Country and City

We explain what the country and the city are, the characteristics of each and its importance. In addition, what are your differences.

What is the countryside and what is the city?

The countryside and the city are the two main physical spaces in which the population sits and that present great natural, social and economic differences that influence the lifestyle of individuals who live in each of these environments.

On the one hand, the field or rural environment is made up of large extensions of land that house a low number of inhabitants who live in a dispersed way in a natural environment. For its part, Cities are settlements formed by a large number of people that live in houses or buildings that are built very close to each other (since the earth is the most scarce good and, therefore, more expensive). Cities vary from each other according to their number of inhabitants, which can be thousands or millions.

In the field there is a predominance of primary economic activitiesthat is, of production of raw materials (such as agriculture and livestock) to supply different industries; In the cities, tertiary activities predominate, especially those of provision of goods and services. In rural areas there are usually less equipment and services than in cities. Thus, for example, to carry out procedures, to study higher studies or to obtain more specialized medical assistance, the rural population is forced to move to an urban center.

The words “country” and “city” are often used as opposition concepts, although in reality They function as complementary and interdependent elementssince the rural area is responsible for supplying the high demand for agricultural products from the city and the city provides goods and services that the countryside needs.

See also: industrialism

Field characteristics

Some of the main characteristics of rural areas are:

• They have one low population densitywhich is usually stable and can be: dispersed rural areas or nucleated rural areas.
• They can be divided In stays, farms, farms, among others.
• They are areas where they are carried out Primary economic activities such as agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing, beekeeping and breeding of animals such as chickens. This production can be used for self -consumption or to supply a large amount of population.
• They have part of their cultivated territory or with grazing areas.
• There is Few buildings.
• A predominates Natural environmentwith native flora and fauna.
• Have Low levels of environmental pollutionvisual and sound.
• They usually have a town or nearby city in which trade and services activities are carried out.
• Its population usually has access to education in Rural Schools.
• Its population is in contact with nature and has a less sedentary lifestyle that in cities, due to the development of primary activities and the shortage of means of transport.
• They have a culture and own traditions shared throughout the rural community.
• Have areas of sociabilization more limited.
• Distances between populations are usually large and do not have a very developed transport service or connect all the points.

Characteristics of the city

There are different types of cities that vary from each other, mainly, due to their population density. The different countries establish their criteria to determine when a settlement is considered a city.

Some of the characteristics that most cities share are:

• They have a High level of population density that grows accelerated.
• Its population lives in buildings or houses that are built in a limited physical space.
• They have high rates of Environmental pollutionvisual and sound.
• They offer a lifestyle that is recognized as unhealthydue to factors such as stress and permanent exposure to environmental pollutants.
• They are a great Tourist attraction.
• They are centers of artistic and cultural development With film, music and theater offers.
• They have a broad Commercial Developmentwith premises that offer products of different types and for different areas
• Have a varied Gastronomic offerwith bars and restaurants.
• They have important Health and educational centers.
• They have a varied Employment offer With opportunities in many areas.
• Have facilities that contribute to human interaction and social life of its populations.
• They have transport services developed (such as buses, trains, underground and taxis) that connect all points of the city.
• They have a landscape in which the Concrete constructions and steel, asphalt and green areas. Some of the constructions are: homes, hospitals, schools, public offices, shopping centers, among others.
• They have a constant flowwhich makes them heterogeneous and cosmopolitan places.
• They offer a higher living cost than that of rural areas.
• They can house a great inequality among its populationwhich can be caused by the mismanagement of resources that prevents all inhabitants from accessing basic needs.

Differences between the countryside and the city

Some of the main differences between cities and rural environment are:

• Population. The city has an average of inhabitants per km² very high, while in the countryside there are small settlements or housing scattered along a wide extent of territory.
• Landscape. The city has an artificial landscape generated by the human being in which cement constructions and paved streets prevail. In the field the landscape has not suffered many modifications and is characterized by being a natural environment.
• Infrastructure. The city has a great building and infrastructure development that allows the coexistence of various types of activities and industries. The field, on the other hand, has the necessary infrastructure for the development of the activities of that area and with houses in which the residents of the rural community live.
• Economic activity. The city works as a center to carry out various economic activities related to services and the production of goods from raw materials. In the field, primary activities related to obtaining materials from natural and vegetable resources are carried out.
• Transport. The city is usually connected through a wide transport network in which various media such as the train, the car, the underground and motorcycles are involved. On the other hand, in the field the distances are long and vehicles such as trucks, for the transport of materials, and others suitable for circulating on stone or earth roads are usually used. In addition, means of transport with blood traction are used, such as the horse.
• Services. The city has a great offer of services, which can be basic, such as education or health, or others such as gastronomy, entertainment, messaging services, hairdressers, supermarkets, among many others. In the rural area there are small settlements that provide some basic services but, sometimes, its residents must move to the city to, for example, carry out some medical intervention or take university studies.
• Employment. The city has great economic development, so the labor offer is wide and varied. On the other hand, in the field the works revolve around the activities of rural areas.
• Lifestyle. The city has an accelerated rhythm that, in many cases, threatens communication and harmony between its members and can generate imbalances, stress and anguish. The field, on the other hand, has a rhythm of life that is more connected to the natural environment, so its inhabitants usually have a more leisurely life.
• Growth and development. The city lives a dynamic of vertiginous transformation, because the population grows accelerated, which causes urgent needs in housing and employment. In the field this is not perceived, because the population tends to stay stable.

Importance of the countryside and the city

The countryside and the city are places where the population lives and are structures that coexist and complement each other.

The importance of the field lies in its role as a producer of many of the raw materials that allow feeding a large portion of the world population. Through primary activities, the field obtains from nature the resources that are the basis of both food activity and the textile, pharmaceutical, construction industry, among many others.

The field is usually fundamental in the economies of developing countries in which economic growth depends fundamentally on the export of raw materials such as grains.

For its part, the city, to the nuclear to a large number of people in the same physical space, allows fundamental links and relationships to be generated, both in the economic and social and cultural field. In the city the artistic, cultural, religious, businesswoman and sports life is carried out of a society and is the headquarters of schools, churches, universities and health centers, which allows the access of the population to its main needs.

In cities live more than half of the world’s population, which sits so much in large cities (the most populated cities in the world exceed 20 million inhabitants) and in medium or others with a few thousand inhabitants.

The cities are also a source of history, so many of them became important tourist destinations.

References

• “The 100 most populated agglomerations in the world” on Wikipedia.
• “City” in RAE.
• “Rural areas are key to the economic growth of developing countries” in UN.
• “Definition of rural and urban concepts” in the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture.
• “Rural sector and local development in Latin America and the Caribbean” in International Labor Organization.
• “Distinctions between urban and rural” in UN Habitat.