Economic Development - UK 🇬🇧 (+ Coggeshall, Essex) Flashcards
What are the important industries in the UK?
Services, finance, information technology, research
Why are services an important industry?
Retail employs about 4 million people in UK
Why is finance an important industry?
Home to many global finance institutions, e.g. HSBC has its HQ here
Why are IT services an important industry?
Over 670,000 people work in this industry (e.g. Microsoft)
Why is research an important industry?
Research and development (R&D) is increasing in the UK, making use of Uni graduates
2016- £33 billion spent on R&D
Where are quaternary industries found?
Science and business parks
Where are science and business parks located?
On the outskirts of cities, near housing and good transport links (airports, motorways)
Near universities so that research businesses in science parks can work with them
Why have the number of science and business parks grown?
- large and growing demand for high-tech products, these parks help develop them
- UK has a high number of respected universities for these parks to work with
- clusters of related businesses in one place can boost each other
What are the 3 main causes of economic change in the UK?
- de-industrialisation
- globalisation
- government policies
Why has de-industrialisation caused economic change?
- it has declined as increased automation led to job losses in manufacturing jobs
- other countries industrialised, produce goods more cheaply than UK - increased competition forced some UK industries to close
Why has globalisation caused economic change?
- manufacturing moved overseas, labour costs are lower
- some TNCs moved some of their tertiary and quaternary operations to UK (Apple employs 6500 people in UK)
- trade with other countries is an increasing important part of UK GDP - proportion of UK’s GDP that comes from foreign trade increased from 38% in 1965 to 62% in 2017
Why have government policies caused economic change?
- government decisions on investment and support for businesses affect economy
- government carried out deregulation which encouraged entrepreneurs and investors to move to UK, helped industries
- membership of trade agreements and organisations makes it easier for companies in UK to operate across world and manufacture overseas
What are the negative impacts of industry on the environment?
- pollutants and greenhouse gases into atmosphere
- using lots of water and energy
- extracting raw materials damages environment by destroying habitats and releasing toxic chemicals into water
What transport networks has the UK improved?
Roads, railways, airports, ports
How has the UK improved roads?
- capacity on motorways is being increased to ‘smart motorways’ with extra lanes
- 2015-2020 plans to creates 400 miles of new road capacity