urban Flashcards
(25 cards)
Lagos growth per day?
3000 people per day
opportunities (services) Lagos
10 universities and 26 hospitals
urban sprawl def
urban sprawl is the outward spread of urban land uses into rural areas.
Reasons cities grow
Rural-urban migration: the movement of people from
villages to towns and cities. Long-term drought may
‘push’ people away from the countryside, whilst
regular employment may ‘pull’ people to the city.
* Natural increase: where the birth rate (number of
babies born per 1,000 per year) is greater than the
death rate (the number of deaths per 1,000 per year)
Reasons for the FASTER rate of urbanisation in LICs:
In Asia and Africa, the majority of the population
still live in rural areas and the rate of rural-urban
migration is high e.g. only 32% of people in
Burkina Faso live in urban areas.
2. The population of cities is younger compared to
HICs, so the rate of natural increase is also high.
Reasons for the SLOWING rate of urbanisation in HICs:
In HICs, urbanisation has slowed down as the
majority of the population already live in cities
e.g. 82% of UK’s population live in urban areas.
2. Also, the urban population is ageing, so the rate of
natural increase has slowed down e.g. natural
increase in the UK is down to 2.18 children.
Evidence of Lagos’s REGIONAL importance:
Lagos is the main financial centre in West Africa
* If Lagos was a country its economy would be number 7 in Africa, making it
bigger than that of Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire & Ghana
Evidence of Lagos’s NATIONAL importance:
80% of Nigeria’s industry is based around Lagos
* Lagos has 10% of the country’s population but contributes 30% of its GDP
* A 2015 report by The Economist magazine said that annually Lagos
generates $90 billion dollars in goods and services
Evidence of Lagos’s INTERNATIONAL importance:
- Lagos is served by Murtala Muhammed International Airport. It flies to over 60 destinations including Dubai, London Heathrow, New York & Paris
- Increasing foreign investment is an indication of Lagos’s international
importance e.g. Eko Pearl (expensive apartments) & Eko Atlantic (offices)
Evidence that MIGRATION has led to growth: lagos
Farming has undergone massive changes in
Nigeria; increased use of machinery has forced
people out of work. Drought in the north means
farmers are also vulnerable to bad harvests.
Education is better in Lagos; 70% of children
enrol in primary school compared to 39% in the
rest of Nigeria
Birth vs death rate lagos
Birth rate (36 per 1,000) is much greater than the
Death rate (12 per 1,000) = high natural increase
Social opportunities 1 in lagos
Health care - In Nigeria the health care facilities in rural areas are very poor, overcrowded or difficult to
access. Often the most vulnerable, so mainly children and the elderly, will die from curable diseases
simply because they cannot access the health care. In Lagos, infant mortality is 24 deaths per 1,000 live
births, compared to 64 infant deaths in the rest of Nigeria.
* Education - The ability to provide children with a better education is a massive pull factor to Lagos.
There are more schools and universities in Lagos than any other area; there are over 10 universities.
Social 2 opportunities + chall
ACCESS TO RESOURCES (water supply & electricity):
* Water supply - The water supply is unreliable, with only the wealthiest homes having a piped water
supply; only 10% of the population of Lagos access to a water supply that has been treated & purified.
However, others use public taps and boreholes or buy their water from street vendors.
* Electricity - Although the electricity supply is in short supply in Lagos & it can cut out, it is in a much
better state than in rural areas. Two new power stations are planned to reduce the city’s shortage of
electricity and to light the streets at night
Economic opportunities + chall
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (formal & informal economy):
* Formal economy - Tertiary jobs such as lawyers, computing, finance and business are in demand,
allowing people to earn a significantly better wage in the formal sector, paying taxes and being able to
send money home. Projects such as Eko Atlantic can be a stimulus for economic development in Lagos.
* Informal economy - No minimum wage, the workers are unlikely to pay taxes, have no holiday rights
and often work hazardous conditions. Jobs include rag picking, breaking up and recycling old electronic
products, recycling waste e.g. the Olusosun rubbish dump in Lagos.
urban growth challenges lagos
hose living in the Makoko
slum only have water
switched on for 2 hours a
day by the city authorities.
EXPLANATION:
There are few water pipes in the slum and those that
exist only have the supply switched on for 2 hours a
day by the city authorities. This means people have to
queue for water and have limited supply.
KEY STATISTIC:
60% of Lagos’s population
live in slums such as
Makoko, where most work
in the informal economy.
EXPLANATION:
The lack of properly built homes in Lagos has forced
millions of people to build their won homes on land (or
water) they do not own. Only 7% have legal rights to
the land.
KEY STATISTIC:
Most people in Makoko
slum work in the informal
economy and live on less
than $1.25 a day.
EXPLANATION:
Many people have poor jobs, such as street vendors or
those who recycle waste from landfill sites. In 2014,
19% of people were unemployed which makes it
difficult to buy material goods or improve your home.
KEY STATISTIC:
The government collects
just 40% of the 10,000
tonnes of waste produced
in Lagos every day.
EXPLANATION:
Lagos is the largest producer of solid waste in Nigeria.
There is no comprehensive city based system of
collection; this leaves a lot of uncollected waste and
that waste poses a hazard to human health.
urban planning lagos
Name of scheme: Makoko Floating School.
Description of scheme: The Makoko floating school was designed to be sustainable and to adapt
to the resident communities’ aquatic lifestyle. The materials used were local such as bamboo,
timber and other resources.
☺ SOCIAL feature: The floating school has classrooms that can host lessons for up to 60 children at a time and
it is also used as a community centre when not being used as a school.
☺ ECONOMIC feature: The floating school is made from low-cost materials that are less likely to plunge the
community into debt.
☺ ENVIRONMENTAL/SUSTAINABLE feature: The use of solar cells to the roof is sustainable, as are rainwater
catchment systems and composting toilets. 250 recycled plastic barrels were used to float on the waters.
LIMITATIONS of success: Unfortunately, in 2016, the Makoko Floating school structure was adversely affected
by heavy rain, and collapsed. This is a real shame, as the school was a prototype for a much bigger project
SLUM PROBLEM 1: high population densities have forced people to build their homes in the Lagos Lagoon on stilts.
SLUM PROBLEM 2: before the floating school, Makoko had only 1 primary school that was constantly flooded.
Evidence of London’s NATIONAL importance:
London’s population (8.3 million) is 12.5% of the UK’s, living on just 0.6%
of the total land
* Londoners earn on average £34,473 a year compared to just £22,044 for
the rest of the UK
* The average house price in London is £514,000 compared to just
£272,000 for the rest of the UK
* London generates 22% of the UK’s total GDP
Evidence of London’s WORLD WIDE importance:
London is home to 15 of the head offices of the 250 largest companies in
the world
* London has the highest tourist spend in the world with $21.1billion in
2011
* London attracts investment and people from all around the world. Many
of London’s iconic buildings, like the Shard and Harrods, are owned by
foreign investors. All of this confirms London’s importance as a world city.
A world city’s influence is not just national, but also global, like New York.
POSITIVE impacts of migration on London’s character
☺ SOCIAL impact: the attraction of more job
opportunities and the perception of an exciting
social life has led to an influx of young people in
their 20s and 30s. London has a younger
population than the rest of the UK.
☺ ECONOMIC impact: the influx of young people
from other parts of the UK has prompted new cafes
& bars to open e.g. Cereal Killer café in Shoreditch.
☺ CULTURAL impact: 37% of Londoners were born
abroad; the top 3 countries are India, Poland and
Bangladesh. People from these countries have
added to the cultural diversity of London and have
enriched city life with the foods, music and fashion
that they have brought with them from abroad
NEGATIVE impacts of migration on London’s character
SOCIAL impact: the influx of young, affluent
professionals has been greeted in some parts of
London with conflict. The Cereal Killer café in
Shoreditch has been the site of demonstrations
from working class residents who reject the
gentrification of ‘their’ local area.
ECONOMIC impact: the average house price in
London is £514,000 compared to just £272,000 for
the rest of the UK. This has proven profitable for
those who have paid for their house, but for those
struggling to get on the property ladder the only
alternative is to rent in London.
CULTURAL impact: difficulties integrating some
communities e.g. Bengalis in Bethnal Green
How urban growth has created opportunities in London ☺
Cultural mix - This migration and multiculturalism has been advantageous for London. It enriches huge
areas of London’s cultural life as well as the great exposure people get to other religions, languages and
cultural parties. The London also benefits from huge cultural events celebrating this multiculturalism,
such as the Notting Hill Carnival.
* Recreation & entertainment - Urban growth (especially the influx of young, affluent professionals) has
created a vast array of new opportunities for recreation & entertainment. London has a huge number
of concert and cinema venues and lots of sporting events such as the Wimbledon Tennis Open. Add to
that the usual mix of bars and restaurants e.g. the Cereal Killer café in Shoreditch.
ECONOMIC SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL
* Employment - London houses a major world financial centre and a range of business specialisms which
attract a highly skilled workforce. London residents (aged 16 to 64 and working) are more likely to be
employed in managerial, professional or associate professional and technical occupations, compared
with the UK (54% and 43% respectively in 2011).
* Integrated transport systems - London has a well-integrated transport system of buses, trains, tubes,
etc. In 2014 roughly 50 million people used the buses each week and 25 million people used the
underground. Crossrail is a new, east-west route across London which will tunnel under the city
centre, reducing the journey time from Liverpool Street to Heathrow from an hour to 35 minutes.
* Urban greening - The Greater London Authority have
produced a green roof map of around 700 green roofs in
central London alone, covering an area of over 175,000
m2
. That’s 17.5 hectares or around 25 football pitches!
These roofs are used as living spaces and spaces to grow
plants. One project is the Garden Bridge across the River
Thames in central London. The failed plan cost a total of
£53m.
: How urban growth has created challenges in London
KEY STATISTIC:
More people in London
rent than own their house
and those that rent pay
more than 1/2 their
weekly wage in rent.
EXPLANATION:
Urban deprivation is particularly hard for the poorest
people to have a decent standard of living because the
prices of many things are more expensive, especially
rents which can account for 50% of peoples incomes.
KEY STATISTIC:
The top tenth of
employees in London earn
around four and a half
times as much as the
bottom tenth.
EXPLANATION:
London is an incredibly unequal city. Billionaires live in
very close proximity to people who survive on less than
a living wage. Indeed, incomes in London are more
unequal than any other region of the UK
There are some 250
hectares of brownfield
sites, equivalent to an area
just short of the size of
Hyde Park.
EXPLANATION:
There is a sizeable supply of brownfield land in London,
which to date remains untapped. However, it is often
the case that this land was previously used for industry
where the ground may be contaminated by chemicals
London’s population is
growing by 100,000 people
every year, yet only 20,000
new homes are being built.
EXPLANATION:
London needs more homes. Building on greenfield
sties means there is no need to clean up the site from
previous land uses, whilst using brownfield sites stops
city expansion as they are already within the city
lower Lea Valley
SOCIAL impact: The athletes’ village has been
relaunched as a housing estate called the East
Village, the rooms have had kitchens added and
walls knocked through. Almost half of these 2,818
new homes (40%) will be affordable. Eventually the
whole Olympic Parkland will become five new
neighbourhoods housing 8,000 people.
☺ ECONOMIC impact: The Olympics brought more
than £9bn of investment to east London, much of
which went into transport.
☺ ENVIRONMENTAL impact: New green spaces and
wildlife habitats were created, including ponds,
woodlands, and artificial otter holes. 4,000 trees
were planted, along with 74,000 plants and 60,000
bulbs and 300,000 wetland plants.
CONS of the regeneration
SOCIAL impact: The ‘affordable rents’ for the
2,800 new homes will be unaffordable to
Newham’s poorest households.
ECONOMIC impact: The total bill for the Olympics
was £8.77 billion of tax payer’s money. That was
£5billion over budget. The Olympic stadium is
estimated to have cost £700 million, almost 3
times the original estimate; this angered many
local people.
ENVIRONMENTAL impact: Much wildlife had to
be relocated; 4,000 newts, 100 toads and 300
common lizards as well as fish including pikes and
eels were moved by the Olympic Delivery
Authority. The 2012 London Olympic Games
alone produced 3.3 million tons of CO2
.
reasons for lower lea valley
REASON 1: the landscape was blighted by abandoned, old industrial sites
REASON 2: higher deprivation and poverty for the people that lived there compared to the rest of London
REASON 3: higher than average unemployment than the rest of London
