Changes to land and Urban Sprawl

Question 1

Case study

Answer 1

London

Question 2

Urban Sprawl definition

Answer 2

Urban sprawl is a common problem around the world and is the outward spread of a city

Noticeable in areas which have low-density suburbs (e.g. detached houses with large gardens).

Question 3

4 Issues of Urban Sprawl, with London examples.

Answer 3

1. Higher emissions due to car dependency (people have to commute further and increased traffic). Example - Around 50% of outer London households own two or more cars, compared to just 16% in inner London, contributing significantly to higher per capita CO₂ emissions in sprawling suburbs.
2. Lost time due to commuting can lead to lower productivity - The average commute time in London is 74 minutes per day, the longest in the UK. Outer suburb commutes can take longer than 90 mins.
3. Greenfield developments. Loss of rural way of life, character of the countryside and destruction of habitats and wildlife. As of 2022, there was planning by the Local councils in London and the Home Counties to allow building on more than 48,000 acres of Green Belt land.
4. Higher costs for public transport and social facilities (local governments have to spread out their budgets further), which further impacts public services such as health care, fire and policing facilities.

Question 4

Example in London to changes in land use over time - London Docklands

Answer 4

London Docklands

1. Started off as the biggest shipping port in the UK.
   * The London Docklands employed over 100,000 people at its peak in the early/mid 1900’s.
2. CONTAINERISATION causing the spiral of decline.
   * CONTAINERISATION -improvements in global shipping tech that allowed container ships to come into existence. The docklands became obsolete (useless) as the new large container ships could not fit in the port. This caused the Docklands to enter a spiral of decline after mass unemployment when the docks closed in the 1960’s.
3. Government intervening.
   * To address this situation, the government established the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) in 1981 to revitalise the area around the docks by attracting private investment.
4. Growing the local economy.
   * Switch focusing on the tertiary sector (services instead of goods) allowed for redevelopment of brownfield sites. By developing the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) easy transport connections to central London allow for commuters to reach the area.

Question 5

Example in London to changes in land use over time - London Olympic Park

Answer 5

Stratford was mostly Brownfield industrial site facing spiral of decline.

2012 Olympic redevelopment project sought to regenerate the area with top-down redevelopment.

Construction of London stadium, London aquatics centre, London Velodrome and later on Westfield Stratford attracted investors to build new housing.

The redevelopment of the London Olympic Park and its surrounding areas has created over 110,000 new jobs since 2012. By 2025, 40,000 jobs are anticipated to be located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park itself, with an additional 125,000 projected by 2030 in the surrounding boroughs.