17.1.8

Urbanisation in Africa

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Urbanisation In Africa

Urbanisation is rapid in developing parts of the world, Africa is no exception to this. Lagos in Nigeria is an example of a city which has rapidly urbanised.

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Urbanisation

  • Urbanisation is characterised by the increase of people living in cities. Often, they have moved from rural areas to urban areas.
  • Urbanisation can cause many problems in cities, as often the city does not have the facilities to cope with the rapid movement of people.
  • Urbanisation has many problems and benefits for the city and the people living there.
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Urbanisation problems

  • A lack of space for housing can lead to squatter settlements being built on land that is unsafe.
  • A lack of facilities such as clean water, sanitation and waste disposal.
    • This leads to the rapid spread of disease.
  • Cities often don’t have available healthcare, jobs or education for the number of people.
    • This leads to high crime and unemployment rates.
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Urbanisation benefits

  • There are some benefits to the urbanisation. An example is the new large workforce, which will help the economy grow.
  • The benefits are often outweighed by the problems.
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Lagos

  • Lagos is one of the fastest urbanising cities in Africa.
  • The population in Lagos has increased from 4 million people in 1990 to 17 million people who lived there in 2016.
  • It is estimated that by 2030 the population of Lagos will be close to 25 million.
  • People move to Lagos from the countryside due to the low wages and lack of job opportunities. People believe that the city will give them a better lifestyle and high wages.

Jump to other topics

1Geography Skills

2Geology of the UK

3Geography of the World

4Development

5Weather & Climate

6The World of Work

7Natural Resources

8Rivers

9Coasts

10Glaciers

11Tectonics

12Climate Change

13Global Population & Inequality

14Urbanisation

15Ecosystems

16Life in an Emerging Country

17Analysis of Africa

18Analysis of India

19Analysis of the Middle East

20Analysis of Bangladesh

21Analysis of Russia

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