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Urbanisation - EdexcelUrban growth - push and pull factors

Urban areas are growing rapidly. They face a range of opportunities and challenges. Urban planning is important to ensure that the opportunities are maximised and the challenges are minimised.

Part of GeographyChanging cities

Urban growth - push and pull factors

The world's population is growing rapidly and reached 7.9 billion people in 2022. The highest rates of population growth are occurring in , such as Uganda, Malawi and Niger. Some countries are experiencing population decline, for example Japan, Russia and Romania.

Today more than 55% of the world's population live in . The number of cities with over 10 million people is increasing. These are called . There are now at least 33 megacities in the world. The table shows the top 10 megacities.

RankUrban areaCountryPopulation estimate
1TokyoJapan37,435,191
2DehliIndia29,399,141
3ShangaiChina26,317,104
4S茫o PauloBrazil21,846,507
5Mexico CityMexico21,671,908
6CairoEgypt20,484,965
7DhakaBangladesh20,283,552
8MumbaiIndia20,185,064
9BeijingChina20,035,455
10OsakaJapan19,222,665
Rank1
Urban areaTokyo
CountryJapan
Population estimate37,435,191
Rank2
Urban areaDehli
CountryIndia
Population estimate29,399,141
Rank3
Urban areaShangai
CountryChina
Population estimate26,317,104
Rank4
Urban areaS茫o Paulo
CountryBrazil
Population estimate21,846,507
Rank5
Urban areaMexico City
CountryMexico
Population estimate21,671,908
Rank6
Urban areaCairo
CountryEgypt
Population estimate20,484,965
Rank7
Urban areaDhaka
CountryBangladesh
Population estimate20,283,552
Rank8
Urban areaMumbai
CountryIndia
Population estimate20,185,064
Rank9
Urban areaBeijing
CountryChina
Population estimate20,035,455
Rank10
Urban areaOsaka
CountryJapan
Population estimate19,222,665
The world's biggest megacities are concentrated in Asia.

Causes of urban growth

The population of cities usually changes in one of two ways:

  1. (or decrease) - this is the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths.
  2. Migration - this is the movement of people into or out of the city.

More and more people are leaving and moving to cities. This is called rural to urban . People move because of and . Push factors are things that make people want to leave rural areas and pull factors are the things that attract people to a city.

Push factors: poor security, hazardous environment, war, poverty, basic services. Pull factors: good security, pleasant environment, political stability, good economics, developed services.

Push factors

  • unemployment
  • lower wages
  • crop failure
  • poor living conditions
  • poor health and education services
  • few facilities
  • natural disasters
  • civil war

Pull factors

  • more jobs
  • higher wages
  • better living conditions
  • better education and health services
  • better facilities
  • less chance of natural disasters