3B: what are the problems associated with rapid urbanisation?

1. 3B: what are the problems associated with rapid urbanisation?

2. Here is a spider diagramWhat do you think the linking idea is in the middle that is missing?

3. ‘Problems associated with rapid urbanisation’ perhaps? Absolutely. And if asked about the problems associated with rapid urbanisation, these are precisely the ideas you would need to explore. • By implication, this means that as recent urbanisation has been most rapid in NICs and LEDCs, that it is only the cities in these countries that have these problems. But don’t be fooled – while the urbanisation in MEDCs was in general earlier and slower, many of the problems in the diagram applied equally to them in the early days. • Think about the goings on in early Victorian times in London – it was all there! However there are differences between MEDCss in the past and current rapid urbanisation.

4. This is the Burgess Model of urban development, was advanced in the 1920s. It worked well for towns and cities at the time. The town/city centre, known as the Central Business District (CBD) would be at the junction of the main roads and have the shops and offices there. The factories were built near the centre and the workers housing was close by – people needed to be able to walk to work from their small crowded terrace houses. The foremen and managers could afford to live in semi-detached houses with gardens, that were a bit further away – not so many nasty smells and much clearer air! The really wealthy lived in their detached residences on the outer part of the cities. So the problems we see in the diagram were concentrated in band 2 and 3 back in the Victorian era. Land use in cities in the past Problems?

5. But urban areas in NICs and LEDCs that have grown up in recent times have different pattern. The central business district is still at the centre but this time the nice housing in grouped around it, sothat they have access for all the shops and cinemas and banks and offices. Often, as in this case, the best housing takes over the best land spreading outwards along a hillside or close to a beautiful part of town. The industry needs good transport so tends to develop in wedges along the main routes to the city. People who moved to the town for work early on built houses for themselves or it was provided as social housing when the city growth was much slower. These areas tend to have most of the essential services such as clean water and sanitation and roads. In Brazil, which this model is of, these older housing estates are called periferia But NICs/LEDCs the pattern of land use is different

6. But once urbanisation really took off, people arrived from the rural areas, made shacks wherever they could, often in areas prone to flooding for example or subject to other forms of pollution that no-one else wanted, using whatever materials were around. They lacked paved roads and fresh water or any of the other main services, like schools and health care. In Brazil, these are known as favelas. It is in the outer shanty towns that you find most of problems shown in the diagram. The poor housing, lack of fresh water and sanitation, no electricity and unmade up roads are obvious problems. Why did they occur? The people arrived faster than the city could cope – and in the early days, many cities were unwilling to try too hard. But NICs/LEDCs the pattern of land use is different

7. Then there was employment issues. • The migrants from rural areas thought that they would be much better off in the city, where there were lots of well-paid jobs – or so they believed. • However, while there were jobs for the trained and educated, these rural people lacked the skills to make them employable in any of the available roles. • So they are often left trying scratch a living from the informal economy (jobs that do not appear on government statistics and are often very hard and can be dangerous as there is no legal protection) as street vendors and cleaners or working in sweatshops down to picking up rubbish to recycle from the city tips. • Some could not make enough feed their families and so turned to crime, pick-pocketing in the CBD or prostitution or dealing drugs. • Hence crime was a big problem in some of the shanty towns.

8. As we have mentioned there are few made-up roads in this area so public transport has to manage with narrow, muddy rutted roads. • Once the buses are on their way into the city, the roads are crammed with every sort of vehicle wanting to get into the centre - congestions and polluted air are common place. • However, as cities and their countries have developed, such as in Brazil, it has become increasingly a matter of pride to try and make things better. • They see it in their own interests to have a healthier, better educated, law abiding population, and while such an enormous problem cannot be solved overnight, by joining with the people in these areas, a lot has been achieved, in some areas at least. We will look at some examples of this in a later section.

9. A case study of a shanty town Sao Paulo

10. Introduction • Shantytowns (also called slums, squatter settlements camps, favelas), are settlements (usually illegal or at best unauthorized) of poor who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials—often plywood, corrugated metal, and sheets of plastic. Shanty towns, which are usually built on the periphery (edge) of cities, often do not have proper sanitation, electricity, or telephone services. • Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth (or, on occasion, developed countries in a severe recession – as in the US currently) • See Youtube video on http://ysgol-rhyngrwyd-igcse.wikispaces.com/Unit+3B+Urban+environments

11. São Paulo Where is it?

12. With an estimated population of 11,037,593 residents within an area of the city limits, São Paulo is the most populous city in the Southern hemisphere. It is also the most industrialised. • But taking all the suburbs into account the figure is estimated to be closer to 19.8 million in 2009.

13. São Paulo • São Paulo, a small trading town until the mid 19th century, slowly grew in importance through coffee exports. • By the turn of the 20th century, the city was socially divided between the geographically high and low areas, with the wealthy in the higher central districts and the poor on the floodplains and along the railways. • Between 1930 and 1980, urbanization accelerated greatly, with an intense process of migration from the countryside, building on the existing socio-spatial segregation.

14. PUSH PULL • Mechanisation of farms and shortage of alternative jobs results in high unemployment • Flooding of land from HEP projects such as the Caatinga with little compensation. • High Infant Mortality due to lack of clean water, electricity, sewage & medical care • Housing in rural areas even poorer than cities also poorer services • Drought meaning crops failed • Advertising campaigns were run in rural areas in the 1950’s & 1960’s to attract workers to the city • More schools and other services in the city • Better housing and a chance of obtaining a job • Successful migrants encourage people to join them

15. The advantages of the growth • Even the informal sector in Sao Paulo pays more money than being a farmer in the rural areas and is seen as better than the life of a landless peasant farmer. • Growth of urban areas eases the pressure on NE Brazil so there are more jobs available and less people to feed.

16. Disadvantages of growth • The high expectations of life in urban Brazil do not become true once people have moved. They do not usually have the skills needed to fulfill the jobs in the cities. Therefore they do not have enough money to buy a home or to go back to the rural area. Shanty towns become the residence of many. These are small, makeshift homes with one or two rooms only. They are made of wood, corrugated iron and cardboard found lying around the area. The favellas have no electricity or clean running water. • The rivers running through the city are polluted with sewage and waste from the favelas. • Agricultural production in rural areas might decrease as so many of the young adults have moved away. • Shortage of housing. 650,000 people live in 600 favellas.

17. The results of rapid urbanisation • 1. Inadequate housing and services. 40% live in shanty towns or favelas . • 2. The shanty town services are non-existent or incapable of maintaining a basic standard of living. The lack of basic services like a clean water supply, rubbish collection and sewerage disposal mean that the risks of disease are very high. In storms sewers block and flood. • 3. Shortage of affordable formal housing. • 4. The shanty town is likely to be found on inappropriate land. Maybe it is prone to flooding or is very steeply sloping, increasing the chances of a landslip. It could be on a piece of land that has been badly polluted by a neighbouring industry. The shelters made of wood and high population densities increase the risk of fire.

18. The results of rapid urbanisation • 5. Because the growth is so rapid, the government does not have enough money to maintain the existing facilities, let alone improve them. • 6. Increasing levels of pollution. Pollution of air, land and water is a major problem. Air pollution is second only to Los Angeles. Laws to protect the environment are either non-existent or rarely enforced. The back street workshops of the informal economy add to the problem • 7. Increased volume of traffic on poorly maintained roads. • 8. The informal economy employs over half the city’s workforce. This is partly due to these people lacking the education but partly to the lack of jobs.

19. So what did they try to do about it?

20. 1. Clearance of the slums: 1970's - government decided to deal with favelas by bulldozing them - people just moved elsewhere. But in 1985 this was stopped as thegovernment changed and so did the ideas.

21. So what did they try to do about it? • 2. In the 1980s Site and service schemes became popular: • These schemes are relatively cheap and give the migrants a sense of control over their future. They also encourage community spirit. The government will provide a site and basic amenities such as water and sewer facilities and materials to build decent quality housing. The migrant is given rights of ownership and expected to complete the work at his or her expense.

22. 3 Rehabilitation (self-help schemes): • An alternative to this scheme is to provide the residents of the shanty towns with the materials to improve their existing shelters. • Residents are also encouraged to set up community schemes to improve education and medical services. Residents may also be given rights of ownership whilst local authorities come in and provide electricity, water and sewerage disposal. e.g. Favella Monte Azul • It is a cheaper option than the site and service schemes but simply hides the real problems. The germs may not have been removed, the land still unsuitable and the water/sewer system still not adequate.

23. 4.HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS Large areas of shanty towns were cleared, tower blocks were then built in their place often on very steep land to house the shanty town residents. One example is the CINGAPURA HOUSING project. This has not been seen as a success

24. The Cingapura project is a low-cost housing initiative in São Paulo, Brazil. • It is designed to move the poor population from favelas where one quarter of people in São Paulo now live, into more permanent structures. • They were to have electricity, a good water supply and sewer pipes. Residential security guards were to be employed to reduce crimes. • Much of the work was to be done by the residents of the favelas themselves, the project being dubbed a 'self help' project. The existing favelas were to be cleared and building materials provided for the builders for free. • But the site was the large slope. It was impossible to build on and levelling the land was too expensive so only a tenth of the proposed apartments were completed. Only 14,000 of the 140,000 projected apartments were ever built. • Those that were built were not very successful, as many of the families from the favelas found that the new apartments were too much of a change. They did not like the fact they couldn't extend on their new apartments, and many attempted to bring their livestock into the flats!

25. 6. Transport:Transport - underground metro system - improves movement of people and reduces pollution, new roads, new train and bus services, pedestrianised CBD and parking restrictions.

26. 7. Industrial estates • New industrial estates with water, sewerage and electricity have been located close to the favelas to provide business premises and jobs.

27. Homework • Research a named development/regeneration project/scheme in any LEDC shanty. • It may be Sao Paulo but it can be anywhere. • Define place – put it on a map if possible • Get a picture of the project if possible • Write briefly about what they are doing • You may do it in PowerPoint as I will certainly use some of them at the beginning of next lesson to give as examples.