According to Stage, Stage, and McGranaham (2009), urbanization refers to the escalating number of people moving from rural areas into urban areas. In differentiating it from population growth, urbanization concentrates on population growth in urban regions. How does one measure urbanization? The common metric used to measure urbanization is the World Bank urbanization index, which shows the difference between rural and urban population growth rates (Chadwick, 2016). Based on this measurement tool, rapid rural to urban migration depicts high urbanization. If a country’s rate of urbanization is one percent per annum, it means that the urban population grew by one percent that year.
Urbanization is one of the key determinants of economic growth. It is the drive of most economies, especially in developing nations. Settling in cities and metropolitans gives people numerous opportunities, which allow people to earn and generate money. Urbanization leads to the possibility of access to work, services, and goods (Opoko& Oluwatayo, 2014). Urban regions are hubs for cultural diversity and civilization, creating unquestionable potential for people who come from poor families in rural regions. However, it does not mean that urbanization lacks its limitations and disadvantages. Many cities in developing countries continue to face frustration and pressure caused by urban growth. Voluminous people leave their rural homes and migrate to the city, hoping to make a better life for themselves and their families. Not everyone is willing to urbanize, only those that are willing to change their standard of living can afford to survive in urban regions. The rest of the urban movers ends up living in poverty and despair.
Urbanization trends in Egypt
Rapid urban growth is an issue affecting many developing countries such as Egypt since the 1980s (Abdelhalim& Hassan, 2011). Egypt has the largest population in the Middle East and North Africa region, currently reaching 94.8 million people. In a period of thirty years, the country’s population had doubled, increasing from 21.2 million in 1950 to 42.6 million in 1980 (Zinkina& Korotayev, 2013). The same occurred between 1980 and 2008. The population doubled from 42.6 million in 1980 to 81.7 million in 2008. The country population seems to double every thirty years. The country anticipated rapid population growth, as it experienced active modernization in the 20th century. Cairo, which is the capital city, experience growth proportional to that of the entire country. The city’s population doubled from 19.5 million people in 1980 to 35.5 million in 2009, which is almost double.
Despite the overall growth in urban population, urbanization trends in Egypt are quite dynamic. In the 1960s, there was rapid urban growth, with the rate shifting from 3.88% to 4.27% per year between 1960 and 1965. Then, the rate slowed down to 2.75% per annum until the 1980s. After 1985, the urban population decreased further at a rate of 1% per year until it stabilized a decade later. Research shows that undernourishment is to blame for the rapid decline in urban population. Firstly, the city experienced rapid population growth, which eventually strained the city’s resources. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the per capital rate of consumption went over 3000kcal/capita/day, which was more than the city could handle (Zinkina& Korotayev, 2013). The largest urban region was suddenly unable to feed its growing population, which led to depopulation eventually.
Impacts of the high rate of urbanization in Egypt
High population in urban regions resulted in the degradation of primary services such as education, health, employment, environment, and transportation. Furthermore, the government’s inability to contain the situation only makes it worse.
Social Impact
The high rate of population growth in the country’s capital has had negative social impacts. According to Fahmy and Wahba (2013), half of the city’s population dwell in informal settlements. The high demand for housing leads to limited supply and unaffordability. The conditions force people to live in poor conditions. Furthermore, the population continue to receive poor healthcare services, especially with the high pollution in the region. Highly populated regions tend to be highly polluted due to poor drainage and high carbon emissions. Furthermore, the amount of waste in overpopulated regions is likely to be high. For instance, Cairo holds 60% of the nation’s cars, 55% of university locations, 50% of the buses, and 46% of the country’s hospital beds. These statistical facts explain the reasons for high pollution in the capital.
High poverty is another social issue brought by the high population in the urban regions of Egypt (Fahmy& Sharples, 2009). In 2012, the official rate of poor people in the region was 25%. A quarter of the entire country lived below the poverty line. However, studies suspect that the rate is higher than the official percentage (Fahmy& Wahba, 2013). In 2008, a survey found that 50 to 60% of the country’s population live in slums, which is more than half of the population in Cairo. Factors influencing poverty in the region include high unemployment, poor living conditions, and scarcity of resources. There is high competition for goods and services in the country. High demands leads to low supply and overpricing of commodities, making it hard for people to sustain the city’s appropriate living standards.
The last social impact of urbanization in Egypt is poor education. According to the Guardian, there were over half a million more births in 2012 than in 2010. There was a 40% increase in the number of births between 2006 and 2012, which demanded the establishment of 91,000 new classrooms to accommodate the incoming young population (Kingsley, 2014). It is difficult for a country to maintain a proper education system in such conditions. The country is likely to suffer from a shortage of facilities, books, and teachers. Poor education or no education at all contributes to the continuous cycle of poverty through unemployment and low entrepreneurship.
Economic Impact
From 1970 to 1990, Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased from $30 billion to $45 billion. There was a positive relationship between economic development in the country and urban population growth. However, overpopulation began to affect economic development negatively, as the population of poor people increased. As the numbers of people in urban regions continue to grow, the population exerts pressure on the limited resources in the main cities. Earlier, it was identified that 25% of Egypt’s population lived in poverty. It must be noted that more than half of Cairo’s population was poor. This explains the negative effects of high population growth in the cities. Factors such as inaccessibility to proper housing, quality healthcare, and education cause poverty and are the products of poverty. They create a cycle of never-ending poverty in the country. Poor education causes unemployment, increasing the number of unemployed throughout. Additionally, above 800,000 fresh graduates enter the job market every year only to find no jobs. The situation in the country leads to poor economic development, lowering GDP and the gross national income (Kingsley, 2014).
Still on the country’s economic impacts, high urbanization in the region leads to low agricultural employment in the rural areas. In 1980, 42.4% of the country’s population worked in the agricultural sector. In 1990, the population of agricultural workers dropped to 39%. In 2000, the number fell further to 29.6%. In a period of twenty years, the population of people working in the agricultural sector fell by almost 13% (Zinkina& Korotayev, 2013). Agriculture is an important economic section of the country. It provides employment, food, and generates revenue for the country. Therefore, the decrease in agricultural employment signifies low agricultural production. Poor agricultural production means that the country will have to export food from other countries in order to feed its growing population, keeping in mind that much of the country is arid.
Conclusion
The above report investigates urban development in Egypt and its impact on the country over a time period of the past three decades. Measuring the rate of growth between rural and urban regions is a metric used in measuring the level of urbanization in a country. Research on Egypt’s urban growth reveals that there is rapid population growth in its cities, especially in main cities like Cairo and Alexandria. In a thirty-year period, the capital city’s population had doubled, moving from 19.5 million to 35.5 million. Rapid population growth in the country’s urban region continues to hurt the region. The country’s resources are unable to sustain the 91 million people in it (Fadel, 2016). Evidence of the negative impacts of urbanization includes high poverty, poor living standards, slow economic growth, unemployment, and lack of education. The Egyptian government is having a difficult time dealing with the rapid population development in the country, especially after the 2011 revolution, which happened throughout the Arab spring. None of its policies seems to help the condition. Forecasts foretell that the country should expect further increase in urban population (Khalifa, DaVanzo, & Adamson, 2000). If the government does not take control of this crisis, the city dwellers are likely to suffer more due to scarcity of resources, poor living standards, substandard education, and destitute healthcare. The country should work towards achieving proper urban planning.