Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Economic development brings with it employment prospects that are largely urban-based (for more
informationonthis,seeChapter15).Now,indevelopedcountriestheseopportunitiestendtobewide-
spread and manifested by country-wide urbanization. In developing countries, however, they tend to
be much more concentrated in the geographic sense with the result that the populations of one or two
cities (the principal development centers) skyrocket. That is the reason why, as Table 17-1 shows,
more than half of the world's twenty largest cities are in developing countries
Because of concentrated urban growth, an important aspect of Third World urbanization is the dispro-
portionate occurrence of
primate cities
. No, this has nothing to do with
Planet of the Apes
. A city is
