Metropolitanization

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Metropolitanization is both a state and a process. It is given when a single city in a state rises above all other cities in terms of size and importance. The process describes the increase in the distance between metropolis and rural areas. The urbanization (urbanization) does not affect it equally among all cities in a State. As a result, small towns and the country in particular hardly develop any more, while one or a few cities experience enormous growth and become dominant metropolises. The greater the proportion of the population that lives in a metropolis, the greater the so-called degree of metropolis. The metropolitanization is particularly common in developing countries very pronounced.

The metropolitanization rate is the proportion of the population living in metropolitan areas in relation to the total population. The metropolitan rate, on the other hand, describes the increase in the respective share of the metropolitan population.

Subdivision

  • Functional primacy (functional primacy)
    • many political institutions, banks, insurance companies and commercial enterprises
    • Formation of commercial, financial and cultural centers
    • Important traffic center (railway junction, ring traffic around the metropolis, etc.)
  • Demographic primacy (Demographic Primacy)

causes

  • general population growth :
    • Falling death rate in many developing countries (see: Demographic transition )
    • in the western industrialized nations growth through immigration ; in Asia, however, this is compensated for by severe birth deficits
  • economic improvement → immigration (especially in Europe) due to better job opportunities, as e.g. T. Labor shortages in the cities
  • social improvement → social misery drives people from the country to the city, hope for an improvement in the quality of life → emigration from the country (see: rural exodus )
  • The historical cause is also a one-sided colonial policy , due to the creation of fewer urban centers (e.g. Latin America )

Consequences and problems

  • Insufficient accommodation for immigrants → rapid growth of illegal hut settlements , in which even the basic supply (water, electricity, schools, hygienic and medical care) is often inadequate
  • ongoing expansion of the city itself → faster spread of diseases, increase in crime and violence
  • rising unemployment, resulting in mass poverty
  • Pollution from traffic
  • Use of water supplies
  • unmanaged sewage and garbage disposal
  • Social segregation → The middle and upper classes retreat to specially demarcated areas ( gated communities , mostly in suburbs or outside the city), while the poorer population remains in the slums .
  • Gentrification → In the housing market in sought-after neighborhoods, lower-income residents are gradually being displaced by groups with higher incomes.

See also

literature

  • Dirk Bronger (2004): Metropolises, Megacities, Global Cities. The metropolitanization of the earth. ; Scientific Book Society, ISBN 3534162862
  • Bart, Ludwig (2000): GEOS Textbook Geography Class 9 Edition Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ; Volk und Wissen Verlag ISBN 3-06-040939-0