world cities - Key terms

  • Created by: hesurman1
  • Created on: 01-06-16 15:00

Urban decline


1. DECLINE IN IDUSTRY - the movement of manufacturing overseas, industry may also move to sites outside of the city centre where rent is cheaper.

2. INCREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT - if industry declines there will be a loss of jobs and increase in unemployment. Some people with move away to find work, The jobs left behind to the unemployed people may be unskilled and low paid.

3. SHOPS AND SERVICES DECLINE - if lots of people leave the city, there will be fewer people to use the shops and services and the people who remain will have less money to spend. The shops may be forced to shut down and services go into decline.

4. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT DECLINES - as people leave they may leave empty buildings which become derelict and victim to graffiti and vandalism, recreational are neglected, as the area becomes more unnatractive it declines more as less people want to be there. 

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Push Factors: congestion in CBD, High parking costs for shoppers, high rents and running costs for shops, high cost developing sites, lack of space for expansion

Pull Factors: Cheap avaliable land, fewer building restriction, larger sites avaliable for car parks, avaliable workforce in suburbs, easier access (delivery), inreased car ownership,increased road building

PROS - local coucils sometimes invest money in city centre to attract people back, congestion decreases in city centre, out of town outlets create jobs for people living in the suburbs, retain parks built on brownfield sites are a good use of land, houses close increase in value

CONS - out of town retail centres compete with city centres and can cause urban decline, adds to congestion and noise pollution if roads are constructed

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gentrification is where wealthier people move into a run down area and regenerate it by improving the housing. It often causes social change in an area as lower income groups are replaced by wealthier people.

PROS - housing quality is improved, the value of housing increases, new businesses move in to cater for the wealthier customers, crime rates may fall, fewer derelict buildings that attract vandalism

CONS - high demand can make tennants kick out existing customers and raise rent for new customers as profit incentive, first time buyers are priced out of the area, services such as launderettes may be bought and converted into bars to cater for wealthier people, tension between locals and new residents. 

MANAGEMENT - offering a higher living wage of £9.40 for london residents to afford the higher cost of living, charities are helping to work with poor communities to increase education standards

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Key terms pt.2

Key terms pt.2

URBAN DECLINE - is when a decrease in economic activity in an urban area causes it to be run down. (D= decrease... D in industry(manufacturing overseas)->D in employment(less income)->D in shops and services(less demand)->D in physical environment(people move away) DETROIT

GENTRIFICATION - When wealthier people move into a run down area and regenerate it by improving their housing. (Harlem + islington)

PARTNERSHIP SCHEMES - involve local councils with businesses and local communities to come up with a regeneration plan for an area.(Hulme)

PROPERTY LED REGENERATION - involve building or improving property in an area to change its image and improve the local environment. These changes encourage further investment and the return of people and business. (London Docklands)

DECENTRALISATION - Retail moving to the outskirts of towns and cities (out of town retailing eg. Trafford centre)

OTHER - city centre redevelopment(Manchester Arndale), waste management(Oslo), transport(guanghzhou, freiburg)

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PULL FACTORS - the movement of people outwards leave derelict land which is cheap, Urban development corporations(UDC'S) buy land and develop it, universities are based in urban areas, young single people want to live close to work, inner city is hub for culture.

PUSH FACTORS - lack of jobs in rural areas, less culture/entertainment in rural areas, counter-urbanisation may cause high rural house prices

PROS - as people move back into the city it creates more jobs, boosts the economy, less unemployment, local schools benefit from more students, tourism may increase in the city if its more aesthetically pleasing

CONS - original residents may be on low incomes and unable to afford the rise in house prices, tension between old residents and new ones, jobs created in business may not be for the unskilled previous population, shops and services catering for new wealthier individuals not locals.

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Key terms

Key terms

MILLIONAIRE CITY - An urban area with over 1M population e.g. Tokyo

MEGA CITY - An urban area with over 10M population e.g. mumbai

WORLD CITY - A city that has global influence (centres for trade, business, culture, science) e.g. London, new york, tokyo.

URBANISATION - is the growth in the proportion of a countrys population that lives in urban areas (Mumbai + Shenzen + Lagos)

SUBURBANISATION - is the movement of people from the city centre to the outskirts or suburbs (Los Angeles)

COUNTER URBANISATION - is the movement of people from cities to rural areas ( Wrea green + UK green belts)

RE-URBANISATION - the movement of people back to the city centre (Harlem, Hulme, London docklands, liverpool)

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Sustainable transport -> Freiburg


buses are timetabled to match train times, public transport is integrated with walking and cyling rountes, 65% of the population live within 300M of a stadtburn stop, 'bike and ride' zones, whole of the city is pedestrianised, 90% of running costs are covered by the fares, incentives to use it such as high tax on fuel and discounted train tickets

68% of journeys are made on foot, bike or public transport.

the stadtburn runs every 7.5 mins

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sustainability -> waste management Freiburg

The number of landfill sites in germany fell from 50,000 in 1970 to 200 in 2015

each household has 3 bins... one for paper, one for bio-degradable and one waste bin, they also have a yellow bin liner for packaging.

the biodegradable bin is emptied once every weel and the others once every 2.

glass must be sorted by colour and deposited at community bins.


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decentralisation - Trafford centre CS

opened in 1998, used to be a brownfield site, 5 miles west from the city centre, built on 150 acres, cost 600 million to build, 5.3M people live within a 45 min drive, 30M+ people visit each year, europes largest food court of 1600, close to the m60, 11500 parking spaces, 8000 people work there, 40 busses to the centre an hour

bad stuff - 37% of shops vacant in altricham (13% is national average) urban decline, polution, congestion.

Good - consumer welfare, work experience, employment, economic benefits

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Urbanisation is caused by rural urban migration and a naturally increasing population. Young people move to cities looking for work, settle + kids = increase in population.

Rural urban migration takes place due to push (away from rural)and pull (attract to urban)factors.

PUSH FACTORS - Human activity can cause desertification (unfertile+ unproductive land people move away), conflict in rural areas, natural disasters such as flooding, mechanisation of agriculture means less people needed, change in land use (farming to solar/hydro electric)

PULL FACTORS - more jobs, better paid jobs in urban areas, better access to health and education services, family aspect, better perception of quality of life

IMPACTS - homelessnes, slums, no access to public services/basics, increase pressure on public services, decrease in living standards

MANAGEMENT - building new housing, improving services, redevelopment, improving public transport

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PUSH FACTORS - many people move out of urban areas the escape the air and noise pollution, suburbs and city centres often have congestion and parking issues, as suburban areas become more popular house prices rise-> better value for money in rural areas.

PULL FACTORS - bigger housing with gardens, better for family life with open space and quiet, high speed internet so people can still communicate with the city, technological improvements meaning businesses can locate in the country, increase car ownership makes it easy

PROS - local rural places can see an increase in business, existing houses are renovated, can increase threshold population for services and kids keep schools running.

CONS - housing development can impact character of local area, rural shops may close as people shop in the city, rural roads cant cope with the additional traffic, schools may close if the demographic is of old people and not young, there is more demand for housing so house prices increase-> pricing out locals

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Redevelopment of urban centres CS - Liverpool

Liverpool One and Albert docks (Brief)

Key themes - Shopping (range, big brands, layout), Culture/heritage (Beatles,football,museums,echo arena), Tourism (big name hotels such as Hilton), Security and safety (cctv throughout city centre) Services sector (booming in cbd ), 24 Hour city (bars, clubs, restaurant)


Pull factors - covered outdoor shopping area, competitive offers on 'city breaks'


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Regeneration (partnership scheme) CS - Hulme

Partnership schemes involve local councils working in harmony with local residents in order to achieve improved living conditions, improve the economy, social aspects and the surrounding local environment,

In the 19th and early 20th century Hulme provided housin for the people working in manchesters industries. it was poor multi-story cresent based housing with huge social and crime issues.

In 1992, the hulme city challenge partnership was formed, manchester city council worked with private companies to design a 37.5M regeneration package for the area. 

WHAT IT ACHIEVED - tower blocks demolished-> new houses built with terraces and community garden areas, shopping area developed to boost local economy, creation of the zion area(arts and culture to attract new people), the creation of Hulme park to provide a social area for children and to promote community cohesion, improving transport links to the area so people could easily commute to work.

PROS - it made it more attractive to live (3.3% rise in population), 400M of investment provided jobs (unemployment in 1989=33%, in 2010=6%)

CONS - Hulme is still a poor area (47.5% of pop live in social housing), increase house prices meaning unnafordable for locals, high unemployment compared to manchester

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Gentrification CS - Islington

Islington is a borough in north london, consisting of large terraced houses. In the 19th century the rail network expanded meaning that the rich people that used to live there moved to the suburbs to commut into work (suburbanisation). Poor people moved in and couldnt afford to maintain the standard of housing so the area became run down. In the 60's the middle class began to buy houses (RE-urbanisation) due to:

An increase in jobs in the service sector where workers tended to be young, well paid and work long hours so they wanted to live close to the centre, islington is well connected via the angel underground station, houses are large and cheaper than in wealthy areas so people could do them up to their taste, once the process had began more people moved there creating a snowball effect

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UK Green Belt CS


The rural-urban fringe is the boundary zone outside the urban area proper where ruraland urban land uses intermix. It is an area of transition from agricultural and other rural land uses to urban use. Located well within the urban sphere of influence the fringe is characterised by a wide variety of land use including dormitory settlements housing middle-income commuters who work in the main urban area. Over time the characteristics of the fringe change from largely rural to largely urban. Suburbanisation takes place at the urban boundary of rural-urban fringe.

Londons Metropolitan green belt is 500,000 hectares. 14 uk green belts that cover 13% of uk land.

According to the NPPF, there are five stated purposes of including land within the green belt: To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas.To prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another.To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns.To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.

Once an area of land has been defined as green belt, the stated opportunities and benefits include:Providing opportunities for access to the open countryside for the urban population.Providing opportunities for outdoor sport and outdoor recreation near urban areas.The retention of attractive landscapes and the enhancement of landscapes, near to where people live.Improvement of damaged and derelict land around towns.The securing of nature conservation interests.The retention of land in agricultural, forestry and related uses.

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Urban decline CS - Detroit

The economy was dependant on the motor industries with TNC's such as ford having their HQ there. When outsourcing and international competition came more into play it let to car manufacturers such as ford demanding less staff, resulting in mass unemployment as the labour force of detriot was dependant on a single industry.

IMPACTS - " the white flight" in the 60's the city lost over 60%of its population as the white middle class fled due to a deteriorating city and to find work else where, unemployment rate of 23%-> lower tax revenue and high benefit payments leading to poor society and low standard of living creating a cycle of crime for people to survive poverty,2/3rds of the ciys parks have been permanently shut down, the police department has been cut by over 40% in the last decade, has turned into the murder capital of the USA, massive drug issue with 70% of crime in the city being drug related in 2010, led to URBAN DECAY abandoned houses make up for more than 50% of residential homes in large parts of the city.


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Property led regeneration CS - London docklands


The LDDC was at work for 17 years. In its final annual report in 1998 it headlined its achievements as follows: 
·        £1.86 billion in public sector investment 
·        £7.7 billion in private sector investment 
·        450ha of land sold for development 
·        144km of new and improved roads 
·        the construction of the Docklands Light Railway 
·        2.3kmsq of commercial/industrial floorspace built
·        750ha of derelict land reclaimed 
·        24,000 new homes built 
·        2,700 businesses trading 
·        contributions to 5 new health centres and the redevelopment of 6 more 
·        funding towards 11 new primary schools, 2 secondary schools, 3 post-16 colleges and 9 vocational training centres 
·        94 awards for architecture, conservation and landscaping 
·        85,000 people now at work in London Dockland

For every pound of public sector money, there where ten pounds of private sector money.

SUCESS- Large benefit with minor gov intervention, jons, housing, social, aesthetics

FAILURE - jobs dont suit the skills of locals, housing too expensive, overcrowding

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PUSH FACTORS - some gousing in the innercity is poor quality, governments often provide homes outside the city centre, deindustrialisation, city centre decline, unnafordable housing.

PULL FACTORS - more relaxed planning laws outside the centre(easier to build), improvements in public transport and increased car ownership, decentralisation of retailers.

IMPACTS ON CENTRE - decline and increase in derelict properties, as businesses leave unemployment increases leaving lower living standards and poverty, can lead to social economic segregation as rich move leaving poor and foreign immigrants, people still commute to work meaning more pollution and congestion.

IMPACTS ON SUBURBS - new housing built on green belts (damaging environment), more concrete meaning more surface run off leading to flooding, congestion and air pollution.

MANAGEMENT - redevelopment of brownfield sites, strict greenbelt, charging congestion zone, improve flood defence schemes. 

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Urbanisation CS- Mumbai (Dharavi)

Mumbai (India) is an economic hub of india, contributing 10% of all factory employment and 40% of indias foreign trade. Is also indias financial centre. Mumbai is key for TNC'S basing call centres there due to well educated, english speaking graduates and low wages. this is known as outsourcing. Population in 1970 was 5M in 2010 was 15M

RAPID URBANISATION DUE TO - higher perceived standard of living, rural to urban due to availability of services, farming is low paid so people try to make it in the city.

IMPACTS - poor living conditions and open sewers throughout Dharavi leading to health risks, health care cannot reach the new population-> public health care only reaches 30% of the urban poor-> high infant mortality rate, water has to be rationed in dry years due to excess demand, road network carries millions of people each day causing congestion and air pollution, increasing population = more waste -> waste is burnt causing respiratory problems.

MANAGEMENT - in 2004 the indian gov announced plans for a redevelopment project including new housing and upgrading services to the area (residents dont like this as it will destroy the community spirit), Slum Sanitation Project by NGO'S built 330 new communal toilet blocks in dharavi, gov has made rainwater harvesting systems compulsory on new builds, people use alternative forms of transport such as scooters to avoid congestion, the public transport system is being upgraded 140km of line to be open by 2021.

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Suburbanisation CS - Los Angeles

Causes of growth:Home to TV and film industry, so workers gave higher paid jobs.Higher disposable incomes means that car ownerships increases so commute to work.Other services locate here as people an afford to use the service.Higher incomes means people want larger houses and gardens and garages for family.Increased IT technology allows people to work from home.Can afford to provide children with private education so don’t have to live in catchment areas.Better quality of houses means a better standard of living.Only 7.8% in Beverly Hills do not own cars.Certain races forced out to migration of another race causes sub-urbanisationE.g Compton is a poorer district where 28% do not own cars, populated with Hispanics. When the Hispanic people moved into Compton, the previous race, of white ethnic background moved out. Causes LA to spread more out = Urban Sprawl

Problems:The movement of people and excessive amounts of sub-urbanisation causes urban sprawl.More congestion of cars travelling inner city.Pollution: air, noise and visual.Higher crime rates in poorer district e.g Compton.More people have moved and located on the San Andreas Fault line which means more people at risk of earthquake.60 people were killed in 1994 earthquake, 6.7 on Richter Scale.Shortage of houses.Urban sprawl, loss of rural areas, country side and villages. Social segregation, all wealthy in suburbs and poor are trapped.

OTHER - 10 million car owners creates emmissions and urban smog. Creation of a 'Donut' and adge cities -> as the rich move away from the centre to suburbs it leaves poor ethnic minorities which results in less spending there on services and creates a downward spiral of poverty and crime, WATER is piped to LA from 350km away in canals, 50% of water is lost via evaporation before it even gets to LA, WASTE 24M people produce 50,000 tonnes of waste a day, ENERGY in 2010 record heatwave temperatures 45c caused blackouts as power stations were unable to cope withthe energy demands.

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Counter urbanisation CS Burton in Kendal

counter urbanisation = The village off hot fuzz/ league of gentlemen

generic e.g. increase house prices, lack of community spirit, higher perceived standard of living , has become a dormitory village, loss of local business ( bakers, hair dresser, newsagent,etc.), poor transport services as people commute via car so no demand for busses, increase in population but decrease in activity, housing is inaproprite for the area, conflict of locals vs newcomers, new comers boost evening facilities such as bars. 

Blag statistics as long as beleivable e.g. 59% of burton residents work at least 10 miles from the village.

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