Urbanisation

Urbanisation refers to a process in which an increasing proportion of an entire population lives in cities and the suburbs of the cities.

The main features of urbanisation are-

1. Industrialisation
2. Rapid economic growth
3. Good employment opportunities
4. Good transport network
5. Easily available commercial services
6. Education facilities
7. Medical facilities
8. Communication network
9. Infrastructural facilities
10. Improved standard of living

Three causes of urbanisation are-

1. Industrialisation — Growth of industries has expanded the employment opportunities. As a result, rural people have migrated to cities due to better employment opportunities.
2. Search for better job — Agriculture depends on climate and rainfall. Therefore, in drought conditions or natural calamities, rural people have to migrate to cities and towns.
3. Modernisation — Rural people get attracted to towns and cities in order to have a comfortable life with better infrastructure, sophisticated technology, better transport and communication facilities, etc.

Five positive effects of urbanisation are-

1. Creation of employment opportunities — As more and more people migrate to cities, more employment opportunities are created in urban centres, which leads to further development.
2. Convenience — Urbanisation gives more access to education, health, social services and cultural activities to people in cities than in villages. Cities have more advanced transport and communication facilities.
3. Concentration of educational facilities — In cities, more schools, colleges and universities are established to train and develop human resources. Thus, students have a wide choice for their future career.
4. Better social integration — In case of urbanisation, people of many castes and religious groups, live and work together. This creates better understanding among people and helps break down social and cultural barriers in the society.
5. Exploitation of resources — Many settlements are established where the natural resources are available.

Four negative effects of urbanisation are-

1. Problem of overpopulation — Concentration of population becomes a major problem in cities and towns due to overcrowding. This leads to accommodation problem and growth of slums.
2. Disintegration of joint family— Due to high cost of living in the cities, it becomes difficult to maintain joint families. People prefer to live in nuclear families.
3. High cost of living — It becomes difficult for the lower income groups to maintain a decent standard of living.
4. Increase in crime rates — Due to higher concentration of population the crime rate also increases. This creates unrest in the society.

The basis of ranking the smartest cities in the world are-

1. Adoption of smart grid technologies
2. Intelligent lighting
3. Use of information technology to improve traffic
4. Wi-fi access points
5. Smartphone penetration
6. App landscape, etc.

Satellite cities are smaller cities that are near a large city which is the centre of a metropolitan area. Satellite cities are different from suburbs, subdivisions, etc., because they have their own centres.

Five satellite cities are-

1. Noida - Satellite of Delhi
2. Gurugram - Satellite of Delhi
3. Panchkula - Satellite of Chandigarh
4. Navi Mumbai - Satellite of Mumbai
5. HITEC City - Satellite of Hyderabad

(i) employment

(ii) death

(iii) Urbanisation

(iv) Satellite, planned

(v) Singapore

(vi) Barcelona

In urban areas, the growth rate is higher than the rural areas due to better health and medical facilities.

Compared to villages, life in cities is more comfortable as urban areas have the advantage of better infrastructure, sophisticated technology, better transport and communication facilities, better education and medical facilities.

In cities, urban life is highly monotonous because the concept of neighbourhood and community life are almost absent. People have no concern for the other human beings as they are more self-centred.

Singapore is one of the world's major smart cities because of its smart mobility policies and technology as well as its wireless connectivity. It has made substantial investments in road sensors, phased traffic lights and smart parking. It uses information technology to improve traffic. It has high smartphone penetration and scores well in broadband availability.

still developing

agriculture

individual life

all of the above

Salt Lake City

Urbanisation

All the above

Social integration

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It is dependent on the nearby metropolitan city.

The Kitchener CMA

Sunbury

Information & Communication Technology

To improve the quality of life of the rural people and to meet their demand.

Oslo