. presented in the table. 4.3.

It is worth noting that at the beginning of the 20th century. The largest capital city on Earth was London (with a population of 4.5 million), which today ranks 20th. Accordingly, the population of London has grown approximately 2.5 times in a hundred years. And the first agglomeration with a population of over 10 million people. in the 40s.

became New York, which is currently ranked 7th. For the 20th century. the population of this city has grown by about 10 times. The population of today's Tokyo leader has grown roughly 100 times in 100 years. However, the population of most modern large urban agglomerations has grown 100 times or more over the past 100 years (Mexico City, Seoul, Sao Paulo, etc.). Such high growth rates of cities in large developing countries (about 5% of the annual population growth on average over 100 years) make up the current list of the world's largest metropolitan areas, of which almost two-thirds are in developing countries.

Table 4.3 The largest urban agglomerations in the world

Yes.	agglomeration	Population, mln.	country
1 1	Tokyo	31,0	Japan
2 2	Mexico City	21,0	Mexico
Seoul	19,9	Korea
Sao Paulo	18,5	Brazil
Osaka-Kyoto Kobe	+17,6	Japan
Jakarta	17,4	Indonesia
New York	17,0	USA
8 8	Delhi	+16,7	India
Mumbai	+16,7	India
Los Angeles	+16,6	USA
Cairo	15,6	Egypt
Calcutta	13,8	India
Manila	13,5	Philippines
Buenos Aires	12,9	Argentina
Moscow	12,1	Russian Federation
Shanghai	11,9	China
Rhine-Ruhr	11,3	Germany
Paris	11,3	France
Rio de Janeiro	11,3	Brazil
London	11,2	United Kingdom
Tehran	11,0	Iran
Chicago	10,9	USA
Karachi	10,3	Pakistan
Dhaka	10,2	Bangladesh

Over time, suburban settlements in agglomerations begin to develop faster than the central city, including by moving the population from the central city to the suburbs.

This procedure is called Suburbanization(from the Latin word for suburb - suburbs). In this case, residents of central cities, the difficult environmental situation, crime, high real estate costs, high taxes and other conditions, which are much better in suburban settlements, will "get out".

An essential condition for suburbanization is the development of transport, providing transport between residence and place of work, as most immigrants continue to work in the capital.

Therefore, in developed countries, the first signs of suburbanization appeared in the development of suburban rail transport in them. Intensive suburbanization began only with the mass of the car, since only the passenger car provides a sufficiently high degree of freedom of relative placement and place of work.

Initially, the most well-being of the population, the elite of society, migrates to the suburbs.

Thus, they create a model of behavior for the rest of the population, which is not implemented for material reasons. But, as the well-being of society grows, more and more people are engaged in resettlement. Intensive suburbanization is associated with the resettlement of many to the developed countries of the "secondary" class.

After resettlement of the population, he moved to the suburbs of industry and other areas of employment.

The movement of trade and services is directly related to the resettlement of the population and at almost the same time. They are promoted to a certain extent in the suburbs and administrative functions. However, relocation to suburban jobs is still lower than population relocation.

Currently, most developed countries have already passed the privatization stage.

As a result, most of the urban population in these countries lives in the suburbs. The crisis in large cities, which is one of the reasons for the revival of drilling, has intensified even more. Major cities have lost much of their tax base and jobs have shrunk. Accordingly, it increased unemployment, increased the concentration of marginalized low-income groups, etc. D. Therefore, in the first decades after World War II, most developed countries implemented national population transfer and economy programs that encouraged suburbanization, government, over the past decade ... Local programs aim to revitalize urban centers.

Although, basically, this is not a place of residence, but as a place of concentration of various progressive actions.

But urban agglomerations are not the ultimate form of urban development. In some areas that are especially attractive for urban development, the neighboring agglomeration spreads and merges with their peripheral parts. Sometimes, smaller agglomerations fall into the area of ​​influence of a larger agglomeration, becoming second-order agglomerations.

Systems of 3-5 agglomerations developed urbanized areas. In Russia, these areas are located around the metropolis of Moscow, along the Volga, along the eastern slopes of the Urals, in Kuzbass.

In some cases, the number of connected agglomerations can usually be considered as the main traffic routes.

Such basic forms of urban settlement are called urbanized areas or metropolitan areas. The metropolis is the original name for its first such urban structure, which was described in the 1950s.

French urbanist G. Gotman in the northeastern United States. Later, similar formations were formed in other regions of the Earth. The table shows the characteristics of the largest megacities on Earth. 4.4.

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The area is 244 thousand km2.

The population is 58.1 million.

Capital London.

The United Kingdom is a country with four administrative divisions: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The head of state is the queen, who is more a symbol of the state than its leader. The real power in the country belongs to the parliament and the prime minister. This form of government is called a constitutional monarchy.

Urbanization abroad

The state runs a community that has consolidated its former colonies. The inhabitants of the United Kingdom are Protestant Christians based on religion.

Geographical position. Natural conditions and resources

The country is located on the British Isles (the largest of which is the United Kingdom), located at the crossroads of important international sea and air routes. A favorable circumstance is the Channel Tunnel, which directly connects the country with continental Europe.

The surface of the north and west is predominantly mountainous, while the south and east are flat.

The climate is moderately oceanic, humid. Natural conditions favor the development of livestock in particular.

The state is not sufficiently provided with mineral resources. Exceptions are deposits of coke, rock salt and kaolin.

In the seventies, the North Sea was rich in oil and gas.

population

The population of Great Britain is one national: 80% - English, the rest - Scottish, Welsh. 5% of the population are immigrants. The official language is English.

Great Britain is characterized by a high degree of urbanization: 4/5 of the inhabitants are urban dwellers who live mainly in large cities and urban agglomerations.

(We call them the largest). For rural settlements, the most important are individual plantations on farms.

objects

Great Britain is a highly developed country with an exceptional dominance of industry in agriculture. In recent years, it has been the only European country to maintain a high level of production. The newly developed coal industry has replaced new oil and gas that is concentrated in the North Sea shelf.

The United Kingdom is currently one of the largest oil and gas producing countries in the world.

Engineering is the leading manufacturing industry in the UK. They developed electrical and electronic production, various transport equipment, shipbuilding and the production of agricultural machinery.

Almost all industries are focused on exporting products. The discovery of oil and gas fields in the North Sea strongly stimulated the development of the chemical industry. At the same time, the oldest branch of the British textile industry lost its meaning.

Agriculture almost completely meets the country's food needs, although the share of workers in it is the lowest in the world.

The main industry is livestock: raising beef and dairy cattle and pig farms, raising sheep and poultry. In agriculture, the leading role belongs to cereals. There is barley and wheat there. Important areas for potatoes.

Transport. International relationships

The position of the island state determined the development of sea and later air transport. Almost all parts of the UK are linked to seaports, and around 150 airports have been built to support a range of flights in the country.

The UK has a large merchant and passenger fleet. Many ships flying his flag serve the transport of other countries.

Road transport provides transportation of goods and passengers in the country. The main transport routes are combined with industrial centers, among which the capital is London.

London is great in the area but very low.

Many districts, neighborhoods and even streets of the city are so different that they seem to belong to different settlements, different countries and different periods. .. There are a number of judicial and financial districts, meeting and demonstration zones, major newspaper streets in the country, etc. In recent years, the transfer of boilers to gas has dramatically reduced the number of famous fogs in London - smog.

The characteristic of Great Britain is dependence on foreign trade.

The main foreign trade partners are Western Europe and the United States.

Conclusions:

The most economically developed European countries - Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy are included in the "seven main" countries of the world.

The leading sector of the economy of developed countries is an industry that uses heavily imported raw materials.

Germany and Great Britain are a powerful industrial country, the development of which is shaped by the face of Europe.

Read the chapter

These countries have a large proportion of the urban population. Urbanization is the growth of cities, an increase in the proportion of the urban population in the country, region, and the world. Those countries where the share of the urban population exceeds 50% can be considered highly urbanized. This group includes virtually all economically developed countries, as well as many of the developing countries.

World urbanization rate

Among them, the "champion" countries stand out, where the level of urbanization exceeds 80%, for example, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates. Mid-urbanized countries have an urban population of 20 to 50%. This group includes most of the developing countries of Asia (China, India, Indonesia, etc.), Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, etc.) and some Latin American countries (Bolivia, Guatemala, etc.).

Weakly urbanized countries are countries where the proportion of the urban population is below 20%. It includes the most backward countries in the world, mainly in Africa. In some of them (Burundi), less than 10% of all residents live in cities

Urbanization is the process of concentration of the population in cities, with relocation from the countryside.

Highly urbanized countries - countries with a large percentage of urban population

In these countries, a very large number of people live in cities.

Urbanization is a global process

The main economic power in the world economy is labor resources. The first factor, they influence workspace creation - impact on the environment. Half of the world's population lives in lowland areas, 1/3 in coastal areas. Most of the inhabitants settle on the banks of the rivers. People inhabit areas with pleasant climates. Therefore, they are the most densely populated country in the subtropical and subequatorial climate, as well as in the southern temperate state.

Another factor - Economic. The availability of resources (land, forest, minerals, etc.) has always attracted people, which explains the development of lowland people. The third factor Employment. Industrial regions have a much larger population than others with similar conditions. Basic form of population distribution people in the modern world are gradually becoming cities.

Urbanization is a process of urban growth and urban population, strengthening their economic role, expanding urban lifestyle. The agricultural population in the world is traditionally larger, and in the 21st century the number of inhabitants of villages and cities has increased (3.4 billion.

rural areas and 3.4 billion cities). By 2050, a significant increase in the urban population is expected. At the same time, people occupy only 3% of the land area. The influence of the world community on urbanization has become most noticeable in the economically developed regions of the world. Thus, the rate of urbanization in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe has already exceeded 80%.
Among the less developed regions in Latin America and the Caribbean (78%), an extremely high degree of urbanization has been achieved.

In contrast, in Africa and Asia, the urban population is 38% and 41%. Over the next decade, urbanization is expected to improve efficiency in all key areas, while in Africa and Asia the process will be faster.

The urban population is mainly concentrated in a limited number of countries. In 2007, three quarters of the city's 3.3 billion inhabitants lived in 25 countries, and the urban population of 29 million in South Africa reached 561 million.

man in China. The top three countries with the most urban residents are: China, India and the United States of America... These countries are home to 35% of the world's urban population. The list of 25 countries also includes Russia. GUESTS (unofficial data for 2015 with unknown.

a source)

Urbanization is closely related to the concept of large cities.

Created satellites of large cities agglomeration ... The highest connection in the process of urbanization has become megapolized. metropolis is a horizontal line of cities and towns, grouped in one line. Linearity is one of the characteristics of a metropolis from a metropolis. Currently, there is such a phenomenon as Suburbanization .

This moves part of the wealthy population to the suburbs. For example: Highway Rublev in Moscow. Population density is closely related to urbanization. There are an average of 40 people in the world. per km2. But in general, the entire population of the earth is located on 7% of the mainland.

90% of the population lives in the northern and eastern hemisphere. In today's world, migration has become commonplace.

List of countries by city

migration Is population movement. The departure of people from their country for permanent residence is called emigration, entry is called immigration. Since 2013, a natural disaster for the European Union has been the process of migration of people from Asia and Africa to Europe.

According to official estimates, as of January 2015, 1.2 million people are seeking asylum in the EU. The unprecedented income has become a serious burden for many countries in the European Union. By the end of 2016, a new wave of emigration is expected to reach 3 million. This is more than the population of Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg or Malta.

The burden of receiving and serving migrants differs from country to country in different ways. The most serious thing is in Germany, France and Sweden.

In Germany, they aspire as a democratic state with a strong economy, a country where a strong role can be played, they can be Christianity and religious freedom, who will receive a good education and adequate medical care. The main motivation for migrants when moving is to find a place to use work.

These migrations are called labor migrations. There were many shrinking countries in the 19th century "Lean muscles, "Brain drain"

12th place

Urbanization is a worldwide process

The main economic force in the world economy is labor resources. The first factor, influencing formation of labor resource - the influence of the environment.

Half of the world's population lives in lowlands, 1/3 in coastal areas. Most of the population settles along the river banks. People inhabit territories with a favorable climate. Therefore, the most populous states are found in subtropical and subequatorial climates, as well as temperate in the south. Second factor - economic. The availability of resources (land, forest, minerals, etc.) has always attracted people, this explains the development of lowlands by people.

The third factor - employment. Industrial areas have a significantly larger population than others with similar conditions. The main form of accommodation of the population people in the modern world are gradually becoming cities. Urbanization is the process of the growth of cities and urban population, the strengthening of their economic role, the wide spread of the urban way of life. The rural population in the world is traditionally more numerous, but in the 21st century the population of villages and cities was at the same level (3.4 billion rubles).

rural and 3.4 billion urban) By 2050, a significant increase in urban population is expected. At the same time, the townspeople occupy only 3% of the land surface. The global effect of urbanization has become most noticeable in the economically developed regions of the world.

Thus, the level of urbanization has already exceeded 80% in Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Europe.
Among the less developed regions, an extremely high level of urbanization (78%) has been achieved in Latin America and the Caribbean. In contrast, Africa and Asia have 38% and 41% urban residents, respectively. Urbanization is expected to increase in all major areas over the next decade, with faster progress in Africa and Asia.

The urban population is highly concentrated in a limited number of countries. In 2007, three quarters of the world's 3.3 billion urban dwellers lived in 25 countries, with urban populations ranging from 29 million in South Africa to 561 million in China. Top three countries with the most urban residents: China, India and the United States of America.

Today, 35% of the world's urban population lives in these states. Russia is also on the list of 25 countries. GIANT CITIES (unofficial data for 2015 from an unknown source)

Urbanization is closely related to the concept of huge cities.

The satellites of large cities form agglomeration ... Megalopolises have become the highest link in the urbanization process.

Megalopolis is a horizontal line of cities and towns merged into a single line. Linearity is one of the distinguishing features of a megalopolis from a megalopolis. Currently, there is such a phenomenon as suburbanization ... This is the relocation of a part of the wealthy population to the suburbs. For example: Rublevskoe highway in Moscow. Population density is closely related to urbanization. The world average is 40 people.

per km2. But basically the entire land population is located on 7% of the continental area. 90% of the population lives in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres. Migration has become a common phenomenon in the modern world. Migration - this is the movement of the population. The departure of people from their country for permanent residence is called emigration, entry is called immigration.

Since 2013, a natural disaster for the European Union has been the process of migration of residents of Asia and Africa to European countries. According to official estimates, since January 2015, 1.2 million people have applied for asylum in the EU countries. The unprecedented influx of migrants has become a serious burden for many EU countries. By the end of 2016, a new wave of emigration is expected up to 3 million.

human. This is more than the population of Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg or Malta. The burden of receiving and servicing migrants is distributed differently between the EU countries. The most serious one falls on the FRG, France and Sweden. They aspire to Germany because it is a democratic country with a strong economy, a country where the role of both Christianity and religious freedom is strong, and where you can get both a good education and appropriate medical care.

The main motive of migrants when moving is to search for a place of employment. These migrations are called labor migrations. In the 19th century, many backward countries came Muscle leak in postindustrial society "brain drain"

The twenty-first century is the century of urbanization, when there is a rapid change not only of the person himself, but also a change in the system of values, norms of behavior, and intellect. This phenomenon covers the social and demographic structure of the population, its way of life, culture. It is not difficult to understand what urbanization is, it is important to find out what consequences it has.

What is urbanization?

Urbanization is the expansion of urban settlements and the spread of urban lifestyles to all of the settlements. Urbanization is a multilateral process based on the historically established forms of social and territorial division of labor. Urbanization means the growth of big cities, an increase in the urban population in the country. This concentration is closely related to false urbanization.

In different countries, the increase in settlements takes place with different dynamics, therefore, all countries of the world are conventionally divided into three groups:

• high level of urbanization - 73%;
• medium - more than 32%;
• low - less than 32%.

According to this division, Canada is in the fourth ten by the level of urbanization, here its level is more than 80%. In Russia, the level is 73%, although the increase in settlements is not always associated with positive aspects. In our country, this level arose due to significant contradictions:

• inability of host cities to adequately address the issue of migration;
• difficult economic situation;
• instability in the political sphere;
• inequality in the development of regions, when residents from villages tend to megalopolises.

False urbanization

False urbanization is a rapid population growth, while this phenomenon is not accompanied by sufficient growth in the number of jobs, so there are crowds of unemployed people, and a lack of housing leads to the emergence of uncomfortable urban outskirts, where unsanitary conditions prevail. This phenomenon often affects the countries of Africa and Latin America, where, along with a high concentration of the population, the standard of living is low everywhere. The increased social tension increases the growth of crime.

Causes of urbanization

Global urbanization has led to the fact that the rural population from nearby villages and small towns is increasingly turning to large cities for everyday or cultural issues. There are the following reasons for urbanization at the present time:

1. Development of industrial production in large cities.
2. Excess labor force.
3. More favorable living conditions in large cities compared to rural ones.
4. Formation of wide suburban areas.

Pros and cons of urbanization

The quality of urban life is directly related to how justified the level of increase in settlements is, the positive and negative aspects of urbanization. If this level rises sharply, the quality of urban life drops significantly, and jobs disappear in the city. Therefore, here an important place is occupied by the infrastructure of the city and the level of trade, the level of income of urban residents, and their provision. Also, another factor in urban life is environmental safety, its level.

To understand what urbanization is, you need to look at its positive and negative sides. For example, Russia is now going through a difficult transition period, when irreversible processes are taking place in the village. Only with the help of a certain state policy, balanced settlement of people in cities, it is possible to preserve national traditions and culture.

Pros of urbanization

Most of the population lives in large cities and the reason for this was the positive aspects of urbanization:

• Increase in labor productivity;
• Creation of places for scientific research and recreation;
• Qualified medical care;
• Sanitary and hygienic conditions.

Cons of urbanization

Today, the settlements have begun to grow sharply. This process is accompanied by the growth of large cities, environmental pollution, and deterioration of living conditions in the regions. The atmosphere in large cities contains more toxic substances than in rural areas. All this caused the negative sides of urbanization and led to:

• imbalance in the distribution of the population in the territory;
• absorption by large cities of the most fertile and productive areas of the planet;
• ecological violation;
• noise pollution;
• transport problems;
• compaction of buildings;
• decrease in fertility;
• rising unemployment.

Urbanization and its consequences

Due to the fact that most of the rural residents have moved to big cities, agriculture has ceased to meet all the needs of the population. And in order to increase the productivity of soils, production began to use artificial fertilizers. Such an irrational approach led to the fact that the soil was oversaturated with compounds of heavy metals. In the twentieth century, the population lost its stability in the process of growth. The impact of urbanization has led to the large-scale development of energy, industry and agriculture.

Environmental impacts of urbanization

Urbanization is considered the main factor of environmental pollution, residents of large cities call them smogopolis, they pollute the atmosphere by 75%. Scientists have studied the chemical impact of urbanization on nature and found that a plume of polluting effects from large cities can be traced for another fifty kilometers. The lack of necessary funds is a serious obstacle to improving the urban environment, the transition to low-waste technologies, the construction of processing plants.

The car is the largest source of air pollution. The main harm comes from carbon monoxide, in addition to this, people feel the negative effects of carbohydrates, nitrogen oxides, photochemical oxidants. An urbanized person is daily exposed to oxygen deficiency, irritation of the mucous membranes, deep parts of the respiratory tract, as a result of which pulmonary edema, colds, bronchitis, lung cancer, coronary heart disease, congenital defects can occur.

Impact of urbanization on the biosphere

The growth of urban settlements has a negative impact on the biosphere, and this impact increases from year to year. Exhaust gases from vehicles, emissions from industrial plants, heat and power plants are all consequences of urbanization, which is why nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ozone, saturated hydrocarbons, benzopyrene, dust enter the atmosphere. In large cities of the world, they have already stopped paying attention to smog. Not many people fully understand what urbanization is and what dangers it poses. If city streets were greened, the negative impact on the biosphere would be reduced.

As technospherization increases, the natural foundations of the biosphere, which is responsible for the reproduction and spread of life on Earth, are being removed. At the same time, as mankind gradually passes to technogenesis, the biospheric biological substance is significantly transformed, which negatively affects the organisms formed from it. Artificially created technosphere-biological components can evolve on their own and cannot be eliminated from the natural environment.

Impact of urbanization on public health

By creating an urban system, people create an artificial environment around themselves that increases the comfort of life. But this separates people from their natural environment and disrupts natural ecosystems. The negative impact of urbanization on human health is manifested by the fact that physical activity decreases, nutrition becomes irrational, poor-quality products lead to obesity and diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases develop. The urban environment negatively affects the physical and psychosomatic health of people.

Most urbanized countries

In ancient times, the most urbanized city was Jericho, where about two thousand people lived nine thousand years ago. Today, this number can be attributed to a large village or small town. If we reduce the number of people living in the ten most populous cities of the planet to one whole, then the amount will be almost two hundred and sixty million people, which is 4% of the total population of the planet.

Man is, of course, a social being, striving for the society of other people. That is why it continues to rapidly "flow" to big cities. On the other hand, man is a natural being. It is an integral part, a link of a natural, natural landscape. Thus, cities and - without industry and remain today the two main axes around which the life of modern society revolves.

In this article, we will look at concepts related to the section of urbanism. What is suburbanization, deurbanization and urbanization? What is the meaning of these three concepts?

The meaning of urbanization

The term "urbanization" comes from the Latin word "urbanus", which translates to "urban". Urbanization (in a broad sense) is understood as the growing role of the city in the life of a person and society. In a narrower sense, it is a process of urban population growth and "overflow" of residents from - to cities and megalopolises.

Urbanization, as a socio-economic phenomenon and process, was actively discussed in the middle of the twentieth century, when the percentage of the urban population began to grow rapidly. The reason for this was the development of industry in cities, the emergence of new ones in them, as well as the development of cultural and educational functions in urban settlements.

Scientists identify several aspects of urbanization processes, namely:

• outflow of population from rural areas to cities;
• transformation of villages and villages into urban-type settlements;
• the formation of large and integral suburban areas of settlement.

To the questions "what is suburbanization, urbanization, deurbanization, ruralization?" answers the science of geo-urban studies - one of the important sections of modern social geography.

The concept of "urbanization" is closely related to the so-called phenomenon of false urbanization, which is characteristic of such regions of the world as Latin America and Southeast Asia. What is False Urbanization? In essence, this is the unreasonable growth of cities, which is not accompanied by the necessary growth of jobs and the development of the corresponding infrastructure. As a result, the rural population is simply "pushed out" to large cities. False urbanization, as a rule, is accompanied by a surge in unemployment and the emergence of so-called "slums" within the city - city blocks not intended for normal human life.

The level of urbanization in different countries of the world

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs annually prepares the next ranking of urbanization of the countries of the world. These studies have been carried out since 1980.

The urbanization rate is the percentage of the urban population to the total population of a given country. And it is not the same in different countries of the world. Thus, the highest rates of urbanization (if we do not take into account the dwarf states consisting of one city) were recorded in Qatar, Kuwait, Belgium and Malta. In all these countries, the urbanization rates of the population exceed 95%. Also, the level of urbanization is quite high in Iceland, Argentina, Japan, Israel, Venezuela and Uruguay (over 90%).

According to UN estimates, Russia's indicator in this rating is 74%. At the bottom of the urbanization ranking are Papua New Guinea and Burundi (with urbanization rates of 12.6% and 11.5%, respectively). In Europe, the lowest urbanization rate is characteristic of Moldova (49 percent).

Urban agglomeration concept

Urban agglomerations are a phenomenon that is inextricably linked to the process of urbanization. This is the process of uniting neighboring urban settlements into one complex and integral system. Within this system, stable and intensive ties are formed: production, transport, scientific and cultural. Urban agglomerations are one of the natural stages of urbanization processes.

There are two main types of agglomerations:

• monocentric (formed on the basis of one central core city);
• polycentric (a cluster of several equivalent urban settlements).

The urban agglomeration is characterized by the following distinctive features:

1. Connection of the central city with other cities and settlements adjacent to it (without significant territorial gaps).
2. The share of built-up areas in the agglomeration must necessarily exceed the percentage of agricultural land.
3. Every agglomeration is characterized by daily commuting - labor, educational, cultural and tourist.

According to the UN, there are at least 450 urban agglomerations on our planet, each of which is home to at least one million people. The largest metropolitan area in the world is the metropolitan area of ​​Tokyo, which is home to about 35 million people. The leading countries in terms of the total number of urban agglomerations are: China, USA, India, Brazil and Russia.

Urban agglomerations in Russia

It is interesting that in Russia at the state level there is no record of urban agglomerations within the country. Therefore, the actual data on this matter may differ slightly from each other.

Nevertheless, it is customary to distinguish 22 agglomerations on the territory of Russia. The largest of these are the following (approximate population is shown in parentheses):

1. Moscow (about 16 million).
2. St. Petersburg (5.6 million).
3. Samara-Togliatti (2.3 million).
4. Yekaterinburg (2.2 million).
5. Rostov (1.7 million).

Russian urban agglomerations are characterized by high industrialization of the territory, a high level of infrastructure development, a large number of research and higher educational institutions. The bulk of the agglomerations in Russia are monocentric, that is, they have one, pronounced center, which is subordinate to all other settlements and suburbs.

Suburbanization: a definition of the concept

Now it is worth considering other concepts that are actively used in urban studies. What is suburbanization and what is its essence?

This term came into active use in the second half of the twentieth century. Suburbanization is a phenomenon accompanied by the active development of suburbs - zones located around large metropolitan areas.

Towards the end of the last century, more and more people began to move to the outskirts of cities, away from the noise of factories and dirty air and closer to natural landscapes. At the same time, such "immigrants" do not begin to plow the land and raise chickens. They continue to work in the city, taking several hours every day to get to their place of work. Of course, suburbanization became possible only thanks to the development of mass motorization.

From urbanization to suburbanization!

The Economist recently published an interesting article entitled "Planet of the Suburbs." According to the text of this article, suburbanization is nothing more than urbanization in disguise! Indeed, all over the world today cities and megalopolises are growing exclusively due to the suburbs. The Economist names only two modern metropolises as an exception - London and Tokyo.

And now we can observe an interesting picture: if 30-40 years ago the outskirts became "home" for the poorer segments of the population, today everything has changed diametrically. And now neighborhoods of luxury housing can increasingly be seen in suburban areas.

What is deurbanization?

Finally, there is one more concept to deal with. De-urbanization is the opposite process of urbanization (from French "dez" means negation).

De-urbanization is characterized by the processes of population resettlement outside the cities. In a more global sense, the term also means a denial of the positive role of the city in the life of society. The main goal of the theory of deurbanization is to eliminate all

Finally...

Urbanization, deurbanization, suburbanization ... All these concepts are very closely related to each other. If urbanization is the process of increasing the role of the city in the life of society, then suburbanization is, on the contrary, an outflow of the population to suburban areas.

SECTION 4. CURRENT STAGE OF URBAN SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT

XX century called the century of urbanization. Urban settlement developed especially rapidly during this period. Intensive urbanization processes attracted increased attention of specialists in many branches of knowledge, as a result of which general patterns of development of urban settlement in different countries of the world were identified, theories of urbanization were created in various sciences - geography, economics, sociology, etc. The stage of accelerated development of urbanization processes took place in the XX century. ... and our country. But before considering the global patterns of urbanization development and their manifestation in Russia, let us dwell on the general picture of urban settlement in the modern world.

World urbanization processes in the XX century.

As noted above, urbanization is an increase in the importance of urban settlements in various spheres of society. To one degree or another, urabanization processes cover practically all areas of the life of modern society. In the most generalized form, this is manifested in the formation and increasingly widespread dissemination of the modern urban lifestyle, which in the future, most likely, will cover all of humanity. But the way of life is a qualitative characteristic, which is difficult to formalize when comparing different territories, and strongly depends on many characteristics of the population and economy of specific societies (composition of the population, natural resource potential, etc.). Therefore, usually the development of urbanization processes is judged by several characteristics of the population, which narrow the meaning of this concept, but at the same time are relatively easily reflected by quantitative statistical indicators. The most widely used indicators are:

The number of urban settlements, including the largest and the largest;

The size of the urban population;

The share of the urban population, including the population living in large and largest cities.

For the planet as a whole, the change in some of these indicators during the XX century. presented & tab. 4.1. It is clearly seen that during this century the number of urban dwellers on Earth has grown more than 13 times, and their share is close to half of the planet's inhabitants. At the same time, the formation of more and more large cities took place. Including at the present time there are already more than 20 cities and urban agglomerations with a population of more than 10 million people. Whereas at the beginning of the century, the largest were the few millionaire cities. It is in these largest urban settlements that the gradual concentration of urban residents takes place. And today every fifth person on Earth lives not just in a city, but in a very large urban settlement with a population of more than 1 million people. In the short term, no slowdown in the growth rate of urbanization indicators is expected.

Table 4.1 Changes in the main indicators of urbanization in the XX century.

All the indicators listed in the table characterize the degree of urbanization of society, reflecting certain important urbanization processes - an increase in the number of urban settlements, including large settlements, the concentration of the population in ever larger urban formations, an increase in the number and proportion of the urban population. The most generalized is the last indicator, which characterizes the urban population not only in itself, but also in comparison with the rural population, that is, it reflects the importance of urban settlements in the entire structure of settlement of a particular territory. Therefore, the indicator of the share of the urban population is also called the indicator of the level of urbanization (urbanization), and it is by this indicator, first of all, that the development of urbanization processes in any particular territory or on the Earth as a whole is judged.

There are several thresholds for the level of urbanization.

1. If it is less than 10%, then the territory is practically non-urbanized. And in urban settlements, as a rule, a rural lifestyle predominates, that is, the differences between rural and urban settlements are relatively small. All of them are predominantly rural in nature. The number and proportion of city dwellers are growing very slowly.

2. If the level of urbanization is less than 25%, then rural settlement still clearly predominates (that is, the territory is poorly urbanized), but an urban lifestyle is already emerging, which is becoming attractive for a significant proportion of rural residents. Therefore, the urban population begins to grow rapidly, new urban settlements are massively formed, and the differences between them and rural settlements increase.

3. When the level of urbanization reaches 50%, then urban settlement begins to prevail over rural (medium-urbanized area). The growth rates of the number and proportion of the urban population during this period are the highest. Urban settlements differ sharply from rural settlements in most of their characteristics.

4. Upon reaching the level of urbanization of 75%, urban settlement begins to clearly prevail over rural (highly urbanized area). The urban way of life is beginning to spread in the countryside, starting with the suburban areas of the largest cities, where new urban settlements are mainly formed. At the same time, the growth rates of the number and share of the urban population are slowing down sharply.

5. Upon reaching the level of urbanization (III)%, the territory becomes almost complete - urbanized. The urban way of life, as a rule, extends to the entire network of rural settlements, that is, the differences between urban and rural settlements practically disappear again, since all settlements acquire an urban character. The number and proportion of city dwellers are growing very slowly, and in some cases even declining.

As socio-economic development proceeds, individual states pass these threshold levels of urbanization, becoming more and more urbanized. But since at each specific moment in time different territories differ significantly in terms of the level of socio-economic development, there is a strong differentiation in terms of the level and pace of urbanization. So, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium already at the beginning of the XX century. were predominantly urbanized countries (more than 75% of urban residents), and the share of urban population in them continued to grow. The fastest growing was the share of urban dwellers in medium-urbanized countries (USA, Germany, France - the share of urban dwellers was about 50%). Whereas in most parts of the world at that time the urban population did not reach even 10%, and this share increased very slowly. The average level of urbanization on Earth was about 14%. And it could be noted that countries with a higher level of urbanization were also distinguished by faster growth rates of this level, i.e., differentiation increased.

At the beginning of the XXI century. differentiation in terms of the level and rate of urbanization is also great, but has a different character. The most developed states have 90% or more urban dwellers, and in them the level of urbanization is almost no longer growing or even declining. Whereas most developing countries have 10 to 75% urban dwellers, and in them the level of urbanization is rapidly increasing. Therefore, it can be noted that in countries with a lower level of urbanization, it grows faster than in countries with a high level. As a result, the differentiation by this indicator between individual states of the world is decreasing.

Nevertheless, at present, the differences in the share of the urban population are clearly visible even at the level of the regions of the world (Table 4.2). The indicators of the level of urbanized ™ in North and Latin America, Foreign Europe, Australia and Oceania have approached. Although at the beginning of the XX century. the differences in the indicator between these regions exceeded "3 times, and in the middle of the century -1.5 times. The increase in the level of urbanization in Latin America, which at the beginning of the century was below the world average, and at the end of the century significantly exceeds the world average level is especially remarkable. Below the world level, the share the urban population is currently only in Africa and Foreign Asia, but it is growing here the fastest, and most states can already be considered moderately urbanized (the share of urban population is about 50%). Although there are still several practically non-urbanized states, the largest in number population of which is Uganda.

The main differentiating influence on the level of urbanization is undoubtedly exerted by socio-economic factors. In general, we can say that the higher the level of socio-economic development of a particular territory (country), the higher the share of the urban population. But in some cases, natural factors are also significant, namely, not favorable natural conditions for farming and human life. If the socio-economic development of such territories nevertheless took place (due to the presence of minerals, a favorable geographical location and for other reasons), then the population can be concentrated in urban settlements to a very high degree (over 90%), which does not reflect the real level of development territory. So, in the desert, but with a developed oil-producing state of Kuwait, the share of the urban population exceeds 90%. And the most urbanized African state is Djibouti, where there is a relatively large port-capital. A similar situation has developed in some northern and eastern regions of Russia (Murmansk, Magadan regions, etc.).

Table 4.2

The level of urbanization of the regions of the world

Throughout the XX century. the number of urban settlements has multiplied. The intensive process of the formation of new cities covered all regions of the world, except for foreign Europe (where the urban network by the beginning of the 20th century was basically already formed). At the same time, urban settlements were massively formed in poorly urbanized areas - both by founding new cities "from scratch" and by transforming the largest rural settlements into cities, in which urban functions were developed, that is, urbanization spread in breadth. But gradually, an increasingly significant proportion of urban settlements appeared in already highly urbanized areas, forming complex systems with existing cities. This form of settlement is called urban agglomerations.

The first urban agglomerations were formed in the second half of the 19th century. or around the largest cities (London, Paris, New York, etc.), or in areas close to the location of a large number of separate relatively small cities (the sea coast of the Netherlands, the Ruhr coal basin in Germany, etc.). Agglomerations of the first type are called monocentric (since they have one main center), and of the second type - polycentric (they have several centers that are approximately equal in value). Monocentric agglomerations are more widespread, although there are quite a few polycentric agglomerations in the modern world - mainly in mining areas with a basin type of occurrence.

By the end of the XX century. urban agglomerations have become the main form of settlement in the most urbanized regions of the world, almost completely replacing isolated cities (which survived in relatively weakly urbanized areas, but concentrate only a small proportion of the urban population). Urban agglomerations are developing rapidly in medium and even weakly urbanized countries, but they are not numerous in them. Very often this is just one agglomeration, forming around the largest city in the country (capital or economic capital).

Thus, urban agglomerations are interconnected groups of settlements, primarily urban, united by labor, cultural, household, recreational, infrastructural, industrial and other ties. The most important are labor ties, which, within the daily cycle, through pendulum migrations of residents, connect individual settlements into a single whole ?. At the same time, such pendulum migrants work or study mainly in the main city (core) of the agglomeration, and live in other settlements. Cultural, everyday and recreational ties between settlements are carried out mainly within the framework of a weekly cycle, although in terms of mass they can exceed daily labor trips. Infrastructural connections are manifested in the joint use of agglomeration settlements of large transport facilities (railways, airports, etc.), urban facilities (water intakes, treatment facilities). Production ties are carried out between enterprises in the framework of cooperation, when branches, suppliers of components, warehouses, experimental testing grounds of an enterprise from one city of the agglomeration (as a rule, its main center) are located in other settlements of the agglomeration.

Scientists from different countries have different approaches to defining the boundaries of urban agglomerations. In foreign Europe, the outer border of the agglomeration is in many cases determined at the end of continuous urban development. In this sense, the agglomeration coincides with the actual city and is often called conurbation. Thus, the population of the Moscow agglomeration (conurbation) is estimated by European scientists at 10-11 million people. Domestic education within the agglomeration includes all settlements, a significant proportion of whose inhabitants are connected by work trips with the main city of the agglomeration. Typically, such points are located no further than a 1.5-hour trip from the core of the metropolitan area. With this approach, the population of the Moscow agglomeration is estimated at 12.5-14 million people. In the United States, standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA) are distinguished as agglomerations, which entirely include primary territorial units (counties) that meet certain criteria of connectivity with the main city, which must have at least 50 thousand inhabitants (the continuity of development is also taken into account , and labor connections, and population density).

Ultimately, regardless of the methods for determining the boundaries of urban agglomerations, in developed countries, population estimates are currently given specifically for agglomerations, and not for cities within their legal boundaries. The same applies to the largest cities in developing countries. Indeed, the identification of individual settlements within the agglomeration "when viewed from the outside" (from outside the agglomeration) does not make sense, since this is a single socio-economic system, artificially divided by historically established legal boundaries (boundaries of individual settlements). Thus, the population of Paris within the legal boundaries of the city is currently about 2 million people. But no one doubts that many formally independent settlements outside the city limits (for example, the Défense skyscraper district) are also Paris. And the total population of the Paris metropolitan area ("Greater Paris") is estimated at 11-12 million people. List of the largest urban agglomerations in the world as of the beginning of the XXI century. presented in table. 4.3.

It is noteworthy that at the beginning of the XX century. the largest metropolitan area on Earth was London (with 4.5 million inhabitants), which today ranks 20th. Accordingly, over a hundred years, the population of London has grown by about 2.5 times. And the first agglomeration with a population of over 10 million. in the 1940s. became New York, which is currently in 7th place. For the XX century. the population of this city has grown by about 10 times. The population of today's leader, Tokyo, has grown by about 30 times in 100 years. But the population of most of today's largest urban agglomerations has grown 100 times or more over the past 100 years (Mexico City, Seoul, Sao Paulo, etc.). It is these ultra-high rates of urban growth in large developing countries (about 5% of the annual population growth on average over 100 years) that formed the modern list of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, almost 2/3 of which are located in developing countries.

Table 4.3 The largest urban agglomerations in the world

№	Agglomeration	Population, million people	Country
	Tokyo	31,0	Japan
	Mexico City	21,0	Mexico
	Seoul	19,9	Korea
	Sao Paulo	18,5	Brazil
	Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe	17,6	Japan
	Jakarta	17,4	Indonesia
	New York	17,0	USA
	Delhi	16,7	India
	Bombay	16,7	India
	Los Angeles	16,6	USA
	Cairo	15,6	Egypt
	Calcutta	13,8	India
	Manila	13,5	Philippines
	Buenos Aires	12,9	Argentina
	Moscow	12,1	Russia
	Shanghai	11,9	China
	Rhine-Ruhr	11,3	Germany
	Paris	11,3	France
	Rio de Janeiro	11,3	Brazil
	London	11,2	United Kingdom
	Tehran	11,0	Iran
	Chicago	10,9	USA
	Karachi	10,3	Pakistan
	Dhaka	10,2	Bangladesh

Over time, suburban settlements within agglomerations begin to develop faster than the central city, including due to the movement of some residents from the central city to the suburbs. This process is called suburbanization (from the Latin word suburb - suburb). At the same time, residents are “pushed out” of the central cities by a difficult environmental situation, an increase in crime, high real estate prices, high taxes and other conditions that turn out to be much better in suburban settlements.

A prerequisite for suburbanization is the development of transport to provide transportation between the place of residence and place of work, since most of the migrants continue to work in the main city. That is why the first signs of suburbanization appeared in developed countries after the development of suburban rail links in them. But intensive suburbanization began only with the mass motorization of the population, since only a personal car provides a sufficiently high degree of freedom of relative location of residence and place of work.

Initially, the richest strata of the population, the elite of society, move to the suburbs. By doing this, they create a pattern of behavior for the rest of the population that cannot be realized for material reasons. But as the well-being of society grows, more and more broad masses of the population are involved in resettlement. Intensive suburbanization is associated with the resettlement of the large "middle" class in developed countries. Following the resettlement of residents, the movement to the suburbs of industry and other areas of employment begins. The movement of trade and the service sector is directly related to the resettlement of residents and occurs almost simultaneously with it. To some extent, they are moving to the suburbs and management functions. Nevertheless, the movement of jobs to the suburbs is still taking place to a lesser extent than the resettlement of residents.

Currently, most developed countries have already passed the stage of suburbanization. As a result, the bulk of the urban population in these countries lives in the suburbs. And the crisis of the main cities, which was one of the reasons for suburbanization, has intensified as a result. Major cities have lost much of their tax base and jobs have been cut. Accordingly, unemployment increased, the concentration of marginal layers of the population with low incomes increased, etc. Therefore, in the first decades after the Second World War, most developed states carried out state programs aimed at deconcentrating the population and economy, spurring suburbanization, then in recent decades, state, and local programs aim at revitalizing urban centers. Although mainly not as places of residence, but as places of Concentration of various progressive types of activity.

But urban agglomerations are not the final form of development of the foolish settlement. In some areas that are especially attractive for urban development, neighboring agglomerations grow and merge with their peripheral parts. Sometimes, smaller agglomerations, falling into the zone of influence of a larger agglomeration, become agglomerations of the second order. The resulting systems of 3-5 agglomerations are called urbanized areas. In Russia, similar areas have formed around the Moscow agglomeration, along the Volga, along the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, in the Kuznetsk coal basin.

In some cases, as a rule, along the most important transport polyhighways, the number of merged agglomerations can be dozens. Such the largest forms of urban settlement at the moment are called urbanized zones or megalopolises. Megalopolis is originally the proper name of the first such urban structure, which was described in the 1950s. French urbanist J. Gotmann in the northeastern United States, as a result, similar formations were formed in

other regions of the Earth. The characteristics of the largest megalopolises of the Earth are presented in table. 4.4.

And countries. Urbanization is the growth of cities, an increase in the proportion of the urban population in the country, region, and the world. Urbanization is accompanied by the concentration of socio-economic functions in cities, an increase in their role in the entire life of society, the spread of urban lifestyles and the formation of networks and settlement systems.

Modern urbanization - as a worldwide process - has three common features that are characteristic of most countries.

The first feature is the rapid growth rate of the urban population (Table 22).

Table 22

Dynamics urban population the world in the XX - early XXI century.

From the table it follows that during the XX century. the number of city dwellers in the world has increased 13 times! Only in 1950-1970. it increased by more than 80%, and in 1970-1990. - almost 70%. Today, the urban population is growing about 3 times faster than the rural population due to massive Migrations into cities and the administrative transformation of rural settlements into urban ones. This trend should continue in the first quarter of the 21st century. According to forecasts, in 2025 the number of urban residents will exceed 5 billion people, and their share in the world population will rise to 61%. This means that the load on the natural environment will increase even more.

The second feature is the continuing concentration of the urban population, primarily in big cities. This is due to the nature of production, the complication of its ties with science, education, and the development of the non-production sphere. Large cities usually satisfy the spiritual needs of people more fully, better provide an abundance and variety of goods and services, and access to information.

At the beginning of the XX century. in the world there were 360 ​​large cities (with a population of over 100 thousand inhabitants), in which only 5% of the total urban population lived. In the late 1980s. there are already 2.5 thousand such cities, and their share in the world population has exceeded Y3; by the beginning of the XXI century. the number of big cities has reached 4 thousand. Among big cities, it is customary to highlight the largest millionaire cities with a population of over 1 million inhabitants. At the beginning of the XX century. there were only 10 of them, in the early 1980s. - more than 200, and by the beginning of the XXI century. became about 400. In Russia in 2009 there were 11 cities-millionaires.

The third feature is the "sprawl" of cities, the expansion of their territory. The modern stage of urbanization is especially characterized by the transition from a "point" city to urban agglomerations - compact spatial groupings of urban settlements, united by diverse and intensive industrial, labor and cultural ties. The cores of such agglomerations are usually capitals, large industrial, port, administrative and other centers. Recently, to characterize the largest cities in the world, as a rule, data on the agglomerations formed by them have been used, since this approach is more correct (Table 23).

Many of these agglomerations have transformed into even larger formations - megalopolises (clusters of agglomerations), urbanized zones.

Levels and rates of urbanization... With the global average level of urbanization now amounting to 50%, individual regions differ greatly in this indicator (Table 24).

The differences between individual countries are even greater.

Table 23

Agglomeration	Million inhabitants	Agglomeration	Million inhabitants
1. Tokyo	33,8	11. Osaka	16,7
2. Seoul	23,9	12. Kol kata	16,0
3. Mexico City	22,9	13. Karachi	15,7
4. Delhi	22,4	14. Guangzhou	15,3
5. Mumbai	22,3	15. Jakarta	15,1
6. New York	21,9	16. Cairo	14,8
7. Sao Paulo	21,0	17. Buenos Aires	13,8
8. Manila	19,2	18.Moscow	13,5
9. Los Angeles	18,0	19. Beijing	13,2
10. Shanghai	17,9	20. Dhaka	13,1

Table 24

Urbanization rate by region of the world in 2008

Highly urbanized those countries where the share of the urban population exceeds 50% can be considered. This group includes virtually all economically developed countries, as well as many of the developing countries. Among them, the "champion" countries stand out, where the level of urbanization exceeds 80%, for example, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates.

Mid-urbanized countries have a proportion of urban populations ranging from 20 to 50%. This group includes most of the developing countries of Asia (China, India, Indonesia, etc.), Of Africa(Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, etc.) and some Latin American countries (Bolivia, Guatemala, etc.).

Weakly urbanized countries are countries where the share of the urban population is below 20%. It includes the most backward countries in the world, mainly in Africa. In some of them (Burundi), less than 10% of all residents live in cities.

Differences in the level of urbanization between developed and developing countries are very large: 75% and 42%, respectively. A completely different situation is developing with the pace of urbanization. In the economically developed countries of the world and in some developing countries of Latin America, where the level of urbanization is very high, the share of the urban population either does not grow at all, or grows slowly. In developing countries, on the other hand, in recent decades, there has been a real "urban explosion": both the number of cities and their population are growing rapidly. For example, in 1990 there were already 115 millionaire agglomerations in Asia, 40 in Latin America, and 24 in Africa. Table 23 also shows that developing countries have already taken the lead in the number of super-large agglomerations. If in 1950 only 7 of the 20 largest agglomerations in the world were in developing countries, then in 2005 - already 15 (including 6 of them were in the top ten).

As a result, the total number of urban dwellers in this group of countries increased from 304 million people in 1950 to 1.9 billion people in 2005, or 6.7 times, and in 2010 it is likely to surpass 2.5 billion people. Already in 1975, the number of urban dwellers in developing countries exceeded them the number in developed countries, and by 2005 this surplus increased to 1 billion people.

At the same time, however, it should be borne in mind that the growth in the share of the urban population in Asia, Africa and Latin America is far ahead of the real development of these countries. It is largely due to the constant "pushing" of the surplus rural population to cities, especially large ones, where such migrants join the ranks of disadvantaged people living in poverty. Therefore, this type of urbanization is sometimes called “false urbanization”.

Questions and tasks to prepare for the exam

1. Explain the concept of "population explosion". Where and why did it spread?
2. What is called the reproduction (natural movement) of the population? Describe the first and second types of population reproduction and the features of their distribution.
3. What is included in the concept of "quality of the population"?
4. Name the largest nations in the world.
5. Give a brief description of the world's religions and name the number of their adherents.
6. Show on the map the most and least populated areas of the world and explain the reasons for their occurrence. Explain the contrasts in population density across major regions and countries.
7. Describe the geography of modern international population migrations.
8. What forms of urban and rural settlement exist?
9. Give examples of high, medium and low urbanized countries and explain the patterns of their location.
10. What are the largest cities in the world.

Maksakovsky V.P., Petrova N.N., Physical and economic geography of the world. - M.: Airis-press, 2010 .-- 368s.: Ill.

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