Sociological Perspectives: Urbanization in the Third World Vs. Urbanization in the First World

"Urbanization: A process through which the urban population of a country or of the world is growing more rapidly than the population living in rural areas." (Sociology in Global Perspective, Ch. 5, pg. 23)

Arguably, it was the plow that brought urbanization into being. The invention of the plow enabled people who had, at one time, only been able to farm small gardens to work whole fields. People were now able to thwart weeds more efficiently and churn the soil so that seeds would grow more readily. With these enhanced means of production, people were able to create a surplus for the first time and the creation of a surplus paved the way for centralized population growth and, eventually, the urban areas we are familiar with today.

The cities we consider to be First World cities came from these meager population growths. Granted, cities have risen and fallen over and over again since the invention of the plow. The process of urbanization, however, tends to remain the same. Technology and enhanced methods create a surplus in production. Production surplus creates population growth in the area. Eventually, between the population growth in that area and the relocation of the population from rural areas, what was once a handful of people became a city or even a metropolis. The process, though seeming to happen in the blink of an eye, was fairly gradual because, until recently, technology came gradually.

In the last century or so, however, urbanization has been happening more rapidly. We can attribute this to the Industrial Revolution and the continued technological breakthroughs that have been happening consistently since then. It's interesting to note, however, that because there was so much urbanization for so long, there is an emerging trend in First World Countries toward something of a postindustrial way of life. This is a trend where rural populations are growing more quickly than the urban populations. We may find that, as First World cities reach their peak, there is a trend more some sort of equilibrium between urban and rural living, especially since communication technologies have made it possible to access information that was previously only available in cities.

Third World countries are faring a little differently. During the last few decades, urban populations have been growing rapidly, but so have rural populations meaning that urban growth is not a result of a decrease in the rural sector. This can lead to a couple of different problems that Third World countries will have to be aware of. First, these countries need to be aware of the impact on the economy. In order for the economy to improve and for the needs of the growing populations in both areas to be met, these countries are going to have to make more efficient use of their human resources. Second, these countries need to understand the impact on urban population. When technological progress finally reaches these urban areas, migration from rural areas is going to skyrocket putting further strain on an economy already stressed by a rapidly growing population.

Reference:
Lynn D. Nelson, PhD., "Sociology in Global Perspective."