urbanization
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of urbanization
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.
Vocabulary lists containing urbanization
Human Geography - Middle School
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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The United States
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“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
Hangzhou Landscaping replied by saying there is limited room for its landscaping business to expand as urbanization in China winds down, and it is looking for a second growth driver.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
Their work applies population ecology theory to quantify the forces that shaped urbanization across the Classic Maya Lowlands.
From Science Daily • Nov. 26, 2025
Asia’s education sector has become increasingly attractive to private-equity firms and strategic investors due to rapid urbanization and a fast-growing middle class that can now afford higher education for their children.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
Or perhaps a complete urbanization, or a completely caste-ridden society, or complete anarchy, is the answer.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
