How this guide works...

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2 How this guide works... This guide is the Changing Urban Environments guide and should be used alongside the exam question booklet you got last term. Together it gives you a full and detailed guide of everything you re expected to know fun right? Remember everything in this booklet (along with the other five!) you need to know about, and we ve already done at least once in class. The activities I ve included in this book will help you, but are not exam questions, they are designed to encourage you to get thinking about revision / do revision! You should therefore attempt exam questions from your exam book let as you go along to really help you. The symbol to the right and the page numbers next to it tell you where you can find exam questions linked to that topic in the exam question book. If you should lose this booklet (naughty you), then you can easily download and print off a new copy from the homework section of the CTS website. They are also available from the swish revision hub board outside of the geography room. As always remember you do them, I mark them, you respond / improve and then I remark. Put simply There is no excuse for not having your revision / exam question books on you or for not doing revision ever. The next six pages are the best places to start they talk about what the exam will look like, what the exam board say you should know for this unit, a small guide to the types of questions there are on GCSE geography exams and how to answer them and finally a list of command words. Any questions at all......please ask! Page 1

3 What will my exam look like? You will have two exams, both will last 1 and a half hours and will be made up of 2 sections the helpful diagram below will explain everything. Physical Geography - 1 and 1/2 hours long Section A Section B Q1 - Restless Earth Q5 - Water on the Land Q6 - Ice on the Land Human Geography - 1 and 1/2 hours long Section A Section B Q2 - Changing Urban Environments Q4 - Development Gap Q6 - Tourism

4 What does the exam board expect me to know for the Changing Urban Environments Section? You should know and understand: What an urban area is What urbanisation is and what causes it What the different parts of urban areas are called and what their functions (what they do) are What the issues facing housing in urban areas in the developed world are What the issues facing the inner city in urban areas in the developed world are What the issues facing traffic in urban areas in the developed world are What the issues facing the CBD in urban areas in the developed world are What the issues facing the segregation of cultures in urban areas in the developed world are What the issues facing rapid urban growth in the developing world are and how they can be improved What the issues facing urban areas in the developing world because of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation are What the issues facing urban areas in the developing world because of waste disposal and air and water pollution are What makes a sustainable city Ways of making the environment of a city more sustainable Ways of making the social environment of a city more sustainable A case study of sustainable urban living Page 3

5 The really helpful bit In GCSE geography there are two types of questions short answer questions (worth 1, 2 or 3 marks) and longer answer questions (worth 4, 6 or 8 marks). This help guide should help you recognise the difference between the two and how to answer each type of question. Short Answer Questions (worth 1, 2, or 3 marks) These questions are point marked. This means that the examiner will give you a mark for each point that you make and explain (if the question asks for it). Before answering the question you should read it carefully. It might be worth highlighting or circling what the command words are and then underline what topic the question actually is asking for. A few quick points: - Make sure you give / answer the correct number of points for the marks that the question is worth. - Make sure you introduce your answer it only takes a few words and shows the examiner you know what you re talking about. Avoid starting any sentence with words like it or they. A better example would be An MDC is a more developed country Long Answer Questions (worth 4, 6, or 8 marks) These questions are level marked. This means that the examiner will read all of your answer and then decide on a level to give you. In 4 or 6 mark questions the maximum level you can get is level 2, in an 8 mark questions the maximum level is level 3. IMPORTANT - On your human geography paper for your 8 mark questions there is 3 extra marks awarded for your spelling punctuation and grammar. The table below shows what you need to do to get these extra marks. Threshold performance (1 mark) Intermediate performance (2 marks) High performance (3 marks) - You spell, use punctuation and use the rules of grammar with reasonable accuracy. - Any mistakes do not stop the examiner understanding what you meant in your response. - You use a limited range of key words appropriately. - You spell, use punctuation and use the rules of grammar with considerable accuracy - The examiner has a good idea of what you mean in your answer. - You use a good range of key words appropriately. - You spell, use punctuation and use the rules of grammar with consistent accuracy. - The examiner has no trouble understanding what you mean in your answer. - You use a wide range of specialist terms adeptly and with precision. Page 4

6 The examiner is looking for what are called linked statements to give you the higher levels, and therefore higher marks. Linked statements are sentences with developed explanation, statistics or examples in your answer that prove your point. What the examiner is looking for at each level is shown in the table below along with some example sentences to help. Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Basic knowledge with little or no detail showing very simple understanding. There is little organisation of the answer and few key words. Lots of people die in poorer countries die in earthquakes. Clear knowledge with clear and developing understanding and explanation shown. Some examples are used along with key words. Lots of people die in earthquakes in LDCs because there is likely to be less emergency services. Detailed knowledge with clear and detailed understanding and explanation. Examples are used to answer the question with explanation and a wide range of key words are also used. Lots of people die in earthquakes in poorer countries because there is likely to be less effective emergency services. This is because there is less money to pay for training for them, or give them good equipment. This means that less people will be saved and therefore more people will die. A good 4 step plan to remember when writing a longer answer essay question is: Page 5

7 Exam Command Words These are sometimes called trigger words they should trigger you into knowing what the question is asking of you. But sometimes people can get confused as to what they need to do to answer the question effectively. The table below shows you the most often used command words and what they mean. They are in an order with most often used ones first. Command Word Definition Describe Give a detailed version of what happens / has happened. Give Discuss Use words like because in your answer as you will be explaining how or why something is that way. Explore the subject by looking at its advantages and disadvantages (i.e. for and against). Attempt to come to some sort of judgement. Explain Describe, giving reasons and causes. Define Give the meaning. This should be short. Outline Concentrate on the main bits of the topic or item. Ignore the minor detail. Evaluate / Assess Factors Identify Give an opinion by exploring the good and bad points. It s a bit like asking you to assess something. Attempt to support your argument with expert opinion. Not strictly a command word but it can come up where a question asks about factors it means give the facts, reasons or circumstances that can make something happen. Recognise, prove something as being certain. Compare / Contrast Analyse Show the similarities / Show the differences (but you can also point out the other side of the argument). Explore the main ideas of the subject, show they are important and how they are related. Comment Discuss the subject, explain it and give an opinion on it. Justify Give a good reason for offering an opinion. Page 6

8 What is an Urban Area? First thing to know about is some of the key words that we re going to use this topic; as before key words will be in red, but one is pretty important right from the start An urban area is a town or a city, a built up area where people live surrounded by a number of services like schools, doctor s surgeries, hospitals and shops. The bigger the urban area (like a city) the more the services it will have. There are different parts of urban areas and in a couple of sections time you ll learn about them. The opposite to an urban area is a rural area this is the countryside, where some people live (like in villages for example), but often these are not built up areas and have very few services. What is urbanisation and where is it happening? Urbanisation is a process that happens around the world, and is the growth in the proportion (NOT NUMBER OR SIZE!) of people living in urban areas, compared with countryside. As shown by the graph below in 2007, the world s population lived more in urban areas than rural areas for the first time ever. Urban growth is the name given to the increasing SIZE of the urban area, the amount of land that it actually covers. When this becomes a problem and it spreads outwards too much or too fast it is called, urban sprawl. Page 7

9 Urbanisation has taken place in both developed / rich countries known as MDCs (More Developed Countries) and less developed / poor countries known as LDCs (Less Developed Countries). It has been fastest though in the world s poorest countries known as least developed countries or LLDCs for short as the graph on the right shows. In rich countries, urbanisation took place over a long period of time and it was linked to the development of industry. For example in Britain with the industrial revolution and growth of factories in large towns from 1850s. In the UK industrial cities like Sheffield grew rapidly (about 10% a year) as people flocked from the countryside to work in the factories especially when homes were provided. Today 90% of the UK s population is urban. However, in the 1970s/80s families started to escape to the country looking for a better quality of life this is counterurbanisation Rockingham is a good example of somewhere that offers a pleasant environment and easy commuting. Recently re-urbanisation has been taking place and young professional people are moving into the CBD and inner cities. In poor countries, urbanisation has been more recent, since 1960s and it has been linked to rural-urban migration. Conditions in rural areas are poor and people think that there are better opportunities in the cities. This has led to the unsustainable growth of megacities in the developing world For example Mumbai has a population of 18m. 1. Using the first graph describe how the population in urban areas has changed over time. Remember if this was an exam question you would pick up extra marks for making specific reference to dates and / or figures / amounts. 2. Using the second graph describe how the percentage of people living in urban areas has changed over time make specific reference to the areas where this growth has come from. 3. What is the difference between urbanisation and urban growth? p.34 Page 8

10 What causes urbanisation? There are two causes of urbanisation; one is natural increase where more people are being born than dying. This is higher in urban than rural areas, as there is a younger population here than in rural areas, so there is a greater chance of babies being born. The second is rural urban migration the movement of people from the countryside to the towns. The movement of people moving from rural areas to urban areas is down to factors known as push and pull factors. Push factors are reasons for people to leave a particular area, things like drought, a low amount of food being grown and a struggle to feed you and your family, a lack of services like schools or hospitals or a lack of jobs available. Physical factors like being at risk of floods, drought or soil erosion are also reasons for people to move away from rural areas. Pull factors are reasons for people to move to a particular area, things like the chance of a better job, better access to more services like schools or hospitals, or entertainment and leisure facilities. A major pull factor is also the chance to have a better house, and ultimately a better life. 4. Using the letter from Roberto in Rio, Brazil (below) highlight or circle the pull factors (reasons to move to Rio) and highlight in a different colour or draw a box around the push factors (reasons to move away from the rural areas). Hello my name is Roberto and I m 12 years old. I live with my parents and 4 sisters on the outskirts of Rio. Our home is in a slum district known in Brazil as a favela. Our house is very basic but it is much bigger than the one we used to have and we are making improvements the longer we are here. We moved here because the farm wasn t making any money, and we weren t growing enough food to feed our family. My father now makes sandals from car tyres. He sells them at a small market and on a good day he can make over one cruzado (about 80p). Now that we live here I can go to school, although only in the mornings because it s too expensive to go all day. In the afternoons and at weekends I go to the city centre to work as a shoe shiner. I will probably have to give up school and work full time eventually. My family needs the money but living in the city means I can do that. The council is really trying to improve conditions here. They recently provided us with piped water and electricity which is a great help, and the drains they are digging mean that our home will no longer flood. Page 9

11 What are the different parts of an urban area? Urban areas are not all the same, for example if you walk to across from one side of the urban area to the other the landscape around you, and the way in which the area is used will change. This fits in with what geographers call an urban model, and can be pretty useful at GCSE, although it s not on your syllabus, it s worth having at the back of your mind especially as it could help you remember the names of the different parts of urban areas WHICH YOU HAVE TO KNOW! Burgess Model Hoyt Model The Burgess model was drawn in the 1950s in Chicago, as a plan of what all cities looked like, in the centre the CBD or Central Business District the most expensive area and the focus for businesses, places of work and money. Outside of this is inner city, usually the oldest part of the city with housing built before 1918 it is used for a number of different things. Beyond this are the suburbs, areas of mostly housing built after the WW2 when people could afford more expensive houses, with bigger gardens and areas around them. Beyond this is the rural urban fringe an area of the city where the town meets the city and there is a number of different uses here too. Page 10

12 The Hoyt sector model was developed in the 1970s partly because it was discovered that not all cities follow the same, rather strict model. Sometimes cities will redevelop or rebuild or a physical factor will affect how the city develops. In Hoyt s model the inner city is split into industry and manufacturing (making things) and low class residential (housing), the suburbs are called medium class residential, and the rural urban fringe is is called high class residential. The main difference is that Hoyt suggested that the richest people lived furthest away from the industry in a spine coming out from the CBD itself, but because of this spine they could easily and quickly access the CBD without having to travel through more run down areas. 5. Challenge yourself draw the Burgess and Sector model from above, leave them alone for a while, close this revision book then come back to it can you successfully name all the different areas? 6. Come back to this activity after the next section of information, can you add in any information about what each section is like / the problems surrounding it? What do the different parts of an urban area normally do? CBD: Central Business District: Town Centre The CBD is where main shops and offices are, it is the commercial centre of town. It is the most accessible location of the entire urban area as it has bus and train stations in the centre of town and main roads leading to the centre. There is normally parking provided, although this is normally pay and display. The rent values of buildings in this area are high so it is expensive to run a shop in the CBD. This means that the CBD has Department stores like John Lewis and Marks and Spencer, chain shops like Next, coffee shops like Costa and the main branches of banks as these are the only business that can afford it. Because there is a range of shops and services this is the main retailing area for the urban area but it is facing increasing competition from the internet and from out of town (rural urban fringe) stores. Page 11

13 Inner city: area around the CBD This is an area that has undergone of big change. It was usually built before 1918 in UK and is mostly Victorian terraced houses built during the industrial revolution for the workers. There is lots of housing in a small area, known as high density housing. There is mixed land use in other words there is older factories and terraced housing together this is because during the industrial revolution people didn t own cars and they had their work and housing close together during the industrial. The road pattern is grid like with small narrow streets, a throwback from the Victorian era when the houses were built. Inner city areas often have social problems linked with decline, deprivation (poverty) and a concentration of poor people. This is made worse by a lack of basic amenities (like schools and doctors surgeries) and overcrowding which leads to higher levels of illness/disease and therefore people who live in these areas have lower life expectancy. There are often higher crime rates in the inner city; this could be because due to the deprivation (poverty) in this area. This means that some people call the inner city the twilight zone as it has gone into decline, and people start to move out of these areas if they can. Recently some of these areas been redeveloped, a process called gentrification (where buildings are done up and richer people move into the area) these terraced houses have become very popular with the young professional people because they are affordable first homes. Some inner city areas were demolished in the 1960s and 1970s and replaced by high rise blocks of flats these have not been very successful and have led to severe social problems. A good example of this is Park Hill in Sheffield which we learnt about in lessons and there is some information about Park Hill later on. Page 12

14 Suburbs Found near the outskirts of the city the suburbs are mostly housing (also called residential). Suburbs were able to grow as transport improved because people were able to travel to work in the CBD or the inner city using buses or cars. Today people who live in suburban areas commute as public transport or travelling by car is available to most people. Many of the suburbs were built after 1945, as you get towards the edge of the city the houses get newer and the housing quality increases as you move out from the city with middle (3 bed semi-detached with garden) to high class housing (4 bed detached, double garage; gardens). There is generally no industry and the people who live in this area have access to out-of-town retail centres. These are areas of growth as people want to live on the edge of the town as it is pleasant to live and they can commute into centre for work. Rural-urban fringe: edge of city where town meets countryside. These are found right on the edge of the city and tend to be full of retail parks, industrial estates with factories and warehouses and recreational areas including golf courses and football grounds Sixfields in Northampton is a good example and Phoenix Parkway. There is pressure for additional development here but there are often strong planning restrictions because of trying to prevent urban sprawl. 7. Which of the areas do you / would you like to live in? Why? 8. What issues are there with each of the areas? What causes these? Can you think of any solutions to each of these issues? p.27, p.28, Page 13

15 Other Strategies to Cope with Urban Sprawl Urban sprawl is the uncontrolled growth of urban areas and this can cause a big problem as a town or city spreads out. If it is poorly planned then it can cause traffic congestion or poor quality housing with poor access to services. Some ways to prevent urban sprawl are: Building Green belts : these are areas of mainly open countryside and small settlements surrounding urban areas. They are protected from development and the number and type of buildings that can be erected is restricted. Planning permission is not normally given to developers. They stop the outward growth of city and prevent towns and cities merging together to form a continuous urban area. They protect the open nature of the countryside and preserve the land for farming and to provide access for recreation like golf courses. Using brownfield sites: This is using areas that have been previously used for things like industry for new redevelopment rather than developing out-of-town greenfield (new) sites. There s more information about brownfield sites later on. Inner-city redevelopment: This involves the modernising of old properties so that people carry on living there and reducing the need for new estates around the city. What issues are there facing housing in MDCs? The need to try and meet the increased housing needs of the population in different parts of the city. The Inner city problems are talked about later on in this guide but below are the increased need for houses, and the increased need for houses in the CBD. Increased Need for Houses The number of households is expected to increase by about 223,000 per year between now and 2026 with a target for 60% of these new houses to be built on brownfield sites (areas that have been built on before) and the rest having to go on Greenfield sites (areas that have not been built on, usually on the edge of the city at the rural-urban fringe). The advantages of using both brownfield and greenfield sites are shown in a table on the next page. There are a number of reasons for an increased demand for housing: Page 14

16 The population of the UK has increased by 7% since 1971, and this likely to lead to population of 52.5 million in England alone by More people now live alone - about 7 million people. 70% of the increased demand is from single households, due to people wanting to live away from parents and become independent an increased number of people getting divorced and people living longer. (1/3rd of single person households are over 65). Advantages of using brownfield sites Easier to get planning permission Uses up derelict land Utilities eg water/electricity/roads already in place Near to facilities in town centres Cuts down on commuting Advantages of using Greenfield sites Don t need clearing, so can be cheaper Cheaper land prices More space for gardens Pleasant countryside Can plan from scratch; no restrictions on layout Providing housing in CBDs Traditionally very few people have lived in the CBD because of the high land values there. However recently there been a change in an effort to revitalise (improve) CBDs and turn them into 24/7 city centres with housing and services rather than areas just used during the day. Housing has been provided in the CBD though: a) Clearing old buildings and using the site to build new mixed use high rise blocks like St Paul s Place, Sheffield where the ground floor: bars, cafes and restaurants, the next floor is offices and the top floors are apartments designed for young professionals who want to be in the heart of the city. There are associated facilities here too like gyms. The car park for this building is known as the Cheese Grater and has won awards for design. These tend to be expensive and designed for affluent (richer) young professionals The following schemes tend to be a cheaper option b) Using the top floors of existing shops as flats like above some of the older shops in Corby town centre. c) Converting old traditional buildings into apartments, this has happened in and around Kettering town centre. d) New purpose built residential blocks built on brownfield sites you get lots of these in and around Northampton. Page 15

17 e) In university cities, student accommodation is provided in old converted buildings and new blocks built on brownfield sites - Cambridge is a very good example. p.22, p.29, What issues are there facing the Inner City in MDCs? Inner cities have suffered from many problems, in the beginning they suffered from problems with pollution from nearby industries, and terraced housing that was closely packed in together. The quality of these houses quickly deteriorated and the area became known as a slum area. This was made worse by the closing down and movement of industry out of the inner city to the rural urban fringe, and then more recently abroad. Since then a number of government schemes have tried (and sometimes failed) to improve the inner city often by improving housing, employment, amenities and the environment. In the 1960 and 1970s the plan was to knock down terraced, slum housing and replace it with high rise tower blocks. This was not a success. In Manchester blocks like the Hyde Park flats were built but the build quality was poor and they suffered from damp and were very noisy. In Park Hill in Sheffield they were noisy, full of damp and over time the council moved residents here, who were difficult to place anywhere else and as a result more crime and anti-social behaviour happened. In both locations the tower blocks were unsuitable for young families, there were issues like gangs, intimidation and the environment became damaged very quickly. Page 16

18 Strategy 1: Urban Development Corporations (UDCs): In the 1980s onwards the idea was to set up UDCs using money from the government and tax payer to attract private investment from business to help develop the area. One famous project was to redevelop the old London Docklands area which had gone into very severe decline The London Docklands Development Corporation was born, but was very expensive: 1.86 billion public money was spent along with 7.7 billion of private money. The investment led to developments very large scale and expensive developments such as Canary Wharf, the O2 arena, and improvements to the transport system like the eastward extension of the Jubilee line with 144km of new and improved roads. The land became available through the selling off of 431 hectares of land and reclaiming derelict (unused) land hectares of derelict land was reclaimed so that improvements through building could be made. All in all 24,046 new homes built, an extra 2,700 businesses are now trading, 85,000 people are now working and services like education and health centres have all been improved with funding for up to 11 new primary schools, 2 secondary and 9 vocational centres, redevelopment of 6 health centres and contribution to 5 new ones. Overall the area has completely changed from a deprived and run down area where people were poor and unemployed to become a major commercial centre and a very desirable place to live with the conversion of warehouses into loft apartments. There is a problem with the original residents feeling side lined and out priced by the newcomers. Page 17

19 Strategy 2: City Challenge Partnership The City Challenge Partnership was a big initiative in the 1990s designed to try and improve the inner city. It takes a different approach to regeneration as local authorities (councils), private companies (businesses) and the local community worked together from the start. Our example is Hulme, an inner city area in Manchester. The focus was to improve the housing that had been built in 1960s to replace the old slum terraced housing, but had actually just caused segregation problems. The high rise blocks were poorly built, damp and people did not feel safe. The large areas between each of the curved crescents, designed to be like playing fields for people to meet and use were instead used for joyriders, abandoned cars and as a meeting place for gangs. 37.5million was spent demolishing the curved crescents, although some older buildings were kept to keep some of the heritage of the area. The replacement housing was varied so it would suit families, young single people, couples and old people with a variety of friendly, welcoming architecture and different building styles and materials to attract new people to the area, while remaining sustainable by conserving water and being energy efficient (and therefore keeping bills down too) Locals were involved from the beginning and wanted an improvement in the environment, community facilities and shopping provision. As a result an old church hall was rebuilt to provide facilities for dance and music lessons and shows, numbers of well equipped play and sporting facilities were built along with a number of local primary schools. Finally the high street was re-instated, providing a local shopping hub for the community. Page 18

20 Strategy 3: Sustainable communities New Islington Millennium Village This strategy is a way of improving the inner city AND a way in which sustainable settlements are being developed. SO you could use it in two sections..worth remembering that. Construction of the New Islington Millennium Village began in 2003 in an area previously called the Cardroom estate, a run-down area with poor slum housing and high crime, closed down industry and derelict empty buildings. The aim of the scheme was to allow people to live in an area where there is housing of an appropriate standard to offer a reasonable quality of life, with access to a job, education and health care within a sustainable community setting. The locally community association worked closely with the architects, the housing association (who would rent out the housing), the city council and the company in charge of the regeneration; Urban Splash (remember them?!), As part of the regeneration more than 1000 new houses or apartments were built many private secured gardens; while the refurbishment of the derelict Ancoats hospital and Stubbs Mill into apartments providing nearly 1000 more apartments. New office space, workshops and shops were built to provide areas for employment alongside new parks and gardens with 300 new trees and 2 garden islands with an orchard and beach, and new play areas with climbing rocks. Visitors to the area are encouraged to the area by 3000 metres of new canal side for walks, 50 moorings for narrow boats and canal side facilities including 2 pubs, 2 restaurants; 200 on-street and 1200 underground car parking spaces; and a metrolink stop in 5 minutes walking distance Community facilities were improved with the building of a health centre with 8 GPs, a new primary school, a number of football pitches and crèche. Underlying all of this is the idea of resources being used sustainably the area is clearly a brownfield site, so urban sprawl is being reduced, while the developments have all improved the social sustainability side the environmental side of sustainability is looked after by boreholes being drilled into the ground to provide 25 litres a second of naturally filtered water; recycling collection points have been built around the area to encourage increased recycling; and wind and solar panels have been used extensively throughout. Page 19

21 9) How does greenbelt work? Explain in no more than 50 words what the greenbelt is, how it works and how it stops urban sprawl. 10) Do you think it s a good idea or not? Why so? Do some research about the greenbelt it is increasingly under threat but from what? Why do you think there might be pressure to build on the green belt? 11) What is a greenfield site? What is a brownfield site? Write down the definitions of both giving benefits and drawbacks to both types of scheme. 12) Which type of site do you think is the best type of site to build on? Greenfield or brownfield? Why? Explain your choice in a paragraph. 13) For one of the strategies to improve housing in the inner city (1 the Urban Development Corporation in London Docklands, 2 The City Challenge Partnership in Hulme, Manchester or 3 Sustainable Communities in New Islington Millennium Village, Manchester) produce a poster that advertises all the improvements and new developments that have been built in the area and the problems they have tried to solve. 14) What problems have each of the strategies to improve housing in the inner city tried to solve? How? What problems have they created? Draw your own version of the table below and complete. I ve done a problem that the Docklands development tried to address for you but there are more! Scheme / Strategy Urban Development Corporations City Challenge Partnership Sustainable Communities Problem in the area Lots of derelict buildings / lack of housing How the Scheme strategy has tried to solve the problem Turn the empty ship docks and warehouses into apartments Problems it has caused itself. Housing prices have gone up so much that locals to the area have now been priced out of the area. 15) You might want to do activity 13 again for the other two case studies / strategies..just saying. 16) Take a non-geographer (non-believer) and tell them all about Sheffield. Tell them what has happened in Park Hill and why, tell them how it has changed twice since the 1960s and be passionate about the detail! Tell them about the CBD and St Stephen s place tell them about the improvements there until they walk away from you calling you a bizarre geography person or you could draw an A4 page spider diagram, divided into two. Up to you. p.17, p.22 (also good for CBD housing), p.45 Page 20

22 What traffic issues are there facing urban areas in MDCs? Traffic jams, or congestion as they are called in geography, are a problem the world over and not just in MDCs. In 2015 in the UK alone there is 36.5m registered road vehicles, with billion miles a year travelled by vehicles, increasingly roughly 3% a year and the majority of this growth being from city to another (because of trade or employment) it is no surprise that average speeds have reduced (gotten less) too. The average morning rush hour (8am 10am) speed on A roads is 23.4mph, while in London the average is just 15mph. Why should I care? Shame on you for even asking such a question but apart from the fact you need to, it could be on your exam congestion causes a problem for cities because: It causes increased journey times It leads to an increase in air pollution, which in turn may impact on the number of breathing conditions like asthma and Because of the air pollution it can cause damage to buildings, like historic limestone buildings for example. It can put people off visiting and companies investing into the CBD which in turn may contribute to the decline of the CBD (more on that in the next section). So what can be done about it? There are a number of different solutions and AQA could ask you about these plus the benefits and drawbacks that these solutions bring. 17) Using the next few pages complete a large table (maybe A3 size) like the one below you could revise from this lots later on. Scheme How it works Advantages Disadvantages Example 18) Choose the scheme that you think is the most effective explain why you think this is, and how it works. Describe the benefits it brings for the environment, the CBD, for local residents and for drivers / motorists. Page 21

23 Park and Ride Park and rides are schemes which encourage people to park up on the outside of the city, and then provide a cheap bus fare into the city centre itself. For example in Norwich you ll pay 2 to park, and then 1.50 for a return trip, while in Cambridge you ll pay nothing to park and about 1.50 for a return trip. They work by providing large car parks on the rural urban fringe near to main roads going into the city, and are able to catch people as they drive into the city. If they are successful they can reduce the number of cars in the city, and speed up people s commute (drive) into the city, especially if there are bus lanes (see later on), and reduce air pollution as there are less cars in the city. However some people believe they contribute to urban sprawl, can encourage development at the rural-urban fringe and could be not used if placed incorrectly. Pedestrianisation These schemes work by stopping all traffic in certain parts of the CBD only, and make it much safer for pedestrians to walk, shop and work in the CBD. Because of this it often encourages more people to visit and shop, for example Corby and Kettering experienced an increased number of shoppers when they pedestrianised part of their shopping areas but there are some problems with this type of scheme. For example local retailers may be unhappy as they lost passing trade, and by taking drivable roads away it reduces the amount of parking available close to their shops so less people may visit here. Nearby surrounding areas may also experience a higher increase in traffic as vehicles are diverted around the road now pedestrianised and increase congestion here instead. Congestion Charging This is a charge set out by the City of London for passing through a central zone of London where traffic is a problem. Motorists have to pay (currently) a day, or face a penalty notice (fine) if they do not, congestion charge cameras are found at each road entrance into and out of the congestion charge zone to catch people who have not paid the charge. Local people are entitled to a discount, and environmentally sustainable vehicles can go through the congestion charge for free. Page 22

24 By increasing this charge it has successfully reduced the traffic within the congestion charge zone, but there is an argument to say it prices poor motorists out of driving through London, and that all it has done is pushed the problem somewhere else, namely outside the congestion charge zone. There s some evidence to this as the congestion charge zone was increased between 2007 and 2011 as other areas of London suffered from higher levels of traffic. Rising Bollards Are a scheme used lots of in the CBD of Cambridge, where only certain traffic like emergency vehicles, buses and taxis are let through onto certain roads. The bollards drop when these vehicles approach and a transmitter in the car alerts the bollards to drop and let the vehicles through they then rise directly after. They can be dropped for long periods of time, like weekends and evenings when traffic is traditionally less. The amount of traffic is reduced on these roads, it is made safer for people, cyclists and essential traffic is allowed through (and their journey times are made shorter potentially encouraging more people to cycle or use buses). They are expensive to put in place though, and do require the road to be closed during this time and can be subject to technical problems which can cause congestion when they fail. Sometimes people try and drive behind a vehicle to get through the bollards, and are then caught when these rise up. I call these people idiots. Bus lanes and / or Cycle Lanes Are regularly used in urban areas around the UK they work by dedicating space for certain road users only and speeding up their journey time, therefore encouraging people to take alternative routes of transport and get out of their cars. In the case of cyclists it also makes their journey much safer as it keeps them away other road users. There are some problems however it does need to be managed and controlled normally with bus lane cameras otherwise anyone could drive in them, and the use of space for buses and cyclists can make congestion worse for cars as they have less lanes to use on their drive in. Some would argue though that this is the point of them! Page 23

25 Other schemes You could talk about are one way streets; these keep the traffic moving and offer some parking while reducing the slowing of traffic searching for parking spaces or trying to pass each other in narrow streets; multi-storey car parks; which provide more parking spaces in the CBD and reduce the amount of on road parking needed therefore offering the room for more lanes and faster travel; higher car parking charges; which may put off people parking and travelling into the CBD; and traffic calming measures; which slow traffic down, make the area safer and encourage more people to use public transport than sit in a slow moving car. Each of these have problems of course you should by now be able to think of some of these! p.21, p.42, p.43, p.44 What issues are there facing CBDs in MDCs? Town centres or CBDs are funny old things. They are traditionally the oldest, most used part of the city, but they are also the richest and constantly changing and being renewed. Since the late 1990s / early 2000s the CBD have struggled with high rent costs and because of out of town shopping centres and from the increased number of people buying goods over the internet. Out of town shopping centres like Merry Hill in Dudley in the West Midlands, Meadowhall on the outskirts of Sheffield, the Trafford Centre on the outskirts of Manchester (shown above) and the Metro Centre on the outskirts of Newcastle have all stolen trade away from the CBD. Out of town shopping centres like these all offer bigger shops, more choice of products, different types of shops and services (like restaurants), with free parking, closer to main roads (faster and Page 24

26 easier to get to) and open for longer hours (so are more accessible). Out of town retail parks (think Phoenix Parkway, Asda, Corby!) offer similar competition while more and more people buying products off of the internet all mean that 1 in 5 shops in CBDs now stand empty and unused. How can the CBD fight back? There are a number of ways in which the CBD can try and recover most of these are shown below. Encouraging Independent Businesses Places like Bedford have tried to encourage local, independent businesses to open up in closed down units with the view to getting unique shops that will attract more visitors into the town centre from miles around. Independent businesses also tend to spend their money with other local businesses and so this brings a positive multiplier effect in other words it helps other local businesses in the area too. Rebrand / Market the area Places like Northampton have started to rebrand areas of their town to encourage more people to visit the area surrounding the two theatres has been rebranded into the Cultural Quarter with an increased number of art galleries, museums and posh restaurants opening up. All of which have increased the number of visitors to a previously run down area of the town. Develop Destination Shopping Centres In Birmingham they have tried to encourage people back into the CBD by creating a large, destination shopping centre in other words a shopping centre that would attract a large number of people from a wide area. In Birmingham they redeveloped the Bullring shopping centre, originally built in the 1960s it was run down, and an ugly concrete box like building surrounded by fast, busy roads. Following extensive redevelopment of the CBD in Birmingham in 2003 the new Bullring shopping centre opened home to 140 stores, and attracting 276,000 in the first week and over 36.5 million in the first year alone it is one of the three busiest shopping centres in the UK. Page 25

27 Hold Regular / One off Events Regular events like farmers markets, car shows, food festivals and summer beaches and winter ice rinks can all encourage more visitors to CBDs for a unique and different experience. Other local businesses all benefit from the increased number of visitors. Encouraging Housing in the CBD One final way to improve the CBD is to increase or encourage the number of houses or apartments in the CBD like in St. Stephen s place in Sheffield (talked about earlier!) The idea behind this is by having more people in the CBD they use more services, shops and restaurants and this keeps the area alive with money, investment and people. 19) In a paragraph explain what the challenges facing CBDs are how they are caused and the impacts that they will have. 20) Find out about the Cultural Quarter of Northampton and what has been done there to encourage people to visit, the attractions that are there and the improvements that the area has undergone. 21) Choose one of the strategies to improve the CBD on the page above and explain what was done, how the area was improved and the outcomes from it. You may need to do some extra research for this. p.10, p.11, p.40, p.41 Page 26

28 What issues are there facing the segregation of cultures in MDCs? One problem urban areas in MDCs face is the segregation (separation) of different cultures or ethnicities (a social group that has common national or cultural traditions). Since 2001 places like Bradford, Oldham and Luton have experienced conflict between youths of different ethnic groupings, and between them and the police and some people are increasingly worried about it. Some reasons why groups of people from similar cultural backgrounds live together is because of: - Support from others this is particularly important for new migrants to the area who know nobody they can get support in terms of learning a new language, friendship and help getting to know the local area. - A familiar culture this might make new migrants to the area feel more at home if they are surrounded by people who speak the same language as them, and have similar interests in film and music. - Specialist facilities People from similar cultures may live close to each other in order to access similar, specialist facilities like religious temples or country based food shops. - Greater voice in numbers - This is more of a political reason but the idea is that by living with people of a similar cultural background to you, your views are more likely to be heard, as there is a greater number of people with similar views. This could be important in local council decisions about the local areas. - Economic / employment factors New migrants may live in similar areas because they could be more likely to get a job if they know someone, or they may know someone who has a house where the rent is cheap. This is particularly important for people who are brand new to a country. There have been many schemes designed to bring the community together, regardless of their ethnicity or culture. For example the Luton in Harmony project has tried to bring together different ethnic groupings to celebrate the difference and diversity of the town through music, art and drama. Other schemes that have helped to bring people together in urban areas include: Page 27

29 1. Providing new facilities like community centres or schools that are not cultural biased or based. 2. Producing information in a variety of languages 3. Involving all different cultures in community decisions 4. Provide interpreters in local services e.g. hospitals and schools 5. Provide suitable services for all cultures e.g. same sex doctors 6. Provide training to teach ethnic groups English and new skills 22) What is segregation? Why is it a problem? 23) Why do people of similar cultural or ethnic groupings tend to live together? Can you explain why? 24) Choose two of the schemes above and explain how they would help integrate different cultural groups in an area. P.13, p.14, p.15, p.16, p.38, p.39, What issues are there facing countries in LDCs because of rapid urban growth? The urban population in LDCs has grown rapidly within the last years and shows no sign of slowing down. This is for two main reasons firstly natural population growth there are more babies being born in developed countries because of a lack of contraception, and this is more in urban areas anyway where there are traditionally more younger people and therefore more people of child producing age. Secondly there is a large amount of rural urban migration with lots of people moving from the countryside to towns and cities in search of better jobs, more services and a better quality of life. You should remember that these are all called pull factors and are covered in depth earlier in this revision guide. Page 28

30 Because of this large rural urban migration and urban areas have experienced massive, quick growth and in LDCs this has meant the growth of slum settlements (also known as informal settlements, shanty towns, squatter settlements and in Brazil as favelas). These massive slums house the poorest and newest people to the city, and are often found on the outskirts of the city, on marginal land. This is land that is too polluted, too hilly or too easily flooded for housing to be built him under normal circumstances. For us there are plenty of examples of slum settlements we have looked at Rocina on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Dharavi on the outskirts of Mumbai in India but the one we looked at in most detail was Kibera, on the outskirts of Nairobi in Kenya shown in red on the map to the right. Kibera is the largest slum in Kenya and is home to between 800,000 and 1 million people in an area the size of around 255 football pitches meaning most people get on average about 1 metre of floor space per person. 90% of the people who live here have no right to the land or their homes and could be evicted at any moment. Because there was no preparation for these houses before they were built there is no sanitation, no piped water, no road access and no legal electricity supply and the houses are built from any available material like cardboard and corrugated iron. The paths between houses are irregular, narrow and often have ditches running down the middle that have sewage in, contributing to the large numbers of disease that are common in Kibera. Diseases like typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, measles and HIV / AIDS along with diarrhoea from drinking dirty water, mean that 1 in 5 children die before their fifth birthday and there are an estimated 100,000 orphans in Kibera, with an adult life expectancy of around 42. Clean water is difficult to access, one standing pipe may provide 40 houses, each with between 8 12 people living in them, and although there are private companies that provide hosepipes they then charge double than he standard rate for water meaning many people get their water from local rivers which are polluted with human and industrial waste. Page 29

31 Toilets are shared by anything up to 2000 people, and people work in poorly paid, informal sector jobs, selling food on the street, stolen goods or in prostitution. Children do often not go to school as they are contributing to the income of the household. There is little or no public transport here and no street lighting meaning that at night in particular crime is a significant problem especially as police are reluctant to enter the slums. 25) Why do LDCs have a greater problem with urban growth? What are these problems? How are they caused? 26) Using the information above highlight all the problems that there are/ with living in Kibera. 27) Using the highlighted problems expand these further to talk about the future problems that these will create for example: children not going to school because they are working to make money for the house lack of qualified people to be the next generation of teachers or doctors. 28) Using the information above write a short diary extract about the life of someone living in Kibera and the problems that they have to overcome. p.23, p.31, p.32, p.46, p.47, What can be done to improve these problems? There are three types of schemes that you need to know about to improve shanty towns. Assisted Self Help Schemes This is where the council gives money and / or materials and the local community does the improvement work to the local area. The scheme also works by giving people legal ownership of the land they live on and encouraging people to work together to improve the area, for example to collect and remove the rubbish from the area, to provide Page 30

32 standpipes for a clean water supply, and to provide the workforce for bigger schemes like the provision of sanitation. There are some problems with this scheme though as the improvements are only as fast as local people can do it, and in some instances there has been money from the government which has never been used on improving the local area. Site and Service Schemes This is where an area of land is identified for housing to be built. Infrastructure is laid down in advance so water, sanitation and electricity are all supplied to marked plots. From here the people who live there can build their homes using whatever materials they can afford. Some problems with this type of scheme is that progress can be painfully slow and relies on people making improvements when they can afford them. Local Authority Schemes These are big, large scale improvements when entire shanty towns are knocked down and either massive improvements are made or entire new towns are built elsewhere. There do cost a lot of money however, so examples are few and far between Dharavi in India is a good example. But what happens to the people living in the area while the area is being improved? 28) Explain how each of the schemes to improve squatter settlements works and the improvements that it brings. 29) Spend some time researching about the improvements in Dharavi what is being planned? What benefits will it bring? p.18, p.32, p.33 Page 31

33 What problems are there with waste, air and water pollution? In LDCs pollution is a massive problem in part because there isn t the infrastructure to deal with waste, there isn t strong environmental laws and some multi-national companies move to poorer countries with the idea of being able to treat the environment less well than they would in MDCs. Strange but true because companies can make more profit by not disposing of their waste sustainably. For example in Indonesia the Citarum river, once the world s most polluted river, has been polluted for many years by textile factories which have released harmful chemicals like lead, arsenic and mercury into the water. The effect has been massive fish float to the surface having been poisoned by the water, and local fisherman have been forced out of business and instead sift through the rubbish on the river looking for plastic and metal waste to sell. Air pollution is a significant problem in parts of China where the amount of pollution has reached hazardous levels and causes schools to close, businesses to shut and cars to be stopped or to be arrested because of it. The pollution in parts of Beijing has gotten so bad that the rate of lung disease and asthma attacks has meant that the Beijing city government have declared recent pollution incidents as states of emergency. p.7, p.8, p.23, p.36 What can be done to improve this? The following page shows the problems and solutions that can be taken regarding waste disposal, air pollution and water pollution and is taken from an old revision guide. You should read this information carefully and complete the activities that follow. Page 32

34 Effects and management of air and water pollution. Causes of pollution: Increased car ownership Industrialisation Use of fossil fuels Lack of pollution controls LDCS, due to low level of development often do not have the steps in place to control pollution. They lack the infrastructure to deal with it (eg proper waste management), do not have laws and penalties in place to prevent pollution. Strategies to reduce pollution and problems of waste: Pollution controls eg. clear guidance on what level of emissions allowed. Fines if greater. Congestion charging Rotation of cars allowed: odd number/even number days Encourage people to walk and cycle, so reduce the amount of cars going into town centres. Taller chimneys so that industrial fumes go higher into atmosphere Fitting filters into chimneys to trap some of pollution and reduce the amount of gases going into atmosphere. Clean Air acts Ensure can police the laws. Carbon tax Use of new technologies which reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Examples of reducing the problems Sao Paulo Brazil 2 large waste incinerators capable of burning 7,500 tonnes of waste a day. Waste used to go into landfill sites. The incinerators do not cope with the problem and there are concerns about air pollution from them. Shanghai China effective solid waste disposal unit has been installed in most households waste is then used as a fertilizer. Cairo the Zabbeden are a group of people who are employed to collect and recycle waste. Bangalore, India e-waste form the hi tech industries is supposed to be covered by laws but they are not enforced. p.9, p.20, p.21, p.24 Page 33

35 30) Using the information above create a spider diagram using two different colour pens. Use one to talk about the problems that LDCs have with waste disposal, air pollution and water pollution. Use another colour to talk about potential solutions. 31) Using the information below, and extra information that you research yourself find out about the Bhopal industrial accident. What happened? Who was at fault? How did it affect the people of Bhopal immediately? What about long term? What happens when industrialisation goes wrong? One aspect that you need to know according to AQA is some of the problems that happen with rapid industrialisation. We ve already covered this a little when we talked about why LDCs suffer from problems with pollution. Our example that we looked at was the Bhopal chemical plant disaster in December This happened when a chemical factory, making an agricultural pesticide (a chemical that kills pests on farms, to help crops to grow more), was operating below the safety standards of the same factory but in the USA. Upkeep and maintenance of the plant in India didn t happen and when the chemical got too hot the gas was released into the area killing 3,787 people immediately (including the toddler to the left in a picture that shocked the world), injuring over 550,000 people and killing over a further 16,000 more over the years that followed. What is a sustainable city? Sustainability is all about development or improvement that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future generation. It can be environmental (looking after resources and landscapes), social (looking after people, their lives and their history) or economic (looking after money and making sure you don t spend all of it at once and leave future generations with huge debt). Page 34

36 Sustainable cities focus on: Environmental Sustainability Looking after and preserving the natural and historic environment - protecting areas of green space, historic buildings and natural waterways. Using brownfield sites to prevent urban sprawl and the loss of green spaces Reducing the amount of waste and safely disposing of it (through ideally recycling or reusing it) Providing adequate open spaces for communities Social Sustainability Involve local people in the decision making processes - so that they feel part of it, are more involved and are likely to take part, back it and therefore make it successful. Provide an efficient public transport system - which helps large numbers of people get around quickly, easily, cheaply and with minimal impact on the environment Provide enough opportunities and a design to stop groups of people from being segregated away from others thereby encouraging more people 32) Look at the ways urban areas can be sustainable above choose three of them and explain how these ideas are sustainable. 33) Using the same three ways as in activity 32 - give a brief explanation how urban areas could do this. For example involve local people in the decision making process by having regular meetings with community groups. This is sustainable because local people have more say in any development projects and are therefore more likely to be involved in any project. How can an area be more sustainable? For this section the easiest and best way to learn any of this is through an example or case study. This is particularly useful as quite often AQA will ask a question with the phrase Using an example meaning they wanted a named (and detailed) example, without it you can t get anything more than a level 1 answer, and therefore a E/ D grade for that particular question. Our first example of a sustainable development is the New Islington Millennium Community up in Manchester. You can read about it (in detail using the information earlier in this revision booklet but you should pay particular attention to what makes it sustainable. Simply (and quickly) New Islington is sustainable because it has involved the local community at every available opportunity, and taken on board their feedback, making Page 35

37 improvements where necessary. It has also cared for, protected, improved and built new open space for residents encouraging residents to be more active and look after their surroundings. New local businesses have been encouraged and local services like healthcare and education have been developed. Finally the new housing developed use naturally filtered water, solar panels, wind turbines and encourage higher rates of recycling. Our best example of a sustainable development is Curitiba in Brazil a city of over 2 million people, and the first in the world to put in place a sustainable urban master plan from the late 1970s by the architect (and then city mayor) Jamie Learner pictured. His plan was for a traffic free city centre with pedestrianised streets (built in 72 hours to stop traders from complaining), open green spaces and well-designed parks with walkways and over 1.5 million trees to stop the development of slum settlements on open spaces and prevent regular river flooding. Businesses who want bigger skyscrapers can build a few extra storeys but only if they either provide money for housing for poorer people, or if they provide open space at the bottom of their skyscraper for the use of all residents of the city. The public housing provided for poorer people is cheap and the city government makes sure that even the most basic of homes has access to basic sanitation and clean water. Sustainability is at the heart of everything the Curitiba city government do from their strict enforcing of environmental laws to prevent pollution from industry, to making sure that environmental education is part of the school curriculum. The main areas were Curitiba is sustainable is through its integrated transport system known as the BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) system. It is cheap and reliable, with a single far covering the entire city meaning lots more people take the bus. There are different types of buses - direct line buses which are speedy bi articulated (bendy) buses which operate on 5 main routes into and out of the city centre; these are particularly fast because they travel in bus lanes on these main routes. There are also inter-district buses which take people from outskirts of the city into the city; feeder minibuses which pick people up from residential areas and drop them off at a bus stop where people can change onto a fast bus, and a radial bus (that travel between the residential areas). The system is clean and efficient so well off people use the buses as well as the poor. Tickets are paid for before getting on the bus as covered bus stops (pictured), which provide jobs for people with little or no education, and wide doors with ramps which allow lots of people to get on very quickly. Page 36

38 By far and away though the most sustainable aspect of Curitiba is its waste management systems. Around 70% of the Curitiba s waste is recycled, and it was the first city in the world to introduce a doorstep recycling scheme in Residents put organic (recyclable) waste out for collection and a rubbish truck collects this up taking it to a central depot. From here it is sorted by hand (again providing a job for those with little or no qualifications, learning difficulties or even new migrants to the city), and then either sold on, reused, recycled, or incinerated. In the poorer areas and slum settlement of Curitiba where it is impossible for rubbish trucks to get to, there has been a green exchange system implemented. Here people exchange rubbish and recyclables for food (grown on the outskirts of the city, and destined for the bin or to rot and be ploughed back into the ground) or bus tickets, and children can even exchange waste for toys or schools supplies. 34) Produce two A4 case study sheets one for New Islington Millennium Community AND one for Curitiba about what has happened there and what makes it sustainable. These will be useful for revision. Trust me. 35) What sustainable elements are there in Corby? How could the sustainability of Corby be improved? 36) On the next page is an example of a sustainable city in London called BedZed it has won awards, but is much smaller compared to Curitiba. Read the information about it, and compare its similarities and differences to Curitiba and Corby. Which do you think is more effective at being sustainable? Why? p.12, p.19, p.25, p.26, p.30, p.48 Page 37

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