SOCIOL 1A06 Chapter 15: NS - Chapter 15 – Population and Urbanization.docx
11 Apr 2012
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Document Summary
Until the industrial revolution, cities were incapable of supporting more than about 5 percent of the total societal population, largely because of the absence of agricultural surpluses large enough to feed a big urban population. In addition, high mortality rates, especially among children under 10 years, dictated that, even with high birth rates, urban population growth was limited. Demographic transition theory holds that the main factors underlying population dynamics are industrialization and the growth of modern cultural values. In the preindustrial era, both birth rates and death rates were high and population growth was therefor slow. In the first stages of industrialization, death rates fell, so population growth was rapid. As industrialization progressed and people"s values about having children changed, the birth rate fell, resulting in slow growth again. Malthus argued that while food supplies increase slowly, populations grow quickly. Because of this presumed natural law, only war, pestilence and famine can keep human population growth in check.
