Rural Exodus

Urbanization

What is urbanization? What cause urbanization? What does urbanization brought to us? In 19^th Century, England is going through the process of urbanization. Many major cities in England were being urbanized. People were compressed into cities. Many factories were being built and people no longer work in home. They started to work in factories. Urbanization has brought prosperous and growth in cities. For example, the inventions and improvements of new technology. However, urbanization also brought diseases and pollutions. The waste from factories poisoned the environment and damage human health. Therefore, there are still some debates over whether urbanization is good or not.

Industrial Revolution

        What is urbanization? Urbanization is the physical growth of urban area. It is also defined by the United Nation as “movement of people from rural area to urban area with population growth equating to urban migration.” In the 1800s, most of the major cities and towns in England were going through urbanization. Many cities, such as London, have major growth in size and population. For example, London was the most populated cities during the 19^th century. Towns became cities, and cities became big cities. Most of the people moved into cities and few still live on the countryside. The population in cities inclined greatly, and the population in countryside decreased gradually.

        What cause urbanization? In the 19^th century, the entire British Empire is being urbanized. One of the major causes for this phenomenon is exploitation. Before Industrial Revolution start, people in England used to work on farms and fields. However, when the industrial revolution started, the lands were taken by landowners to build factories. Without lands, people lost their jobs and were forced to look for a job in factories. Over time, more and more people moved to the factories vicinity because of work. The population in that area grows rapidly, and eventually transformed that specific area into cities. Cities will continue to grow as more and more people move into the area because of work and life. Therefore, urbanization takes place. Also, people were looking for better opportunities and good life style in cities. They believed cities brought prosperity as well as wealth to them.

Air Pollution

        What is the result of urbanization? Urbanization brought both positive and negative effects on people’s life as well as the environment. First talks about the positive effects, urbanization brought prosperities to a city. The growth in economy and production is the results of urbanization. In the 1800s, the new inventions of machines makes the production power increased greatly. Also, the populations in cities have increased gradually because of urbanization. People were all crowded together and have little space with one another. Now lets talk about the negative effects, urbanization brought prosperity to an area, but it also brought diseases and pollutions. In the 19^th century, the factories produced huge amount of toxic waste and dark fumes. The toxic waste poisoned the soil and water, and the darken fumes caused air pollutions. These pollutions eventually caused environment havoc and produced huge amount of diseases that will damage the human health. Another bad thing about urbanization is that urbanization caused the gape between rich and poor to be widened. In the British Empire, the working class people, who worked in factories and earn little money, were mostly poor and continue to be poor because of the low wages and exploitation by the factory owners. However, the factory owners and other upper class people tend to be richer because of the exploitation of worker.

Child Labors

        In conclusion, urbanization has brought prosperity and growth to people, but it also brought pollutions and diseases to people and the environment. The true value of urbanization still need to be evaluate carefully. However, it is indisputable that urbanization is a key process in technology and civilization advancements, as well as human history. The Great Britain, for example, is the first to be urbanized, and urbanization make the British Empire to became one of the greatest empires during the 19^th century. In modern day, urbanization still takes place in different parts of the world.

Reflection

1. Which main topic does this artifact relate to? In what way?  This topic is related to the causes and consequences of urbanization, as well as the cons and pros of urbanization.
2. Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend on creating the artifact?  Urbanization has become very common to people in the modern world, and I think it is neccessary for peopel to know what is urbanization and what is the goods and bads about it. I spend about one and a half hour on this artifact.
3. What understanding have you gained from the creation process of this artifact?  I have understand the causes and effects of urbaniztion.
4. Does this artifact reflect your best work and ideas? Why or why not?  Yes, I have thought a lot about the causes and the consequences of urbanization, as well as its pros and cons.
5. Any additional comment?  None

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