Rapid Growth of Cities in the Global South - Essay Example

? Key characteristics and key reasons for the rapid growth of cities in the global south INTRODUCTION The Global South refers to the countries of the world, located – mainly – in the Southern Hemisphere of the globe. This classification covers, the 88 nations with medium levels of human development, which are characterized by an HDI level of below 0.8 but greater than .5 and also the 32 countries characterized by low human development levels, with a HDI ranking of below .5. Some of the twenty countries grouped under this class do not offer the information required to compute their HDI rating (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 94-95). Seven of these are likely to fall under the classification of those with a high HDI rating, and they include Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino, Monaco Montenegro, Vatican State and Taiwan. Following the definition offered above, the global south is comprised of 133 countries of the total 197 (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 95). Many of the countries grouped under the Global South fall under central and South America, Asia and Africa. This paper will explore the major characteristics and the major reasons behind the rapid growth witnessed recently, among the cities of the Global South. NORTH-SOUTH ISSUES The Global South and the rapid growth of the urban centers of the Global South are characterized by different issues but the most significant is its economic development outlook and ranking. This issue is related to the differences in the living standards of the south, when compared to those of the North. The major characteristic of the disparities is the evidence of the disparities between the living standards of the poor and the rich, which can be traced to a wide array of factors (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 96-97). Using the arguments of the modernization theory, the relatively, less developed nature of the Global South can be explained on the basis of the transition from traditional to modern societies. These changes started with the industrial revolution, during the 1950s, in countries like England, prior to the World War I. The characteristics of the Global South urban are some of the obstacles in the way of its transition to fully modernized urban centers, like the case has been with the urban centers of the Global North. These obstacles that characterize the urban areas of the Global South include the reign of traditional elites, the peoples’ identification with traditional religious values and non-transformational social mores. These characteristics of the cities of the Global South obstruct the social dislocation that comes with the transformation to modern urban societies. Secondly, bribery and corruption stand in the way of political restructuring, public policy and development plans, which keeps these countries locked under the traditional social system, which may foster urban growth but delay the transformation process (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 98-99). Thirdly, military elites play a major role in the power structure of these societies, democratic rule remains suppressed and the power of the judiciary is influenced by the political system in operation, which delays and slows down the transformation of the urban area. Basing arguments on the dependency theory, the characteristics of the Global South urban area, which keep it less developed than the urban areas of the Global North, include their economic dependency, which succeeded their colonial domination by the more powerful countries. The characteristics of these nations and their urban areas include that foreign investment, foreign trade, the work of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and foreign investments disadvantage the urban development of the Global South (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 98). The characteristics of the urban development of the Global South include that their economic strongholds are centered on the production of primary goods products, which are mainly raw materials for the production processes of the urban centers of the more developed urban centers of the Global North. The production systems of the urban areas of the Global South, which have triggered the rapid growth, include the increased production of raw materials like tin, copper, oil, uranium, and single crops like peanuts, bananas, tobacco, cotton and rice. The productive outlook of the rapidly growing urban centers of the Global South is characterized by the production of a few products or a single primary product, which is exported to the urban centers of the developed world, and the revenues are used for the purchase of the processed or industrial products produced by the Global North. The urban centers of the Global South are characterized by their dependence on the traditional society system, where the backbone of the city’s economy is grounded in the agricultural production of the rural areas (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 110). THE REASONS BEHIND THE RAPID GROWTH OF THE CITIES OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH The Primary-production outlook of the economic systems The dependence of the Global South on the production of primary goods is one of the major bases for the dependence of the rapid growth of the urban center. One of the main sources of revenue for the Global South is agriculture and mining, which are characterized by the bulk of its production output. The bulky nature of the output of the production system requires the further development of the infrastructure needed to transport the products from the production sites to the market (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 109-110). For that reason, the rapid development of infrastructure like railways, harbors and roads offer more opportunities for the growth of the urban areas, as well as the areas that are not yet urbanized. The development of these different areas of infrastructure offers a more convenient environment for the modern market economy to thrive, which offers more opportunity and the potential for rapid urban growth. Many of the Global South countries are rich in the raw materials required for the production systems of the Global North, therefore the rapid inflow of capital in the form of foreign investment forms a major channel, through which the urban centers of the Global South grow rapidly. However, the foreign ownership of the capital triggering the growth of the urban center and the repatriation of returns to the developed countries distorts the development prospects of the Global South (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 109-110). The distorted development track of the rapidly growing urban center of the Global South can be evidenced by the unending service gaps in different service areas. For instance, the service sectors that remain deprived, irrespective of the rapid urban growth include the education system, the housing and water supply system and other areas of social infrastructure. The impact of Western medicine The permeation of Western medicine in the urban areas of the Global South has played a major role in the rapid growth of the urban centers. The impact of the increased consumption of western medicine – in the urban growth prospects of the Global South – which has pushed for the rapid growth of the urban center is that it has reduced the rates of mortality among children and adults by a significant percentage, almost in an immediate way. However, the negative impact of the permeation of western medicine include that it has not triggered an immediate reduction in the birth levels of the urban center. The final effects of the increasing uptake of medicine have triggered the rapid increment of the population levels at the urban as well as at the rural areas, which has forced the rural population to migrate to the urban areas (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 110-112). The shift of the surplus labor to the urban centers leads to the rapid development of the urban center, as well as the expansion of the production capacity of the urban center, which creates the platform required for the uncontrolled growth of the urban center and the populations accommodated within it. Demographic transition The traditional society is characterized by a high birth rate as well as high infant mortality levels. The two balance one another out and they maintain a balance in the population levels of the urban areas of the traditional society. On the other hand, the modern society’s population is kept under the balance and under the check by the low infant mortality levels and the relatively low infant birth levels, which cancel one another out. However, due to the transition societies that characterize the urban areas of the global south are destabilized by the increased consumption and adoption of western and modern medicine, which counters the high infant mortality rates. Further, the tradition and the religious values of the traditional society continue to promote the birth of many children, which creates a cycle of ever-increasing levels of population. The non-balanced growth of the populations leads to an escalation of the transactions of the urban center, which trigger the growth of the urban area. These include the creation of more residential centers, the creation of more employment as well as the further destabilization of the urban economy, which triggers further urban growth. For example, irrespective of the economic growth that corresponds to the increased productivity and the growth of the economic scale of the urban center, the increasing population may lead to a reduction in metrics like per capita income (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 111). The non-matching change of metrics makes the urban areas of the Global South to grow rapidly, but there is a corresponding reverse-growth in the development track record of the urban center. This outlook fosters further urban growth, which may be planed and executed by the policy making and the legal authorities overseeing the operations of the urban center, but at the same time, instead of causing more growth of metrics like productivity, end up increasing urban growth. In many cases, this urban growth does not correspond to the anticipated development, which is evident from the urban areas and the economies of the Global North. Urbanization This is the movement of population from rural to urban areas. In traditional societies, about 95 percent of the population resides in the rural areas, and is primarily tasked with the provision of the labor required by the agricultural sector. The remaining population is that living in the city, which is not directly involved in agriculture, and it does not make a living through providing labor for the agricultural sector. The processes of modernization and the growth of the urban areas led to the movement of a majority of the surplus labor at the rural areas, ending up with the development of the urban area. In the case of the Global South, the increase in the population of the rural areas, as well as the modernization process led to the rapid growth of the urban area. The increasing demand for urban labor and the increasing opportunities in the urban area leads to the development of a wide urban slum, which offers the residential centers for the unemployed population that offers the ready labor for the continually expanding production capacity of the urban area (Borowiecki, 2013, p. 111). Through the process of urbanization, the urban center expands, pushing its boundaries with the surrounding slum areas, which makes the focal role of the urban center to increase, when compared to the rural area, which offers the food resources required by the urban population. The Globalization Process The globalization process has led to the geographic dispersal of economic activities across the urban areas of the Global South. The increasing role of global corporations in the economic activities of the different countries fosters the increasing role of the urban center. The growth of the urban areas of the different urban centers results from the increased sharing and the exchange of resources, including those related to the management, coordination, financing, servicing and the networking operations of the global agencies within the urban center (Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg, 2010, p. 43-47). The increased role of multinationals and global firms at the different urban centers leads to the increased importance of more urban production, the supply of more residential centers and the increased in and out-flow of business from the urban center. Due to the increasing consumption as well as the interdependences developed with other urban centers and countries, the urban areas grow from the expansion of its production capacity as well as the expansion of its boundaries. Through the process of globalization, the production capacity of different countries and their urban areas has increased, and the increasing role of the urban center as a center spot for the business, communication and the distribution roles have led to the growth of many urban areas. One clear example that shows the effects of globalization on the growth of Global South urban areas is that of India, where the expanding service sector has been a major contributor to the expansion of urban areas. According to Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg (2010, p. 45), the services and the manufacturing sectors have triggered the spatial growth of urban areas, where expansion of urban centers is moving from the high-density areas, towards less densely populated areas. However, the service sector has, in some cases depicted a reverse growth, where it has contributed to the increasing concentration of the less-populated urban areas, unlike in the case of the urban areas that have experienced the problem of population over the years (Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg, 2010, p. 43-47). THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RAPID GROWING GLOBAL SOUTH CITIES The characteristics of rapid urbanization, across the Global South are evidenced by the emergence of megacities, which are the cities with a population in excess of ten million residents. The megacity can be formed through the uncontrolled expansion of the city’s boundaries and its population, or the convergence of two or more cities (Oizumi, 2010, p. 3-7). Examples of the cities that have grown to become megacities in Asia include Shanghai and Bangkok, where the growth resulted from the rapid advance in the bounds of the cities, which was accompanied by major population inflow into the cities. Until the 1980s, these megacities were identified as highly populated areas, affected by low productivity, unlike those of the developed world (Oizumi, 2010, p. 4-5). However, the inflow of foreign investment in these Global Southern cities has changed the situation, and turned these cities into global export production grounds. The increased investment in these cities has led to the absorption of the unemployed population living around these cities, which triggers more expansion of the city. Further, the merging of industrial clusters and megacities is leading to the formation of mega economic spheres, which could be the future outlook of the production capacity of the Global South (Oizumi, 2010, p. 5-7). One adverse effect of urban growth among Global South cities includes the increment of urban poverty as well as the growth of urban slums. The situation is evident from India, where recent reports accounted that 17 percent of the urban residents of India live in slum areas. Among the urban areas where slums are growing uncontrollably include Mumbai (UN-Habitat, 2009, p. 2). The expanding coverage of slum areas attracts more unemployed people from the rural areas to the cities, and the explosion of the urban population widens the poverty levels in these urban areas. For example, it is reported that the slum dwellers of Indian slums live under overcrowded surroundings; the housing available is often not well-ventilated, and the surroundings of the housing and the residential areas are often unclean, and some may lack the basic requirements of residential areas, like toilets. Further, it is reported that the urban population of India is growing faster than the overall population, and urban poverty levels have risen to the highs of 25 percent, where many states report more poverty in the urban areas, than that in the rural areas – the rural areas have been characteristically poorer than the urban areas (UN-Habitat, 2009, p. 2-6). The continuously increasing levels of poverty and urban poverty in the cities of the Global South create more problems in the urban areas, including that they create more needs for services and infrastructure, including water, shelter, housing, sanitation, education, health and social security. From the statistics of India, 11.2 million slum dwellers live in Maharashtra, which is the region where Mumbai is located, which is double the population level of other slum areas, including Andhra Pradesh, which has about 5.2 million residents (UN-Habitat, 2009, p. 4-6). The transition of China from a rural society to an urban-dominated society was reported in 2008, and the urbanization process – which took two decades – was extraordinary; the urbanization level doubled from 25% to 42% during the period between 1987 and 2007 (Cook, Ghaolin and Halsall, 2013, p. 10-12). The adverse effects of the massive urbanization process included that the growth triggered the widening of the inequalities existing among the citizens of China. The massive inequalities can be attributed to the change of China from a centrally planned country to a market economy, which came along with the relative regrouping of people and egalitarianism, where the era thrives on competition and individualism (Cook, Ghaolin and Halsall, 2013, p. 12-13). The case of China demonstrates the true picture of urban growth and the urbanization taking place in Global Southern countries. The situation shows the importance of regulated social development and the distribution of resources and opportunities, along with the urban development and urbanization (Cook, Ghaolin and Halsall, 2013, p. 14-15). Across the Asia-Pacific region, the past decades has seen the transformation of many cities, mainly through the flow of new technologies, globalization and the mediation of these forces, by the policies and the political institutions of the different countries (Watson, 2011, p. 57). Due to the power of these influences, different studies have shown that the urban areas in the emerging Global South are growing according to similar patterns of growth and development. However, irrespective of the growth patterns that appear similar, the same cities are also influenced by unique pressures, among them the need for urban specialization, which is a common outlook on globalization and the governmental policies adopted in response to the pressure for development (Watson, 2011, p. 62). There is also pressure exerted from the rapid transfer of technology and knowledge, previously held by the developing countries only. The rapid growth of urban centers is also pushing different cities towards differentiating their economic activities, which influences the urban form and the resultant growth. The rapid transfer of information and technology is driving national urbanization, and also leading to the formation of new development-related and environmental challenges, which shape the urban growth of cities further (Watson, 2011, p. 124). CONCLUSION The Global South refers to the countries located in the southern hemisphere, including the 88 nations with human development (HDI) levels of between 0.5 and 0.8 and also the 32 countries with an HDI level below .5. The North-South issues that can be attributed to the rapid urban development of the countries of the Global South are the focal development outlook of and the ranking of the South, when compared to the Global North. The issues of the countries of the Global South can be evaluated using the modernization theory, which explores the transition of these countries from traditional to modern societies. The theory explores the characteristics of the Global Southern countries and the development of the cities, which either promote or hinder the shift from traditional to modern setups. These characteristics include bribery and corruption and the political system influences the working of other systems, including the judiciary. Basing the exploration of the dependency theory, scholars hold that the domination of the developed nations is what keeps the Global South nations underdeveloped, using platforms like the reliance on the production of raw materials. The reasons behind the rapid growth of the cities of the Global South include the dependence of the Global South countries on the revenues sourced from the production of raw materials. The second factor is the role of the developed countries in the exploration of the natural resources of the Global South countries, which fosters the growth of urban centers. The third factor is the impact of western medicine; the fourth is demographic transition, and there is urbanization and the process of globalization. The characteristics of the rapidly growing cities of the Global South include megacities, which develop from one city or the merger of two or more cities. There is an adverse characteristic of the cities, which is that there is a continued increment of urban poverty and the growth of urban slums. Other characteristics of the rapidly growing cities include the transition from traditional to modern societies and the transformation of the city due to the flow of information and technology. REFERENCE LIST Borowiecki, K., 2013. Geographic Clustering and Productivity: An Instrumental Variable Approach for Classical Composers. Journal of Urban Economics, 73(1), p. 94-110. Cook, I., Ghaolin, G. and Halsall, J., 2013. China’s Growing Urban Health inequalities: The Challenges Ahead. Journal of Management and Sustainability, 3(2), p. 10-15. Desmet, K. and Rossi-Hansberg. E., 2010. On Spatial Dynamics. Journal of Regional Science, 50(1), p. 43-47. Oizumi, K., 2010. The Changing Face of Mega Cities in Asia’s Emerging Economies Rising Competitiveness and Expanding Markets. RIM Pacific Business and Industries, X (37), p. 3-7. UN-Habitat , 2009. Slums: Levels and trends 1990-2005. [online] Un Habitat. Available at: http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/9179_33168_Slum_of_the_World_levels_a nd_trends.pdf Watson, J., 2011. The New Asian City: Three-Dimensional Fictions of Space and Urban Form. Minneapolis, MN: Univ of Minnesota Press. Read More