urbanisation

Forms

urbanisation f (plural urbanisations)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French urbaniser + -ation.^[2][1][3] The DHLF thinks it was probably influenced by the Spanish urbanización, coined by the engineer I. Cerdà together with the verb urbanizar;^[4] the TLFi also compares it with the English urbanization, recorded from 1888.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1919 in the Bulletin de la vie artistique, for the laying out of an area as an urban zone; a Brussels municipal review of 1921 speaks of the methodical urbanization of the rural part of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In human geography the word came to name the growing concentration of population in towns: in 1924 the geographer H. Baulig wrote of the general tendency to increasing urbanization in the United States.^[2] It became current in the language of social and geopolitical change, along with the migration from the countryside to the towns.^[4] The verb urbaniser had first meant “to make urbane, civilize” (1785) before taking the sense “to give a town character to” in 1873.^[2]

Timeline

• 1919 – First recorded, for the laying out of an urban zone.^[2][3]
• 1921 – A Brussels municipal review uses it of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.^[2]
• 1924 – Baulig uses it in human geography for the growth of towns.^[2][4]
• 1938 – The GLLF's first record of the planning sense, in A. and H. Hamon.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of urbanizing an area, giving it the character of a town, and its result: l’urbanisation de la vallée a commencé.^[2][5] Zone à urbanisation prioritaire (ZUP): a priority area for urban development.^[2][5]
2. (human geography) The growing concentration of the population in urban areas.^[2][6]

Related words

• urbain
• urbanisme
• urbaniste
• rurbanisation
• English urbanization

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert