Urbanisation Cycle Flashcards
What is urbanisation?
When the percentage of the population living in urban areas increases
What is urban growth?
When the overall number of people living in urban areas increases
What is urban expansion?
When the size of one town or city increases
What is rural —> urban migration?
Moving from countryside to city
What is a push factor?
Factors that drive people away from an area e.g. food shortages, high levels of disease, desertification
What is a pull factor?
Factors that attract people to migrate e.g. good education, healthcare, high employment rates
Why is “nappy valley” so attractive to young families?
The location is good as there is a train station which links trains to central London which is good for workers, they can commute quickly.
Job opportunities e.g. cafes
Good community of young mums which can support each other
Lots of amenities
Celebrities live there e.g. Gordon Ramsey
What is urban sprawl?
The spread of cities outwards into rural areas
Changes and problems due to urban sprawl?
Change: increase of roads built. Problem: more traffic and pollution
Change: building on greenfield land increases. Problem: countryside will be lost, and habitats
Change: ‘decentralisation’ as shops and businesses relocate from the centre to the edges
Problem: decline in the business in the CBD
How many people do you need for a city to be classed as a mega city?
10 million or more
What is a meta city?
20 million or more
What is conurbation?
Is a large urban settlement when nearby towns or cities spread out and merge together
What is a world city?
A city which has a great influence on a global scale because of financial status. The three main are New York, London and Tokyo
What makes a world city?
Lots of media
Businesses/offices
Universities/education
Technology companies
A royal family/ prime minister
Airports
Facts about London - why a world city?
The capital of UK
Strengths in tourism, transport, media, healthcare ext…
Headquarters of Barclays Bank and NatWest bank
Worlds largest airport system, Heathrow
43 unis
Concentration of higher education institutes e.g. UCL, college London
Diverse range of culture, more than 300 languages spoken within it
World heritage sites e.g. tower London, Westminster abbey
Famous landmarks e.g. London eye, tate modern, the shard, Buckingham palace
What is odd about the size of UKs cities?
They don’t follow the general pattern of population halving in size as the cities get smaller
This is known as Zipf’s law
What is suburbanisation ?
People moving to the edge of cities
Three examples of Londons suburbs
Wimbledon
Earling
Twickenham
Pull factors to move to edge of cities
Sense of community
Not as busy, less traffic
More recreational space
Housing isnt as packed in
Eduction
Transport to city centre
Negatives of suburbanisation
Decline of inner city shops
Building on greenfield land, ruins habitats
More pollution as people travel by car (longer journeys)
Greater divide between cultures and lower income groups in the community
Buildings in the inner city are left vacant
Areas look similar and lack culture/divesity
What is counter urbanisation?
Where people move from a large town or city to a smaller town/city
What attracts people to want to live in smaller towns/ villages?
Less crime
Lots of countryside = good for your mental and physical health
More houses being built and more space to build a bigger house as its greenfield land
Cleaner, less pollution
Smaller classes in school/ better teaching
Less traffic on roads
More recreational space
Why is counter urbanisation in HICs increasing?
Jobs in tech are increasing so people can work from home, therefore you don’t need to live in the actual city and can have a house in a nicer area and commute if you need to occasionally
What percentage of workers worked from home in 2014 compared to 2023
13.9% —> 16%
What is modification?
When houses have extensions or improvements
What is accretions ?
The areas of a village that have grown gradually over time