Population and UrbanizationChapter 15

Demography and Fertility

•Demography is a field of sociology that examines population size, composition, and distribution.▫Demography is used to examine the effects

of population on society•Fertility is the level of childbearing for an

individual or population.▫This is affected by the demography.

How many women? Health and nutrition?

Birth Rates and Mortality

•Crude birth rate…the number of live births per 1000 people in a given year.▫ 14.2 in 2000▫ 27 in 1947 (baby boom)▫ Some nations have high crude birth rates but also have

high infant mortality rates.

•Mortality is the incidence of death in a population.▫ Crude death rate…number of deaths per 1000 in a given

year.▫ Infant mortality rate…number of deaths with infants

under 1 year.

Migration

•Migration is the movement of people from one geographic area to another (forced or voluntary).

Wars Persecution Natural disasters Political unrest

Migration

Two types of movement:• Immigration is the movement of people into

a geographic area to take up residency.▫Pull factors…people are pulled to an area

Freedom, democratic government etc…•Emigration is the movement of people out of

a geographic area to take up residency elsewhere.▫Push factors…people are pushed from an area

Natural disasters, tyrannical government

Population Composition

•Population composition is a part of demography that looks at the make up of the population including:▫Age▫Sex▫Marital status▫Education▫Occupation▫Income▫Size of household

Population

•Between 2000 and 2030, almost all of the world’s 1.4 % annual population growth will occur in low-income countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

•6 billion in 1999, 7 billion in 2011.•Predicted to be 8 billion by 2023 and 10

billion by 2050.▫Many feel Earth can’t support that

Growth in the World’s Population

Leading Causes of Death in the United States

1900 Rank 1997

Influenza/pneumonia

1 Heart disease

Tuberculosis 2 Cancer

Intestinal disease 3 Stroke

Heart disease 4 Chronic lung disease

Cerebral hemorrhage 5 Accidents

Leading Causes of Death in the United States

1900 Rank 1997

Kidney disease 6Pneumonia and

influenza

Accidents 7 Diabetes

Cancer 8 HIV

Diseases in early infancy 9 Suicide

Diphtheria 10 Homicide

Theories of Population Growth

•The Malthusian Perspective•The Marxist Perspective•The Neo-Malthusian Perspective•Demographic Transition Theory

Malthusian Perspective

•If left unchecked, the population would exceed the available food supply.

•Population would increase in a geometric progression (2, 4, 8, …) .

•The food supply would increase by an arithmetic progression (1, 2, 3, 4 . . .).

•Believed only acceptable check on population is moral restraint.▫People should practice abstinence.

Marxist Perspective

•Using technology, food can be produced for a growing population. ▫Capitalism is the root of the problem▫Wealthy control the resources and means

of food production.•Overpopulation will lead to the eventual

destruction of capitalism.•Workers will become dissatisfied and

develop class-consciousness because of shared oppression.

The Neo-Malthusian Perspective•More recent movement.•Overpopulation and rapid population

growth result in global environmental problems.▫Believe in use of birth control

•People should be encouraging zero population growth.▫Population balances…does not grow

Demographic Transition Theory

• Stage 1: Preindustrial Societies - little population growth, high birth rates offset by high death rates.

• Stage 2: Early Industrialization - significant population growth, birth rates are relatively high, death rates decline.

Demographic Transition Theory

•Stage 3: Advanced Industrialization and Urbanization - very little population growth occurs, birth rates and death rates are low.

•Stage 4: Postindustrialization - birth rates decline as more women are employed and raising children becomes more costly.

Fig. 15-3, p. 457

Urbanization

Development of a City

City… a relatively permanent and dense settlement of people with non-agricultural activities.

Three preconditions: •A favorable physical environment.•An advanced technology that could

produce a social surplus.•A well-developed political system to

provide social stability to the economic system.

Earliest Cities

•About 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia▫5000-10,000 people

•Rome grew to 650,000 around 100

p. 460

Concentric Zone Model Functionalist Perspective)•Each area of the city is developed

depending on land use. Areas move from center circularly.

•Invasion…new type of land use evolves in occupied area

•Succession…the invading land use eventually dominates the area

•Gentrification…middle and upper middle classes move into city and renovate.

Sector and Multiple Nuclei

•Sector model emphasizes the importance of terrain and transportation in the layout of a city.

•Multiple Nuclei model says that cities have numerous centers of development.

Fig. 15-4, p. 464

Conflict Perspective

•Conflict theorists believe that cities do not grow or decline by chance…they believe they are the products of capitalist decisions.▫Cities are developed based on exchange

value…the profits that the wealthy make from development.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective•Simmel's View of City Life

▫Urban life is stimulating; it shapes people's thoughts and actions.

▫Many urban residents avoid emotional involvement with each other and try to ignore events taking place around them.

▫Urban living can be liberating - people have opportunities for individualism and autonomy.

Suburbs

•Since World War II, the U.S. population has shifted as people moved to the suburbs.

•Suburbanites rely on urban centers for employment but pay property taxes to suburban governments and school districts.▫Leads to fiscal crisis in cities.

Fig. 15-5, p. 471

Fig. 15-6, p. 474