The economic development of a country can be defined as the growth of industry, wealth, employment and the level of urbanisation. The planning and management issues that are linked to economic development, are those associated with processes such as urbanisation, suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation of cities. These may include pollution of water, air and noise. Other issues may be the increase in transport and waste, created by people living, travelling through and working in urban areas. These problems need solutions, which often leads to planning and carrying out redevelopment of urban areas. The effects of urbanisation on a city can be seen in Sao Paolo, a newly industrialised country in Brazil where housing improvement schemes are evident. Furthermore we can see issues of planning and management in the UK, a more economically developed country, due to increasing re-urbanisation and suburbanisation. Using these 2 counties of different levels of development, I will be able to eventually assess to what extent the level of economic development will affect planning and management of cities.
Urbanisation (the movement of people from rural to built-up areas) in Sao Paolo is increasing rapidly. Being the largest city in the southern-hemisphere, with a population density of 21,000km2, it is constantly growing in size. However the rate of increase is slowing, along with the reduced rural-urban migration and natural increase rates. The population of central areas is also decreasing; a pattern that mirrors that of cities in more affluent parts of the world. The city was initially increasing in size because it was a ‘centre of agriculture’, with exports including coffee and cotton. The city continues to develop today as an industrial centre with manufacturing and services. These industries offer reliable employment to