Urbanization and Foreign Aid

Urbanization refers to the transfer from the rural area to an urban community. This brings a huge concentration of individuals into cities and towns. This process frequently happens when a state is still in the developing stage. The trend concerning urbanization is a universe phenomenon. The main cause of universe urbanization is the current economic chances it attracts to governments and people. However, it has both negative and positive impacts on society. In Kenya, employees move to the urban centers to invent better economic chances. The Industrial Revolutions and subsequent shifts from agricultural opportunities to factory opportunities made it beneficial for companies. They are able to trace their plants in large towns with sufficient local workers. There is a Spartan shortage of resources in the rural areas like medical technology that further pushes people to the towns. In developing states, like those in Africa, the natural population escalates and migration became the significant factor in the urbanization process. People are pushed out of the rural deficiency to the urban zones as they are not capable of caring for their developing families. The insufficient resources comprise cities provision of employment, shelter, education and food (Hardoy & Satterthwaite, 2012).

Urbanization contains numerous adverse impacts on the society structure as gigantic amount of people competes for the limited available resources. Urbanization led to slums and overcrowding due to movement of people from a rural area to urban areas creating problems such as poverty, unemployment, high crime rates and poor sanitation. Additionally, tensions on essential natural resources, such as water sources, leads to the bigger prices and environmental sustainability predicaments (Latapi, 2011).

Urbanization creates people reliant on others for fundamental necessities. Urban dwellers should depend on the rural vicinity for agricultural fabrication. For example, city dwellers do not have sufficient land to produce their food. Urban inhabitants suffer from the psychosomatic degradation. The degradation originates from relying on other persons to achieve the functions of everyday life that comprise activities such as education, entertainment and transportation. Contributing in the Anatolian Psychiatry of Journal in the year 2008, Asli Besirli initiated that the social predicaments are linked with urban communities. The traffic predicament and the general nervousness concerning the future added to an escalation in mental health illnesses (Moser, 2009).

However, urbanization has positive impacts that improve people lives economically, socially and psychologically. Firstly, the movement of people from the rural to urban areas reduces the dependence on subsistence farming. When people move to urban centers, only a few are left to depend on agriculture. Additionally, it helps the people left in the rural areas to sell their products at a good price. Additionally, urbanization gives those who had a small piece of land to get a chance of putting food on their table. They leave reasonable number of people in the farm, creating space for them to farm (Hardoy & Satterthwaite, 2012).

Secondly, urbanization brings citizens from different rural areas together. People from Central, Eastern, and Rift valley, Coast, Western, Nyanza and North eastern Kenya come together with an aim of getting jobs. This allows people from the 42 Kenyan tribes to share and live together. It makes citizens appreciate each other. Therefore, urbanization reduces tribalism in Kenya. Urbanization acts as a symbol of unity to Kenyans. They leave their rural areas and come to urban centers with a similar goal of searching for a job. Therefore, they feel a sense of belonging to the same country irrespective of their tribe or region (Hart, 2011).

Thirdly, urbanization creates employment opportunities for many Kenyans. When people move from rural areas to urban center, they do not farm. Therefore, farmers at home have to farm and sell their products at high prices to those living in towns. Similarly, urbanization creates employment to countless people in the transport sector. Drivers, conductors, bus owners, Sacco managers are among the few who benefit from urbanization. In addition, hotels, schools, hospitals, shops and beauty shops are among the businesses that have created job opportunities to Kenyans.

Urbanization provides real economic chances to people who could be destined to existence living without confidence for economic development. There is the overall development in commercial chances with urbanization. Urbanization results in more jobs and high profits. As the economy develops, all of the community benefits from the internal developments through the comfortable tax center or from the competition among private governments. Another profit of urbanization is the tight organization of people that enable cultural and social incorporation on an equal unavailable to dispersed inhabitants in rural areas (Wratten, 2012).

Actions relieving severe impacts of urbanization

Kenyan government has done a lot to reduce the severe problems caused by urbanization with the help of donor nations and international lending institutions. For instance, the United States supported Kenya to increase the number of schools in Kenyan cities. Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa have benefited from this program. Increasing schools reduces congestion in primary and secondary schools. It also improves the standard of education, ultimately the living standards of Kenyans. Additionally, the World Bank supported the cleansing of the Nairobi River. Environmental degradation as a result of urbanization has made the river dirty and hazardous. However, the World Bank in collaboration with the Kenyan government has started the cleaning initiative. The former minister of environment Dr. Michuki aimed to drink water from the river before 2015. Efforts of the Kenyan government with support of donor nations and international lending institutions are bearing fruits. Several primary and secondary schools have been constructed in Kenyan cities (Moser, 2009). Additionally, Nairobi River that passes through the City of Nairobi is in the process of becoming clean. Industries are no longer releasing waste materials in the river.