| Abstract: | The complex process of urbanization is obtaining under the impress of scientific and technological revolution of global dimensions. But the process of urbanization depends very much on geographical differentiation of the factors and conditions on the Earth' surface. So it is deeply geographical in its essence. It is not only geographically conditioned but it also has deep spatial manifestations, which makes it one of the most important and universal fields of investigation for the whole system of geographic sciences. The common global features and general regularities of urbanization take peculiar forms in each of the three main groups of countries having different social systems: socialist, economically developed capitalist and developing, which leaves its deep imprints not only on the social contents of urbanization but also on the very process of forming of specific spatial-urbanistic structures, existing on the Earth. To this we should further add the results of working of individual traits of different countries and regions. So to get the real pattern of world urbanization it is necessary to study profoundly not only its global and typological features but also the specific local factors. To these ends geographers must elaborate a system of basic notions and characteristics of the urbanization process and stage. Some of them are treated in this paper. |
