URBAN issues and challenges AQA GCSE key terms Flashcards
Brownfield site
Land that has been used before, often abandoned and now awaits redevelopment (new use). Often in inner city.
Dereliction
Abandoned buildings and wasteland e.g Olympic Village before regeneration.
Economic opportunities
Chances for people to improve their standard of living through employment (jobs).
Greenfield site
A plot of land, often in a rural area or edge of a town that has not had any building development.
Inequalities
Differences between poverty and wealth, as well as in peoples’ wellbeing and access to things like jobs, housing and education. Inequalities may occur in housing provision, access to services, access to open land, safety and security.
Integrated transport systems
When different transport methods connect together, making journeys smoother and therefore public transport more appealing. Better integration should result in more demand for public transport and should see people switching from private car use to public modes of transport, which should be more sustainable. It may also lead to a fall in congestion due to less road users.
Mega-cities
An urban area with a total population in excess of ten million people e.g Lagos, Nigeria
Migration
When people move from one area to another. In many LICS people move from rural to urban areas (rural-urban migration).
Natural increase
The birth rate minus the death rate of a population.
Pollution
Chemicals, noise, dirt or other substances which have harmful or poisonous effects on an environment.
Rural-urban fringe
A zone between the built-up area and the countryside, where there is often competition for land use. It is a zone of mixed land uses, from out of town shopping centres and golf courses to farmland and motorways.
Sanitation
Providing treated and clean water and disposal of sewage and waste to people. This reduces disease and improves quality of life.
Social deprivation
The degree to which people are deprived of services, decent housing, adequate income and local employment.
Social opportunities
Chances for people to improve their quality of life, for instance access to education, recreation and health care.
Squatter settlement
An area of poor-quality housing, lacking in amenities such as water supply, sewerage and electricity, which often develops spontaneously and illegally in a city in an LIC e.g Makoko, Lagos.
Sustainable urban living
A sustainable place (e.g East Village?) is one in which there is no damage to the environment, the economy and jobs are secure, there is a strong sense of community, with local people involved in decisions. Achieved by use of renewable resources, energy efficiency and use of public transport
Traffic congestion
Occurs when there is too great a volume of traffic for roads to cope with, so traffic jams form and traffic slows to a crawl.
Urban greening
The process of increasing and preserving open space such as public parks and gardens in urban areas.
Urbanisation
The process by which an increasing percentage of a country’s population comes to live in towns and cities. Rapid urbanisation is a feature of many LICs and NEEs.
Urban regeneration
The revival of old parts of the built‐up area by either installing modern facilities in old buildings (known as renewal) or opting for redevelopment (ie demolishing existing buildings and starting afresh).
Urban sprawl
The unplanned growth of urban areas into the surrounding countryside.
Waste recycling
The process of extracting and reusing useful substances found in waste.
