Warm Up

1. Warm Up • Think about a city you know or recently visited. • What are the best characteristics of this city? • What are the worst characteristics of this city?

2. Population Growth in South America

3. Student Expectation • Describe trends in population growth and distribution in South America

4. Vocabulary • Rural decline: worsening economic conditions in the country-side, including rising unemployment and growing poverty. Rural decline drives migration to cities. • Spatial inequality : the unequal distribution of wealth or resources in a geographic area, so that some places are richer than others.

5. Vocabulary • Standard of living – the overall level of comfort and well-being of a group or a country. People in developed countries generally have a higher standard of living than people in developing countries. • Urbanization – the movement of people from rural to urban areas, resulting in the growth of urban areas.

6. Patterns in the Size and Distribution of Cities • Throughout history, cities have exhibited variations in their size and distribution. • Cities began undergoing changes as they matured. • Often the business district was located in the city’s center, surrounded by residential neighborhoods. • As newcomers from the countryside moved into the center of the city, wealthier residents often began to move to the city’s outskirts.

7. Patterns in the Size and Distribution of Cities • In more recent times, suburbs have developed outside cities. • Often these suburbs come to form satellite cities around the older city center. • As the population increases further, these cities may merge into a single metropolitan region.

8. Patterns in the Size and Distribution of Cities • In less developed countries, people often arrive from the countryside without education or resources. • These newcomers may settle in squattersettlements or shantytowns, usually found outside of the city. • A shanty town is a slum settlement where poor people live in dwellings made from scrap materials – such as plywood, corrugated metal, and plastic sheets.

9. Patterns in the Size and Distribution of Cities • In the past 50 years, urbanization, or city growth has increased in South America at a rapid rate. • A key factor is migration from rural parts of the country to the city. • Many people have relocated to urban areas because of rural decline, or increasing poverty in the countryside.

10. Patterns in the Size and Distribution of Cities • Urbanization and overcrowding have had a negative impact on South America. • Clean water is in short supply, making sanitation difficult and aiding the spread of disease. • Roads are clogged with traffic, polluting the air and making it difficult for people to get from one place to another.

14. Activity • Read article and answer questions!