Saturday, January 26, 2019

Urbanisation: City and Urban Areas

Introduction urbanization is change magnitude in two the genuine and developing countries. However, rapid urbanization, in particular the harvest of plumping cities, and the associated problems of unemployment, pauperism, in qualified closelyness, execrable sanitation, urban slums and environmental degradation pose a formidable scrap in umteen developing countries. Available statistics show that more than half(a) of the worlds 6. 6 billion sizeable spell live in urban atomic number 18as, crowded into 3 percent of the earths buck scope (Angotti, 1993 UNFPA, 1993).The proportion of the worlds population living in urban fields, which was less than 5 percent in 1800 increased to 47 percent in 2000 and is expected to reach 65 percent in 2030 (United Nations, 1990 1991). However, more than 90 percent of time to come population harvesting entrust be concentrated in cities in developing countries and a boastful percentage of this population will be short(p). I n Africa and Asia where urbanization is unbosom considerably lower (40 percent), both argon expected to be 54 percent urban by 2025 (UN 1995 2002).Although urbanization is the driving force for modernization, frugal growth and maturement, thither is increasing concern ab come out of the closet the personal effects of expanding cities, gener totallyy on human wellness, livelihoods and the environment. The implications of rapid urbanization and demographic trends for employment, food security, piss supply, shelter and sanitation, specially the disposal of floats (solid and liquid) that the cities produce are staggering (UNCED, 1992).The oral sex that arises is whether the current trend in urban growth is sustainable considering the sequent urban challenges very much(prenominal) as unemployment, slum development, pauperism and environmental degradation, oddly in the developing countries. Urbanization delineate Urbanization, simply defined, is the shift from a rural to an urban society, and involves an increase in the number of plenty in urban areas during a particular year.Urbanization is the outcome of social, frugal and establishmental developments that point to urban concentration and growth of handsome cities, transposes in vote out intent and transformation from rural to sub flair systempolitan pattern of organization and governance. study causes of urbanization Natural population increase ( spirited births than expiration) and migration are signifi beart factors in the growth of cities in the developing countries. The natural increase is fuelled by change medical care, erupt sanitation and improved food supplies, which cut down death rates and cause populations to grow.In legion(predicate) developing countries, it is rural poverty that drives people from the rural areas into the city in search of employment, food, shelter and education. approximately people move into the urban areas because they are pushed out by factors such(prenominal) as poverty, environmental degradation, religious strife, political persecution, food insecurity and drop of staple fiber infrastructure and service in the rural areas or because they are pulled into the urban areas by the advantages and opportunities of the city including education, electricity, irrigate etc.Even though in many African countries the urban areas offer few jobs for the youth, they are a lot attracted there by the amenities of urban life (Tarver, 1996). Processes of urbanization One significant feature of the urbanization process in instantlys local governments is that much of the growth is taking place in the absence of significant industrial expansion. Although local municipalities are fast urbanizing, mega-cities defined as cities with 10 million inhabitants or more are few.Urbanization also finds expression principally in outward expansion of the built-up area and conversion of prime agricultural visits into residential and industrial uses. An alternative to the manifest expansion of the urban population across a wide area of the country in parliamentary procedure to save prime globe for agriculture is to construct high-rise buildings and hike up commercial development in limited z 1s, which would depend on effective, appropriate technology and resources.The urbanization processes are largely driven by market forces and policies of local governments that lead to simultaneous processes of change in livelihoods, orbit use, health and natural resources caution including body of irrigate, soil and forests and frequently re quick changes in local governance. Government development policies and budget allocations, which often favour urban residents over rural areas, execute to pull people into the urban areas.In the cities, creation investment, which often misses the urban poor, with expenditures biased towards the higher-income classes and poverty among vulnerable groups such as new migrants force them into s lums and squatter settlements. Challenges of urbanization Cities throughout the world exhibit an incredible diversity of characteristics, stinting structures, directs of infrastructure, past origins, patterns of growth, and degrees of formal mean. Yet, many of the problems that they face are strikingly familiar.For one thing, as cities grow, they become increasingly diverse. E really city has its relatively more adequate and relatively poorer neighborhoods. But in developing countries, poorer neighborhoods can allow dramatically lower levels of basic services. Consequently, a large number of urban residents in developing countries suffer to a greater or lesser fulfilment from severe environmental health challenges associated with insufficient regain to fresh inebriety water, inadequate sewerage facilities, and insufficient solid unfounded disposal.A major recent United Nations report on the state of water and sanitation in the worlds cities found that water distri excepti on systems in many cities in the developing world are inadequate, typically serving the citys upper- and materialistic neighborhoods but not rapidly expanding settlements on the urban fringe. Furthermore, the current entropy on the provision of water and sanitation in urban areas is very wakeful and the true situation is actually far worse than al approximately supranational statistics suggest 20.The large projected increases in the numbers of urban residents in the developing world over the next 2030 years implies that municipal authorities responsible for these sectors face very unspoilt challenges in the years ahead. In many cities, the scarcity of familiar water supplies forces many low-income urban residents to use other water sources such as offstage water vendors who charge many clippings more than the local habitual rate. Consequently, people in slums often essential pay much more for lower superior water than other urban residents 21. upward(a) humanity sanita tion is another major urban environmental challenge that unavoidably to be immediately addressed in virtually all cities in the developing world. Failure to collect garbage as well as inadequate waste management and recycling policies and practices mean that cities are be inundated in their own waste. In African cities, waste management has been described as a monster that has aborted most efforts do by city authorities, state and federal governments and professionals alike 22.As is the eccentric of the water supply distribution network, sewerage systems are far better at meeting the inevitably of upper- and middle-class neighborhoods than they are of servicing poorer neighborhoods, particularly unregulated neighborhoods on the urban periphery. A major environmental crisis is looming large as many developing countries as cities discharge ever increasing amounts of waste into the air or into freshwater bodies, threatening water quality and aquatic ecosystems.The extent that urba n growth affects the local ecosystem can be lateralityled to whatsoever extent by high quality land management. refine is an inwrought ingredient in all urban growth, yet in most cities there pee been virtually no effective measures to control land development. Although many cities have formulated master plans at about time or another that included guidelines on land development and the future direction of urban growth, rarely, if ever, have these plans been realized.Reasons for this include poor urban governance, poor critical assumptions-urban population projections underpinning these plans have often been extremely weak-and the unfitness of plans to be adjusted and refined in the light of changing conditions, such as the invasion and settling of unused public space. Devising ingenuous land development policies remains one of the largest challenges facing planners and policy makers in many cities in the developing world. Congestion in many large cities can also be extremely severe and air defilement is forthwith a serious environmental concern in many cities.Concentrations of carbon monoxide, lead, and suspended particulate matter in many large cities greatly exceed World Health Organization guidelines. Among the greatest environmental health concerns are exposure to fine particulate matter and to lead which contributes to acquisition disability in young children. A popular reply to urban transportation congestion problems has been government investment in big public transportation systems such as underground or overland metro systems. Less attention has been devoted to expanding and improving public private instructor networks, which tend to be overcrowded and poorly maintained.In many cities, esoteric mini-bus companies have modify a hole in the market by providing affordable urban transportation where standard bus routes have proved insufficient. Conclusion nearly the world, especially in Africa and Asia, cities are expanding rapidly. For the majority of urban dwellers, especially the poor, determination potable water supply, affordable shelter, get-at-able and secure urban land for agriculture to ensure food security, securing gainful employment and improvement in health facilities would continue to remain a priority.Since restrictive urban growth policies, especially population distribution designed to reduce the rate of rural-urban migration search to have had limited success in many developing countries, policies must be directed at transforming the rural economy in post to slow the rate of urban sprawl. Comprehensive land use planning and revision of planning standards and administrative procedures would, go a long way to, reduce many of the problems that face urban populations in the developing areas, especially Africa.A Vision for Healthy Urbanization in the 21st blow Challenges and Opportunities for China Dr Henk Bekedam WHO Representative, China Healthy urbanization a framework for natural action in C hina Chinas Scientific Concept of Development rightly considers urbanization not only as means to further boost economic growth, but also as means to improve the life of people in China. In this context, given the health risks associated with urbanization, it is very appropriate and demand to put peoples health squarely on the urbanization agenda.Putting peoples health on the urbanization agenda is, however, a very complex undertaking that requires concerted government policy actions across many sectors. Specifically, in order to alleviate the impact of urbanization on peoples health, government policies contain to hike quality of urban life, environmental sustainability, health awareness, equitable access to basic health-related services and accountability of local government officials and people working in private enterprises for peoples health. A. Quality of urban lifeInternational experience suggests that to promote quality of urban life, government particularly needfully t o act in three related areas First, design and develop urban peripheries for people as well as for economic activity. This includes, moving industries out of the city centers and synchroneity the emergence of jobs in industries with housing and public infrastructure/services in urban peripheries. Second, design and develop user-friendly transport network. In this context, it is essential to support public transport network and space for bicyclists and pedestrians, and thus reduce the necessity and advantages of relying on own car.Third, provide suitable space for animal(prenominal) activities and recreation. Cultivating green areas and escape zones in urban centers and peripheries encourages people to stay explosion and healthy. B. Environmental sustainability To promote environmental sustainability in urban development, government necessitate to enforce strict measures toward environmental protection and support environment-friendly investments. Specifically, it is a of import role for the government to enforce environmental standards, and invest into systems and projects improving the use of energy and energy conservation.In particular, the government needs to establish adequate pricing mechanisms for utilities to end the wasteful use of energy and water that is associated with mantlepiece price subsidies. Similarly, the government needs to enforce energy-efficient construction practices. Critical are also investments into municipal waste management and environment-friendly technologies. C. Health awareness As urbanization is changing peoples lifestyles, promoting health awareness is critical. The government particularly needs to act on two accounts.First, disseminating health information and promoting healthy lifestyles. wanton access to information about nutrition, healthy habits, and health risks can exactingly affect peoples behavior. To be effective, information dissemination needs to be complemented with active policies to support early child d evelopment, and sports and healthy habits in schools and to nurture the positive image of healthy lifestyles. For instance, cycling to work would be again a sign of advancement and not backwardness Second, developing and enforcing adequate health-related regulations.This definitive task involves all relevant sectors. It involves the market. It involves developing system to manage peoples guard traffic safety, environmental safety, occupational safety, patient safety, food safety and reservation public places smoke free. Finally, it involves mechanisms toward quality and cost-control in the health system. D. Equitable access to essential health services The possible negative health effects of urbanization underline the importance of enabling all people to have access to essential health services.In this context, it would be appropriate for government to make a package of basic health services accessible to all people in urban areas, urban peripheries and rural areas (residents and natation population alike). This package of basic health services needs to carry public health functions and services including the prevention of chronic diseases and essential clinical services. To finance equitable access to basic health, the government will need to ensure full funding for the basic package of health services through health insurance, medical financial assistance schemes and its own budget.E. obligation for peoples health In order to align the performance of local governments, public sector enterprises and agencies and private sector entities with the agenda of healthy urbanization, government needs to establish clear accountability for peoples health. In both the public and private sectors, agencies and enterprises need to bear responsibility for the health effects of their policies and actions. With respect to health services, health providers and local governments need to be accountable for ensuring equitable access, delicious quality, safety, and fair p rice.Challenges Cities throughout the world exhibit an incredible diversity of characteristics, economic structures, levels of infrastructure, historic origins, patterns of growth, and degrees of formal planning. Yet, many of the problems that they face are strikingly familiar. For one thing, as cities grow, they become increasingly diverse. Every city has its relatively more affluent and relatively poorer neighborhoods. But in developing countries, poorer neighborhoods can have dramatically lower levels of basic services.Consequently, a large number of urban residents in developing countries suffer to a greater or lesser extent from severe environmental health challenges associated with insufficient access to clean drinking water, inadequate sewerage facilities, and insufficient solid waste disposal. A major recent United Nations report on the state of water and sanitation in the worlds cities found that water distribution systems in many cities in the developing world are inadequa te, typically serving the citys upper- and middle-class neighborhoods but not rapidly expanding settlements on the urban fringe.Furthermore, the current data on the provision of water and sanitation in urban areas is very weak and the true situation is actually far worse than most international statistics suggest 20. The large projected increases in the numbers of urban residents in the developing world over the next 2030 years implies that municipal authorities responsible for these sectors face very serious challenges in the years ahead. In many cities, the scarcity of public water supplies forces many low-income urban residents to use other water sources such as private water vendors who charge many times more than the local public rate.Consequently, people in slums often must pay much more for lower quality water than other urban residents 21. Improving public sanitation is another major urban environmental challenge that needs to be immediately addressed in virtually all cities in the developing world. Failure to collect garbage as well as inadequate waste management and recycling policies and practices mean that cities are being inundated in their own waste. In African cities, waste management has been described as a monster that has aborted most efforts made by city authorities, state and federal governments and professionals alike 22.As is the case of the water supply distribution network, sewerage systems are far better at meeting the needs of upper- and middle-class neighborhoods than they are of servicing poorer neighborhoods, particularly unregulated neighborhoods on the urban periphery. A major environmental crisis is looming large as many developing countries as cities discharge ever increasing amounts of waste into the air or into freshwater bodies, threatening water quality and aquatic ecosystems.The extent that urban growth affects the local ecosystem can be controlled to some extent by high quality land management. Land is an essential ingred ient in all urban growth, yet in most cities there have been virtually no effective measures to control land development. Although many cities have formulated master plans at some time or another that included guidelines on land development and the future direction of urban growth, rarely, if ever, have these plans been realized.Reasons for this include poor urban governance, poor critical assumptions-urban population projections underpinning these plans have often been extremely weak-and the inability of plans to be adjusted and refined in the light of changing conditions, such as the invasion and settling of unused public space. Devising equitable land development policies remains one of the largest challenges facing planners and policy makers in many cities in the developing world. Congestion in many large cities can also be extremely severe and air pollution is like a shot a serious environmental concern in many cities.Concentrations of carbon monoxide, lead, and suspended part iculate matter in many large cities greatly exceed World Health Organization guidelines. Among the greatest environmental health concerns are exposure to fine particulate matter and to lead which contributes to learning disability in young children. A popular response to urban transportation congestion problems has been government investment in large-scale public transportation systems such as underground or overland metro systems.Less attention has been devoted to expanding and improving public bus networks, which tend to be overcrowded and poorly maintained. In many cities, private mini-bus companies have filled a hole in the market by providing low-cost urban transportation where standard bus routes have proved insufficient. Causes of urbanisation Urbanization and city growth are caused by a number of different factors including ruralurban migration, natural population increase, and annexation. Because rates of natural increase are generally slightly lower in urban than in rural areas, the principal reasons for rising levels of rbanization are ruralurban migration, the geographic expansion of urban areas through annexations, and the transformation and reclassification of rural villages into junior-grade urban settlements. The expansion of the metropolitan periphery can be caused both by the arrival of new migrants and by the sub-urbanization of the middle class out of the central city. The relative importance of each of these various causes of urbanization and suburbanization varies both within and amid regions and countries.As stated above, over the next 30 years, population growth in general and urban population growth in particular is expected to be particularly rapid in the developing world, averaging 2. 3 per cent per year during 20002030. Although much of the popular cajolery on urbanization has left the impression that cities are currently growing too fast and that growth should be limited or in some way diverted, it is important not to lose sigh t of the fact that, for the most part, there is an economic logic to the pattern of urbanization 14.In most cases, high growth rates are an indicator of success rather than disaster and most of the worlds largest cities are located in countries with the worlds largest economies. Many cities in peace-loving Asia, for example, have experienced dramatic economic growth, reflecting the fact that the region is only integrated into the new global economy. Cities on the forefront of global restructuring such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, and Taipei have enjoyed unprecedented growth rates of more than 10 percent per annum throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.All now rank among the top trading cities in the world and in fact, the level of gross national product (GNP) per capita in Hong Kong and Singapore exceeds that of many European countries. This extremely general descriptive of urban trends and projections naturally masks considerable regional diversity. There are enormous differenc es in the pattern of urbanization between regions and even greater variation in the level and speed with which various(prenominal) countries or indeed individual cities within regions are growing.

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