Explain why many megacities are currently experiencing rapid rates of growth? (15)
The rapid growth of megacities—defined as being cities with a population of 10 million or more
— is due to a number of different factors, most notably that of rapid rural-urban migration,
which in itself is fuelled by high levels of urban poverty— the main push factors—in combination
with the perceived pull factors of job opportunities, better housing and healthcare. Globally,
urbanisation is greatly increasing with over 3.2 billion people living in urban areas by 2007 and
90% of the population living in towns or cities in most MEDCs.
A key example of the rapid growth that these factors create is Mumbai India, a megacity of over
17 million people, with 600 migrants arriving every from rural areas. These high levels of rural-
urban migration in addition to the high rates of natural increase that are seen in developing
countries, are contributing to massive rates of urban growth, leading to the prediction that 42
people will be added to the population of Mumbai every hour by 2015. However, Mumbai is not
alone in experiencing this rapid growth, Dhaka and Lagos’ predictions show even faster rates of
urban growth as developing megacities, of which there are likely to be 30 by 2020. In contrast,
megacities in the developed world such as London are experiencing completely different trends
—greying populations preventing natural increase from occurring and suburbanisation causing
people to leave the cities.
A number of key background factors are influential in the perceived opportunities that are urban
pull factors for rural-urban migration. Firstly global investment such as TNC outsourcing focuses
primarily on urban areas, creating jobs and improving infrastructure and communications. As
result of these improvements there is increases accessibility to urban opportunities and, as
knowledge of urban areas grows with technology such as televisions and radio, the urban centre
is seen to offer numerous opportunities including better quality of life, well paid jobs, good
housing etc. However, these pull factors are often not reality—particularly for the 60% of the
population who end up in slums like Dharavi due to the expensive of living anywhere else in the
city where, in some areas, rents exceed those of London and New York.
These pull factors act in combination with rural push factors that includes poverty low pay, lack
of investment and services, in addition to risk of drought and flooding. Overall, this creates a
poor quality of life, which is brought into contrast with the perceived opportunities and pulls of
the city, therefore causing high levels of rural-urban migration.
In addition to the major reasons for increasing rates of rural-urban migration, megacities are
very attractive for TNCs and other investors as a result of their global connections, particularly in
megacities with the status of world city eg. Los Angeles. These links in trade, finance,
information etc. further fuel rapid globalization, contributing to further growth such as in
Mumbai with its international banks, world-class restaurants and TNC headquarters eg. Tata
Steel, and Godrej Retail.
In conclusion, the reasons for the current rapid growth of megacities is mainly dominated by
massive rural-urban migration, which itself is caused by poor rural conditions, particularly
poverty, and the perceived pull factors of cities, which include better housing and job
opportunities. Overall, this creates massive migration into urban areas that often do not meet
expectations, resulting in shanty towns such as Dharavi, Mumbai, where living conditions are
poor. Furthermore, the status of some cities like Los Angeles as world cities create attractive
investment opportunities that create further trade links and consequently cause urban growth
as global centres develop.
