4.4.1

Megacities

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Megacities

As the world becomes more globalised, economic migration has increased in pace and scale. This has led to urbanisation and the rise of megacities. Megacities have over 10 million people in the urban area.

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Megacities

  • In 1990, there were just 10 megacities across the globe. By 2030, it is expected to rise to 41 according to the UN.
  • Megacities such as Mumbai, India and Karachi, Pakistan are growing rapidly.
  • This is because of rural-urban migration whereby push factors force people to leave their rural homes. Pull factors are factors that encourage people to move to the urban areas.
  • Megacities have a higher birth rate than the death rate, so this natural increase causes the population to continue to grow.
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Push factors

  • Examples of push factors include:
    • A lack of access to education.
    • A lack of access to health care.
    • A lack of access to clean water and sanitation.
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Pull factors

  • Examples of pull factors include:
    • Better employment opportunities in the city.
    • Better healthcare available in the city.
    • An overall better quality of life.
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Problems with megacities

  • Rapid population growth can cause environmental and social problems.
  • For example, there is a shortage of resources, a shortage of houses, a shortage of services.
  • A shortage of homes is caused by the numbers of people moving to the cities on a daily basis - infrastructure cannot be built fast enough to keep up with demand.
  • This leads to a lower quality of life, an increase in unplanned settlements and an increase in poverty.

Megacities - Karachi, Pakistan

Karachi is a megacity growing at an annual rate of 5%. It generates over 25% of the total GDP of Pakistan. Such rapid population growth is causing significant social and environmental problems.

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Unplanned settlements

  • The UN estimate that 50% of the population live in slums or unplanned settlements.
  • Orangi Town is Asia’s largest slum and found in Karachi. It is believed to be home to around 2.4 million people.
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Tax avoidance

  • With around 75% of the slum dwellers in Karachi working in the informal sector, the Government does not receive taxes from these people.
  • So the Government does not have the income to spend on improving education and healthcare which would improve the quality of life of the people of the city.
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Water shortages

  • According to the World Bank, Pakistan is one of the most water stressed countries in the world.
  • A lack of infrastructure to supply clean water makes this a serious problem for Karachi.
  • The WWF estimates that the city loses 30% of its water through leaks in the system.

Megacities - Mumbai, India

Mumbai is India’s largest urban area and was home to 22 million in 2015. It has doubled in size since 1970 and, as a result, suffers social and economic problems because of its rapid growth.

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Unplanned settlements

  • Dharavi is the largest slum area in Mumbai.
  • 5,000 people are employed in the slum in recycling plastics.
  • People find their own informal employment in these areas. In these slum areas, people have little or no access to basic services: water, sanitation, power and waste management.
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Air pollution

  • Air pollution in Mumbai is an example of an environmental problem caused by its rapid growth.
  • In 2018, Mumbai was ranked the 4th most polluted megacity in the world.
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Urbanisation

  • People move to megacities from the surrounding area to earn higher wages than they could in agricultural/rural areas.

Jump to other topics

1Tectonic Processes & Hazards

2Option 2A: Glaciated Landscapes & Change

3Option 2B: Coastal Landscapes & Change

4Globalisation

5Option 4A: Regenerating Places

6Option 4B: Diverse Places

7The Water Cycle & Water Insecurity (A2 only)

8The Carbon Cycle & Energy Security (A2 only)

9Superpowers (A2 only)

10Option 8A: Health & Human Rights (A2 only)

11Option 8B: Migration & Identity (A2 only)

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