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468 Chapter 20 | Population, Urbanization, and the Environment
20.2 Urbanization
Cities provide numerous opportunities for their residents and offer significant benefits including access to goods to numerous job opportunities. At the same time, high population areas can lead to tensions between demographic groups, as well as environmental strain. While the population of urban dwellers is continuing to rise, sources of social strain are rising along with it. The ultimate challenge for today’s urbanites is finding an equitable way to share the city’s resources while reducing the pollution and energy use that negatively impacts the environment.
20.3 The Environment and Society
The area of environmental sociology is growing as extreme weather patterns and concerns over climate change increase. Human activity leads to pollution of soil, water, and air, compromising the health of the entire food chain. While everyone is at risk, poor and disadvantaged neighborhoods and nations bear a greater burden of the planet’s pollution, a dynamic known as environmental racism.
Section Quiz
20.1 Demography and Population
1. The population of the planet doubled in fifty years to reach _______ in 1999?
a. 6 billion
b. 7 billion
c. 5 billion
d. 10 billion
2. A functionalist would address which issue?
a. The way inner-city areas become ghettoized and limit availability to jobs
b. The way immigration and emigration trends strengthen global relationships
c. The way racism and sexism impact the population composition of rural communities
d. The way humans interact with environmental resources on a daily basis
3. What does carrying capacity refer to?
a. The ability of a community to welcome new immigrants
b. The capacity for globalism within a given ethnic group
c. The amount of life that can be supported sustainably in a particular environment
d. The amount of weight that urban centers can bear if vertical growth is mandated
4. What three factors did Malthus believe would limit human population?
a. Self-preservation, old age, and illness
b. Natural cycles, illness, and immigration
c. Violence, new diseases, and old age
d. War, famine, and disease
5. What does cornucopian theory believe?
a. That human ingenuity will solve any issues that overpopulation creates
b. That new diseases will always keep populations stable
c. That the earth will naturally provide enough for whatever number of humans exist
d. That the greatest risk is population reduction, not population growth
20.2 Urbanization
6. In the concentric zone model, Zone B is likely to house what?
a. The city’s industrial center
b. Wealthy commuter homes
c. Formerly wealthy homes split into cheap apartments
d. Rural outposts
7. What are the prerequisites for the existence of a city?
a. Good environment with water and a favorable climate
b. Advanced agricultural technology
c. Strong social organization
d. All of the above
8. In 2014, what was the largest city in the world?
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