Geography urban environments

• WHAT IS URBANISATION?

  The growth in percentage of a population living and working in urban areas
• Rural-urban migration refers to the movement of people from rural areas into towns or cities, usually because they are seeking employment opportunities that do not exist in their home villages.
• THE URBANISATION PATHWAY

  • Stage 1 : developing early urbanisation
  • stage 2 : emerging and accelerating urbanisation
  • stage 3 : developed and mature urbanisation
  • stage 4 : developed counter urbanisation
• WHAT IS AGGLOMERATION?

  The concentration of people, buildings and activities at a specific location
• WHAT IS SUBURBANISATION?

  Towns expanding outwards as agglomeration increases
• WHAT IS COMMUTING?

  Travelling from suburbs to cities regularly, usually with public transport
• WHAT IS URBAN REGENERATION?

  Re-using old or abandoned parts of cities for modern offices or housing
• WHAT IS COUNTER-URBANISATION?

  Moving out of cities to smaller towns or rural areas
• WHAT IS URBAN RE-IMAGING?

  Re-using old or abandoned cities for modern offices of houses
• WHAT IS URBANISATION OF SUBURBS?

  Building larger suburbs to make them more like cities
• WHAT IS A MEGACITY?

  • A city with a population of over 10 million people
  • for example : Tokyo and Shanghai
• REASONS FOR THE GROWTH OF MEGACITIES

  • Economic development
  • population growth
  • economies of scale
  • the multiplyer effect
• WHAT IS THE MULTIPLYER EFFECT?

  Once a city starts growing, it gathers momentum
• THE BURGESS MODEL - ZONE A

  • Called the core or the central business district
  • high priced land
  • good accessibility
• THE BURGESS MODEL - ZONE B

  • Inner city
  • flats
  • no garages
  • no gardens
  • little open space
• THE BURGESS MODEL - ZONE C

  • Inner suburbs
  • more space
  • semi-detached housing
  • small gardens / garages
• THE BURGESS MODEL - ZONE D

  • Outer zone
  • modern detached and semi-detached housing
  • gardens
  • garages
  • open spaces
• THE BURGESS MODEL

  Diagram of the Burgess Model :

  
• WHAT IS A GREENFIELD SITE?

  Land that has not been used for urban development
• ADVANTAGES OF GREENFIELD SITES

  • cheap
  • quicker rate of house building that brownfield sites.
  • healthier environment
• DISADVANTAGES OF GREENFIELD SITES

  • valuable farm land / recreational space lost
  • attractive scenery lost
  • wildlife and their habitats destroyed
• WHAT IS A BROWNFIELD SITE?

  Land that has been previously used, abandoned, and now awaits a new use
• ADVANTAGES OF BROWNFIELD SITES

  • reduces loss of countryside
  • services like water, electricity and gas are already in place
• DISADVANTAGES OF BROWNFIELD SITES

  • more expensive than using greenfield sites
  • creates higher levels of pollution
  • less appeal to wealthy people as it is surrounded by rundown areas (usually)