Three of the top reasons are jobs, education and lifestyle. Better job market: Where there are more people, there are more jobs. This is the main reason so many people leave country towns to live in big cities. Educational opportunities: All major and affluent colleges/universities are located in or near a big city.

As cities get bigger, they clearly have to expand around their peripheries for it is much more difficult to increase central densities. Urban sprawl has many negative consequences for residents and the environment, water and air pollution, increased traffic and traffic jams, increased car dependency, parking, etc.).

For years, scientists have argued that sprawling urban and suburban development patterns are creating negative impacts including habitat fragmentation, water and air pollution, increased infrastructure costs, inequality, and social homogeneity (Ewing 1997; Squires 2002).

Because suburbs sprawl outward for miles, residents drive much more often, releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And because suburbs offer residents larger homes for less money than in urban centers, suburban residents spend huge amounts of energy heating and powering their larger homes.

Poor air and water quality, insufficient water availability, waste-disposal problems, and high energy consumption are exacerbated by the increasing population density and demands of urban environments. Strong city planning will be essential in managing these and other difficulties as the world’s urban areas swell.

The problems associated with urbanization are: High population density, inadequate infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, flooding, pollution, slum creation, crime, congestion and poverty. This problem of high population density is caused due to the heavy rate of migration from rural areas.

Cities are major contributors to climate change. According to UN Habitat, cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, they account for less than 2 per cent of the Earth’s surface.

Urban environmental problems are mostly inadequate water supply, wastewater, solid waste, energy, loss of green and natural spaces, urban sprawl, pollution of soil, air, traffic, noise, etc.

While vehicles are the single largest source of both NO2 and particulate matter, there are a number of other major sources including construction, commercial cooking, wood burning and boilers and generators.

Heat stress, air pollution or carbon emission, are higher in urban than in rural settings. Hence, humans living in urban areas are at particular risk for higher morbidity and mortality and reduced well-being [59].

The followings are various environmental stress in rural areas:

• Use of chemical fertilisers: Rural people previously were using mostly organic fertilisers for their farming.
• Use of chemical pesticides:
• Desertification:
• Housing and fuel wood:
• Sanitation:
• Health services:
• Electricity and water supply:
• Transport:

PM2. 5 concentrations in urban areas were higher than in rural areas in all provinces. 5 concentrations in urban areas are due to more human activities, greater energy consumption, and higher emissions of air pollutants [32,33].

Urban people change their environment through their consumption of food, energy, water, and land. And in turn, the polluted urban environment affects the health and quality of life of the urban population. For example, urban populations consume much more food, energy, and durable goods than rural populations.

5 Common Causes of an Unhealthy Home Environment and How to Make It Healthier

• Smoking and Secondhand Smoke.
• Radon.
• Lack of Operational Smoke Alarms.
• Moisture and Mold.
• Pesticide Use.

Identify four basic causes of the environmental problems that we face. population growth, wasteful and unstainable resource, poverty, and failure to include the harmful environmental cost of goods and services in their market prices.