Urban Geography

Grass-roots organizations in Cities

More than half the world 's populations now live in urban areas . Urban geography , which we can simply define as a study of places where there is a higher concentration of buildings , infrastructure , and economic activity , coupled with a high population density , uses the science of geography how to develop or how not develop an area and so is important in planning for the development of urban areas . With the sharp rise in the world population , the widespread demand for more work and better services in the urban

areas has become more urgent

Governments have been challenged to resolve urban processes with regards to more opportunities for work and higher income in the face of rising inflation rates . The theme of governance has emerged with economic , political , cultural and institutional transformations over the years . Related to this is the question on the plurality of hierarchic organizational structures and centralized decision-making processes of government as against the issue of local economic development and policies for urban development . This has been associated with a questioning of the status of government bodies as well as the importance of civil society . What is the role of civil society in this juncture

Since the industrial revolution and the era of mechanized production more and more people from the rural areas have been on an exodus to the cities , after being displaced from their farmlands due to an encroaching urban area and in to find better-paying jobs . With world population almost reaching 7 billion , better plans and alternatives for alleviating the scourge of poverty in this modern world is a challenge that is taken on daily by governments , international organizations and also civil society by means of grassroots organizations

Numerous grassroots organizations are organized and fold-up in a year Hundreds of organizations exist worldwide , from simple concerns for a specific state like the Alabama Black Bear Alliance to more complex ones as the Polaris Project - a grassroots organization aimed at combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery all over the world

The Cambridge Dictionary defines grassroots as the ordinary people in a society or an organization . Billions of dollars are siphoned yearly into grassroots organizations worldwide by funding entities like the United Nations , for example , which seeks to achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020

How effective are grassroots organizations in a modern city ? Made up of ordinary people who , by themselves have no real power in society , these organizations are dependent on benefactors and funding agencies for the projects outlined for delivering them from unemployment and poverty . In the 1990 's , for example , grassroots organizations were receiving close to four billion dollars worldwide

Many people endorse grassroots organizations as an alternative to government . With this view , grassroots organizations can limit the growth of the state , provide flexible services without the constraints of government regulations and oversight , and devise solutions to public problems that do not require government intervention . This results then in avoiding...