Urbanization is the concept where more people tend to live in cities by leaving rural areas.
In the past, many people used to live in rural areas relying on agriculture.
But with improvements in technology and industrialization, more people started to move from villages into towns and then into cities.
The effects of urbanization started to appear in terms of a decrease in quality of life, increased pollution, and other problems.
Due to this urbanization, many towns and cities have grown dramatically in terms of geography and population.
Even at present many people are moving towards cities, and urbanization is in full swing.
Problems and Effects of Urbanization
Human jungles
- Urbanization and the growth of cities have led to the formation of human jungles.
- I said jungles because you will see people everywhere around, but you will know none personally.
- People would feel less secure in a city than they feel in a rural place.
- Even if something unwanted happens to you, you may still be neglected by others around you.
On population
- Urbanization concentrates a large number of people in a confined place.
- That means the number of people per square kilometer would be more than normal.
- This leads to excess utilization of resources available in the place by the area’s population present.
- Hence, you will notice that there will be parking problems, traffic jams, water scarcity, lack of fresh air, etc.
Law and order
- Law and order, in general, would be hard to maintain in an urban area than in rural areas.
- As mentioned earlier, the urban areas would be like human jungles.
- An individual is less known to others in the area.
- There would be a significant increase in the chances of violence and abuse.
This is due to increased stress among people who lack fear of law and society.
On culture and society
- A person adopts a culture or society from his family, neighbors, people in his area, or the society he lives in.
- A rural society is more stable than an urban area.
- This is because rural people are more stagnant and adapt to the surrounding conditions.
- They also try to live by minimal means.
While people in urban areas are more mobile and keep moving regularly, they come across different cultures and lose their cultural identity.
On education
- Urban places have better access to good education facilities.
- However, they impart good technical and analytical knowledge to students.
- I believe that they impart less moral values and ethics than their rural counterparts.
Besides, the students are less exposed to physical activity, and few countries are discouraged from sports and games in the name of time for studies.
On health
- Urban life is more stressful due to air, sound, and light pollution.
- You can notice that people in rural places go to bed early, around 8 to 9 pm, while those in urban areas tend to rest around 12 AM at night.
- Even they do not wake at sunrise, and most of the time, they eat, drink, or do things in a hurry.
- This makes their lifelessness natural and more stressful. Hence, urban areas tend to suffer more diseases and health-related issues than those in rural areas.
However, the urban population has better access to medical facilities.
Family structure
- The urban lifestyle encourages single or fewer members of a family.
- Since living costs are high in urban areas, having more people in a family would require bigger houses and other maintenance.
- Whereas in rural places, this is quite different.
- The rural environment encourages a combined family and a big family.
- Since many are dependent on agriculture or other physical work, more members in a family would be an added advantage.
Also, housing and food would be less expensive comparatively.
Food habits
- Urban people depend on stored or processed food to a large extent.
- They do have limited time and space to grow their own material.
- Whereas in rural places, many of them grow their own vegetables and foodstuff.
- Which if excess, would be sold into towns and cities nearby.
So the rural population can access fresh vegetables, milk, and other foodstuffs, which are healthier than the stored ones.
On Environment
- The effects of urbanization have a major impact on the environment in the city.
- I noticed such a cool and clean city two decades ago has become warm and dusty now.
- This is because the city population grew ten folds in the past two decades.
- Urbanization damages the environment drastically as the population density becomes higher.