Definition of Urbanization
Urbanization is a process which reveals itself through temporal, spatial, and sectoral changes in
the demographic, social, economic, technological, and environmental aspect of life in a given
society. These changes manifest themselves in the increasing concentration of population in
human settlements larger than villages, in the increasing involvement of people in secondary and
tertiary production function, and in the progressive adoption of social traits which are atypical of
traditional rural societies……. R.P. Misra
Urbanization describes
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The transition of rural conditions (farms, villages, small towns) to urban conditions (cities).
The migration of population from rural to urban areas.
The process where an increasing percentage of a population lives in cities and suburbs.
This process is often linked to industrialization and modernization.
Urbanization is a process of urban growth which leads to a greater proportion of people
being concentrated into towns and cities.
✓ It refers to general increase in population and the amount of industrialization of a
settlement.
✓ Urbanization happens because of the increase in the extent and density of urban areas.
✓ It is a worldwide process. It began at different times in different parts of the world and
occurred at contrasting paces.
Causes of Urbanization
Industrialization
➢ Industrialization has expanded employment opportunities.
➢ Rural people have migrated to cities to live near factories and other sites of industrial
production on account of better employment opportunities.
Employment opportunities
➢ In rural areas people have to depend mainly on agriculture for their livelihood. People
become victims of unpredictable weather conditions such as drought and floods which can
adversely affect their livelihood. Consequently, many farmers move to cities for a
livelihood.
➢ Most industries are located in cities. Scarcity of jobs except in agriculture, and most people
consider agriculture occupations to be low paying, laborious, and menial.
Modernization
➢ Urban areas are characterized by sophisticated technology, better infrastructure,
communication, medical facilities etc.
➢ Availability of social services, better education, health and security, entertainment and
recreational facilities.
➢ People feel that they can lead a comfortable life to cities and migrate to cities.
Urbanization occurs mainly because of the concentration of resources and facilities in towns and
cities.
Rural urban transformation
➢ It is an interesting aspect that not only cities are growing in number but rural communities
are adopting urban culture.
➢ No longer rural communities are retaining their unique rural culture.
➢ Rural people are following the material culture of urban people.
Some Key Concepts
➢ Urban areas are those that have a high population density and built-up features compared
to the surrounding areas. The term can apply to industrial zones and related infrastructure
as well as to cities and towns.
➢ Urban development is the social, cultural, economic, and physical development of
cities, and the underlying causes of these processes.
➢ Urban growth is an increase in the absolute size of an urban population.
➢ Level of Urbanization or Urbanization refers to the proportion of a nation's
population living in the urban areas. It is measured by the percentage of population residing
in urban areas.
➢ Urban Growth refers to an increase in total urban population. There may be urban growth
with or without urbanization.
➢ Rate of Urbanization is measured as the percentage increase in urban population.
➢ Urban Sprawl refers the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas
into low density, monofunctional, and usually car dependent communities, in a process
called suburbanization.
➢ As suburban areas developed cities expanded in geographic size faster than they grew in
population.
Urbanization Trends in Bangladesh
✓ Historically known as a rural-agrarian country, Bangladesh today is experiencing rapid
transformation towards an urban society.
✓ We are experiencing an extraordinary mix of urban-rural functions and traits in both
metropolitan cities and rural towns as well as villages. R
✓ The urban population of Bangladesh was only 6.27 million in 1974 but grew to over 39
million in 2011. The urbanization level has jumped from 8.78 % to 27.66 % in this period.
Over the period the long run exponential growth rate of urban population has been 5.18%
as against 1.36% of rural, and 2.18% of total population.
✓ Bangladesh’s urban population has been growing at a yearly average rate of 6 percent since
independence, at a time when the national population growth was 2.2 percent.
✓ As a result, urban population has grown six-fold, compared with a 70 percent increase in
rural population.
✓ As UN data, approximately 25 percent of Bangladesh’s current population currently lives
in urban areas. Of this urban population, more than half-lives in the four largest cities:
Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi.
✓ Rapid migration is causing Dhaka’s population to grow much faster than the rest of the
country.
✓ The population density is now believed to have reached around 34000 people per square
kilometer, making Dhaka amongst the most densely populated city in the world.
✓ All major cities in South Asia are facing similar problems:
✓ Poverty, deplorable condition of slums, corruption and inefficiency in service delivery,
weak governance and poor finances
Rapid growth of urban population in Bangladesh has taken place during the last four decades.
The components of such rapid urban growth are:
➢ A persistently high natural increase of native urban population.
➢ The territorial extension of existing urban areas with conversion of rural centers to urban.
➢ Re-definition of urban areas is highly responsible for accelerating the growth rate of urban
population.
➢ Rural to urban migration.
Spatial/Regional Pattern of Urbanization
✓ Bangladesh has a low level of urbanization for the country as a whole, there is significant
variation in the level by districts or other geographic or administrative regions like
divisions and upazilas.
✓ In fact, district-wise level of urbanization varied from as low as 8.85% in Gaibandha
district to more than 93% in Dhaka district in 2011, a situation of gross disparity or
imbalance.
✓ Dhaka is the most urbanized district at 93%. Other than Dhaka the three other most
urbanized districts are Naraynganj (66%), Chittagong (55%) and Khulna just over 50%
urban.
✓ Only three districts Rajshahi, Khagrachari, Chuadanga have a proportion of urban
population between 31% and 50% and seven districts had 21% to 30% of their population
urban in 2011.
✓ Most of the districts, 44 out of 64, have recorded low levels of urbanization, with only
11% to 20 % of the population living in the urban areas.
✓ There were three districts which had even less than 10 % of the population urban. These
are Panchagarh (9.86%), Manikganj (9.28%), and Gaibandha (8.85%). While most of the
low urbanized districts are located far from Dhaka (the most urbanized district), Manikganj
with one of the lowest levels of Urbanization is adjacent to Dhaka.
✓ There is a co-relation between regional economic developments with level of urbanization.
The districts with higher level of urbanization are economically more developed. Dhaka
district with the highest level of urbanization in the country has the highest per capita Gross
District Product.
✓ Chittagong region has been following Dhaka region.
✓ The improvement of the hill tracts region in the level of urbanization is due to the
development of hilly areas into urban localities and settlements of internal migrants into
those urban localities by giving them incentives.
✓ The intermediate cities and small towns serve as important centers of rural-urban mix and
transformation of rural economy into non-farm or urban type economies. These urban
centers have been transforming themselves with remittances from overseas migrants.
✓ The level of urbanization is determined predominantly by administrative importance and
industrial legacy of the region.
✓ Administratively important and industrially advanced regions became urbanized earlier
than the less important ones.
Driving forces
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Real or perceived job Opportunities.
Higher wages in the city are the main pulls.
Rural-urban disparities in other opportunities and services are also responsible.
A large proportion of rural-urban migrations
Benefits of Urbanization
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Efficiency
Convenience
Concentration of resources
Educational facilities
Social integration
Improvements in economy
Share of Urban Population in Total Population
Year
Level of Urbanization 2018
2018
36.63%
2017
35.86%
2016
35.08%
2015
34.31%
2014
33.54%
2013
32.76%
2012
31.99%
2011
31.23%
2010
30.46%