Changing Places - Shifting Flows Flashcards
How are external flows causing places to change?
Historically, the character of place was heavily affected by the local endogenous factors but the original character or many places has changed because of the external exogenous influences that have occurred over time eg flows to and from places of things like people, resources, money and ideas . This has increased in recent years due to improvements to transport and communication resulting in globalisation
Demographic change is caused by shifting flows - of people
Flows of people can change any of the demographic characteristics of a place eg the age or gender balance. For example on a local scale younger people have been leaving the town of Uckfield in East Sussex as they are unable to afford to buy a house in the area leading to a higher proportion of older people. On an international scale there are concerns that the large scale migration from North Africa to Europe that started in 2015 altered the gender balance of some host towns as a high proportion of migrants are male
Demographic change is caused by shifting flows - of money and investment
Flows of money ans investment either by governments and businesses can change the demographic characteristics of places. Eg governments can invest money in specific places in order to attract people to live there. In the UK the London Docklands Development Corporation was a group set up by the government in 1981 to redevelop the docklands area of London. Schemes improved economy and built environment which resulted in an increase in the population in the area
Demographic change is caused by shifting flows - of ideas and resources
Ideas such as the use of birth control can flow to new places and affect the demographic characteristics eg by reducing birth rate and affecting the population size. Many of the poorest countries in the world have the lowest usage of birth control and rapid population growth. International gobernemtns ie UNFPA have beeen set up to spread knowledge and ideas and knowledge of birth control.
Cultural characteristics are affected by flows - of people
New people moving into a place or even visiting are bringing their culture with them which can change the characteristics of a place eg in the 20th century through Uk experienced mass international migration from India, Pakistan and other commonwealth countries. This has created multi ethnic communities in many places with greater mix of language and religious practices
Cultural characteristics are affected by flows - of money investment and ideas
New cultural ideas introduced to places can change the characteristics of that place eg fast food companies from the USA such as KFC opened restaurants in China in the 80s and 90s and have grown rapidly since. Eating habits have changed in china as a result with increasing numbers of people favouring western style fast food over Chinese food
Economic characteristics are affected by flows - of people
People visiting places can change the economic characteristics of those places eg St Ives in Cornwall used to be a fishing settlement but is now a popular tourist destination. The flows of tourism has altered jobs available in the area to service base jobs rather than jobs in manufacturing in the primary sector.
Economic characteristics are affected by flows - of resources
Outward flow of local products or natural resources from a place can have a large impact on local economies. Products that may once have been consumed locally or regionally can now be sold to global markets eg the Scottish whisky industry has grown to be one of the largest industries in Scotland due to international exports. This has brought employment and money to a wide range of places across Scotland
Economic characteristics are affected by flows - of money and investment
This can have psotitive and negative impacts on economic characteristics of places. Eg reduced investment and competition from global markets has led to the decline of some pro,art industries in the UK (deindustrialisation) which has damaged the economies of many places. For example thousands of jobs were lost in South Wales when many coal mines were closed between the 1950s and 80s. Inward flows of investment can have positive effects though eg investment in the finance industries in the City Of London has created many high value service sector jobs and made it a wealthy place
Social inequality is affected by flows - of people
Regional migration from rural areas to urban areas in poorer countries has changed social characteristics and levels of social inequality eg in India, large scale rural to urban migration has resulted in slums developing in cities like Mumbai. The migrants often have beet low quality of life without access to electricity, sanitation or clean water which contradicts with the high quality of life that wealthier residents in these cities have and the gap is widening
Social inequality is affected by flows of- of resources
The outward flow of natural resources from poorer countries can change levels of social inequality eg large amounts of oil are extracted around Warri in Nigeria then exported round the world but most of the wealth that is generated goes to few individuals who have a high quality of life while large numbers of people remain in poverty with a low quality of life
Social inequality is affected by flows - of money and investment
The process of gentrification has improved social characteristics of some places but it can also increase inequality eg Notting Hill was once one of the most deprived areas in London, but now has much lower levels of deprivation. As the area has changed through social inequality between the wealthy newcomers and existing poorer residents has increased
