The Global Rise of Urbanisation
This lesson introduces Year 9 students to the global phenomenon of urbanisation. It explores why people move from rural to urban areas, the difference in growth rates between HICs and LICs, and the resulting challenges faced by rapidly growing cities.
Learning objectives
- Define urbanisation and distinguish between urbanisation and urban growth.
- Explain the 'Push' and 'Pull' factors driving rural-to-urban migration.
- Compare the rates of urbanisation between High-Income Countries (HICs) and Low-Income Countries (LICs).
- Identify the social, economic, and environmental impacts of rapid urbanisation.
Lesson plan (60 minutes)
Introduction · 5 min
Starter: "City vs Countryside" brainstorm - students list 3 reasons people move to cities.
Direct Instruction · 10 min
Teacher-led explanation of urbanisation trends and the Push/Pull model.
Guided Practice · 10 min
Guided practice: Classifying factors into 'Push' and 'Pull' and 'Social' or 'Economic'.
Independent Practice · 20 min
Differentiated worksheet activity (Support, Core, Stretch).
Assessment · 10 min
8-question multiple-choice quiz to check understanding.
Review · 5 min
Plenary: Predicting the future of mega-cities - which continent will grow fastest?
Key vocabulary
- Urbanisation
- The process where an increasing percentage of a population lives in urban areas.
- Rural-to-Urban Migration
- The movement of people from the countryside to cities.
- Push Factor
- A factor that encourages people to leave the area where they live.
- Pull Factor
- A factor that attracts people to a new location.
- Natural Increase
- When birth rates are higher than death rates, leading to population growth.
Core worksheet (first questions)
- Explain the difference between urbanisation and urban growth.
- Identify one environmental push factor and one social pull factor.
- Define 'natural increase' and explain why it is high in many rapidly growing cities.
- Explain why rapid urbanisation in LICs often leads to the growth of squatter settlements.
Quiz (sample)
1. What is the definition of urbanisation?
- A. The total number of people in a country.
- B. The increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
- C. People moving from cities to the countryside.
- D. The growth of farming and agriculture.
2. What term describes the population growth caused by birth rates exceeding death rates?
- A. Rural-to-urban migration
- B. Natural Increase
- C. Counter-urbanisation
- D. Suburbanisation
3. What is a 'Push Factor'?
- A. A factor that attracts someone to a city.
- B. A factor that makes someone want to leave the countryside.
- C. A way to improve city transport.
- D. A government policy to stop migration.
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