How cities grow: urban, suburban and rural patterns

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The world's urban and rural people

   Measure	Value
   Urban people, 1950	751 million
   Urban people, 2018	4.2 billion
   Rural people, 2018	close to 3.4 billion
   Rural people, projected for 2050	3.1 billion
   Share of people who were urban, 2018	55%
   Share projected to be urban, 2050	68%

   Note: UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018 Revision). By the UN's figures, 2007 was the first year in which more than half of the world's people lived in urban areas. Urbanization is a rising share of people living in urban areas. A suburb is a mostly residential area within commuting distance of a large city. Rural areas are the countryside outside towns and cities. Each country uses its own definition of urban.

2. 1.

   The chart gives 4.2 billion urban people as 55% of the world in 2018, and close to 3.4 billion rural people. Do the figures agree, Ari?

   • No: 4.2 billion can be 55% of about 7.6 billion if the rural people are counted a second time
   • Yes: 3.4 plus 4.2 billion is about 7.6 billion, and 4.2 of 7.6 is about 55%
   • Yes, but the 55% is the share of rural people, since the 4.2 billion is the bigger of the two counts
   • No: with about 3.4 billion rural people, the urban people should be the smaller share, about 45%
3. 2.

   The rural population is projected to fall from close to 3.4 billion in 2018 to 3.1 billion by 2050, while the urban share rises. Which claim does Bo support?

   • The rural population is projected to grow, since the urban share rises from 55% to only 68%
   • Rural people become a smaller share of everyone, and their number is projected to fall by about 0.3 billion
   • Rural areas lose 0.3 billion people and cities gain the same 0.3 billion, so people move one for one
   • The countryside is emptying, since the rural share falls from 45% to 32% of everyone
4. 3.

   Esme compares the urban shares of two countries from the UN's tables. What limit does the chart's note place on that comparison?

   • Countries may count different places as urban, so the shares are not measured in the same way
   • Urban shares cannot be compared between countries, since the UN has no common definition
   • The shares are fair to compare for countries of similar size, since size changes the urban share
   • The shares are wrong for any country whose definition differs from the UN's own
5. 4.

   By 2050, 3.1 billion rural people are projected to be the 32% who are not urban. What does Jun learn about the world's 2050 population?

   • It would be about 7.6 billion, the same as 2018, since just the shares change in 2050
   • It would be about 9.7 billion, with about 6.6 billion of them urban
   • It would be about 6.2 billion, since 3.1 billion rural people means twice as many urban
   • It would be about 4.6 billion, since 3.1 billion is the urban 68%, with 1.5 billion rural
6. 5.

   Luz says the 68% urban share in 2050 is a fact about the future. What is the sound reply?

   • It is the UN's projection, an expected value that could turn out different, not a count
   • It is a fact, since the UN measured 55% in 2018 and an urban share rises from year to year
   • It is a count made in advance, since the UN has already counted the people who will live in 2050
   • It is a guess with no basis, since the future share cannot be measured for any country
7. 6.

   A neighborhood of homes lies 25 minutes by train from a large city. A town of 800 people lies far from any city. Which is a suburb, Milo?

   • Neither, since a suburb must be part of the city itself and not a separate place
   • Both, since any residential area counts as a suburb wherever it lies and however far it is
   • The town of 800, since small settlements outside the big cities are called suburbs
   • The neighborhood: a suburb is residential and within commuting distance of a large city
8. 7.

   A country's urban population doubles and its rural population doubles too. Noah calls that urbanization. What is wrong with this?

   • Urbanization is a rising urban share, and if both groups double, the share stays the same
   • Nothing: urban growth by itself makes the urban share rise
   • Nothing: urbanization means urban people are growing, whatever happens to rural people
   • Urbanization needs the rural population to fall, so a rise in both cannot be urbanization
9. 8.

   A country's urban share rises from 40% to 50%. Pia asks whether its rural population could still grow. What is the answer?

   • No: when the urban share rises, the rural count must fall, because the people move to cities
   • Yes, but just if the urban count falls, since the rural share must fall for the rural count to rise
   • Yes: if the whole population grows by over a fifth, the rural count can rise while its share falls
   • Yes, if the whole population grows by more than 10%, since a 10% rise is enough to do it
10. 9.

    By the UN's figures, 2007 was the first year in which more than half of the world's people were urban. Which statement can Ren support?

    • In 2007 the world's urban population first reached 4.2 billion, the figure for 2018
    • After 2007 the rural population began to fall, since the urban share passed one half
    • In 2007 and after, urban people outnumbered rural people worldwide, since more than half were urban
    • Before 2007 no country had an urban share above half, since the world's share was under half
11. 10.

    Urban people grew by about 3.4 billion from 1950 to 2018, and rural people number close to 3.4 billion in 2018. Tala says the cities took every rural person. Is that supported?

    • Yes: the cities gained 3.4 billion, the same number that the rural count shows, so rural people moved
    • Yes: urban growth must come from rural areas, so the same number of people has moved
    • No: the cities gained about 3.0 billion, since 4.2 billion minus 751 million is 3.0 billion
    • No: the match is a coincidence of totals, and about 3.4 billion rural people are still counted in 2018