Introduction to the Mega City & the Global City

How did Industrial Revolution create a push towards Urbanization?

In 1800 only 3% of the worlds population lived in cities. By end of 20th Century, 47% did so. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million; but by 2007, this had risen to 468

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The Industrial revolution kick started the city growth by: 1. Improving food availability better roads, trains and trucks 2. Movement of jobs no longer were people working the land, now factories were being built in the cities, thus a migration from rural areas to cities, mechanization of machines eliminates manual labour 3. Elimination of the health risks the industrial revolution improved handling of sewage/ garbage and also provided safe drinking water = less deaths and greater population densities

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Mass transit the travel distance between people was reduced by subways and street. No more walking to work = living greater distances from work
4.

Mega Cities Are:

Urban areas with populations greater than

10 million people Rapidly growing Characterized as having high levels of poverty, crime and high levels of social fragmentation. A mega city can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge upon one another.

Mega Cities Around the World

In 1950, New York was the only urban area with a population of over 20 million. Currently 24 Mega Cities in the world Top 5 Mega Cities 1. Tokyo, Japan - 28,025,000 2. Mexico City, Mexico - 18,131,000 3. Mumbai, India - 18,042,000 4. So Paulo, Brazil - 17, 711,000 5. New York City, USA - 16,626,000

A Few More Characteristics

International, first-name familiarity Paris NOT Paris, France Active influence on and participation in international events and world affairs - New York City is home to the United Nations headquarters complex A fairly large population of at least one million, typically several million several international cultures and communities such as a Chinatown, Little Italy

Just to Name a Few

London New York City Paris Tokyo San Francisco Sydney Toronto Zrich

Push Factors
The poverty and living conditions in the

rural areas actually push people from the rural to the urban settings. They move in hopes of finding better living conditions. In the MDCs the rural areas are usually more attractive places to live than in the LDCs. Some find there are fewer services in the rural areas. Negative Giving up clean air, peaceful environment.

Pull Factors
The skyscrapers, freeways and excitement are equally attractive in both the LDCs and MDCs. Dont forget the work opportunities in the urban LDCs and MDCs. Both have the opportunity of better education, jobs and better medical facilities. Negatives They also offer less desirable opportunities such as landfill scavenging, and begging for money on the overcrowded streets.