Geography-shaping places

what a place is shaped by

• The physical nature of the place 

• What its residents do for a living

• Internal - people, employment, housing, services

• External - government policies, globalisation

how changes occur

• Locally e.g. counter-urbanisation

• Nationally e.g. government policies

• Globally e.g. climate change, pandemics

what a place is shaped by

• The physical nature of the place 

• What its residents do for a living

• Internal - people, employment, housing, services

• External - government policies, globalisation

how changes occur

• Locally e.g. counter-urbanisation

• Nationally e.g. government policies

• Globally e.g. climate change, pandemics

how the structure of the local economy can effect the characteristics of a place

• The income of the locals

• The lifestyle of individuals and communities

• The perception of a place

the four economic sectors

Primary	Collection of raw materials (mining) and producing good crops (farming) Mainly located in rural areas Tends to be low-paid, manual work
Secondary	Manufacturing of raw materials into a finished product (car manufacturer) More regular income than the more seasonal primary jobs More secondary employment is located in northern cities - Sheffield, Middlesbrough These sectors have declined over time
Tertiary	Providing a service (education, sales) Private (retail ) or public sector (government department) Concentrated in urban areas Wages vary from cleaners on minimum wage to highly paid professionals like doctors
Quaternary 8.5	Providing specialist services in finance, law, hi-tech industries, and research and development Requires a highly educated workforce Mainly located in London and the South East The fastest-growing sector in the UK

clark fisher model

• Pre-industrial - primary sector with only a small percentage of people employed in the secondary sector

• Industrial - The proportion of employees in the primary sector declines due to the mechanisation of farming, and as land is taken up by manufacturing, the secondary employment increases

• Post-industrial -  There is a decrease in amount of secondary jobs due to the movement of factories overseas and cheaper imports; this coincides with an increase in employment in the tertiary and quaternary industries due to higher incomes and more demand for holidays, technology etc

The Clark-Fisher Model

how different economic activity can be measured by variations in social characteristics

• Health - those with the lowest income have the poorest quality of health

• Life expectancy - it can be 5 years longer for people in management compared to manual workers

• Levels of education - children from lower-income families are more likely to underachieve at school and have fewer qualifications. This often results in them having lower-income jobs

As places develop, the characteristics change:

• Accessibility, connections and government policies can change the place’s function. It can change between administration, commercial, retail or industry 

• Gentrification, age structures and ethnic compositions alter the demographics

what is gentrification

• it is a change in the social structure of a place when affluent people move into a location

• the process by which an area is changed by people who have more money moving to live there, making improvements to the buildings

• and increasing property values, often displacing lower-income residents.

how different functions of a location can affect the employment opportunities

• Administrative

  • These are places that make decisions about how to organise infrastructure and economic activity for the surrounding areas e.g. council offices

  • Tend to be urban areas that influence the region surrounding them, e.g. Manchester’s influence in the North West

• Commercial 

  • A location with strong business influence. Transnational Corporations (TNCs) may have bases there 

  • There is a large volume of small and large-scale businesses e.g. legal services, accountants

• Retail

  • An urban area with attractive retail facilities - markets, shopping centres, unique shops

  • The retail industry is the main source of income and employment for locals

• Industrial

  • A location whose economy and reputation is predominantly based on its industrial capacity

  • E.g. Sheffield is known as the Steel City for its large industries of steelworks

characteristics of a population

• age

• gender

• ethnicity

• economic levels

different types of people

• older/younger

• different ethnicities

• more skilled

• higher education/qualifications

what does gentrification lead to

• increase in property value

• often results in the displacement of the original poorer residents

reasons for changing place

• physical factors

• accessibility and connectedness

• historical developments

• role of local/national planning

physical factors for changes in place

• Location - closeness to large cities and core economic areas

• Environment - how attractive the place is

Accessibility and connectedness factors include

• More accessibility to other places with improved transport infrastructure (road, rail, air)

• Connections help competition for investment and visitors

• Easier access means businesses can attract more skilled workers and trade goods in new ways

• Improved connectivity through the extension of the 5G network

Historical development factors include

• Retail - from corner ship to supermarkets to shopping malls and online shopping

• House type - more demand for single

what the multiple deprivation index meausres

• attempts to quantify deprivation for small areas

• Income, employment and health deprivation

• Crime

• Quality of the living environment

• Abandoned and derelict land

why deprivation data is useful when investigating the need for regeneration

• Deprivation data is useful when investigating regeneration needs as it helps identify areas with the highest levels of poverty and lack of services. This information guides resource allocation and planning to improve living conditions and economic opportunities.

• The Index of multiple deprivation, which is an example of deprivation data, uses seven types of data e.g. education and health. As it does not rely on a single data type, any unusual and anomalous data is balanced out by the large data set. This leads to more accurate deprivation score

how images and perceptions can affect the lives of students and groups of people

• Students might not want to study at the university due to their perception of the place

• Young people may feel they want to leave a place with a poor image 

• Places with more positive images tend to attract more people

• There are likely to be more job opportunities in places with positive images as companies are also attracted to them

how global influences can shape the social and economic characteristics of places

• Globalisation and TNCs have contributed to deindustrialisation with the global shift in manufacturing to emerging and developing countries

• In these countries, wages are lower and working hours are longer, so TNCs make more profit

• Transnational corporations (TNCs) may set up part of their business in an area, creating jobs and enabling economic growth

• International transport connections make places more accessible and attractive to TNC

• Tourism can increase the amount of international visitors, when a place advertises its unique features

identity

• Where people share similar ideals and values, a community (with shared beliefs and a way of life) can form and create a collective identity

• This collective identity can connect to the place where people live or work

how migrants can change the sense of place

• If a place is economically successful, it can attract more migrants, leading to a more diverse community

• Migrants bring their own cultures (beliefs, values, way of life), which can enhance the local community

• The mixing of cultures can make people more tolerant and open-minded

(kingscross)

• However, local people may feel their community is being eroded by the addition of new cultures

• If there is a strong place identity, an influx of migrants could weaken this

• Feelings of cultural erosion can lead to racial tension between different ethnic groups

(hayes)

industrial change

• If the function of a place changes, old industries may close down and new industries could develop

• This could lead to a divided community between those people who can work in the new economy and those who have lost their jobs

• The rise in inequality can affect the identity of people in the area, as the people who are now unemployed may feel isolated

successful places

• often experience a spiral of growth

• that attracts investment and talent, leading to increased economic opportunities and amenities for residents.

cumulation causation model

• show successful places experience a spiral of growth

• Cumulative causation occurs when people move to a successful area to provide services for those already there

• This makes the area even more attractive to people and investors

what characteristics do successful places have

• (San Francisco Bay area)

• High rates of employment

• High rates of inward migration (both internal and international)

• Higher levels of income

• Low levels of multiple deprivation

knock on effects of wealthy regions

• High property prices

• Skills shortages in urban and rural areas e.g. teachers, healthcare workers

• Congestion of roads and public transport

• Strains on services, such as healthcare and education

San Fransisco- a successful place

• San Francisco is known as an international centre for commerce and innovation, particularly as a hub for the technology industry 

  • IT and digital media companies, like Twitter and Dropbox, have their headquarters there

• There is also a large cluster of bioscience companies based there, which has fuelled job opportunities

• It has attracted highly educated migrants from across the USA, as well as Asia

  • In 2019, 190,000 immigrants gained permission to work long-term in California, where San Francisco is located

• The multiplier effect is fuelled by its technological and transportation infrastructure, high quality of life and highly skilled workforce

• San Francisco is one of the wealthiest cities in the USA, with low unemployment levels of about 3% (Unemployment rate for the USA = 3.9%)

• However, there are large amounts of inequality:

  • In San Francisco, the average income of the top 1% of households in the city averages $3.6 million, 44 times the average income of the bottom 99%

  • The city is facing an affordability and housing crisis

    • In 2015, 64,000 jobs were created but only 5,000 new homes were built

    • The average house in San Francisco now costs over $1.25 million

  • The arrival of tech companies has led to the gentrification of poorer neighbourhoods (e.g. Tenderloin) so that many existing residents can no longer afford to live there

spiral of decline

• negative multiplier effect

• Urban areas due to deindustrialisation, where factories close and unemployment increases

  • Skilled, local people leave the area to find work, leaving behind the less skilled or older workers, who would be difficult to retrain

• young people leaving, leaving the ageing poplulation

The rust belt USA

• The decline of the heavy manufacturing industry (deindustrialisation) in the USA’s Rust Belt began in the 1950s and led to higher levels of unemployment in the region:

  • Cheaper imports increased 

  • Manufacturing shifted south due to cheaper labour

  • The increased automation of industrial processes

• suffered due to industrialisation

• Its population fell from 1.5 million in 1970 to only 680,000 by 2015 - a drop of over 50%

• The average household income was about $25,000 in 2015, half the national average 

• By 2014; the poverty rate was 38%

• Life expectancy, is just 69 years

regeneration

to reverse the spiral of decline and create more equality to improve life and wellbeing

sink estates

housing estates that experience deprivation, poverty and crime

regeneration priorities

High priorities	Low priorities
Sink estates Areas of low-income groups in need of greater social assistance, who have been segregated from the rest of society Often have high levels of crime, drugs and gang warfare Children born in these areas are  Twice as likely to have mental health problems A fifth more likely to die Eleven times more likely to be severely deprived People living in these estates get trapped in a spiral of decline Examples of sink estates  Barracks in Glasgow Broadwater Farm in London Lower Falinge in Rochdale	Gated communities Enclosed estates or buildings are often found in regenerated areas of the inner-city Walls, gates and controlled entrances separate the gated community from the rest of the area People who live in these areas tend to have higher incomes than the people living outside the gated community Low levels of deprivation Emphasises the large inequality between those in the gated community and those outside The number of gated communities is increasing in the UK, with approximately 5 million of them Examples of gated communities Docklands in London Brockhall Village in the Ribble Valley (Lancashire) St George’s Hill in Weybridge (Surrey)
Declining rural settlements These settlements are less accessible High levels of deprivation in terms of access to services, such as  Banks Leisure centres Travel time to food shops, doctors, schools Broadband and mobile coverage An estimated 200 village shops close every year Other measures of deprivation are good, such as Community safety Housing Environment Employment Examples of these rural settlements include Tibenham in Norfolk	Commuter villages The majority of rural populations live in accessible rural places, which are experiencing population growth Accessible rural places are close to high-speed railways and motorways, encouraging commuters to locate there These places tend to have wealthy, economically active populations and low levels of deprivation Fewer services are required as commuters do not always demand local shops, schools or bus services House prices increase, forcing out the lower-paid, young local people Examples of commuter villages Lathom near Liverpool

suggest one reason why economic regeneration is needed in some places more than others

• Lower wages contribute to higher levels of economic and social deprivation.

• This leads to a spiral of decline in the area as people leave in search of better-paid jobs.

• As a result, housing estates could develop into sink estates, with high amounts of poverty and crime.

community engagement

the degree to which a person partcipates in their local community and how prepared they are to push for change

how variatioons in community engagement can be measured

• Local and national election turnout

• The number of community activities 

• The number of supported local community groups

• shows an are is more deprived

lived experience

• the actual experience of living in a particular place or environment

• such experience can have an important impact on a person’s perceptions and values, as well as on their general development and outlook on life

place attachment

the emotional bond between individuals and their environment, influencing their identity, behavior, and sense of belonging.

marginalisation

the social process in which certain groups are pushed to the edges of society, limiting their access to resources and opportunities.

can result in the clustering of groups:

• High-income, elite professionals cluster together

• Low-income social groups, dominated by low-skilled services jobs, cluster together

suggest why the lived experience of different in a particular place may differ

the variations in resources, culture, social status, and opportunities available to residents.

Young people will have a different lived experience to older people, who might have lived in an area all their lives. The older person may have a feeling of belonging and influence in the area, as they have a higher level of engagement with the community. The young person might feel more like a global citizen due to the wider cultural influences they experience, such as music, food and fashion. They also may struggle for a sense of acceptance in the local areas in which they live.

A person on a low income, with higher levels of deprivation, may feel less attachment to an area than a high-income professional. The poorer person may be living in temporary accommodation or rented housing, so might feel less at home than the higher earner, who owns their home. This could lead to a sense of powerlessness for the lower earner, who knows they have little chance of changing the area

demographic characterstics

• age structure

• gender

• familly structure

cultural characteristics

• religion

• languages

other social characteristics

income levels
occupation types
education levels