Lee Ho Ting 3035049110

Essay 1: Compare and contrast the main characteristics of the urbanization process in the First and Third Worlds

Introduction
As a necessary step towards development, both the First world and Third world countries have been undertaking the process urbanization. Urbanization is referred to the process of the increase in the total population living in the urban areas through immigration to the areas and net increase in the urban population (Pacione, 2009).
Although the processes of urbanization are similar among countries, there are still differences as the First world is defined as capitalist industrial market economies where the Third world is referred to states that failed to develop economically after independence (Pacione, 2009). The differences in the social and economic situations in the First and Third world as well as the different global environment have led to distinct characteristics in the urbanization process of countries. Understanding these characteristics is essential to the understanding the challenges faced by states in the process. Therefore this essay is going to discuss the similarities and differences between the urbanization processes starting from the eighteenth century up till now from the social and economic aspects in respect of the global environment.

Similarities – Economic based urbanization
The major similarity between the urbanization of the two different worlds is that economic development played a significant role in the urbanization process. Strong economic development is the main reason accelerating the process of urbanization. Take Britain in the eighteenth century as example. Prior to the industrial revolution in 1760, the population was only 11 million with only 20% of them living in urban areas (Office for national statistics, 2014). The industrial revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth