15 topics about sociology - Essay Example

At present, a majority of the world’s population has or is living in a city; and yet, it was only about 100 years ago when there were only about 12 cities in existence. This speaks much of the pace and speed by which urbanization has taken place in various towns and rural areas. The growth in the population in these cities has also exceeded expected numbers for regular cities. These cities are called megacities because the rate of population growth and of development has increased and risen to unprecedented levels.

And “we now live in an urban world where the mega-metropolises: Tokyo-Yokohama and greater Mexico City have populations of over 20 million” (Palen, p. 2). The rapidity of change from rural to urban life is at least as important as the amount of urbanization because the success or failure of the transition from rural to urban life is very much dependent on the pace of the development and the reception of the people to the development. And the megacities now cater to more advancement in industry and technology.

The pace of these advancements is fast and is manifesting on a massive scale. But a large proportion of the world’s population is still based in the rural areas and in most Western nations. And the pace of transition from rural to urban life has been a dramatic transition as most population growths have been seen in the cities. Much of the population growth and transitions from rural to urban areas have been exhibited in developing countries. And these third world nations have managed to experience an expansion of their cities because many of the citizens seek greener pastures in these cities.

As a result, today, “the number of people living in developing world cities outnumbers the entire population of the world only 100 years ago” (Palen, p. 3). These numbers indicate that the pace of transition from rural to urban life has as much impact and importance as the amount of