​The study examines the development of urban population growth in Iraq temporally and spatially, presenting a theoretical background concerning marginal urbanization and its relationship to the expansion of the capitalist system. It examines the distribution of urban populations at the provincial level, and analyses urban growth, especially rural-urban migration to large cities such as Baghdad, and the extent to which this contributes to the increased population, as well as forced migration. The paper investigates the social and economic impact of the urban population growth and the major problems it produced regarding housing, especially informal housing, poverty and unemployment. The study looks at how this helped feed the negative attitude of young people towards the ruling religious and political parties post-2003, and its relationship to the outbreak of the October 2019 uprising. The study also addresses the problem and consequences of the dominance large cities over the urban network.