4a - Places are influenced by a range of players operating at different scales

Question 1

List the different players involved in driving economic change:

x6

Answer 1

• National Gov
• International Gov
• TNCs
• Local Gov
• Local Community Groups
• NGOs

Question 2

Role of players in driving economic change: International Gov

incl. AO2

Answer 2

• eg EU - influences economic change via grants for infrastructure development
• AO2 - large scale change but cant influence individual countries

Question 3

Role of players in driving economic change:
National Gov

incl. AO2

Answer 3

• has departments and agencies responsibly for strategic planning eg education and training, transport links and environmental management
• AO2 - successful = more funding to create change

Question 4

Role of players in driving economic change: TNCs

incl. AO2

Answer 4

• self employed across all sectors of the economy - aim to generate money and make profit on I
• their arrival/departure bring about change for an area
• affected by gov decisions
• AO2 - impact - can take away and bring opp

Question 5

Role of players in driving economic change: NGOs

incl. AO2

Answer 5

• tend to have a particular focus
• can be small local groups or multinational
• eg national trust - large landowners (focus - eg conservation)
• AO2 - can only create change in a small particular area = not large scale

Question 6

Role of players in driving economic change: Local Government

incl. AO2

Answer 6

• similar national gov responsibilities - planning and implementation on a local scale
• tries to stimulate econ growth, sustain employment and create new jobs, and improve the environment
• responsibility for what is/isn’t allowed through the planning process (what can be built)
• local gov set up initiatives for local transport, housing exc.
• AO2 - less successful as they can be overruled by larger gov

Question 7

Role of players in driving economic change: Local Community Groups

incl. AO2

Answer 7

• concerned about their immediate area
• vested interest in the area (where they live) - any change matters
• form pressure groups or conduct local surveys
• AO2 - only small scale influence - little change

Question 8

EXAMPLE: Detroit

What was the place like before change? - think of this in socioeconomic, demographic, cultural, environmental

Answer 8

• 4th biggest city in the USA
• was primarily white pop
• African pop doubled from 1910-1930 (thriving)
• vibrant wealthy city - $3 per h
• Lots of TNCs - Car manufacturers (Ford, Lincoln, Chrysler)
• job opp at high pay - ford alone employed 90k
• lots of econ active factory workers - low skilled middle/working class jobs
• development of factories - increased pollution

Question 9

EXAMPLE: Detroit

What was the change and who was involved?

Answer 9

• SEC - secondary sector (with lots of job opp and high pay) to a large loss of jobs in the secondary sector (150,000 jobs lost)

Supply:

The car manufacturers:
- decided to move factories out of the city to remove unionised labour in central Detroit = unemployment in centre - esp in black community
- car manufacturers I in automation - less labour required
- 3 big companies in Detroit failed to modernise and adapt to the changing car market = sales fell and less production - manufacturing inefficiently
- 1980 - unemployment in black suburbs was 45%
- poor labour relations - treated workers badly

Oil Crisis:
- 1970s = increased petrol prices, drivers look for more fuel efficient models so ford, GM and Chrysler lost sales

Globalisation and TNCs:
- competition from Japanese car producers eg toyota = took sales away. There cars were smaller and more fuel efficient and had effective production, Toyota shifted production to USA - located in low wage south rather than Detroit

City Government:
- made bad decisions and poor investments
- borrowed too much money = bankrupt city
- only focused on car industry - overreliance

Demand:

Customers:
- when D fell, companies had to move elsewhere
- buying competitors cars eg Japanese

Question 10

EXAMPLE: Detroit

What impacts did it have on the place and people? - think of this in socioeconomic, demographic, cultural, environmental

Answer 10

• pop decreased to less then 1m
• debt of $20bn
• Built environment - derelict, smashed, broken and urban deprivation
• social and cultural tensions - rioting
• crime rates increased - drug use, 600 people were shot to death each year, murder capital
• ‘white flight’ - movement of white pop to the suburbs (aftermath of riots) = divided demographic
• only 18% adults had a collage degree = after loss of car industries they couldnt get new jobs - structural unemployment