The Problems of Urban Areas in Economically Less Developed Countries

1418 Words3 Pages

The Problems of Urban Areas in Economically Less Developed Countries It is generally believed that urban areas in ELDCs will suffer for worsening problems, even as economic activities and capital formation increase. The unique urban problems that urban areas face in ELDCs include urban sprawl, congestion(traffic and people), lack of infrastructure (clean water, housing, roads, transport, etc) and pollution. This essay will discuss why this trend of worsening problems is more likely by examining the factors that exacerbate these problems. In addition, this essay will also discuss a few more general problems that is more likely to worsen, paying attention to environmental impacts. There are several key processes and factors responsible for the worsening of problems in ELDCs. The first major factor is the rapid increase in rural to urban migration. This process occurs because the growing prosperity and economic growth in urban areas of ELDCs are hotspots that attract a large volume of rural migrants in search of better standards of living and job opportunities. The lack of barriers to the urban areas, coupled with poor methods of boundary restrictions in ELDCs, results in the uncurbed influx of low-skilled rural migrants who by their sheer size alone cause physical congestion. Scarce resources like food outlets, transport facilities, medical facilities are unable to deal with the influx and efficiency of these services are strained. Moreover, these rural migrants being low skilled, are unable to find employment and remain in the urban areas as literally ‘dead weights’, living off government welfare. The increased levels of economi... ... middle of paper ... ...stal urban centers, perhaps the reason for their origin of growth as entrepot trading centers. Moreover, the urban areas of Singapore and Hong Kong are fortunate not to experience the impact of rural to urban migration due their inherent size. The physical constraints of these two islands also inhibit urban sprawl, promote easy governance and force them to utilize resources efficiently. Hence it is generally accepted that the problems of urban areas in ELDCs are more likely to get worse than improve. Even when some problems improve, urban areas in ELDCs are faced with yet a new set of challenges that continue to worsen the overall situation of these urban areas. Therefore they are stuck in this vicious cycle that only a few ELDCs are able to break away from, given that they have unique experiences and are exceptions.

Open Document