Unit 3: Migration and Urbanization (Lessons 5-7)

Unit 3: Migration and Urbanization (Lessons 5-7) Introduction Have you ever moved to a new place? If you have, there was probably a very strong reason that motivated your family to pack up everything you own and move. Sociologists characterize the reasons people leave a particular location as push factors. Push factors propel people away from their current residence. They are the reasons people have for leaving such as war, crime, loss of a job, or a poor school district. When people relocate, however, they have to decide where they will go. Sociologists call the reasons people choose a particular place to settle pull factors. Pull factors include such reasons as peace, job opportunities, or an exemplary school district that motivate people to select the particular location of their new home. Early Migration Humans have been migrating, or moving, since their earliest times. Archaeological evidence has placed the earliest humans in East Africa. The map below shows historians hypotheses of the earliest migration routes based on available evidence. Figure 1 What factors may have caused the migration of early humans out of Africa? Many historians and anthropologists believe that as the population grew, people experienced shortages of food and land. This led groups of people to migrate to new places in search of food and more space. In addition, Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 1 of 11

climate may have played a role. For example, climate change may have affect food supplies, causing people to migrate in search of food. The Land Bridge Theory Historians and others have wondered who the first people to live in the Americas were and where they came from. To figure this out, historians work with another type of social scientist called archaeologists. Archaeologists study ancient cultures through the examination of artifacts, buildings, and other remaining material evidence. By working together to investigate who the first Americans were, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists use the evidence to construct an idea about what probably happened. Since we cannot know for sure, social scientists call their ideas theories. A theory is an idea or a set of ideas based on evidence that explain facts or events. Theories are ideas that are presented as possibly true based on the available evidence, but have not been proven to be true. One theory about how people migrated to the Americas is called the land bridge theory. Social scientists believe that about 12,000 years ago, climate change resulted in the creation of a land bridge between Asia and North America. Using this bridge, people from Asia migrated into North America following the large animals that were their main food source. Evidence has been uncovered to support the land bridge theory. Figure 2 Use the link below to see an animation of the land bridge theory: <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/parcs/atlas/beringia/lbridge.html> Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 2 of 11

New discoveries and new technologies are now causing some historians to question the land bridge theory. Historians have uncovered new evidence including artifacts that date back further than 12,000 years ago, which may support the idea of additional routes to the Americas. Although Figure 3 there are disputes about when and how the first people came to the Americas, there are certain points upon which social scientists agree: These original settlers were able to adapt or to fit the environment. Without wheeled vehicles or riding animals, they were able to spread across South and North America. As conditions changed, these early Americans began to hunt smaller animals and gather food like berries and food plants. They developed nets and hooks for fishing. Eventually, they began to farm. This allowed them to live in more permanent settlements. As they spread across the Americas, these people developed hundreds of separate cultures with different languages, types of shelters, art forms, and traditions. We have come to know these people as Native Americans. Remember, these migrations took thousands and thousands of years to occur. Migrations today are vastly different. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 3 of 11

Global Migration Earlier, we learned that population growth is related to birth rates and death rates. However, the movement of people also plays a role in population increase or decrease. Migration is the movement of people to a new area or country. People who migrate into a region are called immigrants, but to the people and places they leave behind, they are called emigrants. So, immigrants want to come into a new place, whereas emigrants want to exit their current residence. Figure 4 Thus, immigration is the process of non-native people into a country in order to settle there. Emigration is the process of leaving one country to take up permanent or semi-permanent residence. Most people in the world do not want to emigrate from the country of their birth. However, a person can be motivated to permanently move to a new country due to push factors, pull factors, and/or networks. A network includes the people who have paved the way during the migration process. Family members who already live in another country, potential employers in the new country, or even smugglers who are paid to help a person cross a border can provide a network for newcomers. One important way that social scientists examine a country s migration information is by calculating its net migration. Net migration is the total effect of immigration and emigration on an area s population in a given period. It is calculated by taking the number if immigrants per 1000 and subtracting out the number of emigrants per 1000. If a country gains more immigrants than the emigrants it loses, it will have a positive net migration. However, if more emigrants leave a country than the immigrants who move in, there will be a negative net migration. A summary of the net effect of migration on countries around the world can be seen in the map below. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 4 of 11

2008 Net Migration Figure 5: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/net_migration_rate#mediaviewer/file:net_migration_rate_world.png Net migration numbers can vary greatly across the world. If a country is experiencing a civil war, it might have a high negative net migration as people flee from violence. When people are forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or because a natural disaster has made their home uninhabitable, they are called refugees. A neighboring nation experiencing peace may then have a very high net migration as refugees flood across the border into their country. One apparent pattern seen in the map above is the general tendency for more developed countries to have higher net migrations. Conversely, less developed countries will often have negative net migrations. This makes sense because people in less developed countries are often pushed to emigrate because of economic factors. Also, more-developed countries often pull immigrants across their borders with pull factors such as job opportunities. Migration can be a very divisive issue. Some people feel that migration is a positive event and that people should not be restricted to their country of birth. Sometimes, however, people do not welcome migrants. This type of reaction is seen more commonly in industrialized countries. Immigration restrictions are often sought to prevent resulting economic, political, environmental or cultural effects. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 5 of 11

Regardless of how people feel about it, international migration is at an all-time high and is likely to continue. As long as some countries offer better economic opportunities, there will be people who want to immigrate to those places. Also, advances in communication and transportation have made mobility easier and more affordable for migrants. Urbanization Figure 6 Urbanization is the process by which cities are created. Urbanization is the movement of people from rural to urban areas. This type of movement has been happening on Earth for a long time. Even in the great ancient river civilizations, once men learned to farm and store food, the resulting food surpluses allowed for specialization. This spawned the development of new types of Figure 7 jobs in village-based societies. People moved to these areas to fill these jobs, and they became the first urban dwellers. The Industrial Revolution of the 20 th century accelerated the rate of urbanization. During this time in the United States and in many European countries, there was a shift from agricultural-based economies toward machinebased manufacturing. Inventions and technological innovations created the factory system of large-scale machine production. These factories created jobs, and people from rural areas Figure 8 Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 6 of 11

moved closer to the factories in the hope of finding jobs and perhaps better lives. After the Industrial Revolution, the pace of urbanization on Earth continued to accelerate, especially in areas of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. For the first time in the history of the world, there are more people living in urban than in rural areas. Some of these cities are larger than ever imagined. A megacity is an urban area with more than 10 million residents. In 1950, there were only two megacities in the entire world, New York and Tokyo. However, by 2025, demographers predict that there will be 27 megacities. Tokyo, Japan is expected to have more than 36 million citizens! Such changes taking place over a mere 75 years is sure to make a long-lasting impact on the world. To see a visual representation of the world urbanization trend, use the link below: http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/urbanmap. Benefits of Urbanization Why are so many people choosing to migrate to cities? Sometimes there are push factors such as environmental damage, a lack of jobs, or a poor standard of living that motivate people to leave rural areas. On the other hand, urban areas may offer opportunities that cause people to want to live there such as jobs, a higher standard of living, better educational opportunities, or a greater variety of goods and cultural activities. In addition, urban areas typically offer a higher life expectancy, lower poverty, and can provide essential services, like water and electricity, more cheaply than in rural areas. Problems with Urbanization Despite the many advantages of urban life, there are also some problems that result when so many people live in a concentrated area. These problems can include traffic congestion, air pollution, safety issues, excessive garbage, and lack of green space. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 7 of 11

Figure 9: Problems with urbanization Lastly, some cities have run-down areas where housing and services such as water and sanitation are inadequate. These areas are commonly referred to as slums. Slums are frequently a part of urbanization especially when it occurs rapidly. Slums occur in cities all around the world but may be called by different terms such as shantytowns or favelas. Figure 10: Slum in Mumbai, India. Population, Migration, and Urbanization as Global Issues Are there global issues related to population, migration, and urbanization? Remember that global problems are problems that affect the whole of the earth and potentially all of the people who live on it. Some problems may be considered global because solving them requires the cooperation of many regions and people in order to solve them. Sometimes, however, problems affect smaller regions but appear in many different places on Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 8 of 11

Earth. When localized problems reoccur in many different places on the planet such as those relating to population, migration and urbanization, they can be considered global problems. Additionally, many global problems are often interconnected, or linked together. For example, rapid urbanization is connected to environmental problems such as air pollution. When a problem recurs in different locations, it is often helpful to learn from how others have addressed the problem. Curitiba, Brazil offers solutions to some of the potential problems created by urbanization such as pollution, traffic congestion, and the lack of green spaces. The solutions in Curitiba did not happen overnight. Rather, the people of Curitiba designed a master plan to address the ill effects of its rapidly growing population. For example, to combat pollution, Curitiba promotes recycling. In fact, at 70 percent, it has the highest recycling rate in the world. To ease traffic congestion, city planners used existing roadways to create an economical, comprehensive, and efficient bus system which as decreased car traffic by 30 percent over the last 20 years, even though the population tripled during Figure 11: A bus in Curitiba. this period. Curitiba also tackled both slum housing and the lack of green spaces in an innovative way. Many of the city s poorest citizens lived with no utilities in a slum area on a flood plain. Heavy winter rains would wash the slum trash into the city water supply creating a sanitation problem. Curitiba planners built low-income housing for these people away from the floodplain and converted the floodplain land into a park. Through careful planning, Curitiba has become a shining example of innovative urban planning. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 9 of 11

Figure 12: Curitiba, Brazil To learn more about Curitiba, use the following link: http://vimeo.com/26896483>. Global Problems Related to Population There are several global problems related to population, migration and urbanization: Rapid population growth in less developed countries High number of dependents in many countries Aging populations in more developed countries Irregular, or illegal, migration Refugees Air pollution in cities Slums Rapid urbanization Urban sprawl/lack of green space Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 10 of 11

These problems are being addressed in many different ways by various local, state, national and international efforts. In Detroit, Wayne State University s Institute of Gerontology is working with other local agencies to collect demographic data about the elderly living in Detroit. This information will be helpful for planning in the future. In the United States, for example, the federal government has an agency that is charged with protecting human health Figure 13 and the environment. This agency is called the Environmental Protection Agency (EPS). The EPA helps set regulations to protect people from contaminated water, soil and air. Some of these problems are common in urban areas. The World Bank Institute is a global connector of knowledge, learning, and innovation for poverty reduction for places around the world. Figure 14: Unit Graphic Organizer Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 11 of 11