Urban Studies

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Throughout most history , the world 's population has lived a rural lifestyle . This trend has however changed and today , the human population is becoming urbanized as people migrate to the cities at a very high rate . In 1950 for example only less than thirty per-cent of the world 's population lived in the urban areas while in the year 2000 the number grew to 47 and it 's expected to rise to sixty per-cents by the year 2025 . Developed countries however have a higher

percentage of urban dwellers than the developing countries though urban growth is occurring rapidly in these countries and it is even predicted that in the next decade most of the growth will occur in these developing nations (Robert 12

Generally , a city is defined as a political unit but every country has its own way of defining cities . Cities are also defined by the number of residents . The United Nations for example defines urban dwelling as a settlement with a population of over 20 ,000 people while cities are those with over 100 ,000 people . The United States on the other hand defines an urban area as a city and surrounding area , with a minimum population of 50 ,000 . Further , cities with a population of over five million are referred to as mega-cities . In the year 2000 , there were 41 mega-cities in the world and the number is expected to increase with higher population growth in the next decade (Robert 17-18...