3/16/2025

GEOD. 102: URBANISATION

Aims of lecture:
Introduction & Definition of Urbanisation
Historical Trends in Urbanization
Role of Urban Centers
Patterns in Global Urbanization since
1950
Key factors of Urban Growth

Reading List
• Pacione, M. (2005);
Urban Geography:
A Global
Perspective,
Routledge
• Chapter 21(pages
451-466)–

1
 3/16/2025

Definition

• City dense settlement

• serves as a center of
population, commerce and
culture.

• There is however great

diversity in cities

dependent upon
hinterlands

Country Urban Definition

Argentina Populated centers with 2,000 or more

China Cities are places with density of 1,500 or more per sq. km.
India Specified towns with governments and places with 5,000 or
more and at least three-fourths of the male labor force not in
agriculture
Japan Cities (shi) with 50,000 or more
Mexico Localities of 2,500 or more
New Zealand Cities, towns, etc. with 1,000 or more

Niger Capital city and department and district capitals

Norway Localities of 200 or more
Peru Populated centers with 100 or more dwellings
Senegal Agglomerations of 10,000 or more
United States Places of 2,500 or more, urbanized areas of 50,000 or more

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2007 Demographic Yearbook: table 6.

4

2
 3/16/2025

How can we define the urban?

• The type of administration, e.g., capital city, municipality.
• The population density per square mile or other unit of
measurement.
• The type and density of housing
• The economic aspects or drivers of a city: industrial vs.
agricultural economies.
• The degree to which there is access to basic services, e.g.,
water, sanitation
• The degree to which there is access to developed areas, e.g.,
streets, transportation systems.
• The degree to which there is access to support services, e.g.,
schools, clinics.
Dr. A. D. Ablo (PhD)

Urbanism
• Urbanism:
• A typical way of life for people who live in cities or towns (Gregory et
al., 2009)
– The style of life in cities and towns
– Today, the concept generally refers to the way people live
• Urbanism denotes the diffusion of urban culture and the evolution of
urban society.
• Characteristically when we talk about urbanism, we mean:
1. The diversity of social life
2. Rapid social and cultural change.
3. Impersonalness and lack of intimate communication.
4. Materialism
5. Individualism
Dr. A. D. Ablo (PhD)
6. Mobility
6

3
 3/16/2025

Urbanisation
Urbanization: process in which an increasing
proportion of an entire population lives in cities
& suburbs of cities(Pacione, 2005)

• Urbanisation can be understood:

• Demographically: as the increasing concentration of people
(relative to a base population) in urban settlements at densities
higher than in the areas surrounding them.
• Economically: as economic activities that are normally
associated with cities.
• Socio-culturally: as the participation in urban ways of life

Urbanization is not a new phenomenon…

4
 3/16/2025

Chariot riding
was banned in
Rome during
peak hours due to
traffic jams
(Gibbs 1997,
Ogunjumo &
Agbemi (1991)

https://www.thelocal.it/20181126/8-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-romans

HISTORICAL TRENDS IN URBANIZATION:

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES

10

5
 3/16/2025

HISTORICAL TRENDS IN URBANIZATION:

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES

11

HISTORICAL TRENDS IN URBANIZATION:

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES

12

6
 3/16/2025

Historical Trends in Urbanization: Ancient & Medieval Times

1st large cities found in Lower

Mesopotamia, along the Tigris &
Euphrates rivers

One of the earliest cities was Ur,

which from 2300 BC to 2180 BC
was the capital of the Sumerian
Empire.

In 1885 BC Ur and other

southern cities were conquered by
the Babylonians.

13

Egypt in the Nile Valley.

• By 3500 BC a number of the

Neolithic farm hamlets along
the lower Nile had risen to
‘overgrown village’ status &
were clustered into several
politically independent units,
each containing large co-
operative irrigation projects.
• Early Egyptian cities were
not as large or as densely
settled as those of
Mesopotamia.
14

7
 3/16/2025

The Indus Valley:

• The Harappa civilisation appeared
around 2500 BC in the Indus
valley in what is now called
Pakistan.

• Distinguished by twin capital

cities, a north one of the Harappa
in the Punjab and Mohenjo-daro,
350 miles down river.
• Each city covered
approximately one square
mile in area (640
acres/250ha) and
accommodated 20,000
people
15

The Yellow River:

• The valley of the Huangho
was the birthplace of the
Shang civilisation that
arose around 1800 BC.
• The most significant feature is that
individual cities such as An-Yang, were
linked into network of agricultural
villages
 This form of ‘urban region’ is without
precedent in the early civilisations of
Mesopotamia, the Nile and the Indus.

16

8
 3/16/2025

Cities in...

• Greek civilisation era- By 800 BC cities

such as Athens, Sparta and Magara had
risen on the Greek mainland.
• Greek cities subsequently spread to other
parts of the Mediterranean and along the
Black Sea Coast.

17

• The Roman Empire saw the emergence of

Western Europe cities such as London,
Brussels and Paris.

18

9
 3/16/2025

• Medieval/ Middle ages era- Milan, Florence

and Cologne, in Western Europe, Bagdad,
Constantinople, Kyoto, Osaka in Japan,
Hangzhou in China, and Cairo in Egypt all
flourished.

• These ancient and medieval towns were not

that big.
• For instance, Athens which seemed to be the
largest to the people of the ancient world had
between 215000 and 300000 people.

19

• Rome, the first giant city in world history,

was estimated to be a little over a million
people (Hall, 2000).

Millions of
visitors come to
Rome to see
historic sites

20

10
 3/16/2025

Modern times up to 1950s

By 1800, London was the largest city in the
world with a population of over 900, 000
(Pacione, 2001).

Role of Urban Centers in Ancient &

Medieval Times
Towns and cities served economic; cultural;
religious, educational; political &
military/defence functions

21

Role of Urban Centers in Modern times

generative role: cities serve as centres of
arts, culture, entertainment, information
gathering & diffusion, manufacturing etc
parasitic roles; cities draw on the supplies of
the hinterland without replenishing in equal
amount of development impulses

22

11
 3/16/2025

Patterns in Global Urbanization since 1950

Source: United
Nations, World
Urbanization
Prospects: The
2005 Revision
(2006) and Carl
Haub, 2007 World
Population Data
Sheet

23

Patterns in African Urbanization (1950-2020)

Source: Xu, G., Zhu, M., Chen, B. et al. (2025). Underlying rules of evolutionary urban systems
in Africa. Nature Cities. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00208-y

24

12
 3/16/2025

Ghana’s urban population superseded its rural

population in 2010…

25

Urbanisation in a nutshell
Urban population is distributed in a
continuum
Largest cities are located in less developed
regions
Urban Poverty will characterise future urban
growth

26

13
 3/16/2025

Practical illustrations…

• In 1990 there were ten “mega-cities” with 10 million

inhabitants or more.
• In 2010, there were 30 mega-cities and in 2017, we have 47
mega-cities in the world.
• The UN projects that 8 out of the 10 largest cities will be
located in the global South.
• The top six urban centres in 2040—Mumbai, Kolkata & Delhi
(India); Dhaka (Bangladesh); Kinshasa (DRC) & Lagos
(Nigeria)—will have to accommodate over 32 million
inhabitants each

27

Disproportionate urban growth in poorer regions

Source:
https://www.ne
wcapitalmgmt.co
m/news/the-
worlds-top-10-
cities-in-2035

28

14
 3/16/2025

Urbanisation in a nutshell: Cont’d…widening gap

between the rich and powerful and the poor & powerless

• Most people, live in cities today

• More than half the world’s population now lives
in cities,
• As at 2010 two-thirds of humanity live in cities.
• Cities are the centers of culture and business and
life.
• They’re also often centers of extreme poverty.

29

Urbanisation in a nutshell: Cont’d…widening gap

between the rich and powerful and the poor & powerless

30

15
 3/16/2025

Urbanisation in a nutshell: Cont’d…resultant social

unrest etc

31

Key factors of Urban Growth

Rural-Urban migration
Natural Increase
Reclassification of rural settlements as
urban
International migration

32

16