Intro to urbanization unit: when & why people started living in cities?

Urbanization is an important unit of study in geography as on average 4 out of 5 people live in the urban area in Western Europe and North America and Japan... and in Australia, 9 out of 10 people... in developing Asia, 4 out of 10 people--but those statistics are rapidly changing with urbanization. More and more people around the world are moving from the rural areas, from an agrarian based society, to the suburbs and cities, in search of a better life, more economic opportunities and a higher standard of living. For too many, this mass migration is met with hardship and governments struggle to keep up with the influx of so many people as it stresses the existing infrastructure. For this reason, this is a short but significant unit. How do we rise to the challenges we face with modernization and urbanization? How do we meet the needs of an increasingly urbanized global population?

Today we'll take a look at when, where & why people began living in cities. We'll go over some of the APHG terms for this final unit of the course and we'll review some of the terms we've already learned this year and how they apply to the study of the urban landscape.
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Helpful Links for today's class:

• Urban eyesore of the month
• ​Services Google Slides (combines Unit 6 and Unit 7)
• Unit 7 Urbanization - Lecture Slides

HW: Read Fouberg CH. 9 Key Issue 1&2

Read...
Key Issue/Question 1: When and why did people start living in cities?
Key Issue/Question 2: Where are cities located and why?