Urbanisation in Africa
Geography: KS3, topic 17.1.8
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Test yourself on Urbanisation in Africa
Which of the following best describes what has recently happened to Lagos?
Which is NOT a common problem of rapid urbanisation?