Urban Growth: Location, Importance and Causes

Rio de Janeiro: a major city in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, usually shortened to Rio, is a major city in Brazil, a newly emerging economy (NEE). It provides a case study of how a city's location and economic importance help explain its population growth.

Rio is in south-east Brazil, in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It lies on the Atlantic coast, and the city has developed around Guanabara Bay, a large natural bay. Its coastal location helped it develop as a trading port, linking Brazil with overseas markets.

Rio was once Brazil's capital. In 1960, the capital moved to Brasília to encourage development further inland. Rio nevertheless remained an important centre of industry, commerce and culture: political importance is only one reason a city matters.

Why Rio matters at different scales

A city's importance can be considered at three scales. Regional importance concerns its surrounding area; national importance concerns the whole country; international importance concerns connections beyond the country's borders.

Regionally, Rio provides schools, hospitals and universities, alongside employment, leisure and cultural activities. These concentrate services and opportunities in one place, making Rio important to people across the surrounding region. Its docks and airport also make it a transport hub through which people and goods move.

Nationally, Rio is a major industrial and business centre. Large companies in mining, oil and telecommunications have headquarters there. Its industries include clothing, processed food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. These activities help generate employment and contribute to Brazil's economy. Universities and research laboratories also make Rio an important centre for research, while major media and entertainment organisations give it influence across the country.

Rio's port connects production within Brazil to overseas trade, exporting goods such as iron ore, sugar and coffee. This shows how one feature can have importance at more than one scale: a port supports the regional economy, handles national exports and links Brazil to international markets.

Internationally, Rio is well known for tourism, including Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and Copacabana Beach. These attractions draw overseas visitors and spending. Rio was also a host city for the 2014 Football World Cup and hosted the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, bringing worldwide attention to the city. Its finance, industry and transport links give it international importance beyond tourism alone.

Two connected causes of population growth

Urban growth means a city's population increases; its built-up area may expand too. Rio's estimated city population was 6.48 million in 2020, following substantial growth since the 1950s. A city population figure is different from one for the wider metropolitan area, which includes surrounding urban settlements.

Two processes explain population growth: migration and natural increase. Migration adds residents when more people arrive than leave. Natural increase adds residents when births outnumber deaths. These processes are connected because people who migrate to Rio may later have children there.

Migration: why people move to Rio

Much of Rio's migration is internal migration, meaning movement within Brazil. Many migrants arrive from rural areas. Their decisions reflect a combination of conditions pushing them away from home and opportunities pulling them towards Rio.

For example, drought in north-eastern Brazil can damage farming livelihoods. Farmers may leave because they cannot reliably earn a living from the land. Rio offers the prospect of work in industry, construction, shops and tourism, so the same move has both a rural push factor and an urban pull factor.

Some Indigenous people have also been displaced from the Amazon by deforestation. Losing access to land and livelihoods can push people to seek a new home elsewhere, including Rio. The city's schools, universities and healthcare are additional pull factors for migrants seeking better access to services. These are attractions and expectations, not guarantees that every migrant will secure a job or receive good services immediately.

Rio also receives international migrants, who move across national borders. Examples include people from Argentina and Bolivia. Historical links help explain migration from Portugal: Portuguese is spoken in both countries, which can make communication and settling into a new place easier. International migration therefore reflects cultural connections as well as economic opportunities.

Natural increase: why births exceed deaths

Rio's growth also results from natural increase. Many migrants are young adults, and Rio has had a youthful population. A large number of people of childbearing age means many potential parents, contributing to a high number of births.

Improved healthcare and social support have helped reduce deaths, including infant deaths. When births remain higher than deaths, the population grows even without additional migration.

The two causes reinforce one another: young adults moving to Rio increase its population immediately, while children born to residents increase it later through natural increase. Rio's employment and services help attract migrants, so its importance and its growth are closely connected.