The Way People Live Urban Expansion With their industries, traffic jams and buildings, cities are often seen as new developments in history In fact, the origin of cities goes back to thousands of years and passes through at least three distinct phases The first phase began around or thousand years ago with settlements that grew into what we call the river valley civilisations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China These settlements depended largely on agriculture and domesticated animals However, as civilisations grew in size and trade routes grew in number, these settlements became centres for merchants, craftspeople, traders and government officials The division between town and country, urban and rural had begun The second phase in the development of cities came much later (mid 18th century) with the Industrial Revolution in Europe Factories needed a large labour force and commercial activity created new opportunities in cities Looking for employment and a better life, people moved from rural areas into cities in greater numbers than ever before The third phase began after the Second World War The largest and fastest growth in the world’s urban population has taken place since 1950 As the world economy became more international and grew in size, cities all over the world began to grow larger at a very fast pace Most of this growth has been concentrated in Asia, Latin America and Africa, although some US cities such as Phoenix and Los Angeles have been growing at the same pace Nowadays, most urban growth results from natural increase (more births than deaths, due to a longer life span) Moreover, globalisation has an impact on urban expansion due to economic activities Most urban expansion will take place in developing countries and there will probably be an increase in the number of poor people Environmental issues will also affect urban concentrations and there will be a need for policies for environmental sustainability The number of urban dwellers will continue to increase and urban population will grow to 4.9 billion by 2030 The new urbanites, the future of cities in developing countries, the future of humanity itself, they all depend very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth Adapted from: http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2007/english/introduction.html English Toolkit - Social Sciences Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 Module 4B Module 4B Activities Scan the text and state if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F) a Factories required a large number of workers b People migrated from urban into rural areas looking for better employment c The first settlements started in America d Most of the cities that grew are in India e Los Angeles has been growing rapidly f There will be urban growth in developed countries g Globalisation is one of the causes of urban expansion a b The Second World War began in 1945 .1914 .1939 The invention of the steam engine marked the beginning of the industrial city .the Industrial Revolution .the French Revolution c d The Industrial Revolution started in Spain .England .France The fastest growth in urban population started in 1970 .1940 .1950 3 How you say the following statements in your language? a It is hard to predict what shape cities will take in the future b In many areas, including the developing countries, many people are moving out of the city, to nearby areas often called suburbs c Efficient transport systems such as rail links and highways allow people to live outside the city and travel to work every day 4 Find synonyms in the text a commerce: d stages: b speed: e job: c factories: f growth: 5 Work in groups Form an ideal city committee Make a list of positive and negative aspects of the place where you live List all the things your city needs Think of means of transport, traffic, accommodation, jobs and environmental conditions Share your ideas with the class English Toolkit - Social Sciences Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 2 Tick (3) the right option