urban futures ocr b geog 🤝😁😁

urbanisation

the process by which an increasing percentage of a country’s population live in towns and cities

countries with slow or declining rates of urban growth (advanced countries)

UK, Germany, Japan, America

• because the industrial revolution ‘pulled’ the population into developing urban areas at that time, nowadays many people in ACs are being ‘pushed’ away from overcrowded cities to rural settlements

• ACs tend to have good transport and communication networks so people can live in rural areas and commute to cities or work from home

countries with a rapid rate of urban growth (emerging developing countries)

India, Russia, Brazil and CHina

• key trade hub cities are seeing greater growth than others due to investment from the government and TNCs

• cities such as Lagos in Nigeria and ST Petersburg in Russia, nonebeing the capital.

• trade such as finance electronics and manufactured goods

coutnries with the fastes rates of urbanisation (low income developing countries)

Sub-Saharan countries such as Rwanda, and Ethiopia and Adia e.g. vietnam and the Philippines

• Asia is expected to contribute towards 60% of global growth by 2030

• most new economic development is concentrated in the big cities through investment in low-cost manufacturing of textiles garments and shoes

• as cities develop it ‘‘pulls’ people to do rural-to-urban migration

• cities are experiencing higher levels of natural increase in population

megacity

a city with more than 10 million people, in 1970 there were 4, 2018 there was 33

largest growth in Asia - Tokyo has close to 37.3 people

• By 2050 it is thought that more than two-thirds (7 billion) of the world population will live in urban areas

• This scaling up of the urban environment is the fastest in human history

pull factors of urbanisation in LIDC’s - economic development

• encourages population growth, leading to the desirability of goods and services

• all megacities act as service centres, manufacturing (mumbai in India), with thousands working in the informal economy

pull factors of urbanisation in LIDC’s - population growth

• young people are drawn to live in megacities with their vibrancy, fast pace and opportunities

• there is also ‘internal rgowth’ where people who have moved into cities have children, sustaining population growth (Mexico City)

pull factors of urbanisation in LIDC’s - economies of scale

• cheaper to provide goods and services in one place than spread across several cities

• financial savings for local governments in respect of infrastructure provision

• communication and transport are centralised making savings in time and money

pull factors of urbanisation in LIDC’s - multiplier effect

• as the city prospers, it acts as a beacon to people and businesses

• this encourages inward investment

• this leads to more development and growth

• generating further need for skills and labour and job growth

• this cycle multiplies the positive effects and growth continues (San Fransisco and the digital development)

megacities

• Megacities have a powerful attraction for people and businesses 

• They are influential cores with large peripheries

• World or global cities can be any size but exert particular influences around the globe

• They are considered prestigious, with status and power  

• They are critical hubs in the global economy

• The three top (alpha) world cities are London, New York, and Tokyo 

• These are the financial centres of the world, each with smaller networks of world cities feeding into them

counter urbanisation

where people move from an urban area into the surrounding rural region

Consequences of rapid growth in LIDCs

• growth of squatter settlements, availability and affordability of housing cannlg keep up with the rate that the urban population js increasing in EDCs and LIDCs

• This leads to people building their own homes on any vacant land using scrap material e.g. Cardboard

• These are unplanned/regulated (informal settlements) with little sanitary facilities, freshwateror reliable energy supply e.g. Favelas in Brazil

• The UN estimates that about a quarter of urban inhabitants (1.6 billion) live in these impoverished slums and squatter settlements and that by 2030, 1 in 4 people on the planet will live in some form of informal settlement

• Slums (especially mega slums) present serious risks e.g. Fire flooding and landslides.

• dealing with the amount of waste produced

• Air pollution from burning fossil fuels, car exhausts and factories

• Sewage, lack of public transport, qualified doctors, teachers etc

• High levels of unemployment and crime

• The speed of development is greatest in EDCs and LIDCs

  • Sao Paulo in Brazil, which grew from 7 million people to over 20 million in 40 years and is now the second-largest urban area in the Americas 

Suburbanisation - causes and consequences in ACs

Suburbanisation UK 20th century, peoples moved from urban centres to suburbs

• transport links e.g. Elizabeth line from Henley to Paddington

• More cars and motorways

• People can work from home

• Overcrowding in villages

• Incr price

• Original inhabitants can no longer afford to live

Counter urbanisation in ACs causes and consequences

Movement of people from urban area into the surrounding rural region

• Mobility and accessibility - higher personal car ownership, increase in public transport and road development making easier access to rural areas

• Increased wealth - making housing and travel more affordable

• Agricultural decline (mechanisation and merger of farms) creates the availability of more land for housing, forcing agricultural workers leave the area

• Green belt - people need to go further out to get the rural life they are looking for

• Second homes and early retirement - have increased the movement of people from the city to the countryside

• Counterurbanisation leads to the growth of suburbanised / dormitory / commuter villages and towns e.g. Fonsorbes (commuter town), Plaisance, Colomiers etc.. House prices increase – locals young people cannot afford to buy property in areas they grew up. This is particularly the case around Toulouse.

Reurbanisationin ACs causes and consequences

• The movement of people back into the cities from the surrounding area

• Movement is the result of a number of factors:

  • Increase in jobs

  • Regeneration of older areas either through rebuilding or redevelopment (factories into spacious apartments)

  • Improvements in air quality 

  • Improvements in safety

  • Poor air and water quality, insufficient water availability, waste-disposal problems, and high energy consumption are exacerbated by the increasing population density and demands of urban environments.

London's importance within the region, country and wider world

• capital of UK

• Regional, many ppl commute to London it provides many jobs

• Wealthy city with higher than average prices and earnings

• Europe's fastest growing technology clustor with 3000 companies concentrated in the East End

• The capital generates 22 percent of UK GDP despite accounting from 12.5 percent of UK population

National

• over 40 leading universities and research

• Government based in Whitehall

• 6 major train stations and 5 international airports around London

International

• Considered a ‘world city’, London is one of three important financial centres in the world along with New York and Tokyo

• International Centre for fashion art theatre and film

Patterns of nations, and international migration and how it is affecting London

The large Caribbean community in Brixton.

Why? 1948 act gave UK citizenship to people in colonies of the UK. Windrush arrived in UK and the first group of migrants were put into temporary housing near Brixton. They then moved to Brixton as there was a job centre there. Further Windrush migrants moved to Brixton as POC were discriminated against and they were safer in groups.

How has this impacted character? Development of economy to support culture (eg. certain types of hairdressers), Windrush Square in Brixton celebrates the migration.

-          Overpopulation= Housing shortage (expensive, not enough being built (20,000 annually) to meet demand (66,000)), Congestion + Pollution (cars = 2mill Londoners live above international air pollution limits, 751,000 tonnes in landfill per year and waste production growing by 1mill tonnes every year), Strain on services (Lack of certainty of government capital funding for public transport 2021, social deprivation for 2mill)

-          Inequality- areas with high levels of migrants and people who are not white British tend to have lower quality of services and are less affluent. (eg. Richmond is 71.4% white British and 63% have very good health, Newham is 17% white British and 40% have very good health)

Ways of life in London - culture

over 192 museums incl 3 of the top 10 galleries in the world, 4 UNESCO world heritage sites

Culturally diverse, over 300 languages spoken, more than any other city in the world which influences food and music

Ways of life in London - Ethnicity

Trade City, mix of races

1970 caribbeans/windrhsh generation more recently eastern europe as former communist countries joined the EU

• According to the 2021 Census, London was the most ethnically diverse region in England and Wales. Out of all regions, London had the smallest percentage of people who identified as white British, 46.2% of residents identified with Asian, black, mixed or ‘other’

Ways of life in London - housing

London is one of the world’s top ten most expensive cities to live in, with average house prices in the Greater London region being £709k in 2023 compared to a UK average of £288K

The spread of housing is diverse with billionaires living next to the homeless or those on less than a living wage

Richest areas Kensington Chelsea, poorest, Hackney, ealing

Ways of life in London - Leisure

London has plenty of world-class sporting venues and events, including the 2012 Olympic Games, Wimbledon, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Wembley

Theatreland in the West End, where a huge number of shows can be seen or opera in Covent Garden

Ways of life in London - consumption

Westfield has two major shopping centres in London, with more than 250 shops under one roof

Food markets are found all over the city, from Covent Garden to Borough Market

There are a diverse number of shops to be found in London with high streets such as Oxford St, Regent St. and Carnaby S

contemporary challenges that affect life in the AC city of london

• rents are double the Uk average, someof the least affordable housing in the world

• roads are frequently congested and slow (av speed during day 8mph)

• approx 1 million commuters arrive daily on overcrowded trains

• hospitals often overcrowded, congested roads delay ambulances

• London’s economy consists of 96% service industry positions, often low-paid with zero hours contracts

• many migrnts are exploited and are paid below minimum wage

sustainability in London

• brownfield sites are land that has previously built on e.g. Olympic Park that have been converted into new homes to deal with Londons need for 63000 new homes a year to keep up with its population growth

• cause environmental problems incl more waste production as land is cleared first

• following building of olymic park for london olympics roil was contaminated by past industrial pollution, the river lee was plluted and needed to be cleaned.

• the oda bought the land, people living there forced to sell their homes causing protsts, land had to be decontaminated, river was cleaned, habitats were created on the banks

• new houses schools nurseries and community facilities built.

• 500 media jobs were created in the media centre called here east

lagos location and importance

nigerias largest and most populous city

• an oil rich nation and is predicted to be one of the largest economies in the world

• 6,300 millionaires live in Lagos, 330 have a fortune of more than $10 million, 20 are worth more than $100 million – and there are 4 billionaires

• 80% of Nigerian industry is in Lagos

• The port facility on Tin Can Island in Lagos connects Nigeria to the world through global trade in mostly oil

national and international migration in Lagos

• migration into Lagos from rural areas has brought a wide range of ethnic groups, giving Lagos a diverse ethnic population

• internation migration from neighbouring countries such as Chad or Niger

• some migrants from usa uk and china who are employed by foreign businesses operating in Lagos, mostly in the oil industry

• overall, migration has resulted in an overcrowded, congested and polluted city with pockets of high-density populations suhc as squatter settlements such as Makoko, home to around 250,000 people

• Mainland Lagos is located on a flat expanse of land and with an annual influx of 600,000 people per year, the city has spread north and westwards

• Rural to urban migration is responsible for the high rate of natural increase and the city’s youthful population

• Some of the 'push' factors include:

  • Poor education and health services in rural areas

  • Crop damage due to frequent droughts and floods 

  • Low wages and long hours for subsistence farming

  • Few job opportunities other than farming

  • Oil pollution has degraded the land 

  • Climate change is bringing unreliable rainfall to the North of Nigeria

ways of life in lagos

lagos is home to Afrobeat and Afro hip-hop music movement and attracts musicians from all over the world

there aree more than 250 ethnic groups represented in Lagos due to heavy migration. lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori group of the Yoruba people

Housing is mand high rise ixed and ranges from skyscrapers luxury apartments and high rise flats within the city centre and colonial mansions and gated communities on Victoria Island to tin shacks on the outskirts, very few can afford to buy their own homes

no government social housing means roughly two thirds of the population live in slums, largest being Makoko

football = national sport and some of the best players in europe and Nigerian

there is a growth of commercial and industrial zones along with an overall imporvement to economuc development and standard of life, lagos consumes half of Nigeria’s energy output

challenges in Lagos

60% of the population live in slums around the city and found on unfavourable land

largest slum is makoko, homes are built on wooden stilts witihn the low-lying lagoon itself due to risk risk of flooding

about 60% of people in Lagos work in informal jobs, either scavenging through the waste in rubbish dumps, becoming street vendors or working on the docks

most people dont have access to clean water or sanitation leading to disease and illness e.g. chlorea and diarrhoea

the stagnant water of the lagoon is a breeding ground for mosquitoes leading to the spread of diseases e.g. malaria

Just 40% of the 10,000 tonnes of daily waste produced in Lagos is collected and taken to large rubbish dumps, e.g. Olusosun

sustainability in Lagos

the authorities encourage the resident of Makoko to recycle plastics, metals and paper

some of the waste is diverted from Olusosun dump to Makoko where it is gathered compressed covered in sawdust and sand to create new land in the lagoon

helps alleviate waste but also creates new land for the residents

air pollution managed through improving the road and rail networks

new ligh railway will reduce amount of traffic and cobcongestion along with reducing air pollution

a fourth mainland bridge along with improvements on 360 inner roads restored were due begin in 2023