Human Environments Flashcards
Primary sector
Economic activity surrounding the extraction of raw materials
Secondary sector
Economic activity surrounding the processing of raw materials
Tertiary sector
Economic activity relating to the distribution of final goods and services to consumers
Quaternary sector
Economic activity relating to the sale of information
Subsistence farming
Farming only enough food to sustain oneself or family
Economic growth
Increase in the output of an economy (measured by GDP or GNI)
Economic development
Increase in the quality of life, usually resulting from economic growth, but not always.
Decentralisation
Movement of economic activity away from CBDs and towards the outskirts of the urban environment.
Globalisation
Process of increasing economic integration.
Economic integration
Process by which economies become increasingly linked in their prosperity through trade, communication, transportation and transnational corporations (TNCs).
Informal employment
An unregulated and unofficial economic sector - sometimes referred to as the fifth or quinary sector.
Overpopulation
Needs of the population exceed available resources.
Underpopulation
Resources of the population exceeds the needs of the population.
Optimum population
Resources matched by population growth.
Primary energy
Fuels which provide energy without requiring any transformation. Examples are: wood, coal and natural gas.
Secondary energy
Fuels which require some transformation before they can be used. Examples are: petroleum, electricity and coking coal.
Non-renewable fuels
Fuels which, once depleted, cannot ever be used again.
Energy security
When a nation can meet all of its energy needs reliably.
Energy gap
The difference between a nation’s domestic demand and domestic supply of energy.
Renewable energy
Sources of energy which can be used without fear of depletion.
Biosphere
Contains all the world’s plant and animal life.
Biome
A large, naturally occurring community of specific flora and fauna. Examples include: marine, tropical rainforest, savanna, desert, Mediterranean, temperate grassland, deciduous forest, boreal, tundra and highland.
Services provided by trees
Basic resources (provisioning), controlling the climate (regulating), cycling nutrients (supporting) and culture.
Commercial farming
Farming to make profit, often involves excessive deforestation and powerful technologies.
Arable or pastoral farming
Farming where the land is ploughed – arable farming almost always results in ecosystem clearance and change.
Intensive farming
Involves the concentration of inputs to create artificial ecosystems such as greenhouses and poly-tunnels.
Extensive farming
Where vast areas of land are in use.
Causes for the deforestation of tropical rainforests:
Demand for hardwood timber and the desire to use land originally covered by trees commercially.
Types of rural areas
Remote countryside, accessible countryside, commuter belt and urban fringe.
Sub-Urbanisation
Building of new homes on the outskirts of a city or town, these homes are often larger and spaced apart.
Greenfield sites
Land not designated for development but for parklands.
Commuter belt
Lies just beyond the urban fringe, people living in the commuter frequently travel large distances to work in cities/towns.
Reasons people may want to live in the commuter belt:
Price of land (cheap), availability of good transportation and better quality of life/air quality.
Accessible countryside
Countryside within a day’s trip of nearby cities and towns.
Main uses of accessible countryside:
Farming, recreation and leisure and retirement.
Changes in the use of farmland
Mechanisation, agglomeration (development of agro-business), repurposing of farmland to: tourist destinations and retirement locations.
Agribusiness
Field of study relating to agriculture – development of agribusiness reflects the more scientific, profit-driven attitude which has influenced recent agricultural changes.
Reasons for change in developing and emerging countries:
Economic development, technological development, population growth and rural-urban migration.
Aspects of sustainable rural living:
Environmental (ensuring that natural resources will continue to exist for the next generation), economic, social (offer a good QOL and infrastructure).
Examples of intergovernmental organisations helping manage rural challenges
World bank (provides financial and technical assistance), UNESCO (provides education) and World Health Organisation.
Examples of NGOs (charities) helping manage rural challenges
Oxfam, WWF and Doctors without Borders.
High rates of urbanisation occur because:
Most economic development is concentrated in large cities and cities are experiencing high rates of natural population growth.
Agglomeration
The concentration of people and economic activities in favourable locations.
Conurbation
When towns/cities which are close to each other join together.
Counter Urbanisation
Occurs when cities grow very large and rural-urban migration patterns reverse.
Urban Regeneration
Re-using abandoned areas of cities (due to counter urbanisation).
Urbanisation of suburbs
Occurs when development restrictions are relaxed allowing for the construction of high rise buildings and commercial districts etc.
Factors affecting the rate of urbanisation
Pace of economic development and the rate of population growth.
Megacity
City with over 10 million inhabitants.
Global or world cities
Hubs in growing economies and are well recognised – they can have any population. Examples include: Rio Di Janario and Sydney.
Problems associated with rapid urbanisation:
Development of shanty towns, poor access to water and electricity, traffic congestion and poor transportation, poor health infrastructure, poor education infrastructure, poor employment opportunities (and lots of informal employment), social problems and environmental issues.
Land use patterns emerge because of:
Land values, location needs and accessibility.
Structure of a city:
Core (oldest part of the city - contains the CBD), inner city ring (early suburbs and some business use), suburban ring (housing is the dominant land use) and urban fringe (eroded countryside as the city spreads outwards).
Deindustrialisation
Transition away from capital intensive manufacturing and towards services.
Squatter settlements
A collection of homes built on unowned or unused land – they are illegal, often dangerous places to live and are built from scrap materials.
Types of pollution in urban environments:
Air pollution (e.g. burning fuelwood and congested traffic), visual pollution (graffiti and litter), noise and smell pollution.
Push factors to the urban fringe:
Housing is old, congested and relatively expensive (in the urban environment), environmental pollution and shortage of land for business use.
Pull factors to the urban fringe:
Larger houses, parking and commercial land us is easier and closeness to major arterial roads.
Retail parks
Out of town retailing characterised by superstores – they are usually built on the urban fringe.
Industrial estates
Modern light and services industries with a planned layout and purpose built road network.
Business parks
Built by property developers to attract firms needing office accommodation.
Science parks
Usually close to a university of research centre with the aim of encouraging and developing high tech industries or quaternary activities.
Slum management options
Bulldoze, relocate residents, redevelop, site help/service schemes.
