Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To make an area more like a city; to develop an area with buildings, infrastructure, and services characteristic of a city or town.
   • To cause a population or an individual to adopt urban habits, lifestyles, or characteristics.

Usage

The verb "urbanize" describes the process of transforming a non-urban (rural or natural) area into an urban one, typically involving construction, population growth, and economic development. It can also refer to the social process of adapting to city life.

Examples

• Verb (transitive):
  • The government plans to urbanize the coastal region by building new housing and transportation networks.
  • Rapid population growth has urbanized what was once a quiet agricultural valley.
  • The study examines how social media urbanizes remote communities by connecting them to global trends.

Advanced Usage

• "to urbanize an area": to develop a specific region into a city-like environment.
  • The project aims to urbanize the area while preserving some green spaces.
• Passive Voice: Often used to describe the state or result of the process.
  • The landscape has been completely urbanized over the past two decades.

Variants and Related Words

• Urbanization (n): The process of making or becoming urban.
  • Rapid urbanization presents both opportunities and challenges.
• Urbanized (adj): Describing an area that has been developed into a city or town.
  • The urbanized corridor is home to millions of people.
• Urban (adj): Relating to a city or town.
  • Urban planning is crucial for sustainable development.

Synonyms

• Develop: To build on or improve land.
• Metropolitanize: To give a metropolitan character to (less common).
• Industrialize: To develop industries in (a region or country); often overlaps with urbanization.

Antonyms

• Ruralize: To make rural in character.
• Preserve: To maintain in an existing state, often in a natural or undeveloped condition.

Related Phrases/Concepts

• Urban sprawl: The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land.
  • Policymakers are concerned that urbanizing this region will lead to urban sprawl.
• Urban development: The planning and building of infrastructure in cities and towns.
  • Urbanizing the district requires careful urban development strategies.

Verb

1. impart urban habits, ways of life, or responsibilities upon
   • Birds are being urbanized by people in outdoor cafes feeding them
2. make more industrial or city-like
   • The area was urbanized after many people moved in