Urbanization in Europe

Urbanization in Europe

Introduction

The widespread development of urbanization is not a phenomenon of the recent times. Urbanization in England increased at a more rapid rate than other country in Europe. A closer inspection of the changing urban structure in England between the 1600 and 1800 can help to reveal if urbanization had a major influence on industrialization. Though, the benefits derived from setting up cities were not only limited to countries with high per-capital income. Cities, not countries have been the building block of the economic development of a country since the dawn of civilisation.

A number of developments occurred in the 16th century. Many ancient towns like York, Norwich and Newcastle had a drastic fall in their importance because they were not able to adapt to the new conditions. They were not flexible enough to accommodate the changes due to the prevalent conservative opinions held by their residents which made it not suited for industrialization. These guilds and elective corporations were of the opinion that they need to develop controls to dismiss the use of new techniques which did not conform to traditional skills and social structures.

Discussion

Urbanization can be defined as the increase in share of a nation's population living in the urban areas with a relative decrease in the share of rural population. Urbanization usually takes place due to the migration of rural population to the cities. The rate of urbanization defines the rate at which the share of population varies with time. This definition aims to keep a distinction between the implications of urbanization and the urban population growth, which are two different phenomena.

There are historical evidences available that show the first permanent human settlement started way back in 10,000 BC. They usually consisted of hunters, who did not indulge in agriculture on extensive level but had understanding about its basic principles. Agricultural development was achieved due to a combination of climatic changes and social developments in the human society. This enabled human to identify rich agricultural land and a there was a large population shift to these areas due to easy access to resources. With the advancements in agriculture, the inhabitants were able to create a food surplus in their towns and this lead to the introduction of commerce. Commerce was accompanied with growth of political power in that part of the world. During the third and fourth millennium B.C, town buildings were being constructed out of bricks or stone.

The developments in agriculture eventually led to the introduction of other sciences like astronomy, in order to improve the prediction regarding the forecast of weather for days to come. Mathematics was introduced to enable get a better idea regarding the management of the stock in the warehouse and calculate the profitability. The increase in surplus stored in warehouses, led to social unrest as tribes used to attack each other in order to capture the other tribes stock unjustly. This led to the creation of forts and city armies in order to safeguard the property of the ...