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TU 120 Introduction to Social Science

TU 120 Introduction to Social Science. Urbanization. Urbanization – population trend in which cities grow at the expense of rural areas Urbanism – lifestyles, attitudes that are distinctly urban as opposed to rural Nuclear not extended family Lack of family support Alienation

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TU 120 Introduction to Social Science

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  1. TU 120 Introduction to Social Science Urbanization

  2. Urbanization – population trend in which cities grow at the expense of rural areas • Urbanism – lifestyles, attitudes that are distinctly urban as opposed to rural • Nuclear not extended family • Lack of family support • Alienation • Increased freedom & individuality of action, anonymity • Increased anti social or deviant behavior • Decrease in informal controls by the primary group (family, small society) to controls by secondary groups (police, government etc.) – urban resident gets freedom from the primary group but suffers more restrictions from the secondary group

  3. Analysis of cities in the US has shown distinct stages of growth and decline: • Urbanization – Stimulated by the Industrial Revolution • 1820 – 1 farm worker produced enough food for 4 people • 1920 - 1 farm worker produced enough food for 15.5 people • 1969 - 1 farm worker produced enough food for 40 people • 2000 - 1 farm worker produced enough food for 50 people So…people had to move to the cities for work – and there was plenty of work in the factories (which produced the agricultural machinery!)…

  4. Slums - run-down areas of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in security Populated by immigrants, low skilled workers A product of rapid and unplanned urbanization

  5. Suburbanization – Movement of middle classes out of the city to the suburbs: • better standard of living, • more space, • less crime, • less pollution, • Facilitated by cheaper cars and increased wealth • Suburb dependent on the city for jobs & services

  6. But… • If the upper & middle classes move out…who’s left in the city?...the poor • Suburbanization: • Reduces the tax base • Alters the socioeconomic characteristics of the city (negatively) • Makes the city poorer and more dangerous – so…more people want to move out to the suburbs – domino effect

  7. Metropolitanization • suburbs have grown to such an extent that they are cities in their own right, • connected to the main city • creates a ‘metropolitan’ area interdependent relationship between the two • Megalopolis: • where 2 metropolitan areas grow so large they become connected with each other

  8. So where is Bangkok in this 4 stage analysis? • Or is it something different…?

  9. The City of Angels FACTS • Capital city of for more than 200 years • One of the world's populated cities • Registered population of over 5.5 million (Estimated actual population of up to 8 million) • 1,568 sqkm area • Recently has seen explosive growth of urbanization • Growth started recently, in the fifties and sixties

  10. Growth of Bangkok: Date Population • 255,000 1919 437,294 1947 1,178,881 1980 4,697,071 2007 8,160,522

  11. The dangers of growth (via rural-urban migration) in Bangkok’s population were recognized early on… Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat : “It is widely held in political science theory that the advent of rural population movements into the capital is a sign of social deterioration” • Especially pedicabs in Bkk, driven by rural migrants - sign of ‘improperness’ • 1959 - pedicabs abolished in Bkk and drivers ‘assisted’ to move back to the provinces (government loans to help them ‘assimilate’ back into rural society)

  12. Most tuk tuks, taxis and motorcycle taxes I’ve used in Bangkok have been driven by people from rural provinces – should we kick them out?

  13. The Law of the Primate City The primate city is commonly at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant. Mark Jefferson, 1939 Bangkok is a megalopilis…but also the only one in the country, so it can also be considered to be a ‘Primate City’

  14. Bangkok – Example of a Primate City • Urban Primacy - where the largest city is a many times larger than the second city. • A huge dichotomy exists between Bangkok (5.9 million) and Thailand's second city, Nakhon Ratchasima (278,000).

  15. Factors Encouraging Primacy • Favourable initial advantages for site • Advantages maintained and enhanced • Magnetic attraction for businesses, services and people (cumulative effect) • Disproportionate growth increases attractiveness • Has a parasitic effect, sucking wealth, natural and human resources.

  16. For & Against Primate Cities in an LEDC like Bangkok FOR • They attract overseas investment and benefits that will eventually benefit the whole country AGAINST • They are unstoppable monsters that create serious problems, shortages and escalating land prices that make them less attractive places to live in.

  17. Benefits of Bangkok’s Primacy: • Economic • Social • Cultural

  18. Economic: • Bkk had 15.8 per cent of total national population in 1988 • But,Bkk and its vicinity (BMR) generated more than 50 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) • Its GDP per capita of 87,032 baht, the highest in the country, was about 10 times that of the Lower Northeast. • Highest Income per household • BMR, average 29,880 baht, • 2.3 times higher than the national average of 12,766 baht, • Lowest Incidence of Poverty • BMR (1988), only 3.41% was classified as poor • 23.67% nationwide

  19. Social: • About 12 per cent of the BMR population have access to piped water, compared with 1.2 per cent in North, 1.4 per cent in the South, and 0.9 per cent in the North-east. • There are on the average 7.0 telephones for every 100 residents of the BMR, compared with 1.4 in the Central region, 1.2 in the North, and 0.5 in the North-east. • More than 12,800 cm3 of water are supplied per 1,000 population in the BMR, which is more than five times the national average of 2,302 cm3 per 1,000 people. • There are 2.12 hospital beds per 1,000 BMR residents, compared with 0.38 per 1,000 residents in Sri Saket, the poorest province of Thailand.

  20. Cultural: • Center of arts and knowledge • Opportunities and facilities for leisure and entertainment greater than anywhere else • Benefits unquantifiable.. but suggest a better quality of life

  21. Costs for Thailand and Bangkok • Underdevelopment of the rest of the country & growth in inequality • Transport • Pollution • Land use

  22. Land use • Built on clay based rice paddy - more suitable for farming than urban/industrial use

  23. No city plan until 1992 • no coordinated attempts to control the growth of the city & use of land • Weak property/land use taxes • no deterrent effect on idle & speculative land holdings • means much land in the city is idle • little efficiency in development of the city

  24. The BMAestimates there are over 320 unfinished buildings abandoned by private developers

  25. Bangkok Slums: • 1991 estimated 1.3million living in 150 different slum areas • Total population @ 6million – therefore @ 20% of the total Bkk population lived in slums • Queen Sirikit Convention Center – built at the core of a large slum area – plan to evict them to remove them from sight (>2000 people) • Army removed people from Duang Pitak slum (to tented city with no electricity/water, but $240 compensation) • Another slum surrounded by 15ft high corrugated metal sheet

  26. Oh…and one more problem…it’s sinking.. • Bkk lies about 3½ to 5 feet above the Gulf of Thailand, although some areas are already below sea level. • Gulf of Thailand water level is rising by about a tenth of an inch a year, about the same as the world average • But the city, built on clay rather than bedrock, has also been sinking at a far faster pace of up to 4 inches annually • Everyone — the government, scientists and environmental groups — agrees Bangkok is headed for trouble, but there is some debate about when…

  27. Smith Dharmasaroja, Chairman ‘Committee of National Disaster Warning Administration’ (2007) "We feel that with the ground sinking and the sea water rising, Bangkok will be under sea water in the next 15 to 20 years — permanently."

  28. 16.4 million Thais at potential risk - mainly clustered in the provinces along the Gulf of Thailand, including Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkram, Chanthaburi Khun Samut Chin (Samut Prakan), 12 miles from downtown Bangkok • About half a mile of shoreline has already been lost over the past three decades, • Monks & villagers are building the barriers from locally collected donations and planting mangrove trees to halt shoreline erosion

  29. What is Bangkok’s future?

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