Urbanization pattern: compare and contrast between MDCs and LDCs

The world at this point in time is essentially urban. Approximately one half of the global population lives in cities, a figure that is as high as 75% if we look exclusively at the most developed nations.  But not all nations have experienced the same urbanization process, neither temporally nor with regard to the intrinsic characteristics of that process. With reference to the first point, the process of European urbanization took place fundamentally throughout the nineteenth century and was linked to the parallel phenomena of the industrialization and economic growth of the continent. 

Table : Rural –Urban population in World, MDCs and LDCs

On the other hand, less-developed nations are now immersed in an intense urbanization process, and their urbanization is not always accompanied by positive growth rates. With regards to the second point, there is a certain consensus about the existence of two contrasting patterns of urbanization: one is linked to countries with high incomes and yields a balanced urban structure, in the sense that the disparity between the major city and the rest is not so great.

Figure 3: Level of Urbanization; A comparison among world, MDCs and LDCs

The other process is associated with low-income countries and generates greater unbalances: a large city, a megalopolis, dominates the rest of the urban nuclei. The sustained increase of the urban population combined with the pronounced deceleration of rural population growth will result in continued urbanization, that is, in increasing proportions of the population living in urban areas. Globally, the level of urbanization is expected to rise from 52 per cent in 2011 to 67 per cent in 2050 Figure 3 .The more developed regions are expected to see their level of urbanization increase from 78 per cent to 86 per cent over the same period. In the less developed regions, the proportion urban will likely increase from 47 per cent in 2011 to 64 per cent in 2050.

Two continents, Asia and Africa, presently largely under-developed, have the largest number of people. In contrast, the developed continents of Europe, North America, and Australia, not only started with a low level of population in 1950, but also will continue to remain at a low level through 2150. The largest population growth will occur in Africa and Asia, causing more urban-related problems emanating in large part from this growth.

Figure 4: Rate of urbanization; a comparison among world, MDCs and LDCs

From the above figure 4 it has been clearly observed that rates of urbanization tend to be greater in the less developed regions of the world than more developed countries. The developed countries in 1995 had 18.5% of world population compared to 81.5% for the developing world. However, because of the declining natural growth in the developed countries, their share of world population will drop to 11.4% in 2050 and 9.8 % in 2150. By the same token, because of the relatively higher growth rate, the developing countries’ share will rise to 88.6% in 2050 and 90.2% in 2150.

Figure 5: Difference between urbanization pattern of MDC and LDCs urbanization curve