3.3 – Cities change over time and Cities land use Flashcards
Contrast urbanisation and counter-urbanisation (consider movement, location, time period- when it happened, wealth and qualifications of person)
The difference between urbanisation and counter-urbanisation is, urbanisation is, urbanisation is where people moved to urban areas for jobs or a better quality of life. Counter-urbanisation is where people leave urban areas to move to smaller settlements or rural areas for a quiet life. Population numbers are increasing in urban areas E.G. young people moving to look for education etc whereas it is also increasing in rural areas E.G. old people are moving for a quiet life once they are retired.
What is suburbanisation and why did it happen?
Suburbanisation is the movement of people from the middle of the city – urban area expand rapidly (sprawl) as housing is built in the outskirts. It began occurring in the early 20th century in many developed countries.
Urbanisation caused urban areas to become overcrowded and polluted, with a little “natural” space. Suburban areas offered more open green spaces and seemed more family-friendly.
Improvements in transport networks meant that people could live in the suburbs and commute in to the city to work.
How did suburbanisation affect where people lived?
They moved out towards the country. More housing means more space for greenery. However the people still worked in the city, they still needed transport to commute there e.g. bus or train. This made an increase in transport which means more people were shifting to the suburbs.
Why did counter-urbanisation happen?
Counter-urbanisation happened because
In many developed countries this process began in the 1970s and 80s.
People think they will have a higher quality of life in rural areas and house prices are often lower.
Increased car ownership and improved public transport mean that people can be further from the city and commute to work.
Improved communication services (E.G. high-speed internet connections) make it easier for people to live in rural areas and work from home. This also means that some companies no longer need to be in a city centre and can move to rural areas where land is cheaper.
What is re-urbanisation and why does it happen?
Re-urbanisation is putting development back into the cities to reverse the decline in urban cities. This happens because of the effects of suburbanisation, de-industrialisation and counter-urbanisation.
How moves back to urban areas in re-urbanisation (wealth, skills, job types…)
The types of people who back into cities are normally young professionals because there are more opportunities such as jobs, entertainment and they can live near the jobs. There is a lot of investment put back into the city e.g. like high quality flats. Also businesses move back in e.g. banks and financial services/companies.
What is the difference between Commercial, Industrial and Residential land in urban areas?
Commercial - offices, shops, services
Industrial - factories, warehouses
Residential - where people live in houses or flats.
Where (CBD/Inner City/Suburbs/RUF) do you find Commerce, Industrial and Residential?
The CBD is mainly commercial use.
The inner city is low class residential and some industrial factories.
The suburbs is mainly residential.
The RUF has a mix of commercial business parks and residential (high class housing). There is more green space between built-up areas and clusters of larger office buildings or shopping centres with car parks.
How does accessibility affect the land use?
- City centres are usually very accessible – they are the location of the main train and bus stations and centre of the road network.
- Shops and offices locate in city centres because they need to be accessible to lots of people.
- Some businesses now locate on the edges of cities – these are near major motorway junctions and out -of-town airports, so avoid traffic congestion in the city centre.
How does planning affect land use?
- City planners try to control how cities develop by deciding what types of buildings can be built in different parts of the city.
- There are often strict planning regulations in city centres – polluting industries may be banned.
- Some cities have strict limits on development in the rural-urban fringe, E.G. designated greenbelt land that can’t be built on. This stops the city sprawling into the countryside.
How does availability and cost affect land use?
Availability:
- In the city centre almost all land is in use and demand is high. Businesses may extend upwards as ground space is limited – the tallest buildings are often in the centre.
- Brownfield land in city centres, such as old industrial sites, may be redeveloped as shops or offices. Some of the old terraced housing and apartment blocks in inner cities are redeveloped as luxury homes for young professionals.
- There is lots of space on the edges on the edges of cities where larger buildings, E.G. shopping centres, science parks, industrial estates and houses, can be built (if allowed).
Cost:
- The city centre has the highest land prices – the cost of land falls towards the edge of the city.
- Some businesses and shops can afford to locate offices and shops in the city centre but there are few houses.
- Houses tend to increase in size from the inner city to the suburbs as the price of land decreases.
