Urbanization as a global trend: causes and consequences

Abstract

Since ancient times, cities have been places of attraction for people, the center of thought and innovation. The Industrial Revolution and subsequent industrialization noticeably accelerated the movement of people from rural areas to cities. The emergence and development of the Internet and technology have turned the rapid growth of cities into a real boom. Today, cities are the centers of the social, economic, political, and cultural life of their countries. This article attempts to explain and assess the scale of urbanization, as well as to predict its further course. The article examines the process of urbanization that has acquired a planetary scale over the past few decades. The object of the study is considered a global trend. The concept is reflected that in the future the city will become the main model of human settlement. The theory that urbanization directly correlates with economic growth, thereby being its main driver, is considered. The causes and consequences, both positive and negative, of the considered process are investigated. The article, in particular, considers and typologies of urbanization in Kazakhstan. In addition, the article analyzes and compares the growth rates of the urban and rural populations both in the world as a whole and in Kazakhstan, in particular.