Why are People Moving to Cities? Crash Course Geography #45

According to the UN, people living in urban places now outnumber those in rural areas — which is a pretty new phenomenon for many parts of the world. So today, we’re going to discuss factors that have led to this shift in populations from rural to urban residences (known as urbanization), and we’ll examine the historical and structural systems, like colonialism and Central Place Theory, that have influenced the cities we see today.

Correction:
3:20 On the map here we incorrectly placed the Shanghai marker where Guangzhou is located.

SOURCES

Knox and Marston 2016: Human Geography Place and Regions in a Global Context. 7th Edition. Pearson
Marston et all. 2017. World Regions in a Global Context. Peoples, Places and Environments. 6th Edition. Pearson.
Pacione, M. 2001. Urban Geography A Global Perspective. Routledge.
Derudder, Ben and Taylor, Peter. 2016. Change in the World City Network, 2000-2012. The Professional Geographer. 68(4) pages 624-637
China’s urban system
Chang. S. 1963. The Historical Trend of Chinese Urbanization. AAAG. Vol 53 (2)
Wu F. 2016. Emerging Chinese Cities: Implications for Global Urban Studies. The Professional Geographer, 68(2), pages 338–348
Sheppard. E. 2016. Emerging Asias: Introduction The Professional Geographer, 68(2), pages 309–312
GUANGZHOU

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[windywendi]

10:24 As a Chinese person, this reminds me that most of Chinese territory used to belong to the ancestors of people we now call "ethnic minorities", and the land was taken from them by the Chinese empire over thousands of years. I feel ashamed that we do not celebrate their heritage enough, while treating ourselves as rightful owners of this land.

[JoelRipke]

Before watching: they're more efficient. Housing and work in close proximity. Social benefits.

[MeatPops]

Love this series. It just keeps going with interesting content.

[juancholompizano]

Im from Buenos Aires argentina. And i often think of this kind of population distribution like a real problem for the country economy. Argentina its a really big country but everything its concentrate in Buenos Aires. I bealive that this must change but i have beber hear a polititian even speak of this.

[BlankofMaterial]

you only need to look at the ratio of land to jobs to know that cities employ exponentially more people than farms. There is approximately 1 farm job per 275 acres of cropland in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

[JoelRipke]

Strong towns is a cool organization that tries to develop healthy and resilient cities

[kipechawolfeortiz]

I'll give you the answer: there's more job availability, less discrimination than in a small town, more ACTIVITIES to partake in so you don't get as depressed, jobs usually pay you more, and small towns with close minded people really suck the life out of you.

[killercaos]

A key part of Globalization is having a deep-sea port. Without that trading is severely limited

[carbonhacker]

Nice content! But the location of Shanghai is wrong. It's where Guangzhou should be. Apart from that, great content as always

[Spooney]

in the uk a city is defined as a settlement that has a cathedral

[ysraelm.dumadara]

I wish they would talk about sister cities...

[aethelwolfe]

In the USA, they are not, they are leaving for suburbs. New York City is losing people.

[choppers]

I'd rather stay in the country, hunt, fish and survive .

[kerrymckim]

I live in Rural Maine and so many people are moving here

[marilynm]

Well yes they’re designing it that way:)

[larkohiya]

So confused how this is geography. This is a sociologist question.

[SquashGuy]

Aren't people leaving cities now? If not I would and did. City life is the worst, you're nothing but I tiny little cog in those places.

[shadebug]

Guys, you need more British people on your team; could’ve gotten this episode done as a short

[ghostscience]

Om sad because there are not many science youtube channels on YouTube 😢😢😢