The world is currently experiencing urban growth on a scale that has never been seen before.

Towns and cities are home to 48% of us now, whereas in 1970 the urban share of world population was less than one-third.

In 1950 only eight world cities had a population in excess of five million, whereas by 2015 there will be 58.

What challenges does this rapid growth bring for city planners in the world’s fastest developing urban areas many of them in Asia, such as Shanghai?

And as the economic power of these new cities grows, how are MEDC cities responding to growing global competition for employment and investment?

What kind of “post-industrial” activities and societies are increasingly associated with Europe’s major cities, and how are changes being managed?

What are the challenges for cities?

Worldwide, cities are gaining a million people a week.

The items included with this case study examine some of the many challenges that different societies face as a result of processes of urban change

For instance, one source suggests that 100 million rural migrants arrived in Chinese cities during the last decade (The Daily Telegraph, 12 March 2005). Another estimate projects that a staggering 300 million country dwellers will migrate to Chinese cities over the next ten years, with three million currently settling in Shanghai every year (The Guardian, 06 December 2003).

In some places, managing the unchecked expansion of shanty towns and spontaneous settlements remains a key policy, leaving poor and vulnerable people in perpetual fear of the bulldozer.

In other cases, such as South Korea, over-concentration of national growth in one or two megacities (the capital, Seoul is the world’s third largest megacity) has prompted governments to build a new capital city.

In contrast, the post-industrial cities of France and the UK are no longer experiencing breakneck speed in-migration and expansion.

Instead, it is the management of functional changes, as old industries die and new land uses emerge, that occupies the attention of policy makers and planners.

Additionally, environmental concerns are high on the urban policy agenda for MEDCs, alongside a desire to improve levels of integration between different social groups.

Related Geography in the News articles:

New towns for new times

Shack Attack

South Africa’s Apartheid cities

In the Member Area:   · World urban update: what do the latest facts and figures tell us? · Growing pains: why are shanty towns being bulldozed? · Changing places: how did Liverpool became a post-industrial city? · Suburban shame: why were there riots in French cities? · Making places: why do governments build new capital cities? · 11-16 teachers’ notes · AS and A2 level exam tips for students This resource will have particular appeal for GCSE and A-level candidates who are studying urban settlements and economic development. Each item deals with the opportunities or challenges facing different types of modern city, and explores some of the management strategies that are being adopted. Parts of this resource can be adapted to support the teaching of geography at KS3, including: · What is a settlement? Where do we build our settlements and why? (Unit 3, section 3) · What are some of the issues arising from changes in economic activity in France? (Unit 17, section 5) View Case Study now

 

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