DSI 2015
A2 AQA Geography
World
Cities
Revision
DSI 2015
Millionaire cities, mega Cities, and world cities.
Millionaire cities are those that have over a million residents.
Mega cities have at least 10 million people.
World cities are important focal points in terms of politics, economies, transport, and
other global processes.
Different factors cause cities to develop into mega cities. These include:
Natural increase
Ports and trade
Push factors
Colonial Influences
The World Health Organisation estimate that “By 2030, 6 out of every 10 people will
live in a city, and by 2050, this proportion will increase to 7 out of 10 people.”
“Urbanisation is a more recent arrival in LEDCs and NICs. The growth over the past
fifty years of many developing world cities has had major implications for the people
living there and the management of those issues. NICs (Newly Industrialising
Countries) have urbanisation that takes place with rapid industrialisation, as has been
witnessed in Brazil and South Eastern China, whilst in some LDCs (Least Developed
Countries) urbanisation takes place in the relative absence of industrialisation, people
forced to cities to live in poor conditions with limited opportunities for jobs.” Indeed,
we must consider to what extent are the two processes of urbanisation and
industrialisation mutually dependent?” (www.coolgeography.co.uk
A map showing the
distribution of
GaWC-ranked
world cities (2010
data)
Exam questions could include:
Define the term ‘world city’ and outline the role of world cities. (8)
Using examples, evaluate the relationship between economic development
and urbanisation. (10)
DSI 2015
Urbanisation
This is the demographic change from rural areas to urban areas. In 2010, 50% of the
world’s population lived in urban areas.
These occur due to push and pull factors.
Push: crop failure, unemployment, hazards, poverty, etc.
Pull: fertile land, political stability, friends and family, etc.
Positives of Urbanisation
Negatives of Urbanisation
Better services
Encourages the growth of unplanned and illegal shanty
towns.
Informal sector employment rarely receives support from
government and is often subject to harassment.
Environmental problems abound in cities that are rapidly
urbanizing.
Infant mortality is lower in cities and life expectancy tends
to be higher than in rural areas.
Industry and finance services can concentrate in cities
allowing agglomeration of these industries and cost savings.
Case study of Seoul:
 In excess of 25.6 million people – that’s more than half of Korea’s population –
live in the Seoul metropolitan area.
 Seoul has built the most extensive subway system in the world.
 Seoul has more Starbucks locations than any other city in the world: 284 and
counting, compared to New York City’s 277.
 Between 1960 and 2000 Seoul's population zoomed from fewer than three
million to ten million, and South Korea went from being one of the world's
poorest countries, with a per capita GDP of less than $100, to being richer than
some in Europe.
Exam questions could include:
Outline the process of urbanisation and describe its effects. (8 marks)
DSI 2015
Suburbanisation
“The process of population movement from the central areas of cities towards the
suburbs on the outskirts or the rural-urban fringe.”
These are caused by:
1.
2.
3.
4.
“White flight”.
Improvements of transport infrastructure.
Developments in communication technology.
Demand for housing.
It is important to remember that effects of suburbanisation which are good for the
suburbs are often at the expense of the inner city.
Positives of suburbanisation
Negatives of suburbanisation
Space available in inner city for development.
Urban Sprawl,
Employment opportunities on edge of cities in retail parks.
Larger tax base in suburbs.
Edge Cities,
Polarisation- income disparity.
Case study of Newcastle Great Park:
• Where? Northwest of Newcastle. Near A1- which is being widened and
improved.
• When? Completed Summer 2014.
• Why? New homes needed
There will be 80 hectares of commercial development which could generate jobs,
There is an integrated transport plan which will see every home not more than 400
metres from a bus stop, 27km of cycle routes in and around NGP.
2,500 new homes in a parkland setting of 442 hectares will be complete.
BUT:
There is no guarantee of job creation.
The NGP housing plans contradict the principles of no/little development in the Green
Belt.
The three-storey properties priced from £188,000 are well beyond the average wage
of people in Newcastle.
Exam questions could include:
Outline the process of suburbanisation and explain its causes. (8 marks)
Outline the process of suburbanisation and describe its effects. (8 marks)
DSI 2015
Counter-urbanisation
“The process where the population of cities actually falls as people move out beyond
the urban-rural fringe into areas that are truly rural.”
Causes include:
 Rising age of retirement,
 When people start families, they often move outwards,
 Second homes,
 New towns, (postwar)
Effects include:
• Villages can become suburbanised, so…
• The doughnut effect…
• Second home ownership increase, so…
• Local services are impacted as supermarkets etc relocate to surbubanised
villages,
• Decrease in public transport, as…, so…
• Traffic congestion as… so…
Re-urbanisation
“The movement of people back to live in old city centres which have been
redeveloped.”
Causes include:
• Developing CBDs (covered walkways, pedestrianisation, and street furniture)…
• Enterprise zones- areas of high unemployment with low taxes and subsidized
land…
• Urban development Corporations were established…
• Single regeneration budgets…
• English partnerships (stopped in 2008)
Exam questions could include:
• Outline the process of counter-urbanisation and describe its effects. (8 marks)
• Outline the process of re-urbanisation and describe its effects. (8 marks)
DSI 2015
Planning and Management issues.
There are concerns with: The provision of affordable housing, protecting and
retaining shops and community facilities, and the need to diversify and grow the
economy but, at the same time, retaining the very character and qualities that
define our rural communities.
Many rural areas are caught in what has been termed the ‘sustainability trap’:
many are identified in local plans as inherently unsustainable locations because
they lack services and facilities and have limited transport accessibility.
Case study: Dharavi, planning in an LEDC.
14,350,000 people live in Mumbai in
India. 600,000 live in Mumbai, a slum
area.
It spreads over 2km², and around $40m is
generated annually.
Lots of pollution, overcrowding, and disease; not much clean water, and poor
building materials.
Dharavi Revedelopment project will see this area transformed, with 7 storey
building. Anyone living there since 1995 will get an apartment, and the rest sold.
The area will be sectioned off in terms of work, housing, and leisure, and the 4,500
businesses all ready in Dharavi will be eligible for 225 sq foot free.
DSI 2015
Urban Decline
“Urban decline is the deterioration of the inner city often caused by lack of investment
and maintenance. It is often but not exclusively accompanied by a decline in
population numbers, decreasing economic performance and unemployment.”
These are caused by:




The out migration of wealthier residents,
The in migration of poorer residents,
Poor urban planning,
Loss of industry
NB: All these are similar to the causes of suburbanisation.
Characteristics include:
• Poor quality housing - with outside toilets, overcrowding, no hot water or
central heating
• Poor building maintenance - many buildings would have leaking roofs, draughty
windows and crumbling stonework
• Many empty buildings, and these have the potential to be vandalised; gap sites
where buildings have been knocked down turn into derelict land
• Empty factories
• High levels of air, noise, land and water pollution
• Social characteristics of urban decay include high unemployment rates, high
crime rates, depopulation, and split families.
“Urban deprivation is a standard of living below that of the majority in a particular
society that involves hardships and lack of access to resources.”
Exam questions could include:
Outline the process of Urban Decline and explain its causes. (8 marks)
DSI 2015
Urban Regeneration
1: Gentrification:
The renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighbourhoods by upperor middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often
displacing low-income families and small businesses. It can also be attempted by
businesses and local councils.
EG: Newington Green in North London is one small area that has been gentrified since the 1990s.
2: Property led Regeneration
This involves the regeneration of an inner-city area by changing the image of the area,
improving the environment, attracting private investment and improving confidence
for further investment.
In many cases, it involves ‘flagship’ projects such as at Canary Wharf in the London
Docklands. UDCs are the main form of property-led regeneration.
3: Partnership Schemes
Partnership schemes are partnerships between the local authorities, local people,
governments and private investors. They include schemes like city challenge,
sustainable communities and flagship projects.
Hulme City- City Challenge Initiative in 1991/1992. Central Government awarded £37.5 million over
five years - a basis to attract further public and private funds. It works with three main consultative
fora: the Hulme Economic Assembly, the Hulme Social Issues Committee and Hulme Community
Homes. 1000 new homes and rising population.
Here is a good link: www.rudi.net/books/12104
4: Private sector schemes
It can best be characterized as a contract form between public and private parties,
where private businesses invest to regenerate an area, with the primary aim of making
money.
Eg: The Manchester-based business “Place First” gained Cabinet approval from Hyndburn
Borough Council for the second stage of a £15m project to breathe new life into 131 empty
terraced homes in Woodnook, Accrington, Lancashire.
Exam questions could include:
Outline the process of gentrification and describe its effects. (8 marks)
Evaluate the success of one or more partnership scheme(s) in the regeneration of
urban areas. (10 marks)
DSI 2015
Decentralisation of retail
We have seen a decentralisation of retailing, whereby major retailers have moved
from the centre to the outskirts. This causes the doughnut (N.America) or Polo effect
(UK) where there is an economic, social and retailing hole in the middle of the city.
 Almost 15,000 shops in town centres in the UK closed between 2000 and 2009,
 10,000 losses in the past couple of years.
Hiller (1986) talks about 3 waves; Food supermarkets out of town, then DIY retail, then
out of town shopping centres
Case study: Merry Hill.
• Built between 1984-1987 on a green field site haven for wildlife- an enterprise
zone set up by government.
• 185 shops and 10,000 car parking spaces.
• Next to waterfront- entertainment complex.
• Connected by bus and rail. Monorail closed in 1996.
Effects:
Future:
New cinema built in 2000.
New tram system in 2011.
Aim to meet new green credentials.
Case study: Touchwood
 Solihull, built on 5 September 2001.
 60,000m²,
 2000 jobs,
 80 stores, 20 restaurants and a cinema,
 6000 car parking spaces, near junction 4 and 5 of M42.
Exam questions could include:
Outline the process of decentralisation and describe its effects. (8 marks)
Outline the process of decentralisation and describe its causes. (8 marks)
DSI 2015
Urban redevelopment
The London Docklands
 The London Docklands declined due to containerisation, and outsourcing to
other ports both in the UK and abroad.
 The docks closed down by 1980.

The London Docklands Light
Railway was built in 1987 to
improve transport to the (rather
isolated) area. The London City
Airport was also built.

In 1991 the London
Docklands Development
Corporation (LDDC) was set up.

Today, Canary Wharf
employs around 80,000 people.
Millennium Point
 In 2001, £114 million were
spent to redevelop the eastside
of Birmingham.
 Opened on 2nd July 2002.
 Homes were built, and now
a college.
 Also has a multi plex cinema,
as well as the Thinktank museum
and housing part of BCU.
 Plans for a vertical theme park were scrapped.
Exam questions could include:
Evaluate the success of the redevelopment of one city centre that you have
studied. (10 marks)
DSI 2015
Waste management
Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle are the main aims
of cities managing waste.
The aim is to get the
maximum practical usage
out of it, and to generate
the minimum amount of
waste.
There are around 5
strategies to deal with
waste sustainably:
 Disposal
Well designed and well managed landfills can be a clean and hygienic way to bury and
therefore remove waste. Badly managed landfills can cause air pollution, pollute
ground water, and methane/ CO2.
 Incineration
This converts waste into Heat gas steam and ash. Can be cheap and straightforward,
but emits gaseous pollutants.
 Physical reprocessing (recycling)
The majority of MEDCs do these through the process of collecting it from households
in different bins. It also happens informally in a range of LEDCs, often for economic
rather than environmental reasons. Recycling complex products such as computers
can be more difficult.
 Biological reprocessing
Organic waste materials can be broken down, creating mulch which can be used for
composting. The gasses which are given off can be used for electricity.
 Energy recovery.
This is where the potential energy of fuel is harnessed and combusted to create
energy.
Case study: Peterborough, a Beacon Authority for waste disposal. EARP, and a major
new recycling plant
Exam questions could include:
Outline characteristic strategies of waste management in urban areas. (8 marks)
DSI 2015
Traffic management.
The majority of people in MEDCs use their own transport. This leads to a range of
issues; not least, how to sustainably address the air pollution and congestion this
traffic causes.
Case study: London 2013. The vision:
London had a population of 8.2 million in 2011, according to the UK census. This represents a 12 per
cent growth since 2001. Such a large and growing population puts great pressure on services – not
least on the capital’s transport network.
In March 2013, the London Mayor announced plans to increase the number of people cycling.
Currently over half a million cycling journeys are made in London each day. It is hoped that this will
ease pressure on the existing transport network and also help to make London an increasingly
sustainable city.
£913 million will be invested in the ten-year plan. A connected cycle network will be built with the
aim of getting more people cycling to work and for leisure. Measures will be taken to improve road
safety and efforts will be made to instil a culture of cycling within London. If the Mayor’s projections
are correct, then cycling in London will double over the next 10 years of investment.
Case study: Curitabe in Brazil. Since 1968. 2013
Part of the plan is the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System. It was the first city in Brazil to have
dedicated bus lanes.
A bus rapid transit system operates. This is cheaper to run than a tube system. Some employers
subsidise their employees who use it.
80 per cent of travellers use the BRT.
The bus rapid transit system uses triple section bendy buses. It carries 2 million passengers a day.
The bus fare is the same wherever you go.
No one lives more than 400 metres from a bus stop.
Urban growth is restricted to corridors of growth - along key transport routes. Tall buildings are
allowed only along bus routes.
Exam questions could include:
Outline characteristic strategies of waste management in urban areas. (10)
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Feb 2015