Geo Paper 1 - Options E and G (LST and Urban Environments)
Key Terms LST and Urban Environments
Primary Tourism Resources: Natural or cultural attractions that exist before tourism (e.g., climate, scenery, heritage sites).
Secondary Tourism Resources: Facilities built for to support tourism (e.g., hotels, restaurants).
Disposable Income: Money available after essentials, influencing leisure participation.
Tourism Hotspot/Honeypot: A destination attracting unusually high tourist numbers.
Carrying Capacity: The maximum number of visitors a site can handle without environmental/social damage.
Threshold Population: The minimum number of people needed to support a facility.
Intra-Urban Spatial Patterns: Distribution of leisure facilities within a city.
Niche Tourism: Specialized tourism focusing on specific interests (e.g., adventure, film locations).
TNCs (Transnational Corporations): Large companies operating globally in tourism (e.g., airlines, hotel chains).
Vertical Integration: When a TNC controls multiple stages of the tourism supply chain.
Horizontal Integration: When a TNC controls multiple companies at the same stage (e.g., several hotel brands).
National Tourism Strategy: Government policy to develop tourism for economic benefit.
Butler Model/Tourism Life Cycle: R.W. Butler in 1980, describes the evolution of tourist resorts through six stages: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and decline or rejuvenation
Sustainable Tourism: Tourism that balances environmental, economic, and socio-cultural needs.
Ecotourism: Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and benefits local people.
Site Resilience: The ability of a tourism site to recover from negative impacts.
Diaspora Tourism: Travel by people to their ancestral homeland.
Soft Power: Using cultural or sporting influence to enhance a country’s international image.
Sportswashing: Using sport to improve a country’s reputation despite poor human rights/environmental records.
Site: The physical characteristics of the location of a settlement (e.g. water supply, relief, resources).
Situation: The location of a settlement in relation to surrounding features such as transport routes, other settlements, and physical geography.
Settlement: A place where people live, ranging from small villages to large cities.
Hierarchy of settlement: The ranking of settlements according to size, population, and services provided.
Centripetal Movement: Movement of people into cities (rural–urban migration).
Centrifugal Movement: Movement out of cities (suburbanisation, counter-urbanisation).
Function: The main economic or social purpose of a place (e.g. industrial, commercial, residential).
Megacity: A city with a population of over 10 million people.
Land use: The way land is utilized in urban areas (e.g. residential, industrial, commercial, recreational).
Urban renewal: The process of redeveloping and improving urban areas.
Gentrification: The process where wealthier people move into poorer areas, improving housing but often displacing existing residents.
Vertical zoning: Different land uses occurring within the same building (e.g. shops below, offices above).
Range: The maximum distance consumers are willing to travel for a good or service.
Sphere of influence: The area from which a settlement attracts people for services.
Low-order goods: Frequently purchased, inexpensive goods (e.g. bread, milk).
High-order goods: Expensive, infrequently purchased goods (e.g. cars, electronics).
Conurbation: A large urban area formed when cities and towns merge.
Planned urban growth: Urban expansion that is organized and managed through planning.
Spontaneous urban growth: Unplanned expansion, often resulting in informal settlements or slums.
Central Place Theory: A model explaining how settlements are distributed based on services and accessibility.
Bid rent theory: The idea that land value decreases with distance from the city centre.
Central Business District (CBD): The commercial and economic core of a city.
Peak Land Value Intersection (PLVI): The point in a city where land value is highest.
Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE): The phenomenon where urban areas are warmer than surrounding rural areas.
Albedo: The amount of solar radiation reflected by a surface.
Anthropogenic heat: Heat produced by human activities.
Urban Boundary Layer (UBL): The layer of atmosphere influenced by the city’s built environment.
Urban Canopy Layer: The layer of air between buildings in a city.
Urban canyoning: Increased wind speed caused by airflow restriction between buildings.
Venturi effect: Increased wind speed due to reduced air pressure in narrow spaces.
Isotherms: Lines on a map connecting points of equal temperature.
Photochemical smog: Air pollution formed when sunlight reacts with pollutants like nitrogen oxides.
Temperature inversion: A condition where warm air traps cooler air (and pollutants) near the surface.
Microclimate: The climate of a small, specific area that differs from the surrounding region.
Sport: A physical activity with rules, often competitive.
Leisure: Free time not spent working or doing essential activities.
Recreation: Activities done for enjoyment during leisure time.
Tourism: Travel away from home for at least one night for leisure purposes.
Mass tourism: Large-scale tourism involving many people visiting the same destination.
Adventure tourism: Tourism involving physical activity and risk.
Heritage tourism: Tourism focused on historical and cultural attractions.
Seasonal hotspot: A destination that experiences high tourist numbers at certain times of year.
Diurnal hotspot: A destination that experiences high visitor numbers at certain times of day.
Overtourism: Excessive tourist numbers causing environmental, social, or economic problems.
Affluence: Wealth that allows greater participation in leisure and tourism.
Tourism classification: The grouping of tourism types based on factors like purpose, cost, or duration.
Tourism duration: The length of time spent at a destination.
Tourism destination: The place visited by tourists.
Participation: Involvement in leisure, sport, or tourism activities.
Lifecycle stage: A person’s age and life stage influencing activity choices.
Place of residence: Where a person lives, influencing access to leisure opportunities.
Tourism demand: The desire and ability of people to travel.
Tourism supply: The availability of services and attractions for tourists.
Ecological Footprint: Land/water required to support a population’s consumption/waste.
Green Belt: Protected rural land around a city to prevent sprawl.
Key Case studies Urban Environments
1. Singapore – Planned Urban Growth & Sustainability
• Population: 6 million
• Urbanisation: 100% urban
• Key Stats:
o Green cover: ~49% of land area
o Public transport usage: 67% population uses public transport
o ERP (Electronic Road Pricing): Reduced traffic congestion by 15% in restricted zones.
2. Delhi, India – Air Pollution & Urban Stress
• Population: 33 million (metro area)
• Key Stats:
o PM2.5 levels: Often exceeds 150 µg/m³ (WHO safe limit: 5 µg/m³)
o Vehicles: Over 11 million registered
o Life expectancy reduced by up to 10 years due to air pollution (University of Chicago, 2023)
• Use in Essays: Shows impacts of rapid urbanisation, weak regulation, inequality in exposure (poor vs. rich), and failure of pollution management.
3. Lagos, Nigeria – Rapid Urbanisation & Infrastructure Challenges
• Population: ~22 million (2023), growing by 77 people/hour
• Key Stats:
o Access to clean water: ~60%
o Slum population: 70% of city residents
o BRT system: 35 km of lanes, carries 350,000/day
o Eko Atlantic: New city built on reclaimed land, aimed at 250,000 jobs
4. Detroit, USA – Deindustrialisation & Decline
• Population: Peak 1.85 million (1950), now ~620,000
• Key Stats:
o Lost ~500,000 manufacturing jobs (2000–2009)
o Poverty rate: ~32% (city)
o Vacant buildings: ~78,000 (2013)
o Filed for bankruptcy in 2013 with $20 billion debt
7. Songdo, South Korea – Smart City Example
• Population: Planned 300,000 (currently ~100,000)
• Key Stats:
o Built on reclaimed land
o Pneumatic waste system, ubiquitous sensors
o 40% of Korea’s LEED-certified buildings
o Feels “empty” – social sustainability issues