Editing Urban geography (section)

== Impact of Urban Geography ==

=== Environmental Impact ===
The environment of urban areas is developed through the concept of urbanization. Urbanization is the transition from rural town-structured communities to urban city-structured communities. This transition is because humans are pulled to cities because of jobs and even welfare. In cities, problems will arise such as [[environmental degradation]]. The increasing population can lead to poor air quality and quality and availability of water. The growth of urbanization can lead to more use of energy which leads to air pollution and can impact human health. Flash flooding is another environmental hazard that can occur due to urban development. The concept of urbanization plays an important role in the study of urban geography because it involves the formation of urban infrastructures such as sanitation, sewage systems, and the distribution of electricity and gas.

=== Societal Impact ===
The migration form rural to urbanized areas is fueled by their search for jobs, education, and social welfare. There are trends in urbanization that are influenced by push and pull factors. The push factors include the increasingly high growth of rural areas which leads many people to migrate to the cities in search of better livelihood opportunities, a good quality of life, and a higher standard of living. People are forced to leave their rural homes and move to various cities because of various factors such as low agricultural productivity, poverty, and food insecurity. In addition to the push factors, there are also the pull factors, which "pull" people to cities for better opportunities, better education, proper public health facilities, and also entertainment which offers employment opportunities. The gentrification of urban environments leads to an increase in income gaps, racial inequality, and displacement within metropolitan areas. The negative environmental impacts of urbanization disproportionately effects minority low income areas more than higher income communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meng |first=Qingmin |date=2022-11-01 |title=A new simple method to test and map environmental inequality: Urban hazards disproportionately affect minorities |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0264837722004112 |journal=Land Use Policy |language=en |volume=122 |pages=106384 |doi=10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106384|s2cid=252610843 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Climate Impact ===
The increasing demand for new building infrastructure within densely populated cities resulted in an increase in air pollution due to the high energy usage within these urban areas. The increasing energy use leads to an increase in heat emissions, which results in global warming.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mirza |first1=Shahid |last2=Niwalkar |first2=Amol |last3=Anjum |first3=Saima |last4=Bherwani |first4=Hemant |last5=Singh |first5=Anju |last6=Kumar |first6=Rakesh |date=2022-06-16 |title=Studying impact of infrastructure development on urban microclimate: Integrated multiparameter analysis using OpenFOAM |journal=Energy Nexus |language=en |volume=6 |pages=100060 |doi=10.1016/j.nexus.2022.100060|s2cid=247811770 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Cities are a key contributor to climate change because urban activities are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. It was estimated that cities are responsible for about 75% of global carbon dioxide emissions, with the inclusion of transportation and buildings being the largest contributor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Environment |first=U. N. |date=2017-09-26 |title=Cities and climate change |url=http://www.unep.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-do/cities/cities-and-climate-change |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=UNEP - UN Environment Programme |language=en}}</ref> In order to combat the negative environmental impacts urbanization, many modern cities develop environmentally conscious infrastructure. For instance, the implementation of public transportation such as train and bus systems help to lessen the use of cars within cities. The use of [[solar energy]] can also be found in many commercial and residential buildings, which helps to lessen the reliance on non-renewable energy resources.

=== Biodiversity Impact ===
Urbanization has a great impact on biodiversity. As cities develop, vital habitats are destroyed or fragmented into patches which leads to them not being big enough to support complex ecological communities. In cities, species can become endangered or locally extinct. The human population is the main contributor to the expansion of urban areas. As urban areas grow from increasing human population and from migration, this can result in deforestation, habitat loss, and extraction of freshwater from the environment which can decrease biodiversity and alter the species ranges and interaction. Some additional cause-and-effect relationships between urban geography and ecosystems include habitat loss which decreases the species' populations, ranges, and interaction among organisms, the life cycles, and traits can help species survive and reproduce in disturbed ecosystems. The paving of land with concrete can increase water runoff, increase erosion, and [[soil quality]] can also decrease.