Is there a limit as to what percentage of a nation's people can live in cities? Why?
2007-11-05 06:21:56 · 6 answers · asked by soccerfan_001 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Ultimately, there are two extremes.
All of them can live in cities (100 percent ... like Monaco).
None of them can live in cities (0 percent ... but there is no place like that in today's world).
With today's ability for a few to provide sufficient resources for the many, there is a balance between the maximum population base that can be supported in an urban environment. For top-tier countries with a large manufacturing and technology base, this can be split about 10 percent rural and 90 percent urban. For bottom-tier countries where the technology and/or resources do not exist in plentitude, the balance would tend to be more along the lines of 60 percent rural to 40 percent urban.
2007-11-05 06:50:15 · answer #1 · answered by CanTexan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Global food supplies are definitely limited, even if they seem abundant now. In fact, until the advent of the tractor and petroleum-derived (read: CHEAP) fertilizers, over 96% of the population farmed and only barely fed the remaining 4%.
Corn rows were planted 24 to 36 inches apart so the plows could maintain areation and at harvest, the cart would have room to move between the rows while my grandparents picked every ear by HAND!
With the advent of modern farming, the world population has grown from fewer than 1.5 billion in the 1880's (it had stayed at 0.3 billion till 1650, then began growing as science and the New World brought better diets) to nearly 7 billion today.
If history is any guide, a billion or two is about all the world can feed WITHOUT VERY VERY CHEAP OIL...or an equally good replacement.
Your question leads straight to mine: Regardless of WHERE we live (countryside or city) what will happen to that 5 or 6 billion without food?
...
2007-11-05 14:30:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you mean a statutory or a practical limit? I don't believe countries regulate the proportion of thier populace that is rural vs urban. As for a practical limit, in highly developed nations, less than 5% of the population is engaged in agriculture. Presumably, most of the remaining 95% could reside in cities, were the infrastructure sufficiently developed.
2007-11-05 14:56:01 · answer #3 · answered by B.Kevorkian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No - but there should be a limit for countries and cities. Atlanta has no limit and they are now out of water....
2007-11-05 14:26:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
no but it depends on how much the city can care for so they set the birth rate
2007-11-05 14:59:32 · answer #5 · answered by peter a 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes 100% and no more.
A good example of such a situation would be Monaco.
2007-11-05 14:27:10 · answer #6 · answered by r1b1c* 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋