How to Use urbanize in a Sentence

urbanize

verb
  • The urge to urbanize is hard-wired in us because cities are life.
    — Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2023
  • Africa is urbanizing faster than any other region of the world.
    — Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2018
  • But for a world that’s rapidly urbanizing and heating, the truly cool tech is bikes.
    — Clive Thompson, WIRED, 13 May 2018
  • And coastal risk is building even faster through the surge in populations in a fast-urbanizing world.
    — Andrew Revkin, National Geographic, 5 Apr. 2019
  • Some people didn’t want to urbanize the city, preferring that money be spent on roadways.
    — Elizabeth Findell, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2020
  • At the same time, the world population is growing and urbanizing rapidly.
    — Alexis Benveniste, CNN, 28 Feb. 2020
  • Now, the rapidly urbanizing county is beginning a discussion that could result in a change to that agreement.
    — Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2019
  • These dingy apartments were on the most coveted plots of city real estate, and as China urbanized, their value rocketed.
    — Gwynn Guilford, Quartz, 11 June 2019
  • China was urbanizing at an unprecedented rate and had become a playground for architects.
    — Oliver Giles, CNN, 26 June 2017
  • But the tanker industry might also be an early illustration of how parts of the private sector stand to profit from a warming and fast-urbanizing world.
    — Peter Schwartzstein, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2020
  • Many areas have urbanized, with more walkable streets, independent boutiques and eateries.
    — Katy McLaughlin, WSJ, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Like most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania is urbanizing while still poor.
    — Nichole Sobecki, National Geographic, 5 Apr. 2019
  • Mobile homes are most often found in rural areas, and the Sacramento region has urbanized significantly over the last few decades.
    — Phillip Reese, sacbee, 12 Jan. 2018
  • If appropriate action is not taken, economic growth in urbanizing cities will continue to happen at the cost of the less fortunate.
    — Chloe Wong, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2026
  • As the area continues to grow and urbanize, the amount of impervious surfaces like streets and parking lots increases, Simonsen said.
    — Jordan Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 July 2021
  • While Manhattan was urbanizing, Queens, a patchwork of commercial nurseries, was more pastoral.
    — New York Times, 6 Mar. 2020
  • The ecological consequences of such a timing shift could thus be serious, especially as our world continues to urbanize at an increasing pace.
    — Breanna Draxler, Discover Magazine, 14 Feb. 2013
  • However, although Vietnam is urbanizing, almost two-thirds of its population still live in rural areas.
    — Sarah Lazarus, CNN, 6 Apr. 2020
  • In the age of roadside IEDs, urbanizing warfare, and sporadic firefights, suddenly going airborne could be nifty.
    — Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 18 May 2016
  • Is this a solution to the continent's rapidly urbanizing population?
    — Chris Giles, CNN, 12 Dec. 2017
  • But unless the world can find better ways to get water to a rapidly urbanizing population in Africa and Asia, the next 25 years might not be nearly as positive.
    — National Geographic, 1 Mar. 2016
  • But Musk is confronting a major problem facing today’s rapidly urbanizing populations.
    — Larry Greenemeier, Scientific American, 14 May 2016
  • Similarly, mail-order firms like Sears faced potential loss of their markets as the nation urbanized 100 years ago and entered the automobile age.
    — Vicki Howard, Smithsonian, 25 July 2017
  • The sport is losing its popularity among younger Americans as cultural attitudes about hunting change, and the country continues to urbanize.
    — Laurel Chor, Quartz, 8 July 2019
  • The $50-million program will offer technical help to companies looking to enter or grow in Africa, which is urbanizing more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth.
    — Washington Post, 20 June 2019
  • As the human population continues to urbanize and consume more fossil fuel, the health, social and economic impacts of summer urban overheating loom as major threats to the well-being of city dwellers worldwide.
    — Merrill Singer, Slate Magazine, 8 Aug. 2017
  • Until recently, a property boom helped fuel China's rapid growth, as Chinese developers powered the country's efforts to urbanize and build a modern economy.
    — Grady McGregor, Fortune, 18 July 2022
  • The police jury system sufficed until Algiers started to urbanize and develop formidable industries.
    — Richard Campanella, NOLA.com, 8 Aug. 2017
  • To move beyond subsistence agriculture, politicians must invest billions in public services and infrastructure such as water and electricity to serve a rapidly urbanizing citizenry.
    — Washington Post, 17 May 2019
  • The program, widely seen as the White House’s Africa strategy, was designed to provide technical help to companies trying to enter or expand in Africa, which is urbanizing more quickly than anywhere else.
    — Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'urbanize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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