Urban Expansion The first phase began around 5 or 6 thousand years ago with settlements that grew into what we call the river valley civilisations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China
Trang 1The Way People Live
English Toolkit 1 - Social Sciences
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
Urban Expansion
The first phase began around 5 or 6
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
Trang 24 BModule
English Toolkit 1 - Social Sciences
2 Tick (3) the right option.
3 How do you say the following statements
in your language?
Activities
1 Scan the text and state if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F).
4 Find synonyms in the text.
a commerce:
b speed:
c factories:
a The Second World War began in
.1945
.1914
.1939
b The invention of the steam engine
marked the beginning of
.the industrial city
.the Industrial Revolution
.the French Revolution
c The Industrial Revolution started in
.Spain
.England
.France
d The fastest growth in urban population
started in
.1970
.1940
.1950
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
c Efficient transport systems such as rail links and highways allow
people to live outside the city and travel to work every day
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
d stages:
e job:
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.