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Hi there! Today we are going to explore how cities grow and why people move to them.
Have you ever wondered why some cities are so huge? Human features, like jobs and schools, and physical features, like rivers and coastlines, influence where people settle. These features shape the size and distribution of cities across the globe.
A megacity is a giant city with over 10 million people. Throughout history, new technology and farming tools caused changes in settlement patterns, pushing people from rural farms to urban cities.
Physical features like harbors and flat land make it easy to build cities. When we analyze these features, we can see exactly why cities grow fast in some areas and slowly in others.
Let us practice explaining how a physical feature and a human process worked together to change New York City into a massive hub. We will explain the process step-by-step.
- Identify the physical feature: New York City has a deep, natural harbor protected from the rough ocean waves.
- Identify the human process: People built the Erie Canal, which connected this harbor directly to the farming lands inside the country.
- Analyze the connection: Because of this canal, trading ships from all over the world chose to stop in New York to buy and sell goods.
- Explain the final change in settlement: This massive trade created thousands of new jobs, which caused millions of people to move to the city, transforming it into a megacity.
