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
What are adjuncts?
Newer parts of the village added to the original core
What are isolates?
Individual housing apart from the main village
What are ribbon developments?
A line of housing, extending along a main road out of a village
What are infills?
Where there is a gap between housing. The land can fit 1 or 2 more houses on it
What is urban resurgence
The re-generation of an urban area (especially in the uk cities after they had declined in 1980s)
What is de-industrialisation
The decline in the proportion of jobs in manufacturing, and the reduction in industrial activity
Many uk cities still contain what that has been regenerated?
Old factory buildings
Where do redevelopment schemes tend to focus on?
Areas of a city, not the whole city
What sort of home owners do redevelopment schemes attract?
High income workers
What industry were many people employed in in Bham in the past, which declined after WW2?
Jewellery business
What are some key features of modern CBDs?
And why are these good?
Pedestrianised streets - less traffic/noise/pollution
Weekly food markets and festivals - attract a wide range of cultures and brings in more money
Indoor shopping malls - increase of economy, good for businesses, wont get rained on
More street lights - more inclined to go shopping when it’s dark, less crime: less likely to get robbed
Increased public transport - reduces traffic and also better for environment as less pollution
Trees/flowers in the high street - looks attractive, people more likely to shop there, animals like it
More “street furniture” - people to stay to shop longer if they can have a quick sit down
What are the pull factors to London?
More shops, restaurants, bars, successful economy
What is Londons population growing?
1) birth rate: 790,000 more people were born in London than died there between 2009 and 2017
2) international immigration: there was an increase of 860,000 people between 2009 and 2017, with more than half coming from the EU. By 2017, 3.6 million people living in the city were born overseas
What age groups are moving to London and why?
People move to London in their 20s. This is because of the range and number of jobs it offers
What are the main age groups leaving London and why?
18-20… this is because they spread out across the country to go to university e.g. Nottingham
0-4… they would leave with their parents, this is because young families are often in search of homes for less than Londons high prices
What uk cities have the youngest mean age?
London = 37
Oxford, Cambridge and Coventry = 36 or below
What has been the trend in city centre (CBD) population since 2000?
Since the start of the 21st century the population of many city centres has doubled in size. E.g. Liverpool ( increased by 181% between 2002-2015)
What have the government done to change city centre populations
They have supported this trend with the ‘urban development corporations’ policy of the 1980s helping to regenerate uk city centres. They have put more investment in urban regeneration programs.
What are the solutions to the shortage of housing in city centres in the future?
Higher density of housing, knock down old buildings/factories and redevelop on them, build houses in the suburbs
Why is clustering people/ businesses together a good thing ?
As the businesses get competitive, and raise each others game, making each other better
What effect do places like London have on people and money in surrounding areas?
It sucks in money, talent and business
What did the company Astra Zeneca do in 2013?
Relocated closer to Cambridge (the uni has well educated workers)
What evidence is there that Cambridge is a popular place to buy a property?
They are building really nice, expensive houses
What is the main problem Cambridge has?
They would have to build on greenfield land if they wanted more houses, destroying the environment and habitats
What has happened to liverpools population in the last 100 years?
Halved in size
What have local people done to the old abandoned mill building ?
Turned it into a roller disco
What type of companies have clustered in Salford quays?
Media companies e.g. bbc, itv, sky
What happens to big cities populations at night compared to the day time?
They decrease as commuters travel back to where they live
What is manufacturing?
Making something on a large scale using machinery
What is deindustrialisation?
The decrease of a countries manufacturing (mostly in HICs now)
What is automation?
The increased use of robotics in factories
What is globalisation?
The links that businesses and people have to other countries around the world
Why is automation a good and bad thing?
Good as it means more products can be made in a shorter amount of time
Bad as many loose jobs
Why is globalisation a good and bad thing?
Good as products can be mass produced for cheaper in some countries e.g. china
Bad as carbon footprint of products increase
Impacts of deindustrialisation?
Less jobs
Less tax
More crime
Cheaper products
Shops closing/businesses begin to become bankrupt
Decrease in house prices
What is the negative multiplier affect (give example)?
A spiral of negative outcomes
E.g. factory closes down, people loose their jobs, cant spend as much money in shops, shops loose out on business, low income for shop owners, may close their shop, derelict building there
What is decentralisation?
The relocation of shops, offices, away from the CBD to retail shopping parks at the edge of a town/city
What is the service economy?
The increased percentage of people working in ‘service’ jobs such as shops, offices, labs …
Pull factors of decentralisation
- cheaper land and rent
- more space than in the centre of a city
- easier for people to park in there
- less noisy/polluted than the centre (attracting more shoppers)
- it is safer (less crime)
