CGC1DWed. Mar. 26, 2014

Urban and Rural Landscapes

Rural Population Patterns

• There are 3 main types of rural population patterns:

Concentrated-Occur where natural resources are present -i.e., gold mine

Dispersed-Occur in agricultural areas-Farms spread out over an area

Linear-A line that stretches out over the landscape-Occur along rivers, railroads, highways, coastlines

Urban and Rural Interactions

• There has been significant movement of people in Canada between urban and rural areas over time.

• People in rural areas live in a hamlet, village, or town.

• People in urban areas live in a suburb, city, or metropolis.

• These different types of places to live are known as the urban hierarchy (each one is a larger settlement going up the line than the one before it).

Urban Hierarchy

hamlet village town suburb city metropolis <100 people - - - - - > 1 million people

Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) = City with more than 100 000 people

- There are 33 CMAs in Canada. Can you list the top 10?

Canada’s Top 10 CMAsCITY PROVINCE POPULATION

Toronto (Mississauga) Ontario 5,583,064

Montreal (Laval) Quebec 3,824,221

Vancouver (Surrey) British Columbia 2,313,328

Ottawa - Gatineau Ontario/Quebec 1,236,324

Calgary Alberta 1,214,839

Edmonton Alberta 1,159,869

Quebec (Lévis) Quebec 765,706

Winnipeg Manitoba 730,018

Hamilton (Burlington) Ontario 721,053

Kitchener - Cambridge - Waterloo

Ontario 477,160

London Ontario 474,786

Urbanization

• Urbanization is the movement of people UP the urban hierarchy. This has been the main migration pattern of Canadians since the creation of our country.

Urbanization

– reduced need for farm labour due to farm modernization (e.g. tractors)

– improvements in mobility (better transportation systems reduces need for local stores)

– consolidation of goods & services (most things one needs has relocated to urban areas)

•Why did people leave the countryside to live in the big cities?

Counter-Urbanization

• Counter-urbanization is the movement of people DOWN the urban hierarchy (metropolis→ hamlet). While our cities are still getting larger, some people are choosing to move away from cities.

• In general, there are now three categories of people living in rural areas.– Newcomers - retain ties to urban core, younger, well

educated, well off, managers/professionals– Homecomers - young families returning to provide

rural upbringing to children– Ruralites – have never lived in an urban core

Counter-Urbanization

• Why are people leaving the cities to live in smaller towns and villages?– health issues, security,

“community”– “back to nature” movement

(desire to live in the country)– increase in telecommuting

(less need to be at an office)– cheaper land and house

prices

Where would you like to Live?

• Why?