THEUrbanizationit is the process of emergence and growth of cities. Generally, this expression is used to refer to places or countries where the population is no longer predominantly rural and becomes predominantly urban.
This phenomenon is always related to an economic dynamic. When a given country has most of its population in rural areas, the economic practices that generate the most jobs are agricultural, as it is in the countryside that they take place. Thus, when society urbanizes, most jobs are offered by industries, commerce and service provision areas, which are eminently urban activities.
Over time, all societies in the world that have gone through the industrialization process have urbanized. At first, this happened in the so-called developed countries, mainly in Europe, as it was there that the I Industrial Revolution took place, starting in the 18th century. Thus, in search of better living conditions and employment in industries, many people migrated from the countryside to the city, in a process calledrural exodus.
In countries where industrialization took longer to happen, as in the case of Brazil, the urbanization process also took place late. In underdeveloped or emerging economies, the formation of large cities was only consolidated in the second half of the 20th century. Despite taking longer to happen, urbanization in peripheral countries occurred much faster than in central countries.
In addition to industrialization, the factor responsible for the urbanization of these countries was the mechanization of the countryside, because, with the replacement of man by machine in rural areas, people had no choice but to live in the cities.
In 2005, the United Nations (UN) announced that, for the first time in human history, the number of people living in cities was greater than the number of people living in the countryside. Thus, we can see that the industrialization process in the world has gained gigantic proportions.
Although the formation process of large cities is a feature of modernity, it does not necessarily represent a form of development. When urbanization occurs without planning, in a disorderly way, it causes the so-called urban macrocephaly, which is when cities are unable to assimilate the large number of people who arrive in the countryside.
Therefore, the great concern of many countries is to improve the living conditions of people in the city, as well as contain the urbanization process, by keeping people in the countryside. This only happens if land in rural areas is better distributed, that is, it is not concentrated in the hands of a few people.
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
