Urban Communities

Basic Concept

Sometimes the terms city and urban are use interchangeably but there are distinctions between the two concept. In social, science literature , urban is used to refer to a quality of life that is typically found in cities, In reality, urban is both a process and a place , as the urban process cannot occur without the resources, population , and economic base.

The Story of Cities is the Story of Civilization

The ancient and medieval cities served as defense and refugee centers as well as trading centers. These cities might probably have been the product of war and violence. Urbanization development was marked in the west, especially in England . Several factors brought this about , namely: 1. improvements in transportation , roads, and canals; 2. agricultural innovations and commercialization ; and 3. the emergence of the factory system with industrial production derived from steam power. As a result , contacts between urban centers and their hinterlands was improved, markets were expanded, activities became highly specialized, and migration to the cities was encouraged.

Urbanization in Historical Perspective

Urbanization is the process of concentrating people in a relatively small geographic area. It is related to social change and growth. From a demographic perspective, it refers to an increase in the number and size of centers of population in a society. Related to urbanization is urbanism which in way of life found in cities with its complex of traits, including a high degree of impersonalism, cultural heterogeneity, predominance of secular values, and extreme division of labor.

Urbanization in Developing Countries

Urbanization has been taking place in the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America these developing countries are dominantly agricultural and are in a stage of transition to an industrialized economy. Economic development does not go hand in hand with rapid urbanization. In spite of their independence, these countries have retained the colonial power structure and are independent on the exportation of new materials to these countries. In this relationship, low productivity , cheap labor , low income, and underemployment are common. This sector is made up mostly of family employment and household heads which offered welfare to their relatives. So capital was invested in areas which often benefited the capitalist mode of production.

Urbanization in the Philippines

Table 1 shows the growth of the urban population from 1948 and the proportion of the rural- urban population to the total population

Year 1948 1960 1970 1980

Total population

Rural Population

Percent 73.05 70.20 67.10 6.27

Urban Population

Percent

19,234,182 26,087,685 36,684,486 48,098,460

14,0504,95 19,015,200 24,615,695 30,157,727

51,836,87 80,724,85 12,068,791 17,940,733

26.95 2.98 3.29 3.73

1990

60,684,887

31,192,033

5.14

29,492,855

4.86