urbanization

American  

[ur-buh-nuh-zey-shuhn] / ˌɜr bə nəˈzeɪ ʃən /

especially British, urbanisation

noun

1. the act or fact of urbanizing, or taking on the characteristics of a city.

   Urbanization has led to more air pollution and increasing childhood asthma.

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urbanization Cultural  

1. The process by which cities grow or by which societies become more urban.

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Other Word Forms

• overurbanization
  noun

Etymology

Origin of urbanization

urbaniz(e) + -ation

Explanation

If a skyscraper is blocking the view of farmland you once had from your house window, urbanization is happening. Urbanization is a word for becoming more like a city. When populations of people grow, the population of a place may spill over from city to nearby areas. This is called urbanization. Maybe tall apartment buildings spring up on what had been the outskirts of town, bringing more people there to live and work. Urbanization can also apply to how people live. For example, if they stop driving their cars and instead rely on public transportation, as most people in cities do, that's urbanization.

Example Sentences

The rise has been fueled by urbanization, less healthy diets, more sedentary lifestyles, reduced physical activity, population aging, and increasing rates of overweight and obesity.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

"This transformation reflects gradual urbanization and suggests that the Maya were changing agricultural strategies to feed a growing population."

From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026

“It’s not just about the fires, but it’s about urbanization and how much our city needs to continue the work of doing testing in the water.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026

We now have a much clearer picture of how humanity’s successes—population growth, food production, urbanization, globalization—have stoked pathogen evolution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

You could say the majority of Americans were always geeks, until we got post-Depression urbanization and illusions of sophistication.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz