Urbanisation and Population

6a. Urbanization refers to much more than simple population growth; it involves changes in the economic, social and political structures of a region. Rapid urban growth is responsible for many environmental and social changes in the urban environment. The rapid growth of cities strains their capacity to provide services such as energy, education, health care, transportation, sanitation and physical security. *3
Urbanization transforms societal organizations, the role of the family, demographic structures, the nature of work, and the way we choose to live and with whom. It also modifies domestic roles and relations within the family, and redefines concepts of individual and social responsibility. *1
Social impact of the urbanization: *4

1. Contact with the labour market: established in urban areas population adjusts to match the work market, specializing in the needs of existing brand and thus framing and adaptation.
2. Families and the urban society: it has been often seen a decline in the concept of the family, through the proliferation of less traditional forms and new types of households. This tendency is manifested as a consequence of the diversity of the many options for individuals, in which individuals are organizing into form collective units. Children are clearly less useful in urban settlements, as units of labor and producers, than in rural settings, and are also more expensive to house and feed. *1

* The number of domestic households increased drastically from 0.69 million in 1961 to 2.37 million in 2011. The trend towards smaller household was another important factor accounting for the sharp rise in the number of domestic households. The average household size dropped from 4.5 in 1971 to 2.9 in 2011. *3

3. Domestic relations: The development of export-oriented manufacturing activity has created considerable demand for low and medium skilled labour, especially for women. An increase in the rate of participation of women in the labor market, they became even decision makers who have had to balance professional responsibilities with the family responsibilities. *4 * Since more women are working and become more independent, the proportion of married women dropped remarkably during the past two decades - 54% of women aged 25–29 were married in 1991 whereas the corresponding figure was 27% in 2011. * Marriage postponement is further revealed by the increasing median age at first marriage for women - from 26.2 in 1991 to 28.9 in 2011. * Marriage postponement for women shortens their childbearing exposure period - the percentage of having third and or more babies declined rapidly from 16% in 1991 to 9% in 2011. In other words, the fertility rates dropped by 7 percentage points in the past 20 years. *2 * There is also a significant increase in the proportion of never married women among all age groups - the percentage of never married women in the age group 40–44 increased from 6% in 1991 to 17% in 2011. *2 * The crude divorce rate increased rapidly over the past 20 years - from 1.11 per 1 000 population in 1991 to 2.77 in 2011. The increase in divorce rates also helps explain lower fertility rates. *2
There is a substantial influx of women to work as domestic maids since women are working in Hong Kong. They are predominantly drawn from the less developed countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

4. Fertility Rates: stepping from rural social space in urban space generates changes in the natural growth rate of population, the phenomenon manifested setting up smaller families, with a reduced number of members. *4 The societal shift from rural to urban alters rates of natural population increase. Due to better medical care and sanitation, it first reduces the death rate, despite the often appalling living conditions in many cities. Only later does urbanization reduce the birth rate (i.e. the fertility rate). The time lag between declining death and birth rates initially means rapid urban population growth; subsequently, fertility rates drop and the rate of growth of urban populations declines. *1

* 1976-1981 – high growth rate mainly due to large number of entrants from mainland China. * 1991-1996 – a lot of Hong Kong people people who had migrated overseas returned to Hong Kong.
5. State of health and pollution: development of new urban areas without complying with the necessary measures for the development of sustainable areas determine a negative impact both on the environment, but by the general condition of reciprocity and on the health of individuals, often affected by increased pollution levels in these areas, in particular the pollution of air and water. *4

6. Access to education and training: access of the population of rural space set in urban space ensure their access to education, personal and intellectual development, which provide new features and modes of the evolution of the individual. *4 Diverse economy led to a great disparity between the rich and the poor, a new emphasis on personal freedom and equality in marriage and family, and a rise in general intellectual standard.

7. Poverty, lack of opportunities and problems of psychological adaptation: this overlapping of issues is identified to a part of the population displaced by the urban space, which fails to adapt, to align to the standards of urban areas, where evolution, social and economic development are the real engines of existence, thus generating a chain of negative effects from deviant behaviors to offenses or violent personalities, as determined by the mirage of developed urban areas, which offers multiple possibilities, being real centers of development, progress and social well-being. *4

8. Changes in Hong Kong’s population: The population concentrated in the Hong Kong island and Kowloon in the period 1966-86 because of urbanisation which was a result of economic development. But later on, the population kept migrating from the developed urban areas to the New Territories, reflecting the effectiveness of the government’s policies of developing new towns and redeveloping old districts. As a result, the percentage of population in Hong Kong and Kowloon kept decreasing from 80% in 1966 to less than 50% in 2006. On the contrary, percentage of population in the New Territories rose considerably to over 50% in the same period. *5