What is urbanization at the present stage of development of society?

Living and working in large cities, we do not even think about the formation, role and significance of the structure in which we are. Nevertheless, the growth of the share of the urban population is one of the key socio-economic phenomena. It is important to know what urbanization is. This knowledge in the context of globalization is almost a key for every person .

Urbanization is understood as the growth of cities, increasing their role in the development of society, the formation of complex systems and networks of cities. The territorial division of labor, the development of political and cultural functions, the concentration of industry are prerequisites for the growth of agglomerations. Urban development is characterized by the formation of megalopolises, as well as the increase in the concentration of people in large settlements, the influx of people from rural areas, and the increase in pendulum migration.

Realizing that such an urbanization, it is necessary to be able to distinguish its features characteristic of most countries:

• Accelerated growth rates of urban population, spontaneous, uncontrolled migration from the village;
• Concentration of economic branches in large settlements;
• The formation of urban agglomerations due to the emergence of belts or satellite cities around capitals, ports, industrial centers.

The main stages of urbanization are:

• Independent growth of settlements, the accumulation of their potential, the development of planning and functional structure, the emergence of large-scale problems;
• Formation of a key form of territorial organization - an agglomeration that plays a major role in developed and developing countries and contributes to solving problems;
• The formation of a supporting framework that guides the development of the economy.

Finding out what urbanization is, let's look at the situation in the modern world and, in particular, in our country. What are the main features of this phenomenon today? The modern process of urbanization is characterized, first of all, by the deterioration of the urban environment. The crowded population, chaotic development, outdated technology of industrial enterprises greatly influence the ecology and health of people. In developing countries, a number of crises (hunger, demographic explosion and others) have a detrimental effect on the standard of living.

For comparison, the level of urbanization in Canada is more than 80%, while this indicator tends to grow rapidly. So, by 2015, according to experts' forecasts, it will reach almost 86%.

Despite the fact that the country has a large number of major cities, the emphasis is on agriculture and oil production. Proceeding from the fact that such urbanization, we can confidently conclude that the city structure implies services, trade, construction, finance. The Institute of Urban Economics has developed 3 scenarios for the development of settlements in our country. On what path to go, only time will show.

Scientists agree that there is a decline in life support resources, and this trend is particularly characteristic of large cities. This, in turn, negatively affects people's health.