Challenges of an urbanising world

Question 1

What are the global trends in developing regions in terms of urban and rural populations?

Answer 1

• have very rapid urbanisation
• urban population increasing
• rural population is decreasing

Question 2

What are the global trends in developed regions in terms of urban and rural populations?

Answer 2

• slow rate of urbanisation as usually developed countries are already quite urbanised
• 80% people in UK live in cities

Question 3

Explain why most of the future growth of cities is likely to be in the developing world. (4 marks)

Answer 3

• Cities in developing countries are growing much faster than cities in developed countries.
• In developing countries, the urban population is growing as of natural increase - the birth rate is higher than the death rate
• There is also RUM (Rural to Urban migration)
• Many people are moving to the cities as agricultural practices are becoming more mechanised and there are fewer jobs, so people move to cities for work.
• Drought or other natural disasters may also force a move.
• Generally, urban areas provide people with better living conditions, such as piped water, electricity and healthcare, and higher wages.

Question 4

The urban population of the world in 2000 was 2.84 billion. by 2005 it had risen to 3.15 billion. What was the % rate of change from 2000 to 2005? Round your answer to the nearest whole number? (1 mark)

Answer 4

11%

((n-o) /o)* 100

Question 5

What is a megacity?

Answer 5

A city with at least 10 million inhabitants

- Megacities are created where economic development is rapid

Question 6

What is a world city?

Answer 6

A city with a dominant role in global processes

Question 7

What is urban primacy?

Answer 7

The most important city in a country, which dominates the rest of the country

Question 8

What is hinterland?

Answer 8

The region around a city

Question 9

What were the top 5 megacities in 2015 (out of 35)?

Answer 9

• Tokyo
• Jakarta
• Delhi
• Manila
• Seoul

Question 10

Which continent is the centre of megacity growth?

Answer 10

Asia

- By 2025, Asia should have at least 28 megacities

Question 11

What are the growth rates of megacities?

Answer 11

• In 1950 there were only two megacities: New York and Tokyo
• By 1985 there were nine
• Megacities in developing and emerging countries are growing very fast
• E.g. Mumbai’s population doubled in size between 1991 and 2013. Growth rates are fuelled by RUM

Question 12

Explain two reasons why urban primacy can become a problem for developing and emerging countries. (4 marks)

Answer 12

• The main problem of excessive urban primacy is that all economic growth is concentrated in the city while the city’s hinterland is deprived of growth.
• A second problem is that political power also becomes focused in the city. Decision making that affects the whole country takes place in the primate city and is skewed toward the city’s needs, not the country’s.

Question 13

In 2015, London had a population of 8.6 million. Calculate the percentage increase required for London to become a megacity. Round your answer up to 1 d.p.

Answer 13

16.3%
percentage increase:
 - difference between 2 values
- divide by original value 
- multiply by 100

Question 14

What are the key factors to why cities grow or decline?

Answer 14

Economic change and migration

Question 15

Rural-urban migration

Answer 15

When people change where they live from rural areas to urban areas

Question 16

International migration

Answer 16

When people move to live in another country

Question 17

Internal migration

Answer 17

When people move from one part of a country to live somewhere else within that same country

Question 18

Natural increase

Answer 18

The difference between the number of births and deaths in a year

Question 19

How do cities grow (or decline)?

Answer 19

2 main ways:

• migration - people move to live in the city, or move away from the city
• natural increase
• these two processes are connected - it is usually young people who migrate to live in cities, and so the birth rate for young people is higher than the death rate for old people

Question 20

What is the main cause of rapid urbanisation in emerging ans developing countries?

Answer 20

Rural-Urban migration

Question 21

Why does economic development create a multiplier effect?

Answer 21

• economic growth means people move to the city
• more people = bigger workforce so more industries
• more industries = more jobs
• more people = more customers
• more people = more houses to be built

Question 22

What are the disadvantages of living in rural areas?

Answer 22

• few opportunities
• poor healthcare
• low pay, difficult work
• low level of education

Question 23

What are the advantages of living in urban areas?

Answer 23

• many more jobs
• better paid
• better education
• better healthcare
• better housing
• modern lifestyle
• many more opportunities

Question 24

Explain two reasons why economic changes can cause a city to decline in population. (4 marks)

Answer 24

• Economic problems can mean that industries shut down. If it is no longer easy to get a job in a city, people will move away.
• City governments rely on taxes from businesses and residents to make the city a pleasant, safe place to live and work. If economic problems mean that tax payments go down, the city starts to become run-down, crime rates rise and more people move away.

Question 25

In 2015 London's population reached 8.6 million - the same size it was in 1939. Suggest one reason why London's population declined after 1939 and one reason why it has grown again. (2 marks)

Answer 25

Reasons for decline: - economic changes due to there being fewer jobs in London (1) (you might have put damage from WW2, but that actually wasn't a major factor). - Heavy industry in London declined, jobs moved out to the suburbs and London's port became less important. Reasons for growth: - economic changes that meant there was a lot more work in London (1). - The main driver of this growth was the boom in London's financial services. - Redevelopment of areas like London's East End (the old dock areas) was important too.

Question 26

Formal employment

Answer 26

Jobs that pay taxes and provide workers with job security and legal protection (e.g. Health and Safety laws). These jobs are hard to get in developing countries.

Question 27

Informal employment

Answer 27

Jobs that are not regulated: informal workers pay no taxes but are not protected by law. These jobs are easy for new arrivals in a city to get.

Question 28

Working conditions

Answer 28

In emerging and developing countries there may be unsafe, stressful or uncomfortable working conditions (e.g. hot, polluted); long working hours without enough breaks; harsh penalties for lateness or absence.

Question 29

What are the urban economies and working conditions of emerging countries like?

Answer 29

- much more manufacturing than in urban economies of most developed countries. - working conditions are tougher than in developed countries.

Question 30

What do economic sectors of developed countries consist of?

Answer 30

- often dominated by services, including tourism

Question 31

State one advantage of informal employment in cities in developing countries. (1 mark)

Answer 31

1 mark each: - new arrivals (migrants) to the city are able able to support themselves - doesn't require skills / education qualifications which means rural migrants are not excluded - informal workers may learn skills that they can later use in formal employment - easy to start - no need for premises, and rents and overheads are low - flexible - if one member of a family has started an informal business, other family members can join

Question 32

Urbanisation

Answer 32

An increase in the number of people living in cities

Question 33

Suburbanisation

Answer 33

The movement of people, industry and jobs from the centre of the city to its outer areas

Question 34

Counter-urbanisation

Answer 34

The movement of people out of the cities into the countryside (developed world process)

Question 35

Regeneration

Answer 35

New investment into old, run-down parts of the city (often inner city areas)

Question 36

What are the theories of city development over time?

Answer 36

1- The CBD is located where the city first developed, where all the major roads join 2- A manufacturing zone develops 3- New migrants live in this inner city zone, where housing is poor but cheap and they are close to their jobs 4- Developing public transport lets richer people live further out, in the pleasant suburbs 5- The city gets too congested for industry, which moves out to cheaper land in the suburbs 6- The inner city areas get poorer 7- As the city expands, commuter journeys from the outer suburbs become very long. Some wealthier residents move back to the inner city and redevelop the old housing