GCSE Geography – Comprehensive Case-Study Notes

Exam & Paper Overview

Edexcel B GCSE Geography (9–1) is examined through three papers:
- Paper 1: Global Geographical Issues
  • Unit 1 – Hazardous Earth
  • Unit 2 – Development Dynamics *(large-scale India)
  • Unit 3 – Challenges of an Urbanising World **(large-scale Mumbai)
- Paper 2: UK Geographical Issues
  • Unit 4 – The UK’s Evolving Physical Landscape
  • Unit 5 – The UK’s Evolving Human Landscape ***(large-scale London)
  • Unit 6 – Geographical Investigations (fieldwork)
- Paper 3: People & Environment Issues – Making Geographical Decisions
  • Unit 7 – People & the Biosphere
  • Unit 8 – Forests Under Threat
  • Unit 9 – Consuming Energy Resources
8- and 12-mark questions almost always focus on the three starred case studies: India, Mumbai & London.

Unit 1 – Hazardous Earth

Atmospheric Hazards – Hurricane Matthew (2016)

Key facts

Haiti (developing)
• Category $4$ ; landfall $3\text{–}5\,\text{Oct}$ .
• > $1000$ deaths; $30\,000$ homes destroyed in Sud; $80\%$ building loss in some communes.
• Economic cost ≈ $\$1\,\text{bn}$ ; GDP per capita only $\$1,710\,\text{yr}^{-1}$ ; life expectancy $64\,\text{yrs}$ .
USA (Florida, developed)
• Category $3$ ; landfall $6\text{–}9\,\text{Oct}$ .
• $33$ deaths; $10,000$ homes destroyed; 4$–$6\,\text{bn} losses; GDP per capita $\$52,000\,\text{yr}^{-1}$ ; life expectancy $79\,\text{yrs}$ .

Prediction & Preparation

Haiti: fragile state, low car ownership, mud roads, warnings failed to reach rural poor; disaster fatigue after earthquakes/droughts.
USA: National Hurricane Center satellites & hurricane-hunter planes; Red-Cross radios, boarded windows, mass evacuations, army-managed traffic, upgraded levees.

Rescue & Immediate Problems

Haiti: teams couldn’t access worst-hit areas; shelters rose $2700 \rightarrow 4000$ overnight; cholera threat.
USA: $15,000$ emergency employees; $147$ shelters for $22,300$ evacuees; $600,000$ without power.

Human/Economic Impacts

Haiti: epidemic cholera, crop failure, export collapse, long-term unemployment.
USA: short power loss, insured property, temporary business shutdowns.

Government Response

Haiti: slow; reliant on NGOs; rural isolation.
USA: Presidential emergency declaration released billions; National Guard & helicopter ingress.

Natural Causes of Climate Change

Sunspots – $11\,\text{yr}$ cycle; more spots ⇒ more solar radiation ⇒ warming.
Volcanic Eruptions – ash & $SO_2$ reflect insolation; short-term cooling $1\text{–}3^{\circ}\text{C}$ .
Milanković / Orbital Cycles – eccentricity shifts every $\approx100,000\,\text{yrs}$ : circular (interglacial, warmer) vs elliptical (glacial, cooler).
Resultant hazards: sea-level rise, flooding, drought, hurricane intensity.

Tectonic Hazards – Earthquake Comparison (2010 Haiti vs 2011 Japan)

Primary Impacts

Haiti (Mw 7.0): $316,000$ killed, $300,000$ injured, $1.3$ million homeless; hospitals & presidential palace collapsed; $\$11.5\,\text{bn}$ damage.
Japan (Mw 9.0): liquefaction, tilting buildings, fractured dams & nuclear plants; oil-refinery fire; $\$235\,\text{bn}$ – costliest ever.

Secondary Impacts

Haiti: $2$ million lacked clean water; cholera killed $8000$ ; looting; 1 in 5 jobs lost (textiles ≈ $60\%$ exports).
Japan: tsunami drowned $93\%$ of victims (≈ $15,900$ deaths); $350,000$ homeless; Fukushima meltdown; $325\,\text{km}$ rail washed away.

Management

Haiti: field hospitals, EU aid $£3\,\text{m}$ , citizen search & rescue, limited long-term planning (poverty).
Japan: annual Disaster Prevention Day drills; household kits; earthquake-proof engineering (cross-bracing, deep piles, auto-shut gas); tsunami walls; land-use zoning.

Unit 2 – Development Dynamics

Barriers in Malawi (Sub-Saharan Africa)

Landlocked – nearest seaport $800\,\text{km}$ via single-track rail; increases trade cost.
Health – $1/5$ adults HIV +, reduces workforce & strains healthcare.
Climate – recurrent drought; rainfall decline since $2000$ ; crop failure & water shortage.
Trade – primary exports = $53\%$ raw tobacco, coffee, tea; EU/USA tariff $7.5\%$ on processed goods ⇒ little value added.
Infrastructure – $85\%$ rural, dirt roads; $20\,\text{km}$ can take hours in wet season; weak electricity & digital networks.
Frank’s Dependency Model describes Malawi’s reliance on core nations.

India (Emerging Superpower) – Large Case Study

Site & Situation

South Asia, peninsular into Indian Ocean; Suez Canal links to Europe; diverse relief (Himalayas–Goa beaches).
Member of G20 & founding UN state ⇒ geopolitical influence.

Demographic & Economic Snapshot

Pop $1.3\,\text{bn}$ ; capital New Delhi; GDP per capita $\$7,000$ ; HDI $0.609$ .
Fertility $2.2$ , BR $21$ , DR $7$ per $1000$ ; literacy $76\%$ .

Economic Trends

GDP growth $\approx7\%\,\text{yr}^{-1}$ since $1997$ (UK $\approx2\%$ ).
GDP 0.3\,\text{T}\$ \rightarrow 2.1\,\text{T}\$ (1990-2015).
GNI per capita \$390 \rightarrow 1600.
Sector shift: primary employment ↓, quaternary 45\% $GDP but$ 11\% jobs.
Export switch: tea/textiles → machinery & pharma; oil now main import.
FDI surge in rail & IT; unemployment reduction.

Drivers of Globalisation

Containerisation lowers shipping costs.
ICT enables outsourcing (call centres, Bangalore).
>50\% households own mobiles ⇒ micro-enterprise.

TNC Attraction Factors

Large, cheap, English-speaking labour; SEZ tax holidays; skill base rising.
Example – Aviva moved >2000 jobs.

Government Policies

1991 Economic Liberalisation in exchange for IMF aid: tariff cuts, SEZs, free primary education (2009), massive transport investment.

Socio-Demographic Change

Life expectancy 58 \rightarrow 68 (1990-2015); infant mortality ↓ ⇒ fertility ↓.
Urban cores (e.g. Maharashtra) have high HDI, literate workforce, healthcare access.
Rural peripheries (e.g. Bihar) suffer out-migration, ageing, child labour ⇒ poverty cycle.

Environmental Impacts

Energy demand ↑ ⇒ GHG emissions; smog & asthma; sewage pollution; agro-chemicals in rivers.

Geopolitical Relations

ASEAN partner; improving USA ties; negotiating EU free-trade; receiving EU infrastructure aid.

Foreign Influence – Costs vs Benefits

Costs: de-industrialisation abroad, environmental stress, cultural erosion, TNC flight risk.
Benefits: jobs, infrastructure, global voice.

Top-Down vs Bottom-Up

Sardar Sarovar Dam: provides HEP & 3.5\,\text{bn L d}^{-1} $water; but$ 320,000 displaced & sacred sites flooded.
Biogas (cow-dung methane): household energy, reduces wood use, fertiliser by-product; cuts lung disease; small-scale, community-run; methane is GHG.

Unit 3 – Challenges of an Urbanising World (Mumbai)

Site, Situation & Connectivity

Built on former seven islands with safe deep harbour; west-coast → Suez route; tropical monsoon climate.
Regional rail & national highways move goods to port; two stock exchanges & Bollywood link it globally.

Physical Constraints & Urban Form

Coast & mangroves limited space; CBD & historic colonial port at southern tip; slums on marginal land by rail & marsh; Sanjay Gandhi NP = “lungs.”

Population Growth Drivers

Post-1947 independence boom; natural increase; rural-urban migration for industry; international professionals in finance/IT; FDI focus (services, manufacturing, Bollywood).

Land-Use Evolution

Rail lines encouraged linear growth; high density >20,000\,\text{km}^{-2} $; Dharavi$ 1\,000,000 $people in$ 1.5\,\text{km}^2 = world’s densest.

Opportunities

Diverse jobs (formal car manufacture to informal rag-picking); 96\% literacy; 10 universities; higher urban wages; tax-free incentives; informal recycling rate among world’s highest.

Challenges

Housing shortage & affordability; >500 $people per public toilet in Dharavi; rationed water; traffic deaths (e.g.,$ 636 $fell from trains in$ 2013 $); informal sector (60 %) provides no tax.</li>\n</ul>\n<h4 id="inequality">Inequality</h4>\n<ul>\n<li>$ 40\% in slums; some luxury high-rises among world’s priciest; weak regulation & tax collection; slow slum upgrade.

Sustainability Strategies

Vision Mumbai (Top-Down)

Gorai Dump reclamation (methane capture); Mumbai Monorail (costly, low ridership); public toilet blocks (fee & maintenance issues); Dharavi clearance (free flats since \le 2000 residency, contested by residents & SMEs).

NGO & Community (Bottom-Up)

SPARC: >800 sewer-linked toilet blocks, community-built.
Hamara Foundation: street-child healthcare & vocational training.
Agora Microfinance: micro-loans (interest \approx25\%\,\text{yr}^{-1}).
LSS: leprosy screening; new cases down to \tfrac1{20} of 1980s.

Unit 4 – UK Physical Landscape

Upland – Lake District Glaciation Landforms

U-shaped valleys, Corries, Arêtes, Hanging Valleys created by abrasion + plucking; freeze-thaw forms scree slopes; highest rainfall adds mass to rockfalls.

Lowland – The Weald (Scarp-and-Vale)

Former chalk-clay dome eroded to escarpment dip/slip slopes & clay vales; chemical weathering of limestone; biological root action; slow soil creep dominates.

Coastal Change – Christchurch Bay

2\,\text{m yr}^{-1} cliff retreat; mass movement + Atlantic fetch; groynes at Hengistbury starve downdrift beaches; SMP options: Hold line, Strategic retreat, Do nothing.

Engineering Choices & Costs

Hard (
• Sea wall \approx£2000\,\text{m}^{-1}, scour issues;
• Rip-rap \approx£300\,\text{m}^{-1}, dissipates energy;
• Groynes ≈£2000\,\text{m}^{-1}, halt LSD but cause downdrift erosion).
Soft (
• Vegetation £20\text{–}50\,\text{m}^{-2};
• Offshore breakwaters ≈£2000\,\text{m}^{-1};
• Managed retreat).

River Flooding – Sheffield 2007 (River Don)

Causes

Physical: >90\,\text{mm} $rain (15 June) +$ 100\,\text{mm} (25 June); saturated soils; confluence of Don, Loxley & Rivelin at foothills of steep Pennines.
Human: urban impermeable surfaces; climate-change-linked storm frequency.

Impacts

2 $deaths;$ 1200 homes & 1000 $businesses flooded;$ 13,000 without power; M1 closed; Meadowhall & Hillsborough inundated up to 8\,\text{m}; repairs cost millions.

Management

Hard Engineering: raised embankments, dredging, Don diversion (Rotherham) £14\,\text{m km}^{-1}, enlarged drains, maintenance dredge.
Soft Engineering (proposed): upstream afforestation, floodplain zoning, EA forecasting.

Unit 5 – UK Human Landscape (London)

Site, Situation & Connectivity

Flat Thames floodplain at Roman bridging point; river access for oceangoing ships.
Orbital M25 + radial motorways, 5 airports, Eurostar/Channel Tunnel ⇒ global hub.

Urban Structure

Two CBDs: historic City/West End & regenerated Docklands (Canary Wharf).
Suburbs expand with age gradient; environmental quality improves outward; footloose firms relocate to edge.

Migration & Diversity

Pull factors: jobs, education, culture; clustering (e.g. affluent Russians in Chelsea).
East London highest IMD poverty due to dock decline & negative multiplier.

De-industrialisation & Regeneration

1960s containerisation → 30,000 dock job losses; population decline.
1980s LDDC SEZ, Jubilee line & DLR stimulate Canary Wharf; influx of quaternary sector; gentrification raises rents.
2012 Olympic Stratford legacy: transport (Javelin, cycleways), Queen Elizabeth Park, mixed-tenure housing; critics cite £££ flats (>£600,000) & displacement.

Sustainability Initiatives

Congestion Charge (free for EVs); LEZ for polluting vehicles; cycle super-highways; urban greening.

City–Rural Interdependence

650,000 daily commuters from “dormitory” towns (e.g. Sevenoaks – house prices surge).
Rural goods (food) & ICT services flow to city; income flows back as wages.

Rural Change & Diversification (Cornwall)

Counter-urbanisation drives property inflation; ageing demographic; decline in farming/fishing.
Diversification: Eden Project, farm shops, niche products (ostriches), glamping & B&Bs.

Paper 3 – Decision Making (People & Environment)

Core Concepts

Sustainability, stakeholder perspectives (government, TNCs, locals, indigenous, environmentalists, global community).
Resource theories: Malthus (exponential pop v linear food ⇒ crisis) vs Boserup (innovation enlarges supply).
• Illustrated on model graph: geometric growth vs step-wise food increases.
Renewable vs non-renewable; recyclable (biofuels, nuclear); ecosystem services; hydrological cycle; supply–demand–price feedback.

Practice Scenario – Canadian Tar Sands (Alberta Taiga)

Resource & Location

168\,\text{bn barrels} $proven reserves (world rank 3); main area Athabasca beneath taiga; only$ 3\% mineable with current tech.
Jobs: 500,000 $(now) →$ 800,000 $(projected$ 2030).

Extraction Process & Costs

Extreme cold -30^{\circ}\text{C} $, isolated; open-cast or SAGD steam;$ 2\text{–}6 barrels water per barrel oil; natural gas energy input; price dependent (see Fig 3c).

Environmental Impacts

Taiga clearance (only 0.2\% yet, but cumulative); spoil heaps; tailings ponds leak toxins → Athabasca River.
Wildlife decline: Caribou Cold Lake herd -74\% $since$ 1998 $;$ >1000 wolves culled; 500-5000 birds die annually in ponds.
GHG from gas combustion increases Canada’s footprint.

Social & Health Issues

First Nations territories downstream; 30\% $cancer rise$ 1995\text{–}2006 (contested by companies).

Stakeholder Views (Fig 3d)

For: Syncrude (jobs 9\% FN workforce), Alberta gov (“third-largest reserves”), US API (energy security).
Against: Sierra Club (“most destructive project”), Athabasca Chipewyan FN (threat to treaty rights), journalists & Canadian public (≈42\% oppose pipelines).

Decision-Making Themes

Biodiversity vs taxable revenue; local employment stability; water security; global climate targets; technology & reclamation claims (<1\% actually restored).

Quick-Reference Equations & Figures

Population-resource gap (Malthus): P(t)=P0e^{rt} \quad \text{vs}\quad F(t)=F0+kt
India GDP growth: \frac{\Delta GDP}{GDP_{1997}} \approx 0.07\,\text{yr}^{-1}
Hurricane wind scale (Saffir – Simpson): Category n = \frac{V_{max}}{17\,\text{m s}^{-1}}$$ (approx.)

Exam Tips

Always link statistics to explanation & significance.
Use comparative phrases (developed vs developing) for 8/12 markers.
Embed stakeholder perspectives & sustainability in Paper 3 answers.
Annotated diagrams (e.g., glacial landforms, urban models) gain AO4 marks.