Deck 7: The Urbanization Transition

Question 1

The region of the world with the highest percentage of the urban population living in slums is

A) southern Asia.
B) Latin America and the Caribbean.
C) northern Africa.
D) sub-Saharan Africa.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Urbanization became noticeable in the world during the _____ century.

A) 17th
B) 18th
C) 19th
D) 20th

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Currently in the entire world, almost _____ percent of the population is living in urban places.

A) 20
B) 40
C) 60
D) 80

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The original explanations for the urban transition were drawn largely from ______ theory.

A) world systems
B) urban hierarchy
C) modernization
D) city systems

Question 5

The consistently largest mega-city in the world for the past several decades has been

A) New York City.
B) London.
C) Tokyo.
D) Mexico City.

Question 6

An important difference between cities and rural places that encourages the growth of cities is that

A) cities are economically more efficient.
B) cities have more educated people.
C) manufacturing requires a city environment.
D) cities are always healthier than rural places.

Question 7

The definition of urban most often used by governments is based primarily on

A) population size.
B) population density.
C) extent of agricultural activities.
D) extent of manufacturing activities.

Question 8

According to United Nations definitions, to be a "mega-city" a city must have a population of at least ____ million.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 20

Question 9

Tzintzuntzan, Mexico, illustrates the point that

A) even in Mexico, small rural places are absorbed by larger urban metropolises.
B) migrants from Mexico to the United States create a situation of population decline in rural Mexico.
C) a small village of artisans with a long indigenous history should not be thought of as rural.
D) population growth in rural villages leads to migration of younger people to urban places.

Question 10

Suburbanization in the United States is least likely to be associated with

A) gentrification.
B) the creation of edge cities.
C) urban sprawl.
D) exurbanization.

Question 11

Early cities had to be constantly replenished by migrants from rural areas for which of the following reasons?

A) Death rates and birth rates were higher in cities than in the countryside.
B) Crime rates in cities discouraged people from staying.
C) High growth rates in rural areas led to very high agricultural unemployment.
D) Suburbanization meant that urban residents were always on the move.

Question 12

The urban transition in China demonstrates that

A) governments can retard the urban transition, but cannot stop it.
B) the one-child policy has helped to slow down the urban transition.
C) the urban transition is consistent with a Marxian population perspective.
D) China's largest cities have absorbed most of the growth in the country's urban population.

Question 13

As the urban transition takes place, a country's population becomes

A) less agricultural as a fraction of the total.
B) more modern and secular.
C) increasingly industrial.
D) heavily unionized in its manufacturing sector.

Question 14

Which of the following is the most important determinant of the urban transition?

A) Low fertility in urban places
B) Declining mortality in rural places
C) Reclassification of rural places to urban
D) Historically high mortality in urban places

Question 15

If we expect the second most populous city in a country to be half as populous as the largest city, we are referring to the

A) world system theory.
B) rank-size rule.
C) core-periphery model.
D) demographic balancing equation.

Question 16

With respect to urban fertility, it is true that

A) fertility used to be higher than in rural places, but now it is lower.
B) urban fertility levels in Africa are lower than rural fertility levels in North America.
C) urban fertility in a country is always at least half the level of rural places.
D) urban fertility in a country is always lower than rural fertility.

Question 17

To be a metropolitan area in the United States under current definitions, there must be a core urban area population of at least ______ people.

A) 5,000
B) 25,000
C) 50,000
D) 100,000

Question 18

The demographic lesson learned from the rats of NIMH is that

A) high density can lead to dysfunctional demographic behavior.
B) rat behavior is significantly different from that of humans.
C) as the population increases in a fixed space, the fertility rate begins to rise.
D) increased density lowers the ability to establish meaningful relationships.

Question 19

The concept of an "American apartheid" has been applied to

A) the built environment of older Rust Belt cities.
B) residential segregation of blacks in America.
C) ethnic enclaves in large American cities.
D) peri-urban areas being altered by gentrification.

Question 20

The most highly urbanized region in the world is

A) North America.
B) Europe.
C) Asia.
D) Latin America.

Question 21

The urbanization of American blacks occurred at the same time that the process of suburbanization of the white population was taking off.

Question 22

How does the longtime concern with the ill effects of urban crowding square with the movement for smart growth that aims to increase urban density?

Question 23

Cities are inherently unsustainable environments on their own.

Question 24

The richer the country, the more highly urbanized it will be.

Question 25

To be urban is especially to be spatially concentrated and nonagricultural.

Question 26

The common solution to urban crowding is suburbanization.

Question 27

The existence of cities depends upon their ability to control the economy.

Question 28

The Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe largely because it was already predominantly urban.

Question 29

What are the characteristics of a city that would make it a global city, rather than just a city? Would you prefer to live in a global (core) city or one that is less connected to the rest of the world? Explain your choice.

Question 30

The urban transition is only marginally related to the migration transition.

Question 31

Urban sprawl is one of the positive approaches to the city based on the "smart growth" concept.

Question 32

Discuss the ways in which the different levels of mortality and fertility between urban and rural places wind up making an important contribution to the urban transition.

Question 33

The core-periphery model and world systems theory are competing perspectives on the urban transition.

Question 34

Compare the positive and negative qualities of urban places with the positive and negative qualities of rural places. Which do you prefer, and why?

Question 35

Are slums an inevitable part of the urban transition? Why or why not?