Faculty of Engineering University of KragujevacCourse: Urban
engineering
SEMINAR PAPER
SUBJECT:English language
THEME:Urbanization
Professor: Student:Sandra Stefanovi Angelina Pavlovi
926/2014
December, 2014.
CONTENT:
INTRODUCTION3URBANIZATION4URBAN SYSTEMS6URBAN
STUDIES7CONCLUSION9REFERENCES10
INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of 20th century, 150 million people lived in
urban areas, which represented only about 5% of total world
population. Near the end of 20th century, urban population expanded
and reached almost 13 billion, in other words nearly half of the
Earths population.
Picture 1. (The growth of the urban population)A few urban
trends can be noticed in transition between 20th and 21st century.
First, the growth rate of population in many cities in undeveloped
parts of the world, despite many predictions, is slowed down. The
growth of the biggest cities in these undeveloped countries is much
slower than in 1980s.Second, the world is less dominated by the
megalopolises than it was predicted by the scientists. A little
less than 5 % of total world population lived in megalopolises in
1990.Third trend refers to a connection between urban changes and
economic, social, political and cultural changes. It should be
noted that this connection is not clear enough yet. It is a paradox
that some cities with rapid population growth manage to secure
better living conditions than those in the smaller cities. Today,
some tendencies concerning the future of urban areas in the third
millennium canobviously be seen. Also, it is expected that
interaction between urbanization and globalization continues to
grow. Globalization is a multilateral process which makes
countries, cities and people interact through interchange of goods,
service, capital, technology and ideas. The biggest world cities
have the leading role in this process, especially in the area of
global economy. The fourth and very important trend,in terms of the
future of urbanization, is a continuouspower and responsibility
shift from the national level to the local government and civil
society level. What are the negative aspects of urban areas in
almost every part of the world? Unemployment in urban areas
remained high. This partly explains violence and crime present in
the urban areas Urban infrastructure is inadequately maintained,
which can be noticed even in developed countries. For example, even
cities like Chicago and Washington have problems with waste water
system, whereas cities of American east coast have problems with
electrical power system. Of course, in undeveloped countries these
problems are more obvious. Bad city infrastructure causes many
problems concerning traffic, water supply and sanitation system.
Problems concerning protection of the environment, mainly air and
water pollution and noise are more and more present, especially in
countries in transition. The growth of social conflicts, like the
large number of homeless people and crime, is present in many
cities. These conflicts are, partially, caused by the growing
unemployment and partially by flow of people to global surroundings
on micro level.
URBANIZATION
Picture 2. (Relationship between industrialization and
urbanization)Urbanization (from the Latin word urbus meaning city)
is a term used for natural or mechanical population growth in city
areas, expansion of city areas or transformation of areas with
mainly rural characteristics to areas with urban
characteristics.The process of urbanization began with the
beginnings of civilization and with the first cities, but it
expanded after the industrial revolution, and the start of the use
of the new technologies in agriculture which lessen the demand for
the human working power. Urbanization brings a vast number of
problems, especially if it is expressed as a sudden concentration
of large number of people on a relatively small area of land.
Because of that special measures should be taken in order to build
and organize a city area. Big cities demand an organized water
system, wastewater system, food production, electrical power system
and telecommunication network. Apart from that special attention
must be given to the living conditions in urban areas, including
protection from pollution, crime and other forms of social
pathology. Urbanization is one of the most important phenomena of
the contemporary world. Today, the growth and urbanization of rural
areas is the process that cannot be stopped because of the global
economy influence based on technology, industrial production and
service. The rateof the worlds population living in urban areas
grows rapidly and the worlds economic, social, cultural and
political processes more and more take place in and among the
worlds city systems.From small merchant towns and fishing ports to
megalopolises with several million residents, urban areas have
always been one of the most important elements of space
organization and evolution of society, but today they are more
important than ever. Today, half of the worlds population lives in
the cities. The great part of the developed areas of the world
became almost completely urbanized whereas in the undeveloped areas
a large annual growth of urban population can be noticed. This pace
of urbanization is observed as geographical and social phenomenon
and one of the most important processes in the world today. In
literature, we can find many definitions of urbanization. According
to some, urbanizationis an expansion of area of land, with
buildings and used for urban activities, according to other,
urbanization is a social process in which people adapt to values
and behavior that is characteristic for city life. All definitions
agree on one thing: Urbanization is a continuous process. According
to statistics, urban population of 750million people in 1950 grew
to 2, 6 billion in 1995, and it is expected to grow to 5,1billion
till 2030. The biggest growth will be in less developed
countries.In the last fifty years inhabitants of these regions
experienced a transformation from mainly rural to urban (nearly
40%)citizens. In 2030 urban population will include 57% of total
world population in less developed countries and up to 84% in
developed countriesMany areas tend to establish a continuous
process of urbanization even though they do not have the means (low
national income, infrastructure, social system, protection of
environment). Many urban areas are not capable of expanding their
urban network as fast as their population grows. Urban growth often
influences the agricultural land, destroys natural resources and
endangers fragile ecosystems. Except of the size of the population,
many other demographic characteristics influence the levels of use
of natural resources. There are many researches, for example the
influence of age structure, working ability, educational level and
family structure on the ties between population, resources and
environment. URBANSYSTEMS
Picture 3. (Urban sytem with a circular metabolisam)Every city
is a part of an interconnected urban system, which is, on the other
hand, a part of regional, national and international urban system.
In this way cities make a complex network. Urban systems organize
the space through hierarchy of cities by their size and function.
Many of these hierarchically organized urban systems have common
characteristics depending on size and place where cities are
located. If we observe the urban systems and their characteristics,
first thing we can notice is that some cities become centers of
market over time. This creates a theory of central places which is
based on five concepts: The concept of central place a settlement
which provides service to people who live in the reach of that
settlement; The concept of functions types of given services and
their rang, starting with everyday necessities to higher rang
serviceswhich people need in restricted intervals. The concept of
minimal population- refers to a minimal number of people needed so
as the realization of functions would be economical; The concept of
rang of goods or services- the shortest distance which residents
cross in order to get goods or services which central place offers.
The concept of hierarchy organization of central places according
to their rang.Central places are competitive with each other and as
the result comes their hierarchy. In theory there are three
principles of hierarchical arrangement of central places: Marketing
principle Transport principle Administrative principleUrban systems
develop by fallowing the changes in society, political system and
economical environment.Generally speaking, the evolution of urban
systems is almost the same in all parts of the world. In the
beginning, there is a phase of establishing the urban areas. In
this phase, communities agriculturally oriented transform gradually
in urban communities.The progress of mobility and expansion of
activities characteristic for urban areas, leads to the creation of
bigger urban areas, often on the expense of smaller ones. This is
the phase of urban differentiation. Early phase of urban
differentiation is often connected to a problem of early
urbanization, which leads to oversized urbanization.In the
urbanization phase two concepts of migration are noticed, which
dominate in the structure of citys development: Migrations
connected to productivity (in order to secure a work position),
characteristic for undeveloped countries and countries in
transition; Environmentalism(in order to secure better living
conditions), characteristic for developed countries.
Environmentalism can be clearly seen as the leading power of
counter urbanization.Urban system goes through three stages of
development: Convergence phase, when urban system tends to create
primate cities; Urbanization phase, which can be seen as an early
phase of the development of primate cities; Divergence phase, which
corresponds to final phase in development of primate cities and
formation of system of cities.
URBAN STUDIES
Urban studies is the term for a diverse range of disciplines and
approaches to the study of all aspects of cities, their suburbs,
and other urban areas. This includes among others: urban economics,
urban planning, urban ecology, urban transportation systems, urban
politics, sociology and urban social relations. This can be
contrasted with the study of rural areas and rural lifestyles.Urban
economics is broadly the economic study of urban areas; as such, it
involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such
as crime, education, public transit, housing, and local government
finance. More narrowly, it is a branch of microeconomics that
studies urban spatial structure and the location of households and
firms.Much urban economic analysis relies on a particular model of
urban spatial structure, the monocentric city model pioneered in
the 1960s by William Alonso, Richard Muth, and Edwin Mills. While
most other forms of neoclassical economics do not account for
spatial relationships between individuals and organizations, urban
economics focuses on these spatial relationships to understand the
economic motivations underlying the formation, functioning, and
development of cities.Urban planning (urban, merged urban regions,
regional, city, and town planning) is a technical and political
process concerned with the use of land and design of the urban
environment, including air and water and infrastructure passing
into and out of urban areas such as transportation and distribution
networks.Urban planning guides and ensures the orderly development
of settlements and satellite communities which commute into and out
of urban areas or share resources with it. It concerns itself with
research and analysis, strategic thinking, architecture, urban
design, public consultation, policy recommendations, implementation
and management.Urban ecology is the scientific study of the
relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings
in the context of an urban environment. The urban environment
refers to environments dominated by high-density residential and
commercial buildings, paved surfaces, and other urban-related
factors that create a unique landscape dissimilar to most
previously studied environments in the field of ecology.Urban
transportation systemsin large developing cities face major
challenges due to the continuous growth of urban population,
private vehicle ownership, congestion, and the fragility of public
transportation systems. When the urban transport system experiences
major difficulties, consequences are felt by households, by
businesses, and by the urban community at large. Transport may
become a binding constraint on both economic growth and social
development and inclusion, along with increased negative impacts on
health and on the environment. Urban politics is politics in and
about cities. This term refers to the diverse political structure
that occurs in urban areas where there is diversity in both race
and socio-economic status. Urban politics is political science that
falls into the field of urban studies, which incorporates many
aspects of cities, suburbs, and urbanization. This includes such
topics as: The structure of political power. Race, ethnic, class,
and gender relations in cities and suburbs. The politics of space
and spatial relationships.Urban sociologyand urban social relations
is the sociological study of life and human interaction in
metropolitan areas. It is a normative discipline of sociology
seeking to study the structures, processes, changes and problems of
an urban area and by doing so provide inputs for planning and
policy making. In other words it is the sociological study of
cities and their role in the development of society.
CONCLUSION
Before the mankind there was a harmonic connection and
dependence in ecological balance between living beings. Ecological
imbalance is caused by mans need to take over the nature and create
some new products.This leads not only to theproblems withthe
ecological imbalance of the ecosystem but to the problem of
diminishing the humans integrity and survivor. Urbanization in the
world must be kept in normal boundaries according to all ecological
laws. Urbanization must be conducted according to human needs. The
balance between the living beings and their environment should not
be disrupted. The concept of sustainable growth in accordance with
ecological laws offers the possibility of harmonic development.
REFERENCES
Policy of sustainable development, Milutinovi Slobodan
(2012.)
Urbanization and sustainable development, Milutinovi Slobodan
(2004.)
www.buisnessdictionary.com
Urban environment and urbanization-developing countries,
Dobrivoje Tokovi (2006.)
