Urban Environments is an optional topic. In Paper 2 Section A, Edexcel students answer TWO of economic activity and energy, rural environments and urban environments, so check which two your teacher has chosen.
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Unlock This CourseFor most of history, most people lived in the countryside. That changed around 2007 to 2008, when for the first time more than half of the world's people lived in towns and cities. Today the share is about 56 per cent, and it is still rising.
Key terms:
Notice that urbanisation is about the percentage. A country can have a growing urban population but still be urbanising slowly if its countryside is growing just as fast.
Urbanisation has not happened in the same way everywhere. Over the last 50 years the world has split into two main patterns (all figures are approximate).
North America, Latin America and Europe are the most urban regions, with roughly three-quarters to four-fifths of people living in towns and cities. Most of this change happened long ago, so the percentage now rises only slowly. Some of these places have even seen city centres lose people.
Asia is now about half urban and Africa about two in five, but both started the period much lower. Their cities have grown very quickly. China is a good example: in 1978 under one in five people lived in cities, and today well over half do.
Over the last 50 years: high and slowing in North America, Latin America and Europe; lower but rising fast in Asia and Africa. Most of the world's new urban growth now happens in Asia and Africa.
In richer countries, people also move within the urban system. You met these two processes from the countryside's point of view in Rural Environments. Here we look at what they do to cities.
When people and shops move outwards, the inner city can lose population, jobs and money. Buildings may be left empty and run down, and the city's tax income can fall.
The suburbs spread outwards, using up fields. More people commute by car or train, so roads and rail lines get busier.
This is why a rich country can have a very high urban percentage and yet see some cities shrink. Many large UK cities lost people to their suburbs and to nearby villages in the second half of the 20th century. In poorer, fast-urbanising countries the main flow is still people moving into cities.
Geographers show urbanisation on a world map, usually by shading each country. The darker the shade, the higher the urban percentage (or the faster it is growing).
A map from 50 years ago would show most of Asia and Africa in the lightest shades. A map from today shows them much darker, while North America and Europe have changed less. That contrast is the trend you need to describe.
Question: A map shows Europe in the darkest band (above 75 per cent urban) and Africa in a middle band (30 to 50 per cent). Describe the difference.
Answer: Europe is much more urbanised than Africa, as its band starts at least 25 percentage points higher. Because Europe urbanised long ago, it is changing slowly. Africa is lower, but it is rising fast.
(a) State what is meant by urbanisation. [1 mark]
(b) Explain one way in which suburbanisation can change a city. [2 marks]
(c) Describe how urbanisation trends in Africa differ from those in Europe. [3 marks]
(a) An increase in the percentage of the population living in urban areas. (1)
(b) People move from the city centre to the edges to find bigger, cheaper homes. (1) This leaves the inner city with fewer people and shops, while the suburbs spread out. (1)
(c) Europe is already highly urbanised, with about three-quarters of people living in cities. (1) Its percentage is now rising only slowly. (1) Africa is less urbanised, at about two in five, but its urban percentage is rising much faster. (1)
For "describe" questions, make a contrast with both places in the same sentence, and quote figures or map bands if you are given them.