Urban Issues and Challenges
Map Your Gaps
Card 1 of 11
Swipe right if you know it, left if you don't
✔ Know
✖ Don't know
Global urbanisation
Urbanisation is the increasing percentage of a population living in towns and cities. Over 50% of the world's population now lives in urban areas.
Urbanisation rates differ globally because countries industrialised at different times.
Global urbanisation — Key Knowledge
- Urbanisation increasing proportion living in urban areas
- Rural-urban migration movement from countryside to cities — main driver in LICs/NEEs
- Natural increase birth rate exceeds death rate in cities — young migrants have children
- HICs urbanised mainly during 19th–20th centuries, now 70–80%+
- LICs/NEEs urbanising rapidly now
Push and pull factors
People move from rural to urban areas due to a combination of push factors driving them away and pull factors attracting them to cities.
Most urbanisation in LICs is driven by internal rural-urban migration within the same country, not international migration.
Push and pull factors — Key Knowledge
- Push factors lack of jobs, poor services, crop failure, natural disasters, conflict
- Pull factors employment, better schools and hospitals, reliable infrastructure, perceived higher living standards
Megacities and counter-urbanisation
Megacities are urban areas with a population over 10 million. Counter-urbanisation is the movement of people from cities to rural areas in HICs.
Most new megacities are emerging in LICs and NEEs because these regions are experiencing the most rapid urbanisation.
Megacities and counter-urbanisation — Key Knowledge
- Megacities population over 10 million
- Growth of megacities 3 in 1975, over 30 now — most new ones in LICs/NEEs
- Examples Lagos, Dhaka, Mumbai
- Counter-urbanisation people leaving cities for rural areas, enabled by improved transport and remote working
Lagos — location and growth
Lagos is Nigeria's largest city, located on the coast of south-west Nigeria on the Gulf of Guinea. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
Lagos has grown rapidly since the 1960s and continues to attract migrants seeking employment in its expanding economy.
Lagos — location and growth — Key Knowledge
- Population approximately 15 million
- Growth drivers rural-urban migration for oil, port and manufacturing jobs, plus natural increase
- Growth rate population roughly doubles every 15–20 years
- Economic importance economic hub of West Africa
Lagos — opportunities and challenges
Lagos offers economic opportunities but faces severe challenges including inadequate housing, congestion, and pollution.
Rapid growth has outpaced infrastructure development, leaving millions without basic services.
Lagos — opportunities and challenges — Key Knowledge
- Opportunities expanding industrial sector, growing tech sector in "Yaba Valley", informal economy, schools and universities
- Squatter settlements e.g. Makoko — floating slum on Lagos Lagoon, overcrowded, lacking clean water, sanitation and electricity
- Traffic congestion commutes of 3–4 hours common
- Pollution industrial waste, vehicle emissions, open sewers, polluted lagoon
- Unreliable electricity frequent blackouts
Lagos — planning improvements
Lagos has undertaken several projects to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation.
Planning improvements in Lagos show the tension between large-scale development projects and meeting the needs of the poorest residents.
Lagos — planning improvements — Key Knowledge
- Eko Atlantic new city on reclaimed land — flood defence and development, criticised for benefiting the wealthy
- Makoko Floating School community-designed, later collapsed
- BRT bus rapid transit system to tackle congestion
- Land ownership efforts to formalise ownership in informal settlements
Bristol — location and importance
Bristol is in south-west England on the River Avon, approximately 120 miles west of London. It is a major centre for aerospace, creative industries, tech, and finance.
Bristol's diverse economy and cultural richness have been shaped by successive waves of migration.
Bristol — location and importance — Key Knowledge
- Population approximately 470,000 city, over 1 million wider area
- Key employers Airbus, Rolls-Royce in aerospace
- Migration Caribbean Windrush generation, South Asia, Eastern Europe especially Poland post-2004, Somalia
- Cultural features street art, Banksy, music scene
- Transport links M4/M5, Temple Meads station, Bristol Airport
Bristol — challenges and deprivation
Bristol has stark inequalities between wealthy and deprived areas, alongside housing pressures and traffic congestion.
Urban deprivation in Bristol shows that inequality can exist within a single city, not just between different regions.
Bristol — challenges and deprivation — Key Knowledge
- Deprivation inequality south Bristol areas like Hartcliffe and Knowle West among most deprived in England, while Clifton is one of the most affluent
- Housing high demand, rising prices and rents, shortage of affordable housing
- Dereliction former industrial areas fell into disuse as manufacturing declined
- Traffic congestion limited motorway access to city centre, no urban rail or metro system
Bristol — urban regeneration
Bristol has undergone significant regeneration, particularly around Temple Meads station and the harbourside.
Urban regeneration aims to address deprivation by creating jobs and improving infrastructure in run-down areas.
Bristol — urban regeneration — Key Knowledge
- Temple Quarter major regeneration around Temple Meads — new University of Bristol campus, housing, offices, public spaces, aims to create 22,000 jobs
- Cabot Circus shopping centre that transformed part of the city centre
- Harbourside derelict docks converted into cultural venues, restaurants, and housing
Sustainable urban living
Sustainable urban living means meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations, requiring careful management of resources and the environment.
Sustainable cities must balance environmental, social, and economic needs together rather than focusing on one at the expense of others.
Sustainable urban living — Key Knowledge
- Water conservation grey water systems, rainwater harvesting
- Energy efficiency insulation, solar panels, combined heat and power
- Waste reduction kerbside recycling, composting, reduce-reuse-recycle hierarchy
- Green spaces parks, urban forests, green roofs — improve air quality, reduce flooding, support wellbeing
- Sustainable transport integrated public transport, congestion charging, cycle hire schemes, park-and-ride, low emission zones, electric vehicles
Freiburg and BedZED
Freiburg in Germany and BedZED in London are case studies of sustainable urban development in practice.
Both examples show how urban planning can significantly reduce carbon emissions and resource consumption through integrated design choices.
Freiburg and BedZED — Key Knowledge
- Freiburg Vauban district car-free with excellent tram links
- Freiburg cycling 30% of journeys by bicycle
- Freiburg energy widespread solar panels, combined heat and power for district heating, green roofs common
- BedZED housing development in Sutton designed for zero carbon emissions
- BedZED features super-insulated buildings, south-facing windows for solar gain, rainwater harvesting, car club to reduce private car ownership, green roofs and wildlife corridors
Map your gaps
Urban Issues and Challenges
0%confident
✔
0
0
❓
0
0
✖
0
0