Urbanization

Two article that are referred to in this paper from handbook include: Problems of Urbanization in the CBD – Traffic Congestion” and “The Problems of Urban Life Today” . These articles take into account the issues in relation to urban life these days.

People are increasingly moving into cities from villages to make better livelihood and enhance the standard of life. This process of migration from rural to urban areas is called urbanization. Consequently, the urban areas are growing in their sizes. The pace with which urbanization is taking place, it will urbanize 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world up till 2050 as per a report published in The Economist (2012). This shows that the process of urbanization is taking place continuously and it is widespread.

The elements which attract people towards urban areas are increased number of health facilities, abundant resources, various entertainment facilities, multiculturalism, better employment opportunities, increased number of education opportunities, quicker transportation modes, etc.

However, there also exist various problems despite these varied nature of advantages associated with urban life. These problems exist as much in magnitude as do the facilities or advantages of urban life. This can be so estimated that although the issue of transportation is resolved due to increased number of public transportation and personal vehicles but this has given rise to other problem which is the problem of congestion. The cities which are already crowded with increased number of people moving into them are getting more crowded due to these congestion issues. This issue has equally been highlighted both in the BBC report of 2014 and by Powell (2013).

Powell (2013) enlisted a number of problems in his article and stated that problems like air pollution, over crowdedness, waste of factories, living cost and rate of crimes are all adding up to the difficulties in the urban life. The report by BBC (2014) took into account various problems associated with urbanization and discussed each one of them in detail and their impact. The report highlighted the ever increasing problems of housing particularly after the accession of UK to European Union, the issues about sewerage, congestion problems, life standard in cities as compared to outer parts of cities, etc. Many of these issues are not referred to in the article written by Powell (2013). The reality of urban life can be quite daunting despite the perks which are usually associated with it. The report by BBC (2014) observed that those who lived in central London were prone to fall ill more than those people who lived in outer London boroughs. Such illnesses barred people from working. Furthermore, the unemployment rate in central parts of the city was higher as compared to the unemployment rate in other boroughs of the city.

The report also highlighted the increasing demand for more houses for increased number of migrants particularly of European descent due to Britain’s accession to European Union as a member state. The Union guarantees free movement of persons, capital, services and goods within the member states. This has brought in a number of people from other member states to London particularly the ones from Poland since it became part of Union. By 2030, the demand for more houses will reach around 3 million. The government in response has to provide additional homes and decide whether the development would take place on Brownfield or Greenfield. The development on former is advantageous in the sense that it already provides a somewhat developed structure which makes it easier to renovate the structure for living purposes with fewer additional costs. The advantage of developing Greenfield is of bringing urbanization and its benefits to rural areas. However, little if any structure is available in Greenfield unlike Brownfield.

The concept of sustainable cities is also gaining grip these days. These cities are the ones which are intended to be self-sufficient and are environment friendly in their operations. The main advantage of such cities is that they do not affect the environment much as compared to other urbanized places. (Lehman, 2010)
BBC (2014) report gave account of four cities which are turned into eco-towns with Whitehill Bordon being one of them. The aim behind developing such cities is to lessen the impact of city life on environment by ensuring lesser carbon footprints, encouraging energy conservation, employing renewable resources, cycling and walking or using public transport more than the individual cars, employ at local level, etc.

Resultantly, the city which will emerge will not only be self-sufficient but will also be environment friendly. It will have a lesser impact on the environment from one household to the community level. That is why the British government awarded GBP 10 million worth of grant to Whitehill Bordon city. This shows that the government is encouraging environment friendly communities with the increase in urbanization so that the environment can be preserved. This also shows that due to increased pace of urbanization; environment is at stake which has compelled government(s) to encourage eco-friendly towns.

Hence, the dangers posed by urbanization are manifold just like the advantages and has equal number of issues as has the perks. The articles referred to gave account of such issues which encircle the increased pace of urbanization. These issues are widespread and are major. Such issues can affect the health of the people which is clear from the graphs shown in the BBC (2014) report which showed that people living in central parts of London were prone to develop illness more than the rest. Therefore, people in urban areas are more vulnerable and open to risks than the ones in rural areas. However, there is still a solution to this issue which is to develop environment friendly towns. The introduction and development of such towns will make sure that such issues are dealt with by preserving the environment alongside.

References
Powell, Christopher (2013): The Problems of Urban Life Today. London Times Magazine

BBC (2014): Problems of urbanisation in the CBD - traffic congestion. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urbanisation_medcs_rev2.shtml

Lehman, S. (2010): The Principles of Green Urbanism. Transforming the City for Sustainability; Earthscan, London

http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21564998-cities-are-turning-vast-data-factories-open-air-computers

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/top_layer/index_en.htm

References: Powell, Christopher (2013): The Problems of Urban Life Today. London Times Magazine BBC (2014): Problems of urbanisation in the CBD - traffic congestion. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urbanisation_medcs_rev2.shtml Lehman, S. (2010): The Principles of Green Urbanism. Transforming the City for Sustainability; Earthscan, London http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21564998-cities-are-turning-vast-data-factories-open-air-computers http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/top_layer/index_en.htm