Urbanization occurs when people from rural areas move into
urban centers for a number of reasons. This is promoted by both Push factors and Pull factors (Hammond, 2010). There can be
some reasons for which a person would want to leave the countryside, while for
some the attractions of the city life might more compelling. Hence, Wikipedia
defines it as, “Urbanization is the physical growth of urban areas as a
result of rural migration and even suburban concentration into cities,
particularly the very largest ones” (Wikipedia, 2013). So, urbanization, in
general, is a process of shifting of population from rural to urban areas.
Moving on to the reasons behind urbanization, the first reason would be the search for better economic
opportunities. People move into urban areas to find a job or for other
economic opportunities like business which are not that rewarding in rural
areas. Much of the economy or capital is supposed to be concentrated in cities
where people can easily find a better way to uplift their economic status. In
the same way, people move to urban areas for better
access to important services. People in rural areas might not have every
resource in their proximity. For example, if an accident occurs, there might
not be enough medical facility for the victim in case it is a serious one. The
person could easily die without necessary medical aid. Similarly, the basic everyday
necessities like drinking water supply might not be available in rural areas.
Similarly, people migrate to cities to
get rid of hard life in the countryside. Living in countryside generally
requires cultivating the required resources ourselves. Most activities we do
are just for subsistence, and any unexpected calamity like flood and others can
seriously affect our lives. On the other hand, urban life gives the opportunity
to go beyond just subsistence by eradicating the need to be self-reliant for every
job.
Considering the positives and negatives of urban growth, urbanization is good
because it promotes mutual
understanding. People from all sorts of economic, cultural and religious
backgrounds live together in cities in an interdependent way. We interact with
more people and become more socially adjustable. It develops a sense of unity
among diversity, and hence helps us to understand each other better. Another
positive aspect would be that it
makes efficient use of resources. Imagine 100 houses spread over 100 acres
of land in a small village, and an apartment building with 100 households in
just 10 acres of land in a city. There is an efficient use of the available
resources in the cities, in this case, leaving behind the extra 90 acres of
land for other purposes.
However, urbanization is negative because of high
cost of living. Although the living standard is high, it is lot more
expensive to live in a city. If you do not make a decent earning, your life can
be as hard as a rural life. Such problems can be seen in many cities in
developing countries where people live in very poor conditions in slums. Living in rural area is
much better than living in such condition. In the same way, urbanization is bad
because it causes pollution.
People have to endure a lot of noise and air pollution in cities. Such pollution can
have very bad effects on health ranging from respiratory diseases to higher
stress levels to sleeplessness. Urban life is also related with ailments
like obesity as well as fatal health problems like heart
diseases.
References:
Wikipedia (2013), Urbanization, Accessed: March
19, 2013, Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization
Hammond, Dr. R.J. (2010), Urbanization, Introduction
to Sociology (Smashwords Edition), pp. 194-202
Unknown (2010, July 1), Urbanization
Its Causes, Effects and Benefits, Accessed: March 19, 2013, Retrieved from: http://whyarticles.com/urbanization-its-causeseffects-and-benefits/
© Dixit Bhatta 2013
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