Changing places - shifting flows Flashcards
Why do external flows cause places to change?
Places are constantly changing because the factors that create their character are always changing and leaving/ coming in.
Historically, what types of factors caused places to change?
Historically, it was endogenous factors. People generally did not venture out of their places, subsequently places generally got their features and various characteristics from things that were in the specific location. Areas with good mines and natural resources became mining towns, major towns were built at strong defensive points such as bends in rivers (London - Thames.)
Why have the original character of places changed over time? Why has this happened?
Because of exogenous factors - there have been more flows of money and resources as populations have grown and places have grown as a result, ideas have spread and changed the ways people think in many places.
- As well as population growth, improvements to transport have made it easier for people and goods to move places, and improved communications (internet) have allowed the movement of ideas and increased relationships between people and different places over increasing distances - Globalisation.
How do shifting flows cause demographic changes? Flows of people.
Flows of people - people coming and going into places can affect the demographic characteristics of a place - many young people are in towns and cities as there are more employment opportunities, universities - or many young people are leaving suburban areas such as the town of Uckfield in East Sussex due to high house prices - leaving more older people.
- Can happen on international scales too, since 2015 high levels of men have migrated from North Africa to Europe as diaspora. This has created gender imbalances in areas where African areas may be disproportionally women and host towns may have more men as migrants.
How do shifting flows cause demographic changes? Flows of money.
Flows of money and investment by govs and businesses can change demographics. Governments can invest in areas to attract specific groups of people there by making places more suitable or appealing. For example, the London Docklands Development Corp was set up in 1981 to redevelop the London Docklands, improving the economy and built environment which attracted new people, the population doubled and more middle class people moved there.
How do shifting flows cause demographic changes? Ideas and resources.
Various ideas such as the use of contraception can flow to new places and effect demographics - less younger people in Bangladesh due to spread of contraception - falling population growth - orgs such as the UN Population Fund helped with this, by educating women in countries like Peru and Bangladesh and supplying resources like condoms.
How do external flows affect the cultural characteristics of a place?
To do with how people live their lives (Foods, customs, clothes, language, religion beliefs, values etc.)
How do external flows affect the cultural characteristics of a place? Flows of people.
People moving to and visiting different places will bring their different cultures with them, which can change a places characteristics. For example, many immigrants have come from South East Asia and the Commonwealth, creating multi-ethnic communities in many places where immigrants all group together, changing the cultural characteristics of places (Blackburn). - has created communities where there are greater mixes of languages spoken, religions practised and foods eaten.
How do external flows affect the cultural characteristics of a place? Flows of money and ideas.
New cultural ideas and economic investment introduced to places can change characteristics culturally of places. For example, the globalisation of US fast food chains to places like China in the 1980s and 90s have grown rapidly, and have caused eating habits to change in China, where more people are moving to Western foods instead of Chinese traditional cuisines.
How do external flows cause economic characteristics to change in places?
The economic characteristics of places are based on incomes and employment and job types in an area, which are changing due to external flows.
How do external flows cause economic characteristics to change in places? Flows of people?
People visiting places can change the economic characteristics of those places. E.g. St Ives in Cornwall was a fishing settlement but is now a popular tourist destination, the areas natural beauty attracted tourists, and increased tourism (co-inciding with the decline of fishing,) saw the growth of jobs and shops in the third sector of the economy.
How do external flows cause economic characteristics to change in places? Flows of resources?
The outward flow of local products or natural resources from a place can have a large impact on a local economy. Products that were originally consumed locally can now be sold to local markets - Scottish Whiskey is one of Scotland’s largest economies due to exports. This has stimulated economic growth in many parts of Scotland.
How do external flows cause economic characteristics to change in places? Flows of money and investment.
This can have both positive on places due to investment helping many places through inward flows of investment, such as the rapidly growing finance sector in the City of London, which has created many high value jobs and made the place wealthy.
However, reduced investment and increased global competiton has led to lots of deindustrialisation in the UK, mainly of the primary and secondary services. Now many places have been economically hit by lacking investment, e.g. thousands of jobs lost in South Wales when coal mines were closed in the 1950s and 80s.
How do external flows cause social inequality to change in places.
The social characteristics of places are to do with what people’s lives are like e.g. quality of life etc. Social inequalities are the differences in these factors between different groups of people, which can change due to changing external flows.
How do external flows cause social inequality to change in places - Flows of people.
Reigonal migration from rural areas to urban areas in poorer countries has changed social inequality. For example, large slums have developed in many large cities in NEEs such as India where in cities like Mumbai, or Lagos in Nigeria, there are large slums with poor levels of social QOL, whereas many citizens have much better lives in this aspect in the same city.
