Urbanisation: Some Problems And Their Implemented Solutions - Essay Example

URBANISATION – SOME PROBLEMS AND THEIR IMPLEMETED SOLUTIONS Urbanization is a phenomenon where a large number of people from rural areas move in order to live in cities or towns in search of or in attempt to have, a better standard of living. It occurs largely in developing countries when increasing number of people migrate to towns and cities for various reasons, for example: in search of better job opportunities, improved medical facilities, advanced technologies, and so on. According to Ahmad et al. (2009), in Malaysia, a large number of people have migrated from rural areas to cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Johor Bahru.  According to the United Nations report on urbanization and internal migration (2011) the key reasons for internal migration from rural to urban areas can be attributed to the fact that cities are the "focal points of economic growth, innovation and paid employment" (UN, 2011). Furthermore urban areas are much better equipped to address challenges related to health through provision of basic services such as clean drinking water, improved sanitation as well as transportation as compared to the rural areas. Hirschman is right in pointing out that labour plays an important role here. The demand for labour in the urban areas of peninsular Malaysia is higher than in rural areas. Additionally the demand for labour is not concentrated on particular industries only. Urban areas offer wide range of employment opportunities across diverse sectors along with improved socio-economic and physical environments, which act as a major pull-factor, adding to the increased internal migration process (Nijhoff, 2013). The purpose of this essay is to draw attention to the issues surrounding urbanization. For this purpose, the essay will focus on Malaysia. One of the major problems identified in Malaysia is over population and as a result of which low quality housing has now become one of the more serious questions in the country. The issues identified will be discussed in detail. The essay will also examine the approach undertaken in order to combat the issue. As a conclusion, the essay will evaluate the effectiveness of such an approach. Considering that the process of urbanisation is mostly unplanned, it poses a variety of issues. Although theorists have argued that urbanisation brings with it more benefits than problem, the issue has not been settled (see Allen et al., 2000; McGranahan & Satterthwaite, 2014). The problems related to urbanisation can be broadly categorised into economic, environmental, and social. Some of the main problems associated with the rapid urbanization in Malaysia have been identified as over population, pollution, unemployment, high cost of living, high crime rate, inadequate social amenities and housing. The problem of over population needs to be elucidated further. The next section of this essay will examine in detail one major issue – over-population. It will also outline the housing problems faced by low-income groups. This issue is a direct consequence of the former. Over population, although a problem associated with urbanisation, it is a natural consequence of it. Over population in Malaysia has led to a number of other related problems such as housing issues, low quality of life, the problem of waste generation and management and so on (see Rogers and Williamson, 1984 Baharuddin, 2007). Overpopulation in the urban area has resulted in a lot of cities being unable to meet the rise in demand for housing and service needs. As an additional problem, there also exists the issue of squatters. People working in multiple sectors have migrated to urban areas, and this included low-income groups as well. As a consequence of inadequate housing available, low-income groups began residing in squatter areas (Abu-Lughod & Jr. Hay, 2013). Secondly, urbanisation poses a major challenge to transportation. Traffic congestion is one of the most critical problems faced by all major urban cities worldwide. This in turn leads to increased fuel consumption and the per capita fuel usage among the residents also increase drastically. Increased congestion and usage of fuel also causes a range of sustainability issues, which may extend to environmental, social as well as health related problems. For instance, increased fuel emissions may cause respiratory problems among the public, increased noise and congestion may cause sleep disturbances endangering their health and well being in the process (Davenport & Davenport, 2006). In the following part of the essay, I will discuss the some solutions that have been implemented to combat the issue of overpopulation and low quality housing. I will also evaluate the effectiveness of the approaches that have been carried out. The issue of traffic congestion can be resolved /addressed by improving the public transport system such as railways and roadways and encouraging the public to use public transport or car pool instead of using individual vehicles. This would not only help in reducing congestion, but also help in reducing air pollution and fuel usage per resident. Reduction in vehicular traffic may also have an indirect and subsequent impact on pollution, which in turn may help in reducing health related problems. Furthermore, the government may invest in rural development and provide more employment opportunities thus preventing further internal migration. This can have a positive impact on the environment since the forests or land need not be destroyed to make way for roads or housing projects. Another straightforward solution to over population is government policies implemented to serve basic human needs. These policies are mostly around poverty, underemployment, healthcare, agriculture, and food. According to Duflot (2012), although the New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1971 by the Malaysian government pushed many people from the rural regions to the urban areas, the various government policies such as low-cost housing and increased employment opportunities helped counter issues that were caused due to over population. As stated by Duflot (2012): In the case of Malaysia, the rate of unemployment moves in the opposite direction as the rate of urbanization. Even though urbanization continues to progress, the rate of unemployment in the country has decreased […]The fact that people still migrate to cities and that they are not unemployed means that there are jobs in Malaysia (Duflot 2012: 6). What Duflot means here is that the issue of over population in Malaysia has been countered by creating employment opportunities to all. The reason for this has been the economic policies of that the country’s government followed to keep their workforce safe. Since the end of the World War, Malaysia has moved from being an agrarian society to being a manufacturing country. As a consequence of this, while traditional sectors like agriculture may not have jobs to offers, the governments economic policies have assured that the manufacturing sectors have jobs to offer to migrants who move to big cities such as Kuala Lumpur in search of jobs opportunities. While the economic policies in Malaysia help the country counterbalance the problem of over population, there was still one area that greatly suffered, that is, housing problems especially for the low-income groups. In an attempt to solve the issue, between 1967 and 1980, and between 1981 and 1985 the Third and Fourth Malaysia Plan respectively, was begun. As a part of the Third Malaysia Plan, according to Agus (1990), the government decided to construct 7017 houses near the City Hall for the squatters to reside in. However, they struggled to see the plan through to its end. In attempt to rectify their previous mistake, the Fourth Malaysia Plan began to take form. According to Weiss (2014) the government introduced a more explicit anti-squatter policy during the late 1970s which continued throughout the 1990s. Under this plan, the government opted to relocate squatters into new housing locations. Despite the fact that they managed to relocate a large number of families, they were unable to relocate all of them. Agus (1990) concludes that both the plans were not effective solutions None of the plans were successful because while the third Malaysia Plan ran "into several difficulties, mainly the lack of suitable land, shortage of construction materials and limited capacity of contractors, the Fourth Malaysia Plan failed because "the medium and high-cost housing exceeded the plan target" (213). Of various reasons including shortage of available resources such as construction materials, capacity of contractors, as well as availability of suitable land and the cost of housing which rose drastically over the years. Therefore, although the government has succeeded in identifying the solution, for the reasons stated above, it has not been able to implement it effectively. To conclude, as shown in the essay, while issues around over population in terms of employment have been resolved, there is a pressing need to alleviate the quality of housing that is available especially to the low-income group. Attempts on the part of the government have failed to resolve this issue, and I argue that it is mainly because a steady housing and development policy is not in place. It is imperative for the government to offer financial aid to the economically deprived /backward section of population, thus enabling them to relocate or allow them to find suitable housing with improved living conditions. Also town planning must be given due significance. Certain areas must be strictly allocated for designated purposes such as for transportation, housing or settlement, parking or pedestrian use. Areas, which are neglected, must be redeveloped in order to improve their living conditions and the physical environment surrounding the same. Improving the existing run-down localities could help in reducing congestion and equitably distribute the demand for housing which is concentrated in a certain area. REFERENCES ABU-LUGHOD, J., Jr. HAY, R., (2013). Third world urbanisation. London, UK: Metheun & Co. 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