Urbanisation Flashcards
What is urbanisation?
The growth of the proportion of people living in urban areas
Explain the rate of urbanisation in HICs
Low rate - more economically developed so have already experienced urbanisation. Around 80% of the populations live in urban areas so people leave for a quiet, rural life
Explain the rate of urbanisation in LICs
High rate - less economically developed - only 30% of populations live urban areas
Explain the rate of urbanisation in NEEs
Medium rate - development is increasing rapidly - urban population around 50% but can be much higher
What causes urbanisation?
-Rural-urban migration
-Natural increase (higher birth than death rate)
What are some push factors of an area?
-Natural disasters - damages are expensive, rural areas harder to recover (fewer resources)
- Mechanised agricultural equipment causes unemployment
- Desertification - land is unproductive so people/farmers can’t support themselves
What are some pull factors of an area?
- More (better paid) jobs in urban areas
- Better access to healthcare + education
- Other family members may have already moved
- People think they’ll have a better quality of life
What prevents the decline of urban populations?
Usually young people move there to find work, they then have children, increasing the population
Access to better healthcare increases life expectancy
What is a megacity?
A very large city with a population over 10 million
What are the opportunities of megacities?
-Employment opportunities
- Social opportunities
- Transport
- Education
- Access to resources
- Healthcare
What are the challenges of megacities?
- Overcrowding
- Congestion
- Housing
- Infrastructure
- Competition for employment
- Water/air pollution
- Crime
What is the importance of Rio de Janeiro regionally?
- Has 5 huge industrial districts that provide employment and boost the local economy
What is the importance of Rio de Janeiro nationally?
- Rio Carnival one of the most important cultural events of Brazil
- Brazil’s 2nd most important industrial city (produces 5% of GNI)
What is the importance of Rio de Janeiro globally?
- Hosted the World Cup and Olympics
- Contains 2 major international airports
Describe Rio’s North Zone
- Main industrial/port area
- Has an international airport, football stadium + national park
- Has low-quality housing and favelas
Describe Rio’s West Zone
- Changed from a lower-class to a wealthy tourist area
- Industrial area has low-quality housing
-Has the main Olympic stadiums
Describe Rio’s Centro zone
- Oldest historic buildings
- Main shopping and financial centres
- Largest oil/mining companies based here
Describe Rio’s South Zone
- Main tourist hotels / beaches
- Wealthiest district of South America
- Overlooked by largest favela of South America
What are some social challenges in Rio?
- Healthcare - only 55% have access to health clinic, life expectancy in west zone 45 years
- Education - shortage of schools and teachers (low pay + lack of training)
- Water supply - 12% of Rio don’t have access to running water
- Energy - city has frequent blackouts
What are the solutions to social challenges in Rio?
- Healthcare - mobile health clinics to people’s homes
- Education - giving school grants to poor families + encouraging volunteers in schools
- Water - 300km of water pipes laid, 7 treatment plants built
- Energy - 60km new power lines + new HEP plant
What is the difference between formal and informal economy?
Formal - people receive a regular wage, pay tax and have rights
Informal - work outside the government’s knowledge
What are the economic challenges in Rio?
Increased unemployment after a deep recession in 2015
Many people do informal work - it is poorly paid and irregular
What are the solutions to economic challenges in Rio?
Schemes set up to help people develop new skills and find a job
What are the environmental challenges in Rio?
- Air pollution - heavy traffic congestion (cars increased by 40% in last decade) = emissions, kills 5000 annually
- Water pollution - 200 tonnes raw sewage enters bay daily, pollution damages beaches + tourism
- Waste pollution - waste lorries can’t access places on steep slopes without proper roads - encourages rats + diseases like cholera
What are the solutions to the environmental challenges in Rio?
- Air pollution - expanding metro system + new toll roads to reduce congestion
- Water pollution - 12 new sewage works built + ships fined for discharging oil
- Waste pollution - power plant built near university that uses rotting rubbish to produce electricity
What is a favela? Where are they usually found in Rio?
A squatter settlement (illegal settlement where people have built on land they don’t own - have great social deprivation)
Usually found in the North Zone with some in Centro
What are the economic challenges of favelas?
- Unemployment up to 20%
- Average monthly income < £75
What are the environmental challenges of favelas?
- limited access due to steep roads
- on steep slopes, heavy rain causes landslides. 2004 - 13,000 homes lost from landslides
What are the social challenges of favelas?
- Infant mortality rates up to 50 per 1000
- 50% have no sewage, 30% no electricity
- Murder rate 20 per 1000 people
What is the Favela-Bairro project?
What are three aspects?
A scheme to improve the quality of life in favelas
-Police Pacifying unit (300 officers) to tackle drug crime
- Cable car from favelas to city (cut journey time from 2 hours to 16 mins)
- Free school programmes for children
What were some disadvantages of the Favela-Bairro project?
- Only improved 60/600 favelas
- Cost $1 billion
- Short term - can’t be maintained`
Where are most cities in the UK located?
- Areas of mineral wealth ( industries developed = rapid population growth)
- Lowland areas (easier to build on + milder climate)
- Coastal areas, especially sheltered bays (suitable for building harbours + key ports)
What is a conurbation?
Towns that have merged to form continuous urban areas
What are the four zones of most UK cities?
- Central Business District (CBD)- usually in the middle, often surrounded by a ring road
- Inner city - mix of land uses (mainly residential) - many short parallel roads
- Suburbs - towards the edge of the city, mainly residential areas with cul-de-sacs
- Rural-urban fringe - edge of the city, has open spaces + new housing developments
What makes Southampton important regionally?
- Solent Freeport bid approved - potential 52,000 jobs
- £6 million investment into heritage
- Retail - West Quay + Ikea
- Southampton Hospital
What makes Southampton important nationally?
- Contributes £1 billion to Uk economy annually
- University = Russell Group
- Southampton Science Park = research
What makes Southampton important internationally?
- Cruise port has >2 million passengers annually
- Port = international trade
- Southampton International Boat Show
What are the advantages of immigration in to Southampton?
- Mainly young migrants help balance the ageing population
- Enriching the city’s cultural life
- University now rates 17th in country
What are the disadvantages of immigration into Southampton?
- Pressure on houses and employment
- Challenge to educate children whose first language isn’t English
- Challenge of integration into wider community
What are the social opportunities in Southampton?
- St Mary’s stadium allows people to watch football
- Southampton Hospital leads cancer research
- Showcase cinema, IKEA, West Quay
What are the economic opportunities in Southampton?
- Over 120,000 jobs in the city
- 75% of population are economically active
- Dock areas are still being developed
What are the environmental opportunities in Southampton?
- Ensures 20% of the city is green space
- City council spending £600,000 on improving green spaces
- £25 million into cycle lanes (reduces road emissions)
What is deprivation?
Poverty (not having enough money to get by) and the general lack of resources and opportunities
What is inequality like in Southampton?
Inequality in:
- health (Bassett life expectancy = 84, Redbridge = 79)
- education (Redbridge 60% get 5 GCSEs, Bassett = 80%)
- employment
- housing
Why is there deprivation in Southampton?
- Changes to industry:
Decline in well-paid manufacturing jobs, now more retail jobs (more poorly paid)
What are some social challenges in Southampton?
- Children in poverty higher than national average (27%)
- Number of houses owned is less than national average
- Children with dental decay is higher than national average
What are some environmental problems in Southampton?
- Loss of green land (urban sprawl) = less habitats
- Brownfield sites left empty + derelict = visual pollution
- Bin collection changed from weekly to fortnightly + lack of recycling centres
- Air pollution kills 110 annually (from traffic congestion)
What has caused environmental challenges in Southampton?
- Industry changed from secondary to tertiary
- Rapidly growing population
- Port has been growing in size
Define:
-Brownfield site
- Greenfield site
- Commuter settlement
- land that has already been built upon
- land that hasn’t been built on before
- where people live but don’t work - usually settlements just outside the city
What is urban regeneration?
What is an example of urban regeneration in Southampton?
Improvement to an area to address urban decline
West Quay retail park
Why did the West Quay area need urban regeneration?
- Site had been disused for 7 years
- Unemployment had risen above national average
- Area struggled to attract major shops
What were the main features of the West Quay urban regeneration project?
-19 large stores employ 400+ people
- IKEA generates £55 million annually
- Reduced deprivation by generating employment + attracting investment
What is a sustainable urban area?
What is an example in Southampton?
Urban area where people have a way of life that will last a long time - environment not damaged + social/ economic factors will last
Townhill Park (£9 million investment)
What do sustainable urban areas have? Give an example in Townhill Park for each.
- Water conservation - toilets installed use less water + use greywater
- Energy conservation -energy efficient heating, good insulation , double glazing
- Waste recycling - has facilities e.g compost bins in every garden + paper/glass bins in flats
- Creating green spaces - has communal garden with trees + allotment patches
Why do cities need to manage traffic congestion?
- Accidents from people crossing the road
- Traffic jams wasting time in journeys to work
- Road rage and noise
- Air pollution
What is Southampton doing to manage traffic congestion?
Give some advantages
SolentGo travel scheme:
- One card covers all public transport
- Cycle lanes created
- Pollution + number of cars on the road decreased
Give some disadvantages of the SolentGo travel scheme
- Expensive - £5 for one day’s worth of travel
- App not compatible with iPhones
- Some bus lanes have been removed because traffic was too bad
What is urban sprawl?
The unplanned growth of urban areas into surrounding countryside
What are the negatives of commuter settlements on the rural-urban fringe?
- New housing developments harm the environment
- Demand for houses increase house prices
- Businesses suffer as residents move away to work
- Large numbers of commuters increase pollution, congestion + parking problems
