Urbanization by implosion

Urbanization has been primarily a phenomenon of the growth and expansion of cities. Yet there is another form of urbanization that is proceeding, largely unacknowledged, in rural parts of vast regions in the Third World. The in-place growth of population in these areas is producing densities that equal or surpass the urban threshold, i.e. 400 persons per km2. These are mega rural regions whose densities are comparable to the population concentrations found in exurbs of Los Angeles, New York or Toronto. This level of density transforms spatial organization and land market, both for agricultural and residential lands, as well as precipitates thresholds for community infrastructure. It may or may not bring about social, economic or local government institutions associated with the urban living, but it surely recasts settlement patterns, land tenure systems and demand for facilities and services in urban modes. This spatial urbanization comes from the process of implosion, i.e. in-place growth. It is building up another urban crisis outside the cities in many parts of the Third World. Yet it remains unnoticed by the planning and policy disciplines as well as organizations. It is another frontier opening up for urban planning in the 21st Century.