Urbanization spread at a high speed in the 1850’s because of a number of factors. There new technologies like steam engines and electricity, upgraded factory work, causing these factories to transfer to urban regions and away from the rivers that had been initially crucial sources of both power and transportation. The growing number of industries, together with innovations like electric lighting that permitted them to be operated both day and night, resulted into an enormous need for employees ( Gollin, Jedwab, & Vollrath, 2016) . Workers both from rural regions of the United States and from eastern and southern Europe responded to this need and were engaged in the companies. Following the high rate in which the cities were growing, it became difficult to deal with the fast arrival of workers, and the living circumstances for the working class became pathetic. Challenges ranged from tight living accommodations, with insufficient plumbing and sanitation, which resulted into sicknesses (Evensen, Glade, Koenig, Lee-Benton, Nelson, Peterson, & Zick, 2016) . The response of civic organizations, literal settlement of people and churches could not offer enough relief to the urban working class, but the situations continued to be unbearable for most humans. The growing plans of urbanization in 1870-1900 happened very fast. They were marked by development and the upsurge of individuals moving to the urban cities, prompting serious challenges to the people.
Research Question
What are the challenges that are experienced in the wake of urbanization of regions?
Challenges that are Experienced due to Urbanization
There are predominant problems that come up during the urbanization process of a region. This ranges from congestion, crimes, pollution, illnesses, and among others, which in most cases make life unbearable in the cities. City planners and occupants alike strive to create new solutions to these challenges resulting from rapid urban growth. The living conditions for many working-class urban residents are always terrible. They stay in congested buildings and overcrowded apartments with pathetic ventilation and poor plumbing and sanitation. Consequently, diseases such as typhoid and cholera become unavoidable. According to Gollin, Jedwab and Vollrath (2016) , Memphis, Tennessee have realized effects of cholera in the past followed by yellow fever leaving about ten thousand people dead. There has been efforts by New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Baltimore and other cities to give efficient waste management through provision of sewage pumping systems.
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Because of urbanization, many regions have realized ferocious fire cases. In the 1900 estimate, working-class family of six encompassing the husband and wife and four children, had at best a two-bedroom house averagely (Mai, 2016). By this time, the New York City had already established about fifty thousand residential houses. Chauvin, Glaeser, Ma, and Tobio (2017) established that the New York City was the most densely populated urban region globally, with several eight hundred occupants per square acre in the Lower East Side working-class shantytowns, having the Eleventh and Thirteenth Districts.
High Population Density
The heightened rate of migration from rural to urban regions is leading to the challenge of high population density. As rapid population growth is experienced in the urbanized regions, a severe deficiency of dwelling units is created. Acute shortage of dwelling places also has inherent challenges such as traffic congestion in many roads, overcrowding, housing shortages so that there is slum and squatter accommodation to carter for this aspects, and pollutions. Because of the increased population, the good houses will be rented at a high cost amidst the poor urban living standards (Chauvin et al., 2017). There is low infrastructure facilities is what cause traffic congestion the most. There are high levels of poverty, unemployment rates as well as poor sanitized houses that has become unescapable and indeed heightened the rates of crimes. Of course, for a highly impoverished people, they have to steal and hijack others to make ends meet in the urban centers (Evensen et al., 2016). All of these have affected the high population density in nations that are still developing.
Inadequate Infrastructures
Urbanization would attract many populations who have to be facilitated through good roads, constant water and power supply and other essential amenities. These amenities will make easy the life of the people in the cities. Unfortunately, it becomes challenging to provide these entire infrastructure to the overpopulated cities (Chauvin et al., 2017). In fact, most infrastructures that have been developed because of urbanization are in a poor state. For a record, some of the developing nations that are experiencing urbanization are still challenged by bad road network, poor power supply, insufficient supply of waters and some fundamental amenities that people need in their residents (Mai, 2016). Some urbanized regions do not have enough infrastructure to manage their wastes. Flooding is a very severe challenge experienced in urban regions, particularly in developing nations in the periods of rains. This is because of poorly build drainage systems that could make the access of the roads difficult. This has caused even some developing nation to face flood disasters.
Inadequate Affordable Housing
There are inadequate housing because of urbanization of regions. This has led to conflicts with well-ordered squatters, who are in charge of unfilled buildings to stay without paying rent or avoid demolitions. Again, this has prompted lowered housing vacancy rates, because of the rapid job opportunities created in the urban centers. The employed persons also heighten the housing costs considerably because of the high demand. Challenges like inadequate housing, particularly focusing on low-income families are being experienced, which amounts to overcrowding of places that are already congested. The unending worsening of deprived neighborhoods, increased social cost and innumerable individual misery cannot be avoided. Gollin, Jedwab and Vollrath (2016) expounded on measures considered to counterbalance the heightening costs of public housing which included reduced exclusionary zoning rules, less tax liabilities, coordinating within the private developers, reinforcement of cooperative housing institutions, support of industrialized building methods, utilization of low-cost building resources and cut-rate mortgage credit. All these measures could be considered to reduce or totally alleviate challenges emanating from inadequate affordable housing.
Creation of Slums
Among the greatest problems that result from the heightened industrialization and urbanization of regions is the rise of slums. Most people who travel to the urban centers begin life in slum regions as the houses there are cheap and life is cheap. Several projects have been instituted to eradicate slums in urban regions. They include far-reaching slum clearance, restoration and rebuilding, slum advancement schemes, building of a network of superhighways to eliminate urban decay and safeguard the future opportunity of central region, movement of residents to the suburbs, and among others (Chauvin et al., 2017). These schemes are striving to upgrade the regions since the places are dominated by lack of fundamental amenities like streetlights, good roads and drainage.
Crime Rates
The increased population would definitely amount to increased criminal activities. High populations that result from urbanization of regions cannot be satisfied entirely because of limited resources and amenities. There is high rate of unemployment as the people are traveling from the rural regions to the urban cities for the limited spaces (Evensen et al., 2016). Since the cities will not supply jobs to everyone, most of them will end up being idle in their jobless states. Consequently, there will be a heightened increase of crime rates because that would be the only way of survival. It is the basis for many people in the urban cities engaging in deviant activities like stealing, killing, rape cases, and among others ( Gollin, Jedwab, & Vollrath, 2016) . With no economic security and poor living standards, indulging in criminal activities becomes predictable. Governments should ensure that urbanization is being experienced equitably in all regions so that there is decentralization of resources. People do not have to migrate from where they are in search for jobs.
Congestion
Congestion could be as regards to traffic in the roads by vehicles or overcrowding of people. In traffic, the routes and passages are overcrowded amounting to slow and disorganized flow, which restricts movements of either people or vehicles. Urbanization would imply many individuals buying vehicles that have to be utilized in the poor roads (Chauvin et al., 2017). Large increases of motor cars lead to congestion in the roads. Congestion within the urban regions impedes access to these regions by people. Traffic flow could be managed by having regulations, signposts that are used to ensure that traffic flow efficiently. A smooth traffic flow will help in eliminating collisions and other dangers.
Conclusion
Developing nations are the ones that are currently witnessing rapid growth of people through urbanization. Consequently, these countries cannot avoid lack of employment opportunities for the individuals who travel to the towns to search for jobs. The rates of unemployment rates pushes people to seek for government-sponsored programs and benefits. Organizations and governments cannot offer sufficient jobs to counter the demand of a rapidly growing population in urbanized nations. The challenges linked to urbanization as established above are and not limited to high population density, insufficient infrastructure, inadequate affordable housing, pollution, high crime rates, flooding, congestion, and poverty.
References
Chauvin, J. P., Glaeser, E., Ma, Y., & Tobio, K. (2017). What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States. Journal of Urban Economics , 98 , 17-49.
Evensen, D., Glade, M. E., Koenig, D., Lee-Benton, O., Nelson, C., Peterson, K ., & Zick, N. (2016). The Making of Modern America: Quantifying Chaos.
Gollin, D., Jedwab, R., & Vollrath, D. (2016). Urbanization with and without Industrialization. Journal of Economic Growth , 21 (1), 35-70.
Mai, Q. D. (2016). All the labor problems fit to print: the New York Times and the cultural production of the US ‘labor problem’, 1870–1932. Labor History , 57 (2), 141-169.
