Geography in English

Urbanization

Vocabularies

First of all, study vocabularies. You can find them in your study materials (Studijní materiály - Urbanization), or you can use the following link.   

URBANISATION

Of the world's population, 48.6 % live in cities and by the near future more people will live in cities than in rural areas.

Urbanisation is the term we give to the process of becoming urban.  It is part of a model illustrating the processes of population movement in and around a city.

In the last 150 years, urban areas have grown rapidly in population and area through natural increase and the migration of people from the coutryside. For example Mexico City occupied 50 km2 in 1950 and grew to 1 100 km2 by 2000. Or in 1900 only London and Paris had population greatr than one million. By 2000 there were ocer 300 of these. cities with more than eight millionpeople were called megacities. In 1950 there were only two megacities: New York and London. By 1990 there were 21 megacities.

 

 

 

The world's megacities:

The expansion of Dublin

There are a number of economic reasons for the growth and dominance of Dublin. Firstly, it is the focus of Ireland's road, rail and other transport routes. Secondly, it contains Ireland's chief port and airport. It is also Ireland's  biggest manufacturing  city. Finally, it is the chief commercial centre and port and it contains the headquarters of several Irish banks and commercial firms.

There also several social reasons for this phenomenon. Rural to urban migration greatly enlarged the population of Dublin. This means that many people moved from countryside to live in the city. Additionally, the migration of people from the city centre itself to live in the suburbs caused Dublin to expand outwards. 

Finally, there are also administrative reasons for the expansion of the city. After Irish independence in 1921, Dublin once again became the capital of Ireland. The Irish civil service operates mainly out of there. This means that the management of the whole country is located in Dublin.

Exercises

There are some exercises for you. Go through them! You can find them in Study Materials (Studijní materiály -> Odpovědníky) or you can use the following link.