CAUSES OF URBAN GROWTH

The growth of urban population occurs in two ways. One is natural increase (more births than deaths) and the other is increase by immigration. Natural increase in population is supported by supply of good food, proper sanitation, advancement in medical system in rural and urban areas. In Latin America and East Asia population growth by natural increase is about two third of population growth there. In Africa and West Asia the major source of population increase is immigration. Immigration can also be caused by two factors. One is push factors that push the people out of the country and other are pull factors that pull the people in the country or city.

IMMIGRATION PUSH FACTORS 

There are many reasons behind the migration of people into the cities. Some areas of the country are overpopulated and they cannot support the more people with facilities for their survival. The huge population is forced to migrate from their native cities or countries to the other cities or nations in search of food, jobs and housing facilities. The migration from rural to urban areas is not just due to overcrowding in nation but it can be due to the political, economic, racial or religious clashes that force the people to leave their own homes. Through these immigration push factors the country population is decreased. The US predicted that in 2002 about 19.8 million people escaped their inherent countries and 20 million were internal immigrants who moved from their cities with social, political and social instability. Many of these immigrants settled in already overcrowded megacities. 

The other push factors are land tenure patterns and agricultural changes. The patterns of agricultural mechanization in that are out of date in US now are spreading in developing countries. And where land ownership was in the hands of rich group, subsistence farmers are forced to move from there so that they made grazing land there and grow monoculture cash crops there. 

IMMIGRATION PULL FACTORS

In large and complex cities many people are attracted there by excitement, liveliness, communication with other people, jobs, housing, entertainment and freedom from difficulties of village life. In cities there are the possibilities for status, high social mobility and power. There are many other opportunities in cities such as specialization in arts, crafts and professions whose market is not available anywhere else. 

Modern cities attract the people from images of opportunities and luxuries on the social media such as in Egypt 90 % of people have availability of television set. Television makes the life more known and famous. Even the beggars and homeless people have the choice to live in cities. 

GOVERNMENT POLICIES 

Government policies provide benefit more to urban as compared to rural people because both push and pull people are in cities. Most of the budget in developing countries is spent on areas of capital city where leaders live and only small number of people live there. The benefit goes to leaders. 

All good opportunities are given in cities such as education, housing and jobs which the rural people are searching. Government sometimes manipulate the exchange rates and food prices of politically powerful urban people at the expense of rural people. The import of low price food provides benefit to urban people but it is uneconomical for local farmers to grow crops. Through this the rural people leave the villages and migrate towards cities for their convenience.