Urban growth in low income countries (LICs)
The world's population is growing rapidly and reached 7.3 billion people in 2011. The highest rates of population growth are occurring in Based on the World Bank's income classifications, a LIC has a gross national income (GNI per capita) of $1,045 or lower., such as Zimbabwe, Malawi and Niger. Some countries are experiencing population decline, for example Japan, Russia and Ukraine.
Today more than 50% of the world's population live in A built-up place, eg a town or city.. The number of cities with over 10 million people is increasing. These are called A city with over 10 million people living in it.. There are now 34 megacities in the world. The table shows the top 10 megacities.
| Rank | Urban area | Country | Population estimate |
| 1 | Tokyo-Yokohama | Japan | 37,843,000 |
| 2 | Jakarta | Indonesia | 30,539,000 |
| 3 | Delhi | India | 24,998,000 |
| 4 | Manila | Philippines | 24,123,000 |
| 5 | Seoul-Incheon | South Korea | 23,480,000 |
| 6 | Shanghai | China | 23,416,000 |
| 7 | Karachi | Pakistan | 22,123,000 |
| 8 | Beijing | China | 21,009,000 |
| 9 | New York | United States | 20,630,000 |
| 10 | Guangzhou-Foshan | China | 20,597,000 |
| Rank | 1 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Tokyo-Yokohama |
| Country | Japan |
| Population estimate | 37,843,000 |
| Rank | 2 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Jakarta |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Population estimate | 30,539,000 |
| Rank | 3 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Population estimate | 24,998,000 |
| Rank | 4 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Manila |
| Country | Philippines |
| Population estimate | 24,123,000 |
| Rank | 5 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Seoul-Incheon |
| Country | South Korea |
| Population estimate | 23,480,000 |
| Rank | 6 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Shanghai |
| Country | China |
| Population estimate | 23,416,000 |
| Rank | 7 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Karachi |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Population estimate | 22,123,000 |
| Rank | 8 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Beijing |
| Country | China |
| Population estimate | 21,009,000 |
| Rank | 9 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Population estimate | 20,630,000 |
| Rank | 10 |
|---|---|
| Urban area | Guangzhou-Foshan |
| Country | China |
| Population estimate | 20,597,000 |
Causes of urban growth
The population of cities usually changes in one of two ways:
- The natural growth of a population due to the number of births exceeding deaths. (or decrease) - this is the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths.
- Migration - this is the movement of people into or out of the city.
More and more people are leaving An area of countryside. and moving to cities. This is called rural to urban The movement of people from the countryside to the city. . People move because of A factor that encourages people to leave the place in which they live and to move elsewhere. and A factor which attracts people to move to a new place.. Push factors are things that make people want to leave rural areas and pull factors are the things that attract people to the city.
Possible push factors
- unemployment
- lower wages
- crop failure
- poor living conditions
- poor health and education services
- few facilities
- natural disasters
- civil war
Possible pull factors
- more jobs
- higher wages
- better living conditions
- better education and health services
- better facilities
- less chance of natural disasters