Urbanization is a big global trend that has changed societies everywhere. People move to cities looking for economic chances, and this has changed the world’s landscape a lot. What makes this urbanization happen? Often, it is because of a big economic revolution, especially the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution, which started in the 18th century, was a time of fast technology growth and more industrialization, changing the way we work and live a lot. This economic change made more factories and mass production, and made people move from countryside to city areas for work.
In this article, we look at how the Industrial Revolution made urbanization happen, showing how this economic change changed the world and made the city-focused society we know today.
The Industrial Revolution and Urbanization
Understanding Urbanization and Why It’s Important
The Industrial Revolution started in mid-18th-century England with better ways to make textiles. Machines like the water frame, spinning jenny, and power loom changed fabric making, allowing for big scale manufacturing never seen before. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, this technology jump made a lot more urbanization, with many people gathering in small places. This made factories have enough workers and helped people specialize in their jobs.
Economic Revolutions and Urbanization
Moving from Countryside to City
As the Industrial Revolution went on, the United States also had its own industrialization. After the Civil War, the country slowly changed from mainly countryside farming society to one with cities and factories leading.
Historian Alan Singer says that after the Civil War, the United States turned into a city-focused society. Cities got bigger as industrial factories needed more workers, and these workers needed to live near their workplaces. The railroad system getting bigger also helped cities grow, making it possible to have manufacturing centers in places without natural waterways like Scranton, Indianapolis, and Dayton.
Agriculture Becoming Industrial
Another result of the Industrial Revolution was making farming more machine-based, which really affected people in the countryside. As farming got more efficient, fewer people were needed in agriculture, making many look for work in city factories.
Professor Daniel Hammel from the University of Toledo says that with more industrialization, especially in the early 20th century, there wasn’t as much need for big families to work on farms. This change made people move to cities. In some cases, like with African American tenant farmers in the southern states, this change in farming led to them being pushed off the land, contributing to the Great Migration to northern cities.
Problems from Quick Urbanization
Housing and Too Many People
With many people moving to cities, housing became a big problem. Many workers ended up in small, badly built apartment buildings with poor sanitation and air, making it easy for diseases like tuberculosis to spread.
Infrastructure Problems
The fast growth of cities during the Industrial Revolution put a lot of pressure on city services, which had a hard time keeping up with more people. Problems like not enough water and sewage systems, along with not having good transport systems, became big issues.
Long-Lasting Effects of Industrialization and Urbanization
Changing to a Mainly City Society
The effect of the Industrial Revolution on urbanization was huge. In just a hundred years, many countries changed from mostly countryside societies to ones dominated by cities. For example, in the United Kingdom in 1801, about one-fifth of the people lived in towns and cities with 10,000 or more people. By 1851, this number grew to two-fifths, and if smaller towns of 5,000 or more were included, more than half of the people were considered urbanized.
Rise of Very Big Cities
As industrialization and urbanization kept shaping the world, “megalopolises” appeared—huge city areas stretching for miles and including many cities and towns. The Industrial Revolution’s gathering of lots of workers in cities set the base for these big metropolitan areas.
Conclusion
The Industrial Revolution was a key moment in human history, not just for its technology and economic advances, but also for its big impact on how society is structured. It drove city growth and made people move from countryside to city areas, setting the base for the mostly city world we live in today.
FAQs
How did the Industrial Revolution lead to cities getting bigger?
The Industrial Revolution make many factories and manufacturing hubs that needed a lot of workers. This pull workers from countryside to city places. Also, the railroad getting bigger help cities to grow in places without water ways, making it easier for people to move there. Plus, with machines doing farm work, fewer people needed on farms, so they go to cities looking for new work in big industries.
What were the big problems of quick city growth during the Industrial Revolution?
Fast growing cities have big problems, especially with houses and city services. Too many people living in small, bad houses make it very crowded, and not clean or airy enough, which made sickness like tuberculosis spread. Cities also have trouble with not enough water, bad sewage, and not good enough transport systems.
How did making agriculture more industrial lead to urbanization?
When farming start to use machines, it needs less people to work on farms. This makes many people from rural areas move to cities to find jobs. This change from old farming helped more people join city workforces, making cities grow faster.
What is a megalopolis and how did it come from industrialization and urbanization?
A megalopolis is a very big city area that includes many cities and towns. These big city areas come from continued industrialization and urbanization that last for a long time. They formed because lots of workers and their families lived close together in city centers during and after the Industrial Revolution.
What are the long-term effects of the Industrial Revolution on today’s city development?
The Industrial Revolution’s effects are still seen in modern cities. Rapid city growth at that time made problems like not good enough houses and hard city services, which are still challenges in cities today. The change to mostly city living and the growth of very big cities have big social, economic, and environment effects that still shape how we plan and develop cities. Understanding this history is important as we try to make cities better and fairer for everyone.