Population, Urbanization, and the Environment

Population, Urbanization, and the Environment Society, Seventh Edition

Demography:The Study Of Human Population • From 250,000 years ago until just 250 years ago, the human population hovered around 500 million • About 1750 world population began to spike • The world population in 2002 • 6.2 billion persons • We add about 77 million persons annually Society, Seventh Edition

Fertility • Fertility – the incidence of childbearing in a society’s population • Fecundity –the potential for childbearing • Crude birth rate – the number of live births in a given year for every thousand people in a population • “Crude” because it takes into account everybody, not just women of childbearing age Society, Seventh Edition

MortalityThe Incidence Of Death In A Population • Crude death rate • Number of deaths in a given year for every for every thousand people in a population • Infant mortality rates • Number of deaths among infants under one year for each 1,000 live births • Life expectancy • Average life span of a countries population (u. S. 2000: 74.1 for males, 79.5 for females) Society, Seventh Edition

National Map 15-1 (p. 407)Population Change across the United States Society, Seventh Edition

Migration – Movement Of People In And Out Of A Specified Territory • Voluntary migration – due to economic push and pull factors • Involuntary migration – forced migration due to war or other social conflict • Immigration – movement into a territory • Emigration – movement out of a territory • Rates • In-migration rate • The number entering for every 1,000 people • Out migration rate • Number leaving for every 1,000 people in the territory • Net-migration rate • Difference between in- and out-migration numbers Society, Seventh Edition

Population Composition • Sex ratio • Number of males compared to number of females • In the united states there were approximately 96 males to 100 females because women usually outlive men • In India there were approximately 107 males for every 100 females because women were more likely to abort female fetuses and parent may provide less care for female children • Age-sex pyramid • A graphic representation of the age and sex of a population Society, Seventh Edition

Figure 15-2 (p. 409)Age-Sex Population Pyramids for the United States and Mexico, 2000 Society, Seventh Edition

Malthusian Theory Of Population Growth • Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), warned of impending doom based on population projections • Population growth would approximate geometric progression (e.g., 2, 4, 8, 16…) but food production would increase only in arithmetic progression (e.g., 2, 4, 6…) • Result: people reproducing at rates that exceeded their ability to produce sufficient food • Limits included artificial birth control (morally wrong) or abstinence (unlikely) • Seen as “the dismal person” because war and famine were our future Society, Seventh Edition

Demographic Transition Theory – Population Patterns Reflect A Society’s Level Of Technological Development • Stage one(preindustrial, agrarian) • High birth rates due to economic value of children and lack of birth control • Stage two(early industrial) • High birth rate and lowered death rate give boost to population growth (many of the developing nations today mirror this stage) • Stage three(mature industrial) • Birth rates begin to mask death rates as population surge drops as affluence transforms children into economic liability • Stage four(postindustrial) • Economic realities force drop in birth rates to the point where growth is stagnant or very slow Society, Seventh Edition

Figure 15-4 (p. 411)Demographic Transition Theory Society, Seventh Edition

Critical evaluation • Malthusian Theory • Predictions flawed, European birth rate began dropping by 1850 • Children becoming an economic liability rather than an asset • Use of artificial birth control • Ignored role of social inequality in world abundance and famine • Blames victims for their own problems • Demographic Transition Theory • Without a redistribution of global resources the planet will be divided into industrial “haves” and nonindustrial “have-nots” Society, Seventh Edition

Global PopulationDepends Upon Which Side Of The Equator One Is Discussing • The low-growth north • Zero population growth – level of reproduction that maintains population at a steady state • Postindustrial societies • Have shown slow downs in birth rates • “underpopulation” may be a problem • The high-growth south • Population growth is a critical problem in several poor countries • While birth rates have fallen (six to four children per woman), 180 nations are in trouble of overpopulation • In short, • For much of the world, mortality among children is dropping • Challenge is to control birth rates in poor countries as we did death in the past Society, Seventh Edition

Growth In U.S. Cities • Colonial settlement (1624-1800) • Capitalism’s impact upon small villages ensured transformation • Urban expansion (1800-1860) • Towns springing up along transportation routes • The great metropolis (1860-1950) • Impact of civil war (factory growth) ushered in growth • One-fifth of the population lived in cities • Urban decentralization (1950- to present) • Desertion of downtown areas for outlying suburbs Society, Seventh Edition

Cities • Metropolis and centralization • A large city that dominates the area • The suburbs and decentralization • Urban areas beyond the political boundaries of a city • Urban renewal efforts have gone on in attempts to revitalize central cities • Megalopolis • A vast urban area containing a number of cities and their surrounding suburbs: “SUPERCITIES” Society, Seventh Edition

Urban Life • Urban life can be challenging and very different from early rural settings • Ferdinand Tonnies • Gemeinschaft – close ties through kinship and tradition • Gesellschaft – social relations are based on individual self-interest • Emile Durkheim • Mechanical solidarity – social bonds based on common feelings and moral bonds • Organic solidarity – social bonds based on specialization and interdependence • Georg Simmel • The development of a blasé attitude – A strategy for social survival • Robert Park and Louis Wirth • Urban organization based on distinctive ethnic communities, commercial centers, and industrial districts • A human kaleidoscope Society, Seventh Edition

Critical Analysis • Ferdinand Tonnies & Louis Wirth saw the decline of personal ties and traditional morality • Emile Durkheim & Robert Park emphasized urbanism’s positive points like greater autonomy & personal choice • Wirth and others tended to paint with broad strokes overlooking effects of class, race & gender • Cities intensify social differences observed most clearly when categories of people form “critical masses” Society, Seventh Edition

Physical Design of Cities Urban ecology – the study of the link between the physical and social dimensions of cities • Park & burgess’ concentric zones • Business districts ringed by factories ringed by housing • Hoyt’s wedge-shaped sectors • Industry forms along rail lines, new fashionable areas next to old fashionable areas • Harris & Ullman’s multicentered model • Cities decentralize form many smaller centers Society, Seventh Edition

Physical Design of Cities (Cont.) • Social area analysis – what people have in common • Family patterns • Social class • Race & ethnicity • Berry & Rees’ analysis ties many of the previous theories together Society, Seventh Edition

Environment & Society • Ecology – the study of the interaction of living organisms and the natural environment • Natural environment – the earth’s surface and atmosphere including living organisms, air, water, soil and other resources necessary to sustain life • Ecosystem – a system composed of the interaction of all living organisms and their natural environment • Environmental deficit – profound and long-term harm to the natural environment caused by humanity’s focus on short-term material affluence Society, Seventh Edition

Theories of Growth • Logic of growth – more powerful technology has improved our lives and new discoveries will make the future better • Critical analysis – progress can lead to unexpected problems, resources are finite • Limits to growth – humanity must implement policies to control growth of population, production and resource use to avoid environmental collapse (neo-Malthusians) • Critical analysis – long-range predictions are speculative Society, Seventh Edition

Environmental Terms • Rain forest – regions of dense forestation most of which circle the globe near the equator • Global warming – a rise in the earth’s average temperature caused by an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and other gasses in the atmosphere • Environmental racism – the pattern by which environmental hazards are greatest for poor people, especially minorities • Ecologically sustainable culture – a way of life that meets the needs of the current generation without threatening the environmental legacy of future generations Society, Seventh Edition

Population, Urbanization, and the Environment