The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution

Urbanization is the concentration of people in towns and cities, this marks a fundamental step in mans social evolution. Cities first appeared some 5,500 years ago they were both small and overcrowded. Today the biggest cities in the world accommodate most people due to urban agglomeration (e.g. 7% of the American nations land accommodated 70% of the nation in 1960). This saw a high degree of social complexity and interlacement as never imagined before. During the 1850's no society was predominantly urbanized but by 1900 Britain became the first. A mere 625 years all industrial nations were highly urbanized. During the period of 1950 to 1960 the fastest growth rate of urbanization occurred and 33% of the world's population lived in urban areas by the end of this period.

In the past population of cities and towns were given by the number of people living within political boundaries. This became very inaccurate after the First World War for people have been moving over these boundaries. Competition caused specialization in cities as well as technological innovation. This led to cities having to invest in education and academics to satisfy this need. The biggest break through for urbanization was because of developments in energy, technology and machinery advancements. This caused the proportion of the population living in urban areas to increase by four times in a single century. The later a country experienced industrialization the faster it was urbanized. Modern urbanization is closely related to economic growth. When urbanization ends growth of cities and economies will not necessarily end. The urbanization trends and times taken for it to occur differ from country to country however in all countries growth in the first 50% of the population is the fastest. When societies become very advanced and highly urbanized it causes suburbanization. Considered to be rural this retarded urbanization statistics.

During the early 19th century urbanization slowed down due to health issues and also because woman living in urban areas had an average of 38.3% less children. Since the mortality rate was higher than birth rate at this time the only factor that increased the urban population was rural urban migration. People moved to urban areas for better, easier and higher paying jobs. This drain became so intense that rural populations across the globe began to decline in a drastic measure. This also caused the majority of the population to depend on a minute minority for agricultural products. The growth of urban areas then began to cease for the rural population could no longer feed the growth of the urban areas. This caused economic development and growth to cease. The current rates of urbanization in underdeveloped countries could be expected to exceed those now existing in countries far advanced in the urbanization cycle. Urbanization is occurring now faster than ever before. If it continues at this rate these areas will double their population every 15 years. "The switch from a spread out pattern of human settlement to one of concentration in urban centers" (Davis, 1965 Level of urbanization Vs rate of urbanization Level of Urbanization - Percent of total population living in urban areas (relative concept) - Different from simple urban growth as a result of population growth in absolute number Rate of Urbanization - Percent increase in total urban population over course of a year - Tells us speed at which urban population is increasing the process of urbanization. In other words, the world is rapidly becoming urban. The Industrial Revolution in the United States took place in the late 19th century. It was characterized by technological inventions in steel making, electric power and machinery, chemical manufacturing, and internal combustion engine; and by the modern corporation. Innovations in technology and manufacturing process transformed American from a rural agricultural society to an urban industrial one. By the end of the century, the United States emerged as the largest and most productive industrial nation in the world.

The industrial revolution was a major event that took place over a fair duration of time around the 17th century, which has changed the face of this planet. The change came about initially in Europe and then spread to latte parts of the