Urbanization, Industrialization, and Mining

Urbanization, industrialization, and mining are three different responses by mankind to survive, to develop, to create wealth and prosperity, and to organize life. Of the three, mining is the oldest, accessing specific materials provided by nature. Urbanization originally was a community’s means of seeking shelter in a hostile natural environment. The co-operation involved in urbanization also provides benefit to all. Industrialization is the latest of these three processes and aims to concentrate production activities at one spot, which allows for increased scale and higher outputs. Industrialization is often linked with mining and more so with urbanization. Mining is obviously found in confined areas primarily determined by the availability of the required earth materials. Urbanization is determined by a mix of geographical (infrastructure), geological (firm underground and stable conditions), and strategic conditions. Moreover, economic, social, and political factors are increasingly important. The same can be said for the processes leading to the establishment of industrial sites. Urbanization, industrialization, and mining have in common that they not only profit from the environment in which they operate, but also affect the natural balances of that environment. Consequently, these activities generate some response in the subsurface, either small or more significant. In the course of time humankind has faced many of these responses, but they still may cause surprises. This chapter briefly describes the impact of urbanization, industrialization, and mining on the natural environment of north-western Europe, both in terms of assets and threats. Attention is given to monitoring the Earth’s response to these activities through the geological processes involved. For monitoring and prediction substantial information and knowledge of the subsurface is necessary and sources of such data are outlined. The chapter starts with some facts and figures, and is mainly based on Urban Geoscience by McCall et al. (1996). Information is also derived from the State of the Environment reports as published by the European Union. Much more attention is given to urbanization than to either of the other activities. However, since modern, urban, industrialized societies consume large amounts of primary resources, mining, industrialization, and urbanization are closely connected.