Aqa a -gcse geography Unit 2 – Human Geography Revision Booklet

You need to be able to describe the reasons that there are more urban areas NORTH of the BRANDT line, and why places such as Africa don’t have as much urbanisation. You must use examples of countries when you are explaining.

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  Developed countries (MEDC) urbanised before developing countries (LEDC) because they went through industrialisation in the 18^th century
  
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  There has been rapid growth in LEDCs since the 1990s, because of movement from the countryside to the cities
  
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  LEDC cities are reported to have the biggest growth of urban areas, and this will continue.
  

1. 
   Rural to urban migration
   

People in the rural areas were employed in farming and when the processes became mechanised (using machines instead of people hands, it led to people having less work and this meant that their income was reduced. So they decided to move the city to find work. This has led to a growth in cities in LEDCs.

2. 
   Natural Increase
   

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  People in MEDCs have saved for their entire life and they can afford to move the rural area.
  
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  After the industrial revolution the majority of MEDCs were urbanised. After a while people didn’t like the environmental conditions of the cities and therefore moved out.
  
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  In LEDCs, the opposite is happening, where people need to move to the cities to try and find work and therefore there is movement of people from the rural to urban areas.
  

The central area of the city. It has high land values, and therefore typically will build upwards to save on costs of the land. Infrastructure converges here (often find large railway stations and bus stations). Large shops are found here and so are large businesses. It has a high density of buildings in the CBD.

This is where old industrial areas were found. The housing is typically back- to-back terrace housing. These areas have declined in the last 20 years, but in recent years they have been invested into make them look nice (gentrification). Land prices are less expensive here and you find high rised flats and areas of derelict land here. Examples of this are Partick in Glasgow, and Granary Wharfe in Leeds.

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  Higher divorce rate
  
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  Higher population
  
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  Immigration
  
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  Student population has increased
  
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  Commuters – there is a need for a house in the country and a flat in the city
  
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  More affluent people – holiday homes
  
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  People have got more disposable income and investing it in homes to rent out.
  
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  Life expectancy has increased so people live in own homes for longer (technology etc – stair lifts)
  

1. 
   Brownfield Sites – these are areas of land that have been previously been built on. Often the land has be cleared and all the rubbish removed. They are often found in the inner city.
   
2. 
   Greenfield sites – Land that has not been built on before. It is often found on the edge of the city on the rural urban fringe.
   

Different types of housing been built. Why? You need to know the reasons for building these different types of housing.

1. 
   Factories close down, and these means people haven’t got an income because they don’t have a job.
   
2. 
   Because people don’t have an income, it means that they stop spending money in local shops.
   
3. 
   This means that because they are not spending money, these businesses start to close down, and there are little services in these areas.
   
4. 
   The government doesn’t spend money in the area. People also choose to turn to crime to make money. Areas like this are seen as deprived because the area is not nice to be in.
   
5. 
   Because people choose to commit crimes, they often don’t go to school and get the qualifications that they need to get another job, and therefore contribute to unemployment in the area. This process is on-going and is repeated.
   

1. 
   Urban development cooperation, London
   

2. 
   City Challenge, Hulme, Manchester
   

3. 
   Sustainable communities, New Islington
   

In Leeds they have attempted to integrate different ethnic groups.

1. 
   Improving children's achievement by improving education in deprived inner city areas.
   
2. 
   Literacy projects in areas where English is not the first language.
   
3. 
   Basic training and skills for people
   
4. 
   Community projects – football teams
   

1. 
   Air pollution created by vehicles this will lead to more pollutants in the air and will contribute to global warming
   
2. 
   Slow down the delivery of goods. This will have an effect on the economy
   
3. 
   The pollutants in the car will cause the buildings to become discoloured leading to them looking less athletically pleasing.
   
4. 
   There are impacts on the health of people who live in the city, it may cause respiratory conditions.
   

1. 
   Park and Ride Schemes e.g. York - Drivers leave their cars in big car parks on the outskirts of the city. Regular buses then take them to the city centre. This reduces the amount of cars going into the city and therefore congestion and improves air quality.
   
2. 
   Trams e.g. Sheffield - Sheffield introduced the trams in the city in the 1990s as a way to reduce air pollution created by cars, and it also provided a quick and cheap way of getting round the city. The Sheffield tram runs by over head electricity lines and run on roads around the city.
   
3. 
   Bus lanes – e.g. Leeds - These are lanes that only buses can use (and sometimes taxis) are allowed to use. There are several benefits. The buses are not held up by other traffic, which makes them quick and reliable. Also, public transport is less polluting as it reduces the amount of cars on the road.
   

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  London suffers the worst traffic congestion in the UK.
  
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  Drivers in central London spend 50% of their time in queues.
  
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  Every weekday morning, the equivalent of 25 busy motorway lanes of traffic tries to enter central London.
  
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  London loses between £2–4 million every week in terms of lost time caused by congestion
  

Characteristics of the CBD

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  High land values forced to build upwards.
  
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  Lots of large department stores are found in the CBD.
  
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  Infrastructure converges in the CBD – large railway stations and bus stations are found here.
  
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  Areas in the CBD often have large old buildings that were there when the city developed.
  

The CBD is split into two areas, the core and the frame:-

Key words you need to know – the zone of decline and the zone of improvements

Social, economic and environmental problems with CBD

SOCIAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTAL

Litter problems – not enough bins	Closure of shops due to out of town shopping centres	Crime on the increase
Congestion on the roads	Safety – particularly of the elderly people	Office spaces are vacated as it is too expensive.
Noise in on the increase	Fewer shoppers as more choice in shopping centres	Air pollution.

Case Study of Birmingham’s regeneration of the CBD

Why it declined?

The Merry Hill Shopping Centre opened in 1989 this drew people out of the city to the Shopping Centre and as a result the city centre declined as businesses went bankrupt and the area declined.

1. 
   THE BULL RING
   

The 1964 shopping centre was described by The Birmingham Post in 2003 as ‘a symbol of 60s urban decay’. From the 1980s, plans were made to rebuild the Bull Ring and in 2000 it was finally demolished. The largest retail regeneration project in Europe, costing £500 million, was put into action. The Bull Ring reopened in June 2003

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  140 shops, cafes and restaurants – attracting people back to the CBD
  
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  3100 car parking spaces
  
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  Created 8000 new jobs – this meant that it would reduce unemployment in the CBD
  

2. 
   THE MAILBOX
   

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  The Mail Box on Wharfside Street used to be Birmingham’s Royal Mail Sorting Office.
  
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  Its shell has been retained and the inside redeveloped into a multi-use mall.
  
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  40 retail outlets, including Harvey Nichols and Emporio Armani
  
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  Two hotels – Malmaison and Days Hotel
  
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  Office space – it is the new HQ for BBC Birmingham.
  
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  200 ‘executive’ apartments.
  

3. 
   NEW STREET DEVELOPMENT
   

Birmingham has used brownfield sites. So using land that has been previously been built on.

Making shanty towns better

Case study- Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A process in which an increased proportion of the population are employed in the manufacturing sector of the economy.

This process happened in the 18^th century in the UK, but is only started happening in LEDCs recently and can lead to the miss use of the environment.

Rubbish is often transported to the peripheries of our cities. Kibarani is a dump site on the outskirts of Mombasa in Kenya. Several thousand people live here in complete poverty, picking through the mountains of waste, looking for plastic or metal they can sell on for recycling, trying to make a living. There's no clean water, sanitation, schools or permanent houses. Most Kibarani residents are migrants from the surrounding rural areas who have not been able to find a job in the city.

Recycling, Brownfield/ Recycling,-but for solutions always use Curitiba as your solution or else some of the solutions discussed earlier in this booklet.

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  Aim of Curitiba- To guarantee a good quality of life for Curitiba's citizens over the long term, ensuring social inclusion, accessibility, public amenities, and environmental sustainability for the city and metropolitan area
  

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  Population of 1.6 million
  
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  Population has doubled in last 30 years
  
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  10% of population live in slums
  
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  70% of waste is recycled
  
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  Poor people exchange their waste for food or bus tickets
  
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  Plenty of parks and open spaces
  
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  55 m² of green space per person- twice UN
  
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  200 km of bike paths
  
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  Excellent bus system
  
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  Teenagers hired to clean parks
  

3 carriage bendy buses-2 million people a day use this form of public transport, bus only avenues, bus fares very cheap and a single price, old buses used for mobile schools or office, ssafe, pleasant bus shelters