Case Studies Theme 1 & 2

Question 1

Housing in an urban area
NOTTINGHAM (THE MEADOWS, LACE MARKET, WEST BRIDGFORD)
- location
- under what terms is the housing occupied?
- what determines people’s access to opportunities/ constraints?
- what patterns does this produce?

Answer 1

East Midlands, 30 miles south of Sheffield.

THE MEADOWS - terraced housing that tends to be rented from private landlords or social housing.

• constraints - living in terraced housing affects QOL if disturbed by neighbours and prevents rest. Small gardens reduce space for leisure activities.
• opportunities - close to city centre & near bus routes, reducing travel time
• patterns - working class, students and ethnic minorities tend to live here due to poor quality and cheap houses.

WEST BRIDGEFORD - detached houses mostly privately occupied
- constraints - expensive for some socio-economic groups
- opportunities - safe environment to bring up children + better quality of life with open space for leisure activities.
Less traffic passing by, reducing noise and air pollution
- patterns - older people and families

LACE MARKET - apartments in CBD rented from private landlords
- constraints - expensive and inaccessible for some groups
high crime rate = people feel unsafe and lower qol
- opportunities - very close to CBD for jobs and leisure opportunities
- patterns - young, single professionals

Question 2

Leisure use of a rural area
CASTLETON 
- what leisure uses cause conflict?
- problems caused
- what conflicts between groups of people?
- management?

Answer 2

Has become a honeypot site
- leisure uses: walking, cycling, visiting PEVERIL CASTLE
problems: - footpath erosion
littering (visual pollution)
second homes - many urban dwellers buy
them in country, they access services eg. doctors in city, so service decline in country.
congestion - busy roads
seasonal employment - (locals lose job in winter)
pollution - visual, noise, air

CONFLICTS
Farmers & tourists - noise created by tourists can disturb animals
- damage crops = less yield
- can leave gates open and allow animals to escape
*farm traffic causes delays
*animals can be aggressive

Locals & tourists

• traffic causes delays for locals
• increased demand from tourists causes local inflation
• tourists buying second homes cause services to shut down

MANAGEMENT

• redistribution of tourists - promote other villages
• increase tax for second homes
• national park entry fee
• banning of cars and more park & ride reduces congestion
• road signs (country code)

Question 3

Rural to urban migration
LIMPOPO REGION TO JOHANNESBURG
- what is the pattern of migration
- why has it taken place
- impacts on Limpopo
- impacts on Johannesburg

Answer 3

Pattern- from Limpopo province in North of South Africa, 250,000 people have migrated to SA’s biggest city.

REASON
PUSH FACTORS (from Limpopo)
- limited diet (rainfall unpredictable so can lead to famine) and malnutrition.
- disease from stagnant ponds eg. Cholera
- small farms earn less that $100 a month
- remoteness means poor access to schools and hospitals
PULL FACTORS
- food supplies more reliable
- better job prospects n city (earnings of around $700)
- better access to healthcare
- bright lights phenomena ( glamorous image of easy money made in cities)
EFFECTS ON LIMPOPO
- ageing population as young, active members of the community leave for city
- create imbalance in population structure (eg. more recreation for elderly)
- negative multiplier effect as services shut down
*more land to farm improves food supply and quality of life
*money earned from migrants can be sent home to improve living standard

IMPACTS ON JOHANNESBURG

• large number of unskilled workers can only get low paid jobs so 2 million live in informal settlements like SOWETO
• high density housing = spread of disease
• lack of basic sanitation

Question 4

A planning issue in a residential area (HS2)

• what changes are planned?
• why has it caused a conflict?
• what are the views of different groups of people?

Answer 4

CHANGES PLANNED - a new, high speed railway line built by the government between London and Birmingham. Travels at 250mph and 14 times an hour in each direction
WHY HAS IT CAUSED CONFLICT? - there are a large number of stakeholders involved, since it is a large scale project. It will benefit some, but others will be drastically affected.

PEOPLE FOR HS2
COMMUTERS - reduces travel time fro London to Birmingham so extra time can be used for leisure and improving quality of life
UNEMPLOYED - creates 100,00 jobs so will have a better standard of life.
GOVERNMENT - North East is less economically developed that SE (London). Will reduce north/south divide as business people from south will take advantage of short travel time and invest in the North (increasing economy)

AGAINST HS2
HOMEOWNERS - will create noise and visual pollution , creating stress and lowering QOL. Houses near the line will decrease in value and homeowner would lose money when selling the house.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS - fight for the conservation of wildlife and will be affected because habitats are destroyed and noise disturbs animals.
FARMERS - not as much land to grow crops, so lose land and money (profit) lowering standard of living

Question 5

Desertification and soil degradation (the Sahel)

• natural causes
• human causes
• effects of desertification
• management

Answer 5

NATURAL CAUSES

• rising temperatures due to global warming (greater evaporation + less rainfall leading to drought)
• storms (short and intense lead to soil erosion)

HUMAN CAUSES

• population growth (doubles every 20 years) leads to over cultivation to cater for increased demand (more soil erosion)
• deforestation (roots do not hold soil together, so more erosion)

EFFECTS

• famine (soil erosion leads to no fertile soil to grow crops)
• dust storms (soil becomes less stable because less roots so more vulnerable to wind erosion (leads to asthma and low QOL)

SOLUTIONS

• creation of green wall or shelter belt (areas left untouched by farming to prevent erosion)
• population control eg. contraception methods limits agricultural land used
• afforestation - more trees = less exposed soil & roots hold it together
• crop rotation (so different nutrients are used) and fallow periods of rest to allow soil to regain fertility.