3B: what are the 3B: what are the problems associated with problems associated with

rapid urbanisation?rapid urbanisation?

Here is a spider diagramHere is a spider diagramSeen this before? So what is Seen this before? So what is

missing?missing?

• ‘Problems associated with rapid urbanisation’ perhaps? Absolutely. And if asked about the problems associated with rapid urbanisation, these are precisely the ideas you would need to explore.

•By implication, this means that as recent urbanisation has been most rapid in MICs and LICs, that it is mainly the cities in these countries that have these problems.

Landuse in HICs – different Landuse in HICs – different modelsmodels

Who devised these?

Here are a couple of variations for Here are a couple of variations for LICs/MICsLICs/MICs

• It what ways are these both different from the previous models?

• In what ways are they different from each other?

A bit of explanationA bit of explanation•The central business

district is still at the centre

•But this time much of the nicer housing in grouped around it, so that they have access for all the shops and cinemas and banks and offices.

•In addition, more nice housing takes over the best land spreading outwards along a hillside or close to a beautiful part of town.

•The industry needs good transport so tends to develop in wedges along the main routes to the city.

•People who moved to the town for work early on built houses for themselves or it was provided as social housing when the city growth was much slower.

•These areas tend to have most of the essential services such as clean water and sanitation and roads.

Newer shanties

Older developed shanties

High cost housing

But MICs/LICs the pattern of land use is But MICs/LICs the pattern of land use is differentdifferent•But once urbanisation

really took off, people arrived from the rural areas, made shacks wherever they could, often in areas prone to flooding for example or subject to other forms of pollution that no-one else wanted, using whatever materials were around.

•They lacked paved roads and fresh water or any of the other main services, like schools and health care.

•It is in the outer shanty towns that you find most of problems shown in the diagram. The poor housing, lack of fresh water and sanitation, no electricity and unmade up roads are obvious problems.

•Why did they occur? The people arrived faster than the city could cope – and in the early days, many cities were unwilling to try too hard.

• Then there was employment issues. • The migrants from rural areas thought that they

would be much better off in the city, where there were lots of well-paid jobs – or so they believed.

• However, while there were jobs for the trained and educated, these rural people lacked the skills to make them employable in any of the available roles.

• So they are often left trying scratch a living from the informal economy (jobs that do not appear on government statistics and are often very hard and can be dangerous as there is no legal protection) as street vendors and cleaners or working in sweatshops down to picking up rubbish to recycle from the city tips.

• Some could not make enough feed their families and so turned to crime, pick-pocketing in the CBD or prostitution or dealing drugs.

• Hence crime was a big problem in some of the shanty towns.

• As we have mentioned there are few made-up roads in this area so public transport has to manage with narrow, muddy rutted roads.

• Once the buses are on their way into the city, the roads are crammed with every sort of vehicle wanting to get into the centre - congestions and polluted air are common place.

• However, this has become a major issue for the UN Millennium goals.

• Also the countries themselves see it in their own interests to have a healthier, better educated, law abiding population, and while such an enormous problem cannot be solved overnight, by joining with the people in these areas, a lot has been achieved, in some areas at least. We will look at some examples of this in a later section.

IntroductionIntroduction• Shantytowns (also called slums, squatter

settlements camps, favelas), are settlements (usually illegal or at best unauthorized) of poor who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials—often plywood, corrugated metal, and sheets of plastic. Shanty towns, which are usually built on the periphery (edge) of cities, often do not have proper sanitation, electricity, or telephone services.

• An asideAn aside: Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth (or, on occasion, developed countries in a severe recession – as in the US currently) See Youtube video on

http://ysgol-rhyngrwyd-igcse.wikispaces.com/Unit+3B+Urban+environments

So what are the drives So what are the drives that force the people to that force the people to move into cities where move into cities where there chances are not there chances are not

good?good?

• Mechanisation of farms and shortage of alternative jobs results in high unemployment

• High Infant Mortality due to lack of clean water, electricity, sewage & medical care

• Housing in rural areas even poorer than cities also poorer services

• Drought meaning crops failed

• Advertising campaigns were run in rural areas in the 1950’s & 1960’s to attract workers to the city

• More schools and other services in the city

• Better housing and a chance of obtaining a job

• Successful migrants encourage people to join them

The advantages of the growthThe advantages of the growth

•Even the informal sector in many shanties pays more money than being a farmer in the rural areas and is seen as better than the life of a landless peasant farmer.

•Growth of urban areas eases the pressure on the rural area so there are more jobs available and less people to feed.

Disadvantages of growthDisadvantages of growth• The high expectations of life in urban areas are not

fulfilled. • They do not usually have the skills needed to carry

out the well-paid jobs in the cities. • Therefore they do not have enough money to buy a

home or to go back to the rural area. Shanty towns become the residence of many. These are small, makeshift homes with one or two rooms only. They are made of wood, corrugated iron and cardboard found lying around the area. The favellas have no electricity or clean running water.

• The rivers running through the city are polluted with sewage and waste from the favelas.

• Agricultural production in rural areas might decrease as so many of the young adults have moved away.

• Shortage of housing.

The results of rapid urbanisationThe results of rapid urbanisation• 1. Inadequate housing and services. 40% live in shanty

towns or favelas . • 2. The shanty town services are non-existent or

incapable of maintaining a basic standard of living. The lack of basic services like a clean water supply, rubbish collection and sewerage disposal mean that the risks of disease are very high. In storms sewers block and flood.

• 3. Shortage of affordable formal housing.• 4. The shanty town is likely to be found on

inappropriate land. Maybe it is prone to flooding or is very steeply sloping, increasing the chances of a landslip. It could be on a piece of land that has been badly polluted by a neighbouring industry. The shelters made of wood and high population densities increase the risk of fire.

Return to page 1 of the notes: issues

The results of rapid urbanisationThe results of rapid urbanisation• 5. Because the growth is so rapid, the

government does not have enough money to maintain the existing facilities, let alone improve them.

• 6. Increasing levels of pollution. Pollution of air, land and water is a major problem. Air pollution is second only to Los Angeles. Laws to protect the environment are either non-existent or rarely enforced. The back street workshops of the informal economy add to the problem

• 7. Increased volume of traffic on poorly maintained roads.

• 8. The informal economy employs over half the city’s workforce. This is partly due to these people lacking the education but partly to the lack of jobs.

The start of a case The start of a case studystudy

Kabera outside Nairobi in Kenya

Where is Nairobi?Where is Nairobi?

• 1. Shanty towns are on the edge of the city (except Mathare Valley) where there is space to build on.

• 2. Shanty towns are close to rivers. Water is needed for drinking and cooking. Sometimes it is marsh land where diseases and illness can spread. In 1972 a deadly Cholera epidemic spread.

• 3. Shanty towns are close to main roads so people can get to the CBD where they can find work.

• 4. Mathare Valley is the most crowded of the four shanty towns as it is the closest to the CBD.

Mathare Valley

What is it like?What is it like?•The CBD of Nairobi looks fairly modern.

•A busy urban centre

But out in Kibera …But out in Kibera …• As you can see – this is the wet season – the

river valley is fairly flooded• Not much rubbish collection• No made up roads• You cannot see power lines – so no electricity

Matutus: the only Matutus: the only way for the slum way for the slum dwellers can get dwellers can get

into the CBDinto the CBD

An issue and a solutionAn issue and a solution• ‘ma tatu’ means ‘for 3’ – in the beginning you could

travel anywhere on a route for 3 Kenyan shillings.• Although government is trying to bring in more

regulations, they are still somewhat chaotic – but as there is no other public transport system, it has to do.

• While the routes are fixed, the timing and the stops are not!

• In February 2004 the Ministry of Transport introduced new regulations governing the operation of Matatus. These regulations include: the compulsory fitting of safety belts and speed governors. In addition, standing on matatus was banned. This has led to a number of matutus being removed from the roads and a reduction in deaths and injuries.

• Before this, the buses were over laden, went too fast, broke many traffic violations and were subject to paying bribes to the police to let then continue.

But out in Kibera …But out in Kibera …• Water comes from private standpipes – they

pay up to x10 the amount for water that the better class places with running water in the houses pay.

• The other picture shows you the public sewer

But out in Kibera …But out in Kibera …• The only solution in some

parts are ‘flying toilets’• Have any spare plastic bags?• They do say goats will eat

anything!

But it is not all bad or hopeless …But it is not all bad or hopeless …•Two little girls

•A day centre

But it is not all bad or hopeless …But it is not all bad or hopeless …•A music shop,

•Furniture makers

• A bakery

HomeworkHomework• The specification says:• A case study of shanty town management in a LIC

city.• So what we need is 2 or 3 really good ways in which Kibera

is being managed (improved)• So put in a search for ‘Kibera’ + ?• I want 3 or so slides explaining what they have done about

ONE of the these – then I can add them to the wiki for later use.

Only those that Only those that arrive on time can arrive on time can

be includedbe included