Changing Urban Environments

Question 1

Define urbanisation?

Answer 1

The rise in the percentage of people living in urban areas (towns and cities), in comparison with rural areas.

Question 2

Define rural to urban migration?

Answer 2

The movement of people from rural to urban areas due to rural push and urban pull factors.

Question 3

List three push factors?

Answer 3

Drought and flooding
Lack of services
Few opportunities
Low pay
Rural poverty

Question 4

List three pull factors?

Answer 4

Better quality of life
Better services (e.g. education, health and entertainment)
Better houses
Better paid jobs
Better opportunities

Question 5

When and why did urbanisation occur in MEDC’s?

Answer 5

During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries- during the industrial revolution.

Question 6

When and why did urbanisation occur in LEDC’s?

Answer 6

Since the 1950’s (although some people did begin leaving the countryside to move to Mumbai in the mid-nineteenth century).

Question 7

What is a megacity?

Answer 7

A city with a population of 10million people or more.

Question 8

Name three megacities?

Answer 8

Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Lagos, Karachi, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Dhaka, Jakarta, Metro Manila, Shanghai, Osaka, Tokyo.

Question 9

For a named location, outline three problems faced by this urban area

Answer 9

Birmingham
Not enough good-quality affordable housing
Too much traffic and pollution
CBD with rundown or unused buildings
High unemployment in certain areas
Mixed culture with ethnic segregation

Question 10

What is the ‘NDC’ project?

Answer 10

New Deals for Communities (NDC) was launched by the labour government in 1999 as a way of helping struggling inner city areas. It identified 39 of the most deprived inner city areas in the country. The local communities in those areas were then involved in helping to find solutions to the problems they were facing.

Question 11

What is rebranding?

Answer 11

Rebranding an area involves giving it a new image so it attracts development and employment and leads to an upward spiral into success.

Question 12

What is ethnic segregation ?

Answer 12

Ethnic Segregation: people from a particular ethnic background will often live in an area of the city, separate from other groups

Question 13

What does ethnic segregation happen?

Answer 13

People prefer to live near other who have the same background and language
Often live close to places that are important to their culture (e.g. a place of worship)
May live where housing is cheaper, so end up in similar areas.

Question 14

Describe four ways to reduce the impact of traffic in cities

Answer 14

Park and ride: drivers leave cars in a car park on the outskirts of the city and bus into the centre so fewer cars in city centre.

Bus lanes: Lanes for buses and sometimes taxis only so buses aren’t held up, fewer cars on the roads

Trams: Urban tramways powered by electricity lines so less air pollution.

Congestion charge: People pay to enter certain zones in the city so people avoid this route by car, money raised re-invested to improve public transport.

Question 15

Where do squatter settlements occur ?

Answer 15

Usually in least favourable parts of the city (e.g. steep hillsides or swamp areas) For example; Kibera (Nairobi, Kenya) and Rocinha (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Question 16

Why do squatter settlements occur?

Answer 16

Usually because of rapid rural-urban migration so governments don’t have time to provide houses, drainage, clean water, schools etc.

Question 17

Define shanty town?

Answer 17

A squatter settlement that springs up in an area that used to have no houses. (Also called spontaneous settlements).

Question 18

Define squatter?

Answer 18

Someone who settles on land without the legal rights to stay there

Question 19

Define informal sector?

Answer 19

People working that do not receive a regular wage, making and/ or selling goods/services unofficially, often for ‘cash in hand’. They don’t have a contract, health and safety protection, health insurance or pension schemes. They don’t pay taxes

Question 20

Summarise the ‘Vision Mumbai’ project into six bullet points. Be specific!!

Answer 20

AIM: Tackle poor quality of life for residents.
Demolish Dharavi’s buildings and sell land to developers who use some of the land to build better homes.
1.1million low cost, higher quality homes (high rise blocks to fit into a small space).
Would cut residents living in slum housing by 90%.
Water supply, sanitation, education and healthcare would be improved also.
Problem- no-where for current residents to live/ work between demolition and construction.
2009- Vision Mumbai delayed (Global economic crisis), organisations dropped out.

Question 21

Describe the three stages of The SHHA Scheme?

Answer 21

Phase 1: Basic site and service provision
SHHA marked out land for basic services (e.g. roads, basic water supply, drains). Building plots given to families. SHHA provided cheap building materials and loans.
Phase 2: Improved site and service provision
Water supply, drains and pathways improved. Water standpipes and rubbish collection points put in place for every five homes. Schools, shops and community facilities developed
Phase 3: Improvements up to 2009
Standpipes and proper sanitation provided for every home. Electricity provided to every home for a few hours a day. Local small business enterprises were set up.

Question 22

Describe three environmental problems caused by rapid urbanisation in LEDC’s (Mumbai, India)

Answer 22

Water Pollution (Mithi River): industries in Mumbai dump untreated industrial waster straight into rivers, airports dump untreated oil, untreated sewage, food waste, cattle slurry, metal, old batteries. Toxic problems.

Flood Risk: Waste into rivers blocks drains so increases the chances of flooding.

Air Pollution: Exhaust gases from vehicles, smoke from burning rubbish and factories all pollute the air. Becomes a bigger problem as industry continues to grow and more electricity is needed.

Question 23

Outline solutions to one environmental problem caused by rapid urbanisation in LEDC’s (Mumbai, India)?

Answer 23

Flood risk: (Mithi River Project) channel dredged to make it deeper, widened, banks smoothed near bends, all aims for water to flow more easily to sea.

Air pollution: new metro system started running in 2011, diesel banned as a fuel in all taxis- 58, 000 now use compressed gas instead, 55 flyover roads built to help traffic flow smoother.

Question 24

Define sustainability?

Answer 24

Meeting the needs of people today, while not putting the needs of future generations at risk.

Question 25

Explain two reasons why a city be seen to be unsustainable

Answer 25

They ‘suck in’ and consume enormous quantities of resources e.g. water, energy, food and raw materials.

They produce enormous amounts of waste. This is usually got rid of in the surrounding land, rivers, sea and air.

Question 26

List four ways to improve a city’s sustainability

Answer 26

Provide green space
Recycling water to conserve supplies
Reducing reliance on fossil fuels and rethinking transport options
Keeping city waste within the local area, making ‘sinks’
Involving local communities and providing a range of employment
Conserving cultural, historical and environmental sites and buildings
Minimising the use of greenfield sites by using brownfield sites instead.

Question 27

How might you conserve the environment in a city? (HINT: historic environment and natural environment)

Answer 27

Historic: old industrial buildings turned into apartments, rundown housing redeveloped, canals in cities can be rebranded and regenerated as leisure facilities.

Natural: more renewable electricity, collect and recycle water (instead of piping it in from reservoirs), run fuel-efficient public transport systems.

Question 28

How do open spaces help make a city more sustainable?

Answer 28

Vital to make cities more sustainable. They act like ‘green lungs’ reducing its impact on the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.

Question 29

Explain how urban living can be made more socially sustainable?

Answer 29

Involve local people in decisions for example from where new houses should be built to how local health and social care services are planned and run.
Encouragement and availability of recycling waste facilities.
Conserve resources like water and electricity.
Encourage people to generate their own electricity (e.g. solar panels or wind turbines)

Question 30

Outline six ways to manage transport in a sustainable way?

Answer 30

One way systems to manage traffic flow
Restricted parking that prevents streets being clogged
Traffic calming measures and speed restrictions that aim to keep traffic moving at a steady pace and reduce accidents
Red routes that restrict roadside stopping
Park and ride and strategic multi-storey car parks to divert manageable locations and free town centres from traffic
Ring roads that keep traffic out of urban centres
Cycle lanes and footpaths
Cheap public transport and bus lanes
Clean transport using alternative fuels

Question 31

Define ‘integrated transport’?

Answer 31

Linked traffic management schemes that provide a ‘door to door’ service to try to rival the use of a car

Question 32

Summarise the BedZed case study using bullet points. Include where, what, how?

Answer 32

Where: Near Croydon (London)
What: Carbon neutral eco-community, 100 apartments and some offices. 81% less energy for heating, 45% less electricity, 58% less water, recycle 60% of waste.

How: building materials that store heat and release it when cool, natural/recycled/reclaimed building materials, south facing homes, north facing office (no air con), thick insulation (300mm), produce at least as much renewable energy that is consumed, use heat from cooking and everyday activities for space heating, low-energy appliances and lighting, energy tracking meters, roof gardens, rainwater harvesting, green transport plan, car sharing scheme.