Geography - Human

• Near Places


  Places that are close to us. Near places are subjective.
• Far Places


  Places that are distant. Both near and far places may have a more emotional meaning.
• Experienced Places


  Places that we have actually visited. Some people would argue that you have to visit a place to create an emotional attachment to it.
• Media Places


  Places we have not visited, but may have learned about through media representations.
• Functions of a location

  • Administrative
  • Commercial
  • Retail
  • Industrial
• Insiders


  People who feel at home within a place. They may be born there, hold citizenship, be fluent in the local language, and conform with social norms and behavioural traits.
• Outsiders


  The opposite of insiders. Factors like being an ethnic minority or immigrant family can contribute to someone feeling like an outsider in a place.
• In the UK there is a pattern whereby ethnic groups cluster in certain areas, potentially because people feel more at home surrounded by others sharing the same ethnicity.
• Employment Sectors


  • Primary
  • Secondary
  • Tertiary
  • Quaternary
• Clarke-Fisher Model


  Describes the stages a country may progress through as they become more economically developed: Pre-industrial, Industrial stage, Post-industrial stage.
• Place Character


  The specific qualities, attributes or features of a location that make it unique. Affected by endogenous and exogenous factors.
• Endogenous Factors


  • Land Use
  • Topography
  • Physical Geography
  • Infrastructure
  • Demographic Characteristics
  • Built Environment
  • Location
  • Economic Characteristics
• Exogenous Factors


  • People
  • Money and Investment
  • Resources
  • Ideas
• Causes of changes in place characteristics

  • Physical
  • Infrastructure
  • Competition
  • Role of planning
  • Economy
• Index of Multiple Deprivation

  Measures: Income, Employment, Education, Health, Crime, Barrier to Housing and Services, Living Environment.
• Causes of inequality


  • Occupational Hazards
  • Income
  • Life Expectancy and General Health
  • Educational Achievement
• Regeneration Strategies


  • Construction of infrastructure
  • Retail-led regeneration
  • Marketing heritage and culture
  • Construction of housing and development of new settlements
  • Sustainable communities
• Infrastructure Projects


  Generally very expensive and require government funding. Most are public-private partnerships.
• Government Departments Involved in Regeneration

  • Local councils
  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport
  • DEFRA
• Examples of infrastructure projects in the UK


  • HS2
  • Expansion of Heathrow Airport
• HS2


  Proposed high speed rail network which would connect London to Birmingham and then to Manchester and Leeds. The project is expected to cost £43 billion, but so far the project has gone over budget. Its aim is to reduce travel times and improve connectivity between the North and South of England. An estimated 60,000 jobs are expected to be created.
• Expansion of Heathrow Airport

  Building a third runway, expected to cost just under £20 billion (which would be privately funded) and potentially create 70,000 jobs. However, many MPs, local residents and environmental NGOs oppose the project as it will increase traffic travelling through Heathrow and pollution.
• Suburban new-builds


  With a rising population, the demand for housing is increasing beyond the supply of houses for sale or rent. There is inequality in opportunities to access housing and a limited supply of social and affordable housing despite a growing proportion of the population who need it.
• Reasons for lack of social housing

  • Lack of social housing - after Margaret Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' scheme large amounts of social housing was bought by their occupants for considerably less than their market value. Millions of houses were sold under this scheme. However, too few houses were built to replace them
  • Large numbers of empty, derelict properties - especially in the inner city, where brownfield land is more expensive to develop than greenfield. Lots of private companies and investors buy this land and sit on it until either the land price increases or they get planning permission to build on it
  • Overseas investors buying properties in the UK has seen house prices rise. Investor visas attract wealthy individuals (such as Oligarchs from Russia - see Globalisation detailed notes) who can afford multiple high value properties in elite locations. Many properties are left empty or are rented out
  • Increasing numbers of affluent people have bought second properties to rent out as an investment. This increase in buy-to-let properties has reduced the number of properties available to buy which has increased property prices and also the price of rent. This is especially difficult for first-time buyers
• Recent frameworks developed by the government to increase supply


  Setting a target number of houses for local councils to provide. This has seen rapid new-build developments in the aim of regenerating sub-urban towns to encourage migration and economic growth.
• Characteristics of suburban new-build developments


  • Often in the suburbs of towns and cities, due to large, cheap expanse of land available whilst in close proximity to the job opportunities in the city centre
  • Developers are obliged to provide a variety of houses, so these developments contain a mix of properties to buy, rent or shared-ownership of a variety of sizes
  • These new large estates provide a large volume of new houses, but often don't build new services or facilities for this new settlement (e.g. grocers, doctors, etc). This can put stress on existing services - such as schools - who must try to cater for an influx of schoolchildren to educate
  • There is heavy criticism about the development's sustainability - habitat loss and environmental degradation of greenfield land, air and noise pollution for locals by lorries, encouraging outward migration from rural regions to suburbs
• Gentrification

  In recent years, the benefits of gentrification and high-value properties has encouraged more inner-city development projects by constructors. The high cost of clearing and preparing brownfield sites (land already used for residential or industrial purposes) can be compensated by building high-value apartments.
• Trickle-down theory


  The investor will spend money in services and local businesses, who directly benefit from increased sales. The workers may spend their increased disposable income on other local businesses, therefore increased revenue may be shared between multiple businesses. Both the investor and businesses will pay more tax, so the local council can spend more on services (schools, doctors, infrastructure) and improvements (more frequent road sweeps, improving local parks) from which everyone in the local area benefits.
• Examples of cultural regeneration projects


  • The regeneration of East London in the aim of hosting the international Olympics and Paralympics, creating high quality sports facilities
  • Many retail parks are built on disused industrial land, such as the Trafford Centre (Manchester), Salford Quays or Liverpool Water
  • The rebranding of some declining cities - Belfast, Glasgow, Blackpool - to attract investment, tourism and inward migration
• Rural regeneration


  Rural regions can be some of the most deprived areas in the UK due to the lack of opportunities for young people in education and employment, social isolation of minority groups and physical isolation from services and public transport. Industries which were once the centre of a town's economy such as coal mines have been shut down leaving towns to enter into a spiral of decline.
• Examples of rural regeneration

  • Bronte Country - Rural villages with ties to English Literature and heritage receive large national and international tourists, which can benefit local businesses (shops, accommodation, cafes) and local people (employment opportunities)
  • The Eden Project - The Eden Project is a sustainable development in Cornwall with the aim of attracting tourists and providing employment and economic opportunities for local Cornish businesses. Built from an abandoned clay pit, the Eden Project has contributed £700 million in local economic growth and will soon provide renewable geothermal energy for 7000 local homes
  • Kielder Forest - This lakeside retreat has developed a campsite, rented accommodation and an astronomical observatory, which attracts tourists all year round (winter is the best time for stargazing!). However, Kielder can become snowed-in and attractions closed due to adverse weather conditions
• Rural diversification


  Rural agriculture may diversify too - providing specialised produce or outdoor adventure activities. For example, farms may have a farm shop, a Maize Maze, paintballing, or other outside activities.
• National governance - policy-making

  The national government can change its policies regarding migration, capital markets, encouraging businesses etc. Policy changes can strengthen or create uncertainty for the national and local economy.
• Examples of national policy changes

  • Migration - A government may encourage international migration to fill gaps in employment or attract wealthy individuals through Investor visa schemes. It may be necessary for a government to restrict migration to avoid strain on public services
  • Deregulation of Markets - By deregulating, a government removes its control over a particular industry or service. This may mean private companies purchase previously state-owned businesses (privatisation) or sudden competition between businesses accelerates
  • Creating Business Environments - The creation of specialised industry parks can encourage businesses to move to a region or new start-up businesses. Investors may be domestic (local) or international, depending on the attraction to the region: workforce available, technology available, reputation
• Measuring success of regeneration

  The best measure of how successful a regeneration scheme has been depends on the focus of improvements. Economic regeneration can be best measured by comparing employment rates, the local economy's size, industrial productivity, before and after the scheme. Social improvements may involve increased life expectancy, literacy rates, decreased applicants for social housing, reductions in social tension or changes to lifestyle (smoking habits, obesity, type of food bought). Improvements to the living environment include reduced air pollution, abandoned land utilised or an increase in green, open spaces. The sustainability of a scheme may be measured in the volume of carbon dioxide emitted, proportion of greenfield:brownfield land used, number of jobs created, how long the scheme is expected to benefit locals.
• Regenerating places is a different type of unit to others you will study. There are concepts and knowledge to learn, but less than in other units. Changing Places is based around people and is more conceptual and contextual. Attempt to apply the concepts you learn to a place that you know. Regenerating places covers a sociology aspect of geography.
• You will study at least one local place where you live or an area or have conducted fieldwork. You will also need a contrasting place which has ideas of local, regional, national and international connections. These two places should form case studies.
• Information to include in a case study on a place

  • Location
  • Name of place
  • Geographical Location?
  • How far from the nearest city?
  • Unique Features - Any geographical features (forests, mountains, river) that could isolate the rural region?
  • Economy - What kind of work are locals employed in? Is there seasonal work? Unemployment levels, Are there problems associated with working conditions in the area? (e.g. manual labour, limited progression opportunities, long hours indoors etc)
  • Social - Population composition, Any social issues - deprivation, low achievement levels, tensions, Are houses affordable in general? Is there a variety of houses, for a variety of situations?
  • Regeneration Strategy - What issue does the project aim to solve? Who is involved in implementing the regeneration? What are the opinions of local stakeholders? How successful has the scheme been, based on measures? (Life expectancy, literacy rates, crime rate, economic productivity, proportion of used to derelict land)