Problems and benefits which come with urbanization.

Urbanization means an increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas compared to rural areas. An urban area is a built-up area such as a town or city. A rural area is an area of countryside.

Urbanization brings about certain effects There negative and positive effects. These effects affect both the source (rural areas) and receiving areas (the towns)

• There is reduced pressure on land and other resources
• There is reduced deforestation which is the primary source of fuel in rural areas and is used for other things as well e.g. tool handles
• The emigrants send back money to rural areas which is now easier to do with technologies such as mobile money e.g. M-pesa.
• More inputs can be sent back by those employed in urban areas e.g. seed and fertilizer
• Enables the rural areas to catch up with the entire world as the urban population brings back some of their knowledge and advancements during visits
• Rural depopulation
• Shortage of manpower as migration tends to selectively target the young and the educated This is also known as brawn drain
• There is also brain drain as the most skilled and knowledgeable people leave rural areas
• Decreased production
• Increased incidents of poverty
• There are increased human resources
• There is an enlarged market for goods
• Urban centers will be able to achieve the threshold population of more services
• An increase in the Multiplier effect on industries and services
• There is increased unemployment
• There are housing shortages
• Shanty towns emerge
• There is increased pollution
• There will be overpopulation and overcrowding
• There is increased pressure on services such as schools, hospitals, water, power etc
• There are transport problems such as congestion and shortage of transportation
• Shortage of resources such as fuel and urban deforestation
• There might be urban expansion into productive farmland
• The destruction of vital ecosystems due to the expansion of towns
• Increased urban poverty

NB The word town is used colloquially to
refer to urban areas.

Originally published at https://geographypoint.com on June 26, 2017.