6. Settlement Dynamics Flashcards
What are the perceptions of rural areas in a HIC?
Rural perceptions in HICs:
- Ageing population
- Close-knit communities
- Sparsely populated
- Traditional (architecture)
- Conservative
- Less polluted but car dependent
- Affluent but few services OR hidden poverty
- Peaceful but boring for young people
- Agricultural areas
- Homogenous (also identical social traits)
Read through this - just to get an idea of how affluence shapes contrasts between rural areas
What are the perceptions of rural areas in an LIC?
Rural perceptions in an LIC:
- Self sufficient
- Subsistence lifestyle
- Strong traditions
- Dependence on agriculture / livestock
- Strong emphasis on family
- Extremely low population density
- Traditional housing
- Poor accessibility
- Low incomes and limited material posessions
- Limited to no service provision
- Difficult environmental conditions
Read through this - just to get an idea of how affluence shapes contrasts between rural areas
How does rural Iceland match perceptions of rural areas?
- Homogenous - 94% Icelandic (Norse and Gaelic roots)
- Traditional - tightly knit communities, little cultural diversity
- Sparsely populated - 7 people per square mile
- High quality of life and living standards - affluent
- High out-migration
- Cultural events but also lots of time spent at home - 3rd most literate nation in the world
What challenges face rural Iceland?
- Social isolation - only 375,318 people in the entire country
- Imports - increased prices of food, high cost of living
- Few opportunities for young people in the country - high out-migration to Denmark
- Limited product variety due to small population and imports
- Insular community
Where is Brampford Speke?
Brampford Speke is a village found directly north of Exeter, 7 miles from the city centre
How has Brampford Speke changed?
Changes to Brampford Speke:
- Independent community → more suburbanised commuter village with high private vehicle ownership
- Growing population and increased number of houses
- Decline in village services as people commute to cities for shopping etc.
- Improved roads and linear expansion along roads
What are the most major changes to the UK in terms of rural settlement within the last 50 years?
The most significant changes to UK rural settlement are:
- Rural settlements / areas no longer dominated by farming
- Recreation, tourism and conservation now significant which creates a multi-use landscape.
How have developments in agriculture changed rural settlement within the UK?
- Large scale intensive farming techniques have reduced demand for labour - 6.1% population employed in agriculture in 1950 versus 1% in 2023
- These techniques have also decreased the size of wildlife habitats such as hedgerows
- Farm wages are low, leading to struggle to make a living from rural incomes, leading to diversification of farmland uses
How important is counterurbanisation for patterns of rural settlement within the UK?
- Counterurbanisation is the dominant process shaping settlement patterns
- Greenbelts have limited growth on rural urban fringes, but commuters populate beyond the greenbelt restrictions
- Rural depopulation significant only in small, isolated locations.
How have changes to rural services changed rural settlement within the UK?
Rural areas have seen a decline in shops, post offices, healthcare, leisure activities, bus and train connections and local pubs. The reasons for this are:
- Market forces - supermarkets are more competitive
- Changes to shopping habits - private car ownership has reduced demand for local services, as has online shopping
- Changes in expectations of rural residents - character of rural areas changes as affluent residents move in and gentrify houses.
Furthermore, some rural services are reinvented to suit new affluent residents - gastropubs with fine dining etc.
How have changes to house prices changed rural settlement within the UK?
Counterurbanisation and second home ownership have caused house prices to significantly increase, creating a lack of affordable housing which forces young people to move out to market towns or urban centres.
What were the Beeching Cuts of the 1960s?
Beeching (Government Advisor) suggested in the 1960s that 1/3 of all railway lines (mostly rural) should be closed entirely, along with 2,363 stations in the UK
How is land confiscation an issue in China?
As China’s cities expand and sprawl, the surrounding high-demand rural land is ‘confiscated’ by land governments to sell to developers.
China’s farmers, due to communist principles, do not own the land they farm, and thus are not entitled to the rights to sell or lease their farms.
This has created significant tension between agricultural workers on state-owned land versus local governments, and violence has been used by both sides.
How is soil pollution an issue in China?
As a result of rapid industrialisation and lax environmental laws, rural areas in China have suffered from heavy metal pollution across vast swathes of farmland. This has negative health consequences for the local people.
The use of wastewater containing industrial discharges for agriculture leads to this heavy metal accumulation in the soil.
In a Chinese government survey between 2005 and 2013 taken over 6.3 million kilometres, 1/5 of land was found to be polluted.
How is rural-urban migration an issue in China (MIC)?
China’s implementation of free market features into its communist ideology in the 1970s sparked the largest rural-urban migration pattern in history.
This is inadvertently encouraged by massive investment into China’s Special Economic Zones (primarily on the coast of China) in comparison to little to no investment into rural areas.
This has resulted in increased rates of rural poverty and created a dependent population as an increasing proportion of the young and working age people leave for cities.
Furthermore, the Hukou system designed to discourage migration leaves migrants treated as second class citizens in the cities they migrate to, unable to access basic services such as healthcare.
How is food insecurity a problem in South Sudan (LIC)?
About 4.9 million people (more than 40% of South Sudan’s population) are in need of urgent food and nutrition and agriculture assistance.
This may rise to 5.5 million if action is not taken to curb the severity of the food crisis.
This has been caused by:
- Recent conflict in South Sudan, the world’s newest country founded on July 9th, 2011
- Market failure and soaring inflation - up to 800% year on year
- Rural-urban migration
How is increased food insecurity in source areas a negative impact of rural-urban migration in LICs?
Although remittances are important factor in many rural economies sent by migrants, encouraging development of rural economies, it also encourages further migration away from rural areas.
This can result in a vicious cycle, whereby:
- Rural-urban migration decreases the population of an area
- Fewer people are left in an area to farm the land
- This leads to decreased yields as farming decreases - less food is produced
- Because less food is produced, food insecurity occurs which strengthens push factors leading to increased levels of rural-urban migration
How are diseases such as HIV and healthcare a problem in Tanzania?
- People with HIV are stigmatised because of a lack of understanding
- Sickness reduces the ability of people to work, as well as their overall lifespan
- Often, people in LICs such as Tanzania have to travel more than 80km to receive treatment for HIV - lack of services
- HIV affects just under 5% of the population - 2/3 of cases were women
- In 2015, 780,000 Tanzanian women were living with HIV
Which other issues face rural areas in LICs?
- Transport - only 7% of roads in Tanzania are paved
- Education - many rural areas have little funding for schools and other educational facilities limiting future prospects.
- Pests - 36 African countries suffer from tsetse flies which transmit the disease Trypanosomiasis. Other diseases such as Malaria can be deadly.
How does distance from urban markets and major cities explain the extent to which rural deprivation exists in Cornwall?
- Truro, the county town, is 225 miles from London, 135 miles from Bristol and 45 miles away from Plymouth.
- Poor track quality and slow links means that a train from London to St Austell can take 4-5 hours
- A lack of main roads also impacts Cornwall’s economy - the A30 is the only dual carriageway road to link Cornwall to the M5 at Exeter, and even this is not consistent.
How does mechanisation cause decline in traditional fishing in Cornwall?
- Better fishing techniques and mechanisation lead to more efficient fishing. Sonar tracking and better equipment means that fewer workers are needed.
- Large scale fishing vessels deplete fish stocks and push fish prices down, making it harder for small-scale fishermen to continue their businesses.
How does the insular nature of fishing communities cause a decline in traditional fishing in Cornwall?
Insular nature of fishing communities means that there are few / no new fishermen entering the profession - fishing remains within close-knit family groups. These groups are facing decline as:
- Young people abandon fishing due to difficulty, danger and low wages and move out of Cornwall to work in urban areas.
- Starter families are priced out of homes by increases in second home ownership, which forces them to settle elsewhere if they wish to own their own home
Which statistics demonstrate the impact of second home ownership in Cornwall?
Average house price in Padstow: £750,000
Average house price in Cranborne: £215,000
11% of homes in Cornwall have no usual resident - England and Wales average of 4%
How do fishing regulations cause a decline in traditional fishing in Cornwall?
Post-Brexit UK fishing regulations complicate fish sales, and increased paperwork for fish decreases sales in markets such as the EU.
Where is the world’s largest china clay mine?
Little John’s Pit, Cornwall, is the largest china clay mine in the world, a material used in paper, rubber, paint, plastics and more.
How does foreign competition and globalisation cause a decline in traditional mining in Cornwall?
Cheaper raw material imports from abroad outcompete Cornish china clay and materials, decreasing business in Cornwall.
How has investment into a post-industrial service economy caused a decline in traditional mining in Cornwall?
Deindustrialisation in heavy industry areas removed a major form of employment not replaced by the service economy due to a lack of investment.
In 2010, 1 million dry tonnes of china clay were sold from Cornwall, but in 1988 this was 2.8 million.
How large is the tourism sector in Cornwall?
- Tourism is the largest sector in Cornwall, supporting 1 in 5 jobs.
- It is projected to grow at 3.8% per year through to 2025
- As the leading domestic tourist destination in the UK, the area attracts over 4 million UK tourism trips every year.
