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Urban Challenges » Urban Challenges in a Developed Country

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Edexcel spec: 6.2 Cities face a range of social and environmental challenges resulting from rapid growth and resource demands (b)

The challenges a big city in a developed country faces, using London as the example
Food, energy, transport and waste disposal demands
Concentrated resource consumption and segregation
How to use and interpret socio-economic data

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A developed-country city: London

You must know the urban challenges of one named city in a developed country. In this lesson the example is London, the capital of the United Kingdom. About nine million people live in Greater London, more than in any other UK city. Its big population is the reason for many of its challenges.

London is a rich city with money to spend on services. Even so, it faces serious challenges because so many people live close together and all need food, energy, transport and a way to get rid of waste.

Key terms:

Resource demand: the amount of food, energy, water and other resources that people need.
Waste disposal: getting rid of rubbish in a safe way, for example by recycling, burning or burying it.
Concentrated resource consumption: many people using a large amount of resources in a small area.
Segregation: when different groups of people live in separate parts of a city, often split by income.
Socio-economic data: facts and figures about people's lives and money, such as income, jobs, housing and health.

Concentrated resource consumption

A city does not grow its own food or make most of its own energy. Millions of people in one place use huge amounts of resources every day, and all of them have to be brought in. This is called concentrated resource consumption. It puts pressure on the supply networks that carry food, energy and water to the city. It also creates waste, and that waste has to be removed.

Food demand

London has almost no farmland inside it, so nearly all of its food has to be brought in from the rest of the UK and from other countries. Lorries deliver to supermarkets, markets and restaurants every day.

Food supply depends on roads, so it adds to traffic.
Long supply chains use fuel, and so produce greenhouse gases.
If supply is interrupted, shelves can empty quickly because so many people rely on deliveries.

Energy demand

London needs huge amounts of electricity and gas for homes, offices, shops and the Underground. Most of this is not produced inside the city. Power stations are mostly far away, and the energy is carried in by cables and pipes.

Demand is highest on cold winter evenings, when lights and heating are on at the same time.
Burning fossil fuels for energy releases carbon dioxide, which adds to climate change.
Old buildings lose a lot of heat, so they waste energy.

Transport demand

Millions of journeys are made in London every day, by people going to work, school and shops.

🚗 Roads

Roads are often full of cars, vans and buses. Traffic is slow and fumes make the air worse. London brought in a Congestion Charge in 2003, which makes most drivers pay to enter the centre.

🚇 Public transport

The Tube, buses and trains carry millions of people. At rush hour they are packed, and delays are common. It costs a lot to repair and expand them.

Waste disposal demand

With so many people, London produces millions of tonnes of waste each year. Finding places to put it is hard, because land is scarce and expensive.

Recycling is used for materials such as paper, glass and metal.
Burning waste in an energy-from-waste plant, such as the one at Edmonton in north London, gets rid of rubbish and makes electricity. It also produces smoke and ash that must be dealt with.
Some waste is sent out of London to be buried in landfill, which uses up land and can produce harmful gases and smells.
Carrying waste away by lorry adds more traffic.

Segregation

London is one of the richest cities in the world, but wealth is not shared equally. In many cities, richer and poorer people end up living in different areas. This is segregation.

Housing is very expensive, so low-income families can only afford certain areas.
Some poorer areas have older, more crowded housing, fewer jobs and worse health.
In some places rich and poor areas sit close together, so the gap between them can be seen clearly.
Segregation can lead to unequal access to good schools, jobs and services.

Putting it together

London's challenges all come from the same cause: a very large number of people living in one small area. They need food, energy, transport and waste disposal, and the benefits are not shared equally between richer and poorer groups.

Skill: using and interpreting socio-economic data

You may be given data about different areas and asked to describe it or explain what it shows. Follow these steps:

Read the title and the units, such as % or £.
Find the highest and lowest values.
Work out the gap between them by subtracting.
Say what the pattern suggests, and use the data in your answer.

Practice data (invented, not real)

Borough A: average household income £62,000 a year; 3% of adults without a job; 4% of homes overcrowded.
Borough B: average household income £31,000 a year; 9% of adults without a job; 18% of homes overcrowded.

Worked example

Question: Using the data, describe the differences between the two boroughs and suggest what this shows about the city. [3 marks]

Answer: Borough A has a higher average income than Borough B, £62,000 compared with £31,000, which is double. (1) Borough B has more adults without a job, 9% compared with 3%, and more overcrowded homes, 18% compared with 4%. (1) This suggests segregation, because richer and poorer people live in different parts of the city and have very different living conditions. (1)

Common mistakes

Using several different cities. The specification asks for one named city, so keep all of your points to London.
Writing "London is crowded" with no detail. Say which resource is under pressure and why.
Mixing up the challenges of a developed country with those of a developing country. This lesson is about food, energy, transport, waste and segregation in a rich country.
Copying figures from the data without comparing them. Always say which is higher or lower and by how much.

Exam-style question

(a) State what is meant by segregation. [1 mark]

(b) For a named city in a developed country, explain two challenges caused by the demand for resources. [4 marks]

Model answer

(a) Different groups of people, often richer and poorer, living in separate parts of a city. (1)

(b) In London, millions of people need food, but there is almost no farmland in the city, so lorries bring it in. (1) This adds to traffic and fumes. (1) London also produces millions of tonnes of waste, and land for landfill is scarce and expensive. (1) Some is burned in energy-from-waste plants, which produce smoke and ash to be dealt with. (1)

(c) Borough A has an average income of £62,000, which is double that of Borough B at £31,000. (1) Borough B has more unemployment, 9% against 3%, and more overcrowding, 18% against 4%. (1) This suggests that richer and poorer people live in different areas with very different living conditions, which is segregation. (1)

Exam tip

In a data question, quote at least two figures and compare them. Then use one extra sentence to say what the pattern means.

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