geography urban issues and challenges

• what is urbanisation?

  The process of population growth and the increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
• What are HICs?

  High-income countries- GNI per person higher than 12746 us dollars
• What are LICs?

  Low income countries - have a GNI per person lower than 1045 us dollars
• What are NEEs?

  Newly Emerging Economies - have begun to experience high rates of economic development
• What is natural increase?

  when birth rate is higher than the death rate
• what is migration?

  Movement of individuals or groups from one place to another.
• what is rural- urban migration?

  Movement of people from rural areas (countryside) to urban areas(towns and cities).
• what is a megacity?

  A megacity is a highly populated urban area with a population of over 10 million people.
• what types of megacity growth are there ?

  slow-growing megacities: no squatter settlements and are in HICs

  Growing megacities: under 20% in squatter settlements often in NEEs e.g: sol de janeiro

  Rapid-growing megacities: over 20% are in squatter settlements and mostly occur in LICs e.g: mumbai
• what is the location of Rio de Janeiro?

  located in South-East Brazil
• What is the North zone in Rio like?

  industrial - where the international airport is and contains favelas
• What is the south zone in Rio like?

  Beaches, mountains, and luxury flats but is also home to Rochina- largest favela in South America.
• What is the west zone like in Rio?

  wealthy suburbs, industrial areas and olympic stadiums.
• What is the centre zone like in Rio?

  Has historical buildings , CBD and financial centre
• Why is Rio important to Brazil's economy?

  -Rio is the capital

  -tourism

  -2016 OLYMPICS, 2014 WORLD CUP

  -Christ the redeemer
• Why has the population of Rio grown?

  migration- people are attracted to Rio's employment
• In Rio, what % of children continue in education after 14?

  50%
• what is being done to improve access to electricity in Rio?

  -60km of new power lines have been installed

  -A new nuclear generator has been built
• what have the authorities done to improve on the low statistic of children continuing education after 14?

  given grants to poor families and have opened a private university in the Rochina favela
• Rio provides 6% of all of Brazil's employment - but what are the jobs that people in Rio do?

  work in service industries, port industries , oil refining, manufacturing, tourism, steel construction and retail
• what has improved based on Rio's economic development?

  transport and environment
• what is a formal economy?

  The type of employment where people work to receive a regular wage , pay tax and have certain holidays
• what is an informal economy?

  employment outside the official knowledge of the government
• How does free childcare increase employment?

  it enables teenage parents to return to education, improving skills allowing them to get better jobs
• what solutions have been put i place to reduce the health inequality?

  medical staff detect and treat twenty different diseases in peoples homes - reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy
• how has crime been reduced in rio?

  pacifying police units established in 2013 to reclaim favelas from gangs and drug dealers
• why is air pollution so bad in rio and what are the solutions?

  air pollution causes 5000 deaths per year. traffic congestion is bad because: the number of cars on the road have increased and especially because high crime levels have meant that people prefer to drive , steep mountains limit where roads can go

  solutions: expansion of the metro system, new toll roads so people think about the cost of travel and making coast roads one way during rush hours
• what are the solutions to air pollution have been put in place in rio?

  metro system has been expanded- reducing car use

  new toll roads - people think more about the cost of travel

  making coastal roads one way in rush hours to reduce congestion
• why is water pollution so bad in Rio?

  ships empty their tanks into the bay, there have been oil spills from the Petrobas oil refinery , rivers have been polluted by open sewers in favelas
• what solutions have been put in place in rio to reduce water pollution?

  ships are fined for discharging fuel
• why is waste so bad in Rio?

  many favelas are on steep slopes with few proper roads so waste collection is difficult. Waste is dumped and pollutes the water system
• what solutions have been put in place to reduce waste pollution in Rio?


  a power plant has been built- it consumes 30 tonnes of rubbish per day and produces enough electricity to power 1000 homes

  5km of new sewage pipes have been installed
• what is a favela like?

  squatter settlements/slums which are illegal , people build homes on land that they do not own
• what is Rochina like?

  largest favela in Rio:

  90% of houses are built with bricks , electricity, running water and sewage systems. Has bars, travel agents ,shops, schools, health facilities and a university
• is crime a problem in favelas?

  yes: high murder rate of 20 per 1000 and drug gangs dominate favelas
• what does an infant mortality rate of 50 per 1000 births tell us about access to health care in favelas?

  it is available and accessible
• why are favelas built on steep and inaccessible slopes and why is this a problem?

  it is cheap and no one wants to live there. it is a problem because heavy rain causes landslides
• what is a site and service scheme?

  the local authority provides land and services for residents to build homes
• the Favela Bairro Project has improved the lives of many people in Complexo de Alemano, in Rio's North Zone. How has this been achieved?

  -Paved roads

  -access to water supply

  -improved sanitation

  -cable car system

  -pacifying police unit
• why has Favela Bairro been considered a success?

  the quality of life, mobility and employment prospects of inhabitants have improved