Exam Questions - Human Geography

Question 1

Stakeholder views on regeneration

Answer 1

Stakeholders have different views on regeneration because they have different expectations, interests, and lived experiences:

Expectations
Stakeholders have different expectations for regeneration in terms of social, economic, and environmental concerns. For example, planners may support regeneration because it could be profitable, while local residents may oppose it because it could lead to gentrification.

Interests
Stakeholders may have a vested interest in a change based on their own personal objectives. For example, property owners may be skeptical about regeneration if they don’t believe in cultural heritage.

Lived experiences
Stakeholders’ lived experiences of a place can affect their judgment of regeneration. For example, residents may be concerned about the impact of regeneration on the reality and image of their place.
Role
Stakeholders may have different roles, such as local residents, local businesses, national governments, landowners, and farmers.

Stakeholder conflicts can lead to social problems, such as unbalanced benefit distribution, displacement, and social unrest

Each stakeholder will have different viewpoints. Local residents may oppose regeneration because investment may lead to gentrification displacing them from their homes. Conflict may arise between these and planners who are fond of regeneration because it may be profitable for them in the future.

Question 2

Government policies during regeneration

Answer 2

Planning permission
Uk planning laws
Migration policies
Deregulation policies
environmental policies
transport policies

Question 3

What can a place do to rebrand and reimage

Answer 3

Rebrand = change image of place
Reimage = change perception of place

Glastonbury:
500 acres - “Worthy Farm”
changed from farming to festival
difference in opinion of success between locals

Question 4

NGO’s (12)

Answer 4

Impacts of NGO’s
Transition towns are an NGO
+ bring SEE (social, economic, environmental) benefits by reducing waste and reducing pollution

• Use bottom up initiative to be less reliant on global trade

Fairtrade:
+ helps farmers and their families, promotes environmental protection, covers wide range of products

• only cover small percentage of all product and tend to be more expensive = not accessible to all consumers

Ethical shopping retail chains
+ beneficial as it promotes locally sources products as well as ethically produced products

• Organic products are produced which are good for the environment, but require more labour and land to produce the crops, fair-trade products are sometimes grown at the expense of local crops

Waste and recycling is a major part of developed countries policies
+ even with increasing UK population, the government have to manage less waste to dispose of = leading to fewer landfills

• recycling rates heavily vary from place to place so clearly more work needs to be done

Examples:
WaterAid is a UK-based NGO that works to provide clean water, toilets, and hygiene to people around the world.

Humanitarian aid: NGOs are often the first to respond to humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, providing immediate relief and long-term recovery support.

Question 5

Strengths and weaknesses of emerging powers (12)

Answer 5

Examples = BRIC countries

Brazil
Russia
India
China

• The most likely rival to the USA’s current hegemony is China
• China engages with many areas around the world - especially Africa = Neo-colonialist power with trade
• it has military ambitions to build a blue water navy, operating beyond its coasts

China uses a form of neocolonialism that creates the appearance of partnership and trust, but is actually used to extract natural resources through soft power.

Strengths of emerging powers:
Political:
Emerging powers can gain global influence by supporting regimes in other countries, but this can lead to controversy
Can also gain political influence through international relations
China = very strong army
Cultural diffusion in countries such as Africa

Economic
Emerging powers can attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology companies (TNCs), but some people remain in poverty.
-China is a major player in global investment, the Chinese have invested
heavily in developing countries especially in Africa.

Weakness of emerging powers:
Pollution
Growing pollution can stall the growth of emerging powers

Changing demographic
increase in population can lead to a lack of sustainability resources wise which can stop the growth of the emerging nation

Question 6

IMF WTO and World Bank (12)

Answer 6

WTO:
Sets rules for how countries trade with each other
if member of WTO you receive reduced fees when trading or selling

IMF:
Aims to maintain a stable international financial system, and this promotes free trade and globalisation.
The IMF provides loans to countries facing short-term balance of payment difficulties.

International trade blocs
Such as the European Union provide incentives for trade such as special economic zones to promote FDI in the use of TNC’s or reduction in tariffs for trade

World Bank
Has the role of lending money and giving grants to the developing world to fund economic development and reduce poverty.
The World Bank requires recipients to adopt trade liberalisation policies and to open up to FDI by removing legal restrictions and capital controls. Therefore, some countries prefer to lend from China