Hello there geographers and welcome back to the Mr. Sin channel. In this video we are going to be talking about cities around the world. Today we are seeing more and more people leave rural areas and move to urban areas.
According to the United Nations, in 2007 was the first time ever in history when more people lived in urban areas than rural areas around the world. In fact, it's projected by 2050 that more than two-thirds of the world's population will live in urban areas. This process of people migrating from rural areas to urban areas is known as urbanization.
As more and more people migrate to urban areas, we start to see the creation of new megacities and metacities. Megacities are cities that have more than 10 million people living in them, while metacities are urban areas with more than 20 million people living in them. Today, we can see that many of the world's most populous mega cities are located in core countries.
However, this trend is not expected to last. In fact, if we look at current projections, we can see that many of the world's most populous mega cities and meta cities are expected to be in periphery and semi-periphery countries. This is due to global migration patterns and due to differences in the birth rates between more economically developed countries and less economically developed areas. Africa, for example, is expected to double its population by 2050 and has one of the fastest urban growth rates in the world, which we can see here when looking at the urban population of different African countries.
from 1950 to 2015. Notice that almost every country has constant urban growth. In fact, if we look at the different regions in Africa, we can see that every region is experiencing continued urban growth. While at the same time, birth rates are declining in core countries, with more people looking to live in suburbs and edge cities instead of densely populated areas.
These demographic changes are just a few of the factors that are causing the future megacities and metacities to appear more important. periphery and semi-periphery countries. As cities around the world experience population growth, they will continue to be tested in new ways. More people in the city increases the demand for fresh water, housing, food, and electricity. More people means more flushes and increased use of a city's sewer systems, roads, and public transportation services.
And unfortunately, some cities and countries'growth rates and urbanization rates are increasing at a rate that they simply can't keep up. This has put new pressures on places which are struggling to keep up with the changing landscape which has resulted in shortages and unequal distribution of different goods and services. For example, areas that struggle to provide enough affordable housing have seen the creation of informal settlements, sometimes referenced as favelas, squatter settlements, or slums. These areas often lack access to water, sewer systems, and electricity. Plus, to make matters worse, residents have no legal claim to the land and home they live in.
We will go more into these concepts and other challenges cities face later in this unit. Now, while many periphery countries and semi-periphery countries are continuing to see increased rates of urbanization, many of the core countries are starting to experience counter-urbanization and suburbanation, which is when people move from urban areas to settlements that are located around the urban core, all of which has led to the rise of boomburbs, exurbs, and edge cities. This is a suburban city that is rapidly growing. Often these cities experience so much growth that they develop their own unique identity, but still maintain that suburban feel. Exurbs, on the other hand, are settlements that exist outside of a suburban area.
but still remain connected to the larger metro area. Oftentimes individuals who live in an exurb will often get different goods and services that they need from a nearby boom burb or edge city, instead of driving into a more densely populated urban area. Residents here also might decide to work from home, which thanks to advancements in technology and communication is continuing to happen more frequently in settlements around the world.
Now I mentioned edge cities, which are settlements that have their own economic district. and are located on the outskirts of the city. Traditionally, these cities have a lower density with homes and businesses being more spaced out. They are connected to a major roadway or...
beltway which are highways that surround an urban area this allows people to quickly travel between different edge cities and access the different goods and services that each city offers edge cities often have their own shopping malls different retail stores restaurants and medical services now in urban areas expand in all directions leading to people businesses and goods and services to locate outside of the core urban area it's known as urban sprawl when looking at the spatial layout of these different settlements we can often see a sense Central Business District at the center. As sprawl continues to happen, we see urban decentralization occur, which is when people and businesses move away from the urban core and towards settlements in the outskirts of the city. This results in certain powers and responsibilities to transfer from the urban core and go to these new settlements on the outskirt of the city.
Essentially, as the surrounding settlements grow in In size, they gain more control over their budgets and government policy. As time goes on, we'll continue to see more roadways created and public transportation expand. All of which will lead to new edge cities and boom burbs to pop up outside of core urban areas.
Since people can now quickly go in and out of the urban area, new roadways often connect to interstate systems and beltways, which not only connect to the CBD, but to other edge cities and settlements as well. This makes it easy for people to not only quickly get in and out of the central business district, but access different goods and services from surrounding settlements. Now instead of having to go into the city, people can get what they need quicker and more efficiently. Oftentimes people will interact more frequently with nearby edge cities or boom burbs instead of going into the central business district because it's closer and faster. Now speaking of different settlements and their locations, we can also see the bid rent theory at play, a concept we last talked about in our Unit 5 video.
We can see that as you move farther away from the central business district, the cheaper the the land gets, which impacts the spatial layouts of settlement. Places that are closer to the central business district often see more buildings close together. with expansion happening upwards, while places that are farther away from the CBD often expand horizontally and are more dispersed.
Homes that are located farther away from a central business district often have a front yard and a back yard, and access to more green spaces, while homes that are near or in the CBD often do not have space to expand outwards and are more likely to be built on top of one another. All of this is because of the cost and the availability of land changing as our population density changes. Now as we continue to see the see more advancements in technology, transportation and communication.
We will continue to see more people move to the suburbs. which will also lead to businesses and public services to move as well. So we can see that the growth of cities and the challenges that they face will vary across different geographic locations and will continue to change over time.
Today we can see that countries in the periphery and semi-periphery are more likely to have high rates of urbanization, while core countries are starting to see a shift and a rise in suburbanation and counter-urbanization. Alright, now comes the time to practice what we have learned. Answer the questions on the screen and when you are done check your answers down in the comments.
in the comment section below. And while you're down there, don't forget to hit that subscribe button if you found value in the video and check out my Ultimate Review Packet for more help with everything AP Human Geography related. It is a great resource that will help you get an A in your class and a 5 on that national exam. As always, thank you so much for watching, I'm Mr. Synn and I'll see you next time online.