Task:  Write a problem, solution and evaluation paragraph related to the problems associated with urbanisation. Students should use the ideas from the text provided, however, these ideas should be paraphrased and referenced correctly.  Causes and Effects of Urbanization Brian Gabriel - June 27, 2018 Urbanization is the shift from a rural to an urban society, bringing a large concentration of people into towns and cities. This process usually occurs when a nation is still developing. The trend toward urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon. The chief cause of global urbanization is the new economic opportunities it brings to people and governments; however, it has both positive and negative effects on society. Workers move to urban centres to find better economic opportunities. The Industrial Revolution and the subsequent shift from agricultural jobs to factory jobs made it profitable for companies to locate their factories in large cities with plenty of local workers. There often is a severe lack of resources in rural areas, such as medical technology, which further drives people to the cities. In developing countries, such as those in Africa, natural population increases and migration have been big factors in urbanization. People are driven out of rural poverty and into urban areas as they are less able to care for their growing families; cities offer employment, food, shelter and education. Urbanization has many adverse effects on the structure of society as gigantic concentrations of people compete for limited resources. Rapid housing construction leads to overcrowding and slums, which experience major problems such as poverty, poor sanitation, unemployment and high crime rates. Additionally, strains on important natural resources, such as water supply, leads to higher prices and general environmental sustainability problems. Another effect of urbanization is urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is when the population of a city becomes dispersed over an increasingly large geographical area. This movement from higher density urban cores to lower density suburbs means that as cities expand, they often begin to take up significant tracts of land formerly used for agriculture. Sprawl also increases the need for travel infrastructure, such as roads, because people’s homes are likely to be farther away from where they work and the amenities they enjoy.