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GCSE/Geography/Edexcel

T3.2Causes and consequences of rapid urban growth: rural–urban migration, natural increase; informal settlements (favelas/slums) and challenges of housing, services and employment

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Rapid Urban Growth in EDCs and LIDCs

Why cities are growing rapidly

The world became majority-urban in 2007. Urban growth in EDCs (e.g. India, Brazil) and LIDCs (e.g. Nigeria, DRC) is driven by:

Rural-urban migration (push and pull factors):

  • Push (rural): mechanisation reducing farm jobs; land fragmentation; rural poverty; drought (Sahel); conflict (Syria, DRC); poor services.
  • Pull (urban): perceived job opportunities (factories, services); better schools and hospitals; "bright lights" image; family already in city.

Natural increase: young rural-urban migrants (mostly aged 15–35) reach reproductive age in the city, where birth rates initially stay rural-high while death rates fall sharply. This compounds growth.

Case study: Mumbai, India

  • Population: ~21 million metropolitan area (2024), growing ~2% per year.
  • ~50% of Mumbai's residents live in informal settlements, the largest being Dharavi (~1 million people on 2 km²).

Informal settlements (favelas, slums)

Rapid growth far outstrips formal housing supply, so migrants build on unused land — railway sidings, river banks, hillsides:

  • Self-built homes from corrugated iron, breezeblock, plywood.
  • No legal land title — risk of demolition.
  • High population density (Dharavi: ~280,000/km²).

Challenges

Housing:

  • Overcrowding — 8–10 people per single room common.
  • Hazards — Rocinha (Rio) on steep hillsides prone to landslides; flooding in monsoon (Mumbai).

Services:

  • Water — communal standpipes; ~30% of Dharavi households lack running water.
  • Sanitation — one toilet per ~1,440 people in some Mumbai slums; open drains; cholera, diarrhoea.
  • Electricity — illegal tapping is common; fire risk.
  • Healthcare — limited; high TB rates in Mumbai slums.

Employment:

  • Mostly informal sector — street vending, recycling, leather work, garment piecework.
  • No contracts, no benefits, low wages, child labour.
  • Dharavi's informal economy generates ~$1 bn annually but workers earn pennies.

Responses

  • Self-help schemes — government provides materials, residents build (low cost, community ownership).
  • Site-and-service — government provides plot + utilities; residents build.
  • Slum rebuilding — demolish and rebuild (Mumbai Slum Rehabilitation Authority); often controversial — displaces communities.

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Practice questions

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  1. Question 14 marks

    Push and pull factors for rural-urban migration (4 marks)

    Explain TWO causes of rural-urban migration in a country you have studied. [4 marks]

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  2. Question 28 marks

    Examine challenges of life in an informal settlement (8 marks)

    Examine the challenges faced by people living in an informal settlement in a city you have studied. [8 marks]

    Level mark scheme:

    LevelMarksDescriptor
    L11–3Simple description of slum conditions; little explanation; no/limited examples.
    L24–6Some explanation of multiple challenges; partial coverage; some named example.
    L37–8Detailed examination of housing, services, employment and health challenges; named example (e.g. Dharavi); evaluative conclusion.

    Named example: Dharavi, Mumbai.

    Indicative content:

    • Housing: ~1 million people on 2 km² (density ~280,000/km²); homes self-built from corrugated iron and plywood; 8–10 people per single room; no legal land title — risk of demolition.
    • Sanitation: one toilet per ~1,440 people; open drains; monsoon flooding floods homes with sewage; cholera and diarrhoea common.
    • Water: ~30% of households lack running water; communal standpipes only operate at certain hours.
    • Electricity: illegal tapping creates fire hazards; no consistent supply.
    • Employment: ~85% of Dharavi workers are in the informal sector — recycling, leather work, garment piecework, pottery. Wages are low (often <$2/day), no contracts, no benefits, child labour common.
    • Health: high TB rates, child malnutrition, indoor air pollution from cooking fires.
    • Hazards: monsoon flooding; building collapse; fires (2018 fire destroyed 100 homes).
    • Conclusion: challenges are interconnected — poor housing + poor sanitation + informal employment combine into a poverty trap. Despite these challenges, Dharavi also has a $1 bn informal economy and strong community networks, so it is not just a place of suffering but of resilience and entrepreneurship.
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  3. Question 312 marks

    Evaluate strategies to manage rapid urban growth (12 marks)

    Evaluate the strategies used to manage rapid urban growth in a city in an EDC or LIDC. [12 marks]

    Level mark scheme:

    LevelMarksDescriptor
    L11–4Simple description of one strategy; no genuine evaluation; weak/no examples.
    L25–8Discussion of multiple strategies; some recognition of successes and failures; named examples used.
    L39–12Detailed evaluation of multiple strategies; clear successes AND limitations balanced; named city evidenced; weighted judgement and justified conclusion.

    Named example: Mumbai, India.

    Indicative content (strategies):

    1. Slum rebuilding (Mumbai Slum Rehabilitation Authority):

    • Demolish and rebuild as multi-storey housing on the same site.
    • Successes: permanent homes, water/sanitation, schools.
    • Limitations: Dharavi redevelopment plans (Adani 2023) face strong resistance; new flats lack space for home-based businesses on which families depend; forced relocation breaks community networks; gentrification pushes the original residents out.

    2. Self-help / site-and-service schemes:

    • Government provides land plot + connections; residents build their own home.
    • Successes: low cost; community ownership; gradual, affordable upgrade.
    • Limitations: requires capital and skills many migrants lack; quality varies; slow.

    3. Microfinance and small business support:

    • Loans for slum-based entrepreneurs (e.g. SEWA in India).
    • Successes: incomes raised, businesses formalised.
    • Limitations: small-scale; doesn't address infrastructure.

    4. Transport investment (Mumbai Metro):

    • Reduces congestion, opens new areas to development.
    • Limitations: expensive, often serves middle class first.

    5. Decentralisation:

    • Promote secondary cities (Pune, Nashik) to reduce Mumbai-bound migration.
    • Successes: slows primate-city pressure.
    • Limitations: slow; doesn't help current slum residents.

    Conclusion: no single strategy works; the most effective approaches combine in-situ upgrading (giving residents land tenure + infrastructure without displacement) with rural development (reducing the push to migrate) and urban planning (transport, secondary cities). Top-down demolition and rebuilding has the highest profile but the worst record on equity. The most sustainable solution is to recognise informal settlements as legitimate urban neighbourhoods and upgrade them in partnership with residents.

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Flashcards

T3.2 — Causes and consequences of rapid urban growth: rural-urban migration and informal settlements

7-card SR deck for Edexcel Geography (leaves batch 2) topic T3.2

7 cards · spaced repetition (SM-2)

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