Urban growth Cambridge IGCSE Geography (9–1) revision
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In plain words
For the first time in history, more people live in towns and cities than in the countryside. The fastest-growing cities are no longer in rich countries. They are in Africa and Asia, and some are adding a thousand people a day.
8 things to know
- Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of a population living in towns and cities. More than half the world's people now live in urban areas.
- Urban growth is slow in high-income countries, where most people already live in cities. It is rapid in low-income and middle-income countries.
- A megacity is a city with more than 10 million people.
- Rapid urban growth in low-income countries has two causes: rural to urban migration, and natural increase.
- Rural push factors: poverty, few jobs outside farming, shortage of land, crop failure, drought, and poor schools and healthcare.
- Urban pull factors: more and better-paid jobs, schools, hospitals, electricity and water, and the hope of a better life.
- Natural increase is high in cities because most migrants are young adults, who have children, and because healthcare lowers the death rate.
- Political factors matter too: governments invest more in cities, and conflict drives people from the countryside.
Worked example
Explain why natural increase is high in the cities of low-income countries.
- Most people who migrate to cities are young adults.
- They are at the age when people have children, so the birth rate is high.
- Healthcare is better in the city than in the countryside, so the death rate is lower.
Tips and tricks
- Urbanisation is about the proportion living in cities, not just cities getting bigger. Use "proportion" or "percentage" in a definition.
- Rapid growth has two causes. Migration is the one everyone remembers, but natural increase is half the story.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Urban growth: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
What is urbanisation?
It is a change in where people live.
Where is urban growth fastest?
Cities in Africa and Asia are growing most quickly.
What is a megacity?
There are several dozen in the world, and the number is rising.
Which is a rural push factor?
It drives people off the land.
Why does natural increase add to urban growth?
A young population has a high birth rate.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 8 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Urban growth
Cambridge IGCSE Geography (9–1) 0976 · 8 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
Define urbanisation.[2]
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The increase in the proportion of a country's population living in urban areas.
Explain two push factors that cause people to leave rural areas in low-income countries.[4]
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There are few jobs apart from farming, and wages are low. Crops may fail because of drought, so families cannot feed themselves. (Also: poor schools and healthcare.)
Give two pull factors that attract people to cities.[2]
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More and better-paid jobs. Better access to schools and hospitals.
Answers: Urban growth
- 1. The increase in the proportion of a country's population living in urban areas.
- 2. There are few jobs apart from farming, and wages are low. Crops may fail because of drought, so families cannot feed themselves. (Also: poor schools and healthcare.)
- 3. More and better-paid jobs. Better access to schools and hospitals.