Urbanisation means an increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas compared to rural areas. An urban area is a built-up area such as a town or city. A rural area is an area of countryside.

Accordingly, urbanization is very common in developing and developed worlds as more and more people have the tendency of moving closer to towns and cities to acquire “privileged” social and economic services as well as benefits. These include social and economic advantages such as better education, health care, sanitation, housing, business opportunities, and transportation.

As a country industrialises, the number of people living in urban areas tends to increase. The UK and many other MEDC’s urbanised during the 18th and 19th centuries. People migrated from rural areas (due to the mechanisation in farming) to urban areas where there was employment in the new factories. The area of cities known as the inner city developed during this time as rows of terraced housing were built for workers.

Santiago, Chile

Today the UK is a mostly urban society, with 90 per cent of the population living in towns or cities.

On a global scale, urbanisation is taking place rapidly, particularly in LEDC’s

Although the UK is an urban society, more and more people are choosing to live on the edge of urban areas – with many relocating to the countryside. This is called counter-urbanisation.