Types of urbanisation

• Suburbanisation is the movement of people from city centres to the outskirts

  This is happening in advanced countries
• suburbanisation push factors

  1. urban areas are overcrowded and polluted
  2. high crime rates
  3. little green ‘natural’ spaces
  4. deindustrialisation in city centres leads to people having to leave cities in search of employment in new industrial areas
  5. unemployment increases in the city so people have less money to spend there —> local services close
• suburbanisation pull factors

  1. lower population density in suburbs
  2. more relaxed planning laws —> easier to build houses
  3. improvements in public transport and car ownership means people can commute
  4. rents are cheaper
• suburbanisation social consequences

  • city centres become abandoned and derelict
  • Wealthier people move to suburbs, so poorer people are left in the centres, leading to economic segregation
• suburbanisation economic consequences

  1. city centres left deserted after work hours, and local services may struggle for customers and close
  2. businesses leave, so unemployment increases, leading to lower living standards and poverty
• suburbanisation environmental consequences

  1. new houses in countryside affects wildlife habitats
  2. more ground is concreted over, increasing surface run-off and flood risks
  3. more people drive into the city —> pollution
• counter-urbanisation is the movement of people way from large urban areas to smaller settlements and rural areas
• counter-urbanisation push factors

  1. congestion and traffic
  2. housing is expensive
• counter-urbanisation pull factors

  1. houses in rural areas have more outside space
  2. improved communication services means people can work form home
  3. improvements in communication services means companies no longer need to be in cities and are in rural areas where land is cheaper, creating employment
  4. increased car ownership
• social consequences of counter-urbanisation

  1. House prices increase and younger people may not be able to buy a house so the population is dominated by older people
  2. Rural roads and infrastructure may struggle to cope
• economic consequences of counter-urbanisation

  1. services in rural areas see an increase in business as residents are retired/professionals with high disposable incomes
  2. farmers can make money by selling unwanted land
• environmental consequences of counter-urbanisation

  1. Commuting —> pollution
  2. new housing estates affect wildlife habitats
• re-urbanisation is the movement of people back into urban areas
• greenfield sites and sites that have never been built on

  brownfield sites have been developed before but left derelict
• push factors of re-urbanisation

  1. lack of jobs in rural areas
  2. rural areas have fewer leisure/entertainment facilities
  3. counter-urbanisation may cause high house prices in rural areas
• pull factors of re-urbanisation

  1. people attracted to city as brownfield sites are re-developed
  2. universities in urban areas
  3. young people want to live close to work in areas with good entertainment services
• economic consequences of re-urbanisation

  1. boosts economy of city as services open
  2. tourism increases and city centre is improved
• social consequences of re-urbanisation

  1. jobs are created, lowering unemployment
  2. schools have an increased number of students
  3. original residents in the area being re-urbanised after often low income and cannot afford rising rent and may have to move
• environmental consequences of re-urbanisation

  1. redeveloping brownfield sites instead of greenfield sites in the countryside protects wildlife