ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nineteenth-century patterns of urbanization in various countries of the developed world. It aims to provide some benchmarks for evaluating contemporary urbanization patterns in the industrialized world. Urbanization decreases a population’s control over its immediate environment by intensifying dependence on nonlocal social and economic relationships, as employees of firms, as clients of bureaucracies, and as consumers of products. Whereas the impact of urbanization on the environment in the developed world is subsumed within that of economic development, in the developing world urbanization appears to have a more independent impact on the environment due to the lack of economic development. The weak positive association between urbanization and economic development in the developing world has deep historical roots. Exploring these roots is crucial to understanding contemporary variations in urbanization. The nature of the urban neighborhood in Latin America poses particular problems for popular participation in the management of the environment.
