6. Urban Environments Flashcards
What is urbanisation?
The process of people moving to urban areas to live and work.
What is the rate of urbanisation?
How fast the level of urbanisation increases.
What is the level of urbanisation?
The percentage of a population living and working in urban areas at a given point in time.
What are the stages of urbanisation? (1-3)
- Agglomeration - settlement concentrated around a certain area (eg river) or close to natural resources.
- Suburbanisation - towns expand outwards as they grow, suburbs created due to improvement in transport and are made up of houses, workplaces and services.
- Commuting - people live in more rural settlements while still travelling to the same urban workplace.
What are the stages of urbanisation? (4-7)
- Urban regeneration - re-using older areas of the city which have been abandoned.
- Counter-urbanisation - people and businesses move further out to smaller towns/cities or more rural areas.
- Urban re-imaging - developing a town/city to change the way people view it
- Urbanisation of suburbs - suburbs being developed further
Factors affecting rate of urbanisation
Industrialisation High birth rate/low death rate Better housing Better healthcare Better education Growth in national economy
How does the pace of economic development affect the rate of urbanisation?
Economic growth drives urbanisation
When growth of secondary and tertiary sectors is fast, so is rate of urbanisation
As economic growth increases, there is an increasing demand for labour
How does the rate of population growth affect the rate of urbanisation?
Economic growth needs an increased supply of labour
Sometimes by natural increase
Usually by rural-urban migration - people move to city for better lifestyle
The Clark-Fisher Sector Model
Diagram showing how employment structures in a country change over time
Links to urbanisation
Pre-industrial stage
Majority employed in primary industries eg farming in rural areas Low development Slow and inefficient Labour-intensive eg Kenya
Industrial stage
People start to move to cities to work in factories
Development increases
Faster machines
eg Vietnam
Post-industrial stage
Most people living in cities
High development
Less manufacturing
eg Singapore
Natural increase
Birth rate - death rate
Higher in developing countries (higher birth rate)
What is a megacity?
A city with a population over 10 million
eg Shanghai, Tokyo
What is a global/world city?
Financial hubs in the global economy
Population of over 1 mil (not necessarily megacities)
eg Singapore, Toronto
Areas of a city
Central business district (CBD)
Industrial areas
Residential areas
Shopping centres
Factors affecting land values
Demand Proximity to centre/facilities Crime levels Noise/pollution levels Quality of services
What is the peak land value intersection (PLVI)?
The place where land values are highest
Often in/near the city centre
Characteristics of the CBD
Lots of office buildings
Most accessible
Most expensive
Centre of city
Characteristics of the inner city
Some factories
Close to railways and canals
Low quality terraced housing
Characteristics of the suburbs
Less competitive housing market
High concentration but lower density than CBD
Cheaper and more spacious
Characteristics of the rural-urban fringe (RUF)
Where the city ends and countryside begins
Houses a lot more spaced our
Some businesses moving here
What urban challenges are faced in both developed and developing countries?
Food supply inequality Energy supply Transport Waste disposal Pollution Crime Segregation Concentrated resource consumption
What urban challenges are faced only in developing countries?
Squatter settlements
Low quality of life
Informal economy
Background info on Dhaka, Bangladesh
Population: 21 mil (megacity)
GDP per capita: $1,698
Location: central Bangladesh, banks of the Buriganga river
Economy: 35% of Bangladesh total, growth in banking and manufacturing
Squatter settlements in Dhaka
Korail Slum
15% of people in Dhaka live in slums (such as Korail, the largest)
Covers 40km2 and has more than 50,000 residents
Majority of people living below the poverty line and work in extremely low income jobs
Informal economy in Dhaka
Employment that is not controlled/regulated by government
Provides the poor with a means of survival
No healthcare/unemployment benefits
Uncertain legal status
Child workers miss out on education
Urban pollution in Dhaka
One of the most polluted cities in the world
Both air and water
AQI 372 (extremely unhealthy)
Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, smoke, dust
What is the rural-urban fringe (RUF)?
The area where open countryside meets the built up areas of towns and cities.
What are push factors of the RUF?
In the city:
Housing is old and relatively expensive
Shortage of land in cities
Poor air quality due to pollution
What are pull factors of the RUF?
Land is cheaper so houses are larger
Room for factories and car parks
Motorway links for easy accessibility
Car drivers favour new developments
Burgess concentric zone model
Towns and cities grow outwards from a historic nucleus
Four zones (CBD, inner city, inner suburbs, outer suburbs)
Age and density of buildings decreases as you go outwards
Hoyt model
Classified on income
Acknowledges transport
CBD; industrial areas; working, middle and high class housing
What are the limitations of urban land use models?
Zones not as clear-cut as shown on model
Based on flat land
(Burgess) based on only 1 USA city
What problems are associated with rapid urbanisation?
Congestion Transport Employment Crime Environmental issues Housing and services
Background info on Cambridge, UK
SE England
55mi north of London via M11
Population: 124,798
Hub for education and technology
Housing estate in Cambridge
Cambourne on the RUF 10mi west of city via A428 Planned in early 1990s to help with expansion 12,000 people and 4,250 homes 4 primary and 1 secondary schools Supermarket, petrol station, cafes, GP
