U2: Urban issues

• Population density = people per km2
• Population distribution = where people live in a given area
• World city = A major centre for finance, trade, business, politics, culture, science and mass media. It is a city that serves the whole world and can be considered important internationally.

  Eg. London, New York, Tokyo
• Why is London important internationally?

  • 5 international airports
  • World city
  • Financial capital of the world (with New York)
• Brownfield site - land that has been used, but now abandoned.
• Greenfield site - plot of land, often in rural or on rural-urban fringe that is not yet subject to development
• Rural-urban fringe - Boundary between edge of city and countryside
• Building on Brownfield

  Pros:

  • More beneficial for people in urban areas
  • Stops building of greenfield sites (protects wildlife)

  Cons:

  • Expensive to clean and build on
• Building on greenfield

  Pros:

  • Much cheaper to build on
  • Lots of greenfield sites nearby

  Cons:

  • Reduces biodiversity
  • Affects wildlife
• Social deprivation - the degree to which a person or community lacks the things that are essential for a decent life
• Inequality - extreme differences between poverty and wealth
• Deindustrialisation - the loss / closure of industries / factories within an area (eg. Stratford)
• Urban decline - the deterioration of the inner city often due to a lack of investment
• Issues in London

  • Cost of house is 2x national average
  • Over 2 million residents in poverty
  • High levels of deindustrialisation
  • Major inequality between boroughs (eg. Newham vs Kensington and Chelsea)
• Urban sprawl - the unplanned growth of urban areas into the surrounding countryside
• Regeneration - to improve an area that has been experiencing decline