Changing Places Flashcards
How can government policies affect the demographic characteristic of places?
By introducing policies to control population. In China, the one child policy was introduced as a method of reducing rapid population growth, but in France the government introduced policies (such as lower taxes and better maternity leave conditions) to increase birth rates. Both were successful at altering the demographic characteristics of their countries.
How can government policies affect the cultural characteristics of a place?
Other government policies can affect the cultural characteristics of places by controlling immigration. For example, in the 1960’s the German government invited Turkish people to live and work in Germany - many people migrated and stayed long term. As a result, aspects of Turkish culture have become a part of German culture, e.g.. Turkish fast food outlets are common across Germany, Turkish is the second most widely spoken language and Islam is widely practised.
How can government policies affect the demographic, social and economic characteristic of a place?
Government policies can affect the demographic, economic and social characteristics of places. For example, governments can fund schemes aimed at regenerating run down urban areas. In 1992 in Manchester, the Hulme City Challenge Partnership rebuilt houses, created a new park, refurbished shopping areas, built an arts venue and a business park. This scheme led to an increase in the population in the area, created jobs, reduced unemployment and increased quality of life for some residents.
How can decisions of MNC’s have major impacts on the demographic, social and economic characteristics of places?
Detroit in the USA was a major global centre of car manufacturing in the early and mid 20th century, with MNC’s such as Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all located there. The investment from the MNC’s gave the city a massive economic boost, large numbers of jobs were created, many of which offered comparatively high wages. This altered the demographic characteristics of the city by attracting large numbers of migrants, both from the USA and other parts of the world - the population grew to a peak of around 1.8 million in the 1950’s. After the 1950’s, many of the manufacturing MNC’s closed or relocated factories to places with cheaper labour, such as Mexico. These decisions had a number of effects:
Massive population decline - the population of Detroit at the 2010 census had reduced to around 70,000.
Huge reductions in employment - at the 2010 census, 24.8% of the workforce in Detroit was unemployed.
Social deprivation - Detroit has some of the highest crime rates in the USA.
What is the WFP and how can it affect the demographic and social characteristic of a place?
The World Food Programme is an international organisation that provides food assistance, often as emergency aid, wherever it is needed. The WFP affects the social and demographic characteristics of places by ensuing that people have enough food, and preventing deaths from famine and starvation. For example, there has been intense conflict in Yemen since 2015, which has meant that millions of people don’t have regular access to food. The WFP has distributed food aid to millions of malnourished people.
What is the World Bank and how can it affect the demographic, cultural, economic and social characteristics?
The World Bank is an international organisation that invests in, and helps set up, thousands of projects round the world that are aimed at reducing poverty. Many of these projects affect the demographic, cultural, economic and social characteristics of the place where they are set up. For example, between 2010 and 2016 the World Bank provided funding for the Ningbo New Countryside Development Project in Ningbo, China. This project improved the social conditions in the area by providing wastewater disposal services to 144 rural villages that previously had no wastewater collection to treatment services.
How can past connections between places shape their character in the present?
For centuries London and New York have been connected to each other and other major cities by sea trade routes. These connections helped them to become more wealthy, attract more people, and be more closely linked to other cultures. They gradually became world cities - global centres of trade, politics, finance and culture often with huge, diverse population.
How can new connections made between place in the present affect their characteristics ?
London and New York have made new connections which strengthen their character as world cities - they are now more closely connected through industries such as finance and banking because of the internet and faster air travel.
How can the way in which places developed in the past also strongly affect their present day character?
Many settlements in the UK initially developed because of factors to do with their location. For example, Sheffield originally located at the confluence of two rivers, near to coal and iron ore reserves which would have been important factors for the early development of industry.
How did the industrial revolution affect Sheffield?
Large industrial cities developed that were globally connected through the trade of the goods produced. This resulted in large scale rural to urban migration as people moved to the cities in search of work in factories. Today, these old industrial centres remain as large cities, e.g. Sheffield became a major centre of the steel industry attracted workers and made Sheffield a major population centre.
How did deindustrialisation affect Sheffield?
In the later part of the 20th century, many UK cities were heavily affected by deindustrialisation - the closure of factories due to increased automation, competition from abroad and the removal of manufacturing to developing countries where labour is cheaper. These cities remained as large population centres, but were less well connected globally due to the loss of trade, and suffered economic and social decline. For example, the steel and mining industries collapsed in Sheffield in the 1970’s and 1980’s, which resulted in factories being abandoned, mass unemployment and a reduction in population.
