Changing Cities

Question 1

What is the rate of urbanisation?

Answer 1

The speed at which settlements are built.

Question 2

What is the degree of urbanisation?

Answer 2

The amount of built up area that has developed in a region.

Question 3

What is site?

Answer 3

The land that the settlement is built on.

Question 4

What is situation?

Answer 4

Where the settlement is compared to physical and human features around it.

Question 5

What is the CBD?

Answer 5

The centre of the city;it contains the most important shops, businesses and entertainment facilities.

Question 6

Suburbanisation?

Answer 6

The growth of a town or city into the surrounding countryside.

Question 7

Counter-urbanisation?

Answer 7

The movement of people from cities to countryside areas.

Question 8

Decentralisation?

Answer 8

the process of spreading power or people away from the central authority.

Question 9

What are the effects of urbanisation?

Answer 9

• in developing countries shanty towns begin to develop
• air, noise and water pollution all increase
• the gap between the rich and poor widens (more in emerging and developing countries)
• investment increases, leading to greater economic opportunities

Question 10

Effects of urbanisation in developing countries?

Answer 10

• unemployment: in Cairo there are such few jobs that people pick up litter and sell it. this means people have to do horrible things to make a living
• education: there aren’t enough places in schools in some urban areas, leading to overcrowding, resources won’t be as developed
• shanty towns: lack of housing and higher rent is causing people to build on wasteland
• agriculture: people who are left in the countryside will soon be unable to work therefore there will be a drop in food supplies

Question 11

Effects of urbanisation on developed countries?

Answer 11

• overcrowded cities: unable to cope with the amount of people who want to live there
• housing: cost of housing increases and not enough housing, number of people living increases
• transport: cannot cope with the amount of people, overcrowding/ long waiting times and journeys
• education: long waiting lists for children who wish to join schools

Question 12

CBD of Birmingham?

Answer 12

• main hub of the city
• offices, shops, theatres, hotels
• redevelopment introduced the bull ring shopping centre in Birmingham

Question 13

Describe inner city in Birmingham

Answer 13

-redeveloped in the 1970s, tightly packed terrace houses and blocks of flats

Question 14

Describe suburbs in Birmingham

Answer 14

• redeveloped in the 1970s

- lower building density and semi detached housing

Question 15

Describe the rural-urban fringe in Birmingham

Answer 15

• fewer larger more recently built detached housing

- out of town shopping centres and industrial units are sited there.

Question 16

Describe Birmingham’s site?

Answer 16

• located on a plateau in a prime part of the midlands region
• began as a small village on a dry point site
• south facing sandstone ridge

Question 17

Describe Birmingham’s connectivity

Answer 17

• leading cities for parks (covers 3500 hectares)

- 2010 ranked for the 15th most sutainable city in the uk

Question 18

Describe Birmingham’s situation?

Answer 18

• located centrally in England
• excellent road links to the north and south
• railways, canals etc.

Question 19

Describe Birmingham’s culture?

Answer 19

• multicultural city wiht an estimated 22% of the population born outside the uk
• in a 2011 census, 13.5% identified themselves as Pakistani and 6% Indian

Question 20

Process of change in Birmingham

Answer 20

• urbanisation: influenced by manufacturing e.g. jewellery. small housing was built for workers coming in from the countryside
• suburbanisation: 1920s, rising population meant building new housing on outskirts of the city, they new estates mainly semi detached
• counterurbanistaion: five new comprehensive development areas built in inner city; people were forced out of these areas to places like redditch
• reurbanisation: more people want to work in the centre again, close to work/amenities. modernisation of flats and building of new apartments near canals

Question 21

Give reasons international migration?

Answer 21

• people moving in currently who have fled conflict in countries such as Syria
• people moving in in the past in response to employee shortages, encouraged by the UK government to fill in key job posts

Question 22

Give reasons for national migration?

Answer 22

• people moving out to retirment destinations in the south, such as bournemouth
• people moving in because increased investment in birmingham’s cbd has created more employment opportunities

Question 23

Impacts of migration on Birmingham?

Answer 23

-multiculturism: 42% pf residents are from ethnic groups other than white; 16% do not have English as their first
language
-ethnic communities; 1970s many migrants settled in sparkbrook and sparkhill (cheaper rent). communities have developed their own shops, places of worship
-services: having more people in the city is putting increased pressure on key sevices such as GP surgeries.
-younger population: percentage of people aged 20-35 is higher than the uk average- 66% of the pop. is under 45
-housing: in 2015, it was estimated that the city’s housing demands were higher than expected, riing by an extra 5000.

Question 24

Population characteristics of Birmingham?

Answer 24

• in 2014, birmingham had a total population of 1.1 million
• the key reasons for pop. growth are increased birth rate, rise in international migration and a declining death rate from improved healthcare.
• youthful pop: 22.9% of the population were children which is 19% higher than the national average
• in 2014, 13.5% were of pensionable age

Question 25

Causes of deindustrialisation in Birmingham?

Answer 25

-development in transport: in the 1970s the ring road was built, some fcatories were removed to make room for the route, affects local economy, creates unemployment, need to retrain workers. -decentralisation: inner city ring redeveloped so old factories were removed to make way for housing, empty factory units are eyesores and encourage vandalism and are a public health risk. -tech advances: slow adaptations of new advances whihc made some industries less efficient than higher tech rivals and closed down -globalisation: increased imports of foreign cars, less demand for cars produced in birmingham

Question 26

Why did urbanisation happen in Birmingham?

Answer 26

- they began to manufacture jewellery, guns, brass etc. - this leads to more job opportunites - more people move in

Question 27

when did suburbanisation take place in birmingham?

Answer 27

1920s

Question 28

why did suburbanisation take place in birmingham?

Answer 28

Birmingham had to expand for more housing.

Question 29

When did counter urbanisation occur in Birmingham and why?

Answer 29

1970s | -this was boosted by the development of the inner city areas which forced people to move out

Question 30

What is quality of life?

Answer 30

-the degree of wellbeing felt by an indivual or group in a particular area

Question 31

Explain the strategies used by a UK city to improve sustainability.

Answer 31

- encouragement of use of public transport , cycling and walking - supported use of hybrid buses which could save 378 tonnes of carbon every year - improved recycling system to reduce waste sent to landfill sites, now recycles 30% of waste, but lower than national average of 40%

Question 32

Mexico City

Answer 32

- site: began as a settlement on an island in Lake Texacoco in the Aztec times - connectivity: major highways make it the main link between North and South America. It is also the national base for TV, theatre and radio - situation:located on a central plateau, a flat landscape surrounded by mountains and volcanoes - culture: Mexico City is the largest Spanish speaking city in the world

Question 33

CBD of Mexico City

Answer 33

-the main financial hub characterised by office blocks, including the mexican stock exchange and government buildings. now attracts high value retailers

Question 34

Inner city of Mexico City

Answer 34

-apartment blocks

Question 35

Suburbs of Mexico City

Answer 35

-gated communities and tight security

Question 36

Urban rural fringe of Mexico City

Answer 36

-shanty towns

Question 37

Explain why the population increased in Mexico City

Answer 37

- introduction:one of the biggest megacities, 1950 population was 4.5 million, now 21 million. this has been caused by economic investment, natural increase , rural urban migration - rural-urban migration- people looking for alt jobs, better housing, clean water and healthcare - natural increase- this happened between 1950-1980, improved healthcare - economic investment-this has attracted people from the countryside due to an increase in job opportunities

Question 38

What are the impacts of migration on Mexico City?

Answer 38

- lack of services - polltuion - ethnically diverse - shanty towns - segregation and classism - younger population

Question 39

Extreme wealth vs poverty in Mexico City

Answer 39

- wages- 1/3 of pop. earn less than £3 day- worse quality of life - education- the bottom 10% average only 2 years of school and the richest is 12 years. this means lack of qualifications etc - services-shanty towns recieve little running water, electricity

Question 40

Why does quality of life vary in Mexico City?

Answer 40

services- richer residents have high access to things such as running water etc. poor have to travel certain distances for such things working hours-richer residents work less and earn more which means more time for leisure and better quality of life political power- richer esidents are more likely to influence local politics, improving their quality of life

Question 41

What are the impacts of rapid urbanisation on Mexico City

Answer 41

- housing shortages: living in garbage dumps and searching through to sell things for money - undermeployment: people who work seven days a week doing multiple jobs - pollution: surrounded by mountains so pollution is trapped, more people means more cars and more co2 emmisions, disease - inadequate services: generates 13,000 tonnes of waste and only 9,000 tonnes are send to land fill, so waste is dumped in the streets - squatter settlements: migrants from the countryside build illegal settlements from waste materials on the edge of the city with no running water and electricity