Urban Enviroments Flashcards
What is the difference between urban growth and urbanisation?
Urban growth - Increase in number of people living in urban environments.
Urbanisation - Increase in percentage/proportion of people living in urban environments.
What is a city?
A settlement containing a built up area with a large number of residents (often high population density). Have many business, wide variety of services, and excellent transport links. In England, settlements are classified as cities if have cathedral.
What are push factors and pull factors in terms of urbanisation?
Push factors - negative things in rural area - pushes people away from rural to urban.
Pull factors - positive things in urban - attract to urban.
What are some examples of push and pull factors for MEDCs?
Push - mechanisation of agriculture > farmers move to urban seeking other jobs - lack of services
Pull - movement of young people to attend tertiary education - new jobs available in factories, mines, shipyards during industrial revolution. Provision of houses - built especially for workers.
What are some examples of push factors (from rural for LEDCs?
Overpopulation > pressure on land, food shortage +
Lack of services - natural disasters reduce agricultural yield > food shortage > especially hard for people who dont own much land + Overgrazing causes soil erosion +
Lack of investement from goverment.
What are some examples of pull factors (to urban) for LEDCs?
Many services + improved employment opportunities - greater variety of jobs with higher wages + ‘bright lights’ - cities are modern and dynamic - comfortable houses with better amenities.
How has the population of MEDC + LEDC cities changed over time?
Both increased from 1950 - 2015 - MEDC started higher but LEDC increased so rapidly is now almost 3 times population. MEDCs increased slowly.
How goes the land change as you go out of the CBD?
More green space - more trees and houses start to have gardens - car ownership increases and more houses have drives - larger but fewer buildings > become more sparse - larger and nicer houses for wealthier residents - land value decreases as more space.
What is the Hoyt model and what are the problems with using it?
Model of land use using wedges - states that there are sectors of similar land use concentrated in parts of the city. Problems - assumes being near to railways still important + old + doesn’t take into account other modes of transport or features that may influence growth of a city i.e rivers.
What is the burgess model and what are the problems of using it?
Land use model using concentric rings growing outwards from origin. Problems - assumes distinct zones, based on Chicago so may not be relevant to other cities, developed before cars were popular, doesn’t take into account fact that lots of people now like and work in rural - urban fringe.
What is the function of a settlement?
Work or purpose - relates to its economic + social development and main activities. Most settlements function has changed over time, now most setttlements are multifunctional e.g London.
How does population density change as you move away from the CBD?
Increases very slightly as moves away from crater in centre of city - mainly businesses not houses - then peaks and decreases as moves out towards rural urban fringe.
What are the factors contributing to the housing shortage in the UK?
Social - Increasing divorce rates + ageing population > more people living alone. Population rise and increase in second homes as well as increase in households. Economic - Government investment decreased and empty properties that landlords cannot afford to modernise or demand too high rent and banks wont invest in housing developers.
Enviromental - Can’t build on greenbelt and NIMBY-ism.
What are brownfield and greenfield sites?
Brownfield - land that has been previously built on or is to be cleared and reused
Greenfield - land has not been previously built on - often in countryside or rural-urban fringe.
What are the pros and cons of brownfield sites?
Pros - more popular + easier to get planning permission for - gets rid of derelict land - already has amenities in place e.g electricity + water
Cons - often in city centre so noise, pollution, and low land value (more expensive land).
What are the pros and cons of greenfield sites?
Pros - often in countryside or rural-urban fringe > more peaceful atmosphere
Cons - cost of implementing amenities + roads - expands city into countryside > increases population density and ruins rural atmosphere.
What are the issues in MEDC urban areas?
1) Not much space so cramped housing, land value
2) Lots of young dependents, older people, or families (parents are often communters) tend to live in suburbs.
3) Congestion, noise, pollution, delays
4) Vandalism and derelict sites, often landfill sites
5) Racial discrimination, segeration of ethnic minorites.
What are some characteristics of the CBD?
Concentration of commercial buildings, little residential land use, high land value > tall buildings, old buildings, concentration of traffic + pedestrians, nodal (centre or meeting) point for transport routes, constantly changing.
What are the major problems in the CBD?
Traffic - caused by increase in car ownership + old narrow streets not designed for large no of cars.
Pollution - caused by amount of cars + buses in city centre as well as noise pollution bc of traffic and high pedestrian flow.
What is a characteristic of areas of urban decline?
There is a high degree of social deprivation - poverty + other factors such as crime, poor education, pollution, litter, and anti-social behaviour.
What is urban decline?
When previously functioning city falls into disrepair - loses business, unemployment increases, economy shrinks, buildings become derelict. Results in crime, fragmented families and inhospitable city.
What is the vicious cycle of poverty?
High unemployment > less money for people to spend on services > less taxes paid to council > council invests less in things like education > kids leave school with fewer qualifications > high unemployment.
High unemployment > more time and less money > increase in petty crime.
What is an example of an area experiencing urban decline?
Docklands - huge docks in 1800s - 1970s - but ships got bigger, water too shallow, and couldn’t navigate Thames so Tilbury took over - so very few jobs, 1/2 land derelict, lack of basic services.
How was the docklands area regenerated after it’s decline?
A UDC called the LDDC - wanted to:
improve environment > clean up docks, create open space, get rid of derelict land - economy > more jobs, better transport - social conditions > more housing, recreational amenities, shopping facilities.
