What Is Urbanization?
By: Reid Belew
Tags: Urbanization, Cities, Mobility, Smart Cities

By: Austin Harris and Reid Belew

Urbanization is the ongoing phenomenon of people moving from rural settings to urban centers. The term is not restricted to simply the movement itself, it also refers to the field of study that researches it. Encapsulated within urbanization is a more specific area of focus — urban growth — which is how urban centers are growing and developing in light of urbanization.

In early human history, forming groups amongst ourselves proved to be the most beneficial living arrangement after the invention and discovery of agriculture. Before the normalization of agriculture, humans were primarily nomadic. When we discovered and invented agriculture, humans didn’t have to travel and continue hunting and gathering. Permanent establishments were built, and humans stayed together — more hands on the farm meant more food, and more food meant a greater chance to live.

Many settlements would be established along a river or in areas of high amounts of natural resources, which was useful for farming. As these closely-distanced, smaller settlements grew and combined, they slowly became one large settlement.

Thus, the first iterations of the modern city were born. The ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk, founded in 4500 BCE, in considered by some to be the first city. Uruk was built on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq. At its height, scholars estimate Uruk had between 50–80,000 people.

As history has marched onward, so too has the increase in population. After the onset of agriculture, industrialization further pulled people off the farm and into the factory. As the world became more industrialized, it also became more centered in urban areas. In 2007, the world passed a significant milestone: over 50% of the world’s population lived in urban areas for the first time. At the time of writing, 55% of the world lives in urban areas, and most projections anticipate over 2/3rds of the world doing the same by 2050. To see these projections, visit Our World In Data here.

This rapid, exponential increase of people in these areas brings with it significant challenges. Naturally, there will be increases in air, water, soil, and noise pollution, traffic, population density, hospital and medical care acuity, and much more. Each of these individual increases brings with it many layers of ramifications that must be handled proactively.

Take for example traffic congestion. Very likely, increases in traffic and vehicles on the road will result in more time spent on commutes, which takes away the free time of citizens, lowering quality of life, however incremental and seemingly insignificant that amount of time is. More time spent commuting will result in increased carbon emissions, furthering the effects of climate change. Emergency vehicles will more commonly face difficulties traveling to and from emergency sites. More traffic accidents will occur, which means an increased demand for those emergency services. Roadways will deteriorate much faster, which could result in small tax increases for a city’s citizens, having an effect on real wages. Considering the individual, these issues don’t resonate as pressing or urgent. However, at city-scale, these individual instances combine to create large problems.

Cities are complex, intertwined machines, and as one aspect of a city changes and morphs, all of the pieces change as well. The development and utilization of smart cities aims to mitigate, understand, and manage changes stemming from urbanization.