Urbanization in Developing Countries

Abstract or Introduction

Urbanization is defined as the influx and increase of the number of people who live in the cities and major towns in the country, and it is caused by movement of people from rural areas to urban areas.

The movement of people from rural to urban centers occurs mainly due to increased population pressure and limited resources available for a large population in the rural areas. Global change can be mostly associated to urban drift, and it contributes mostly to the people moving to the cities and towns. Most people move to urban centers in search of jobs and better living standards which are associated with urban areas. Various arguments have been advanced by scholars on whether urbanization is sustainable or unsustainable.

In order to understand the sustainability of urbanization it is good to consider economic, social, political, cultural and environmental effects of urbanization. The increase in urbanization occurred during the industrialization period which took place in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. During this period, large masses of people moved from rural areas to urban areas in search of employment in the industries, but this phenomenon is now being witnessed in developing countries where industrialization is assuming upward trends.

This paper will provide an overview of urbanization in developing countries, especially regarding its sustainability.