urbanize

Urbanize is a verb that means to make more urban in character or to convert an area into an urban settlement. The term combines urban, from the Latin urbanus, meaning city, with the suffix -ize. In practice, urbanize describes the process by which rural or sparsely developed areas acquire higher population density, infrastructure, services, and economic activity that typify cities or towns.

In planning and development contexts, urbanizing involves land-use changes, commonly through zoning, and investments in housing, transportation networks, utilities, and public spaces, as well as governance reforms to accommodate growth. It may include policies that promote densification, transit-oriented development, and the expansion of municipal boundaries or urban corridors.

Urbanization can drive economic opportunities and improved access to jobs, education, and healthcare, but it can also create challenges such as traffic congestion, environmental degradation, and displacement from rising property values. Effective urbanization strategies seek to balance growth with sustainability, social equity, and resilience.

While the verb is most commonly used in geography, urban studies, and urban planning, it can apply to both regional transformation and the upgrading of specific districts, neighborhoods, or peripheries as they integrate into a broader urban system.

See also: urbanization, urban planning, zoning, smart growth, transit-oriented development, gentrification.