Human geography paper 2
Contemporary Urban Environments
Urbanisation = the growth in proportion of people living in urban areas
Suburbanisation = the migration of people from city centre to outskirts of city
Counter-urbanisation = the movement of people out of the city surrounding villages and
rural areas
Urban resurgence = the movement of people back to the city centre
e.g., Ubisoft
- a large computer animation firm that decided to locate in the Mile-End neighbourhood
centre of Montreal (second largest city)
- chose to locate in an old textile factory in the downtown district of Canada
- centre of a 24-hour city
- easy to access
Urbanisation has led to emergence of megacities
Mega city = an urban area with over 10 million people living there e.g., Istanbul, turkey
- Megacities develop because of rural – urban migration and natural increase
- Migrants tend to move to large cities that are experiencing rapid economic growth,
so their population increases rapidly
- mega cities dominate the national and regional economies of countries. This is
because companies choose to build their headquarters in cities with a high number
of skilled workers and good transport links
- mega cities have people living at opposite extremes. Some people already rich while
others live in extreme poverty
World cities are global centres for finance business and culture
A world city is a city that has political and financial influence over the whole world
- they are generally home to world-renowned universities, and science and innovation
centres
- centres of culture
- attract high numbers of people from other countries including migrants, business
visitors, students and tourists
- drive regional, national and global economies
- agglomeration economies = a localized economy in which a large number of
companies, services, and industries exist in close proximity to one another and benefit
from the cost reductions and gains in efficiency that result from this proximity
-
e.g., Shanghai is a world city
- east coast of china
- benefits economically from its large size
- migration – shanghai has more than 100,000 graduates per year from 60 higher
education institutions. This pool of enterprise and skills is added to each year from
overseas workers and students
, - production – a line of production centres west of shanghai. These cities support
Shanghai’s export-orientated economy
- political decision making – in 1984, the Chinese government set up the city as one of
14 open cities. As a result, economic and technological development zones were
established and there has been huge inward investment
- business – shanghai attracts a disproportionate amount of overseas investment. This
has resulted in the continued growth of the city.
Urban change
Deindustrialisation
Factors that led to deindustrialisation
- reduced need for labour – new technologies, rapid mechanisation
- reduced demand – household incomes increased; individuals tended to spend
income on services rather than on manufactured goods. Lowered demand for
manufactured goods
Contemporary Urban Environments
Urbanisation = the growth in proportion of people living in urban areas
Suburbanisation = the migration of people from city centre to outskirts of city
Counter-urbanisation = the movement of people out of the city surrounding villages and
rural areas
Urban resurgence = the movement of people back to the city centre
e.g., Ubisoft
- a large computer animation firm that decided to locate in the Mile-End neighbourhood
centre of Montreal (second largest city)
- chose to locate in an old textile factory in the downtown district of Canada
- centre of a 24-hour city
- easy to access
Urbanisation has led to emergence of megacities
Mega city = an urban area with over 10 million people living there e.g., Istanbul, turkey
- Megacities develop because of rural – urban migration and natural increase
- Migrants tend to move to large cities that are experiencing rapid economic growth,
so their population increases rapidly
- mega cities dominate the national and regional economies of countries. This is
because companies choose to build their headquarters in cities with a high number
of skilled workers and good transport links
- mega cities have people living at opposite extremes. Some people already rich while
others live in extreme poverty
World cities are global centres for finance business and culture
A world city is a city that has political and financial influence over the whole world
- they are generally home to world-renowned universities, and science and innovation
centres
- centres of culture
- attract high numbers of people from other countries including migrants, business
visitors, students and tourists
- drive regional, national and global economies
- agglomeration economies = a localized economy in which a large number of
companies, services, and industries exist in close proximity to one another and benefit
from the cost reductions and gains in efficiency that result from this proximity
-
e.g., Shanghai is a world city
- east coast of china
- benefits economically from its large size
- migration – shanghai has more than 100,000 graduates per year from 60 higher
education institutions. This pool of enterprise and skills is added to each year from
overseas workers and students
, - production – a line of production centres west of shanghai. These cities support
Shanghai’s export-orientated economy
- political decision making – in 1984, the Chinese government set up the city as one of
14 open cities. As a result, economic and technological development zones were
established and there has been huge inward investment
- business – shanghai attracts a disproportionate amount of overseas investment. This
has resulted in the continued growth of the city.
Urban change
Deindustrialisation
Factors that led to deindustrialisation
- reduced need for labour – new technologies, rapid mechanisation
- reduced demand – household incomes increased; individuals tended to spend
income on services rather than on manufactured goods. Lowered demand for
manufactured goods
