GEOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT- LOWER 6

For your case study of a rural settlement or rural area:

(a) Describe the issues of its development and growth (or decline) [7]

(b) Explain the issues described in (a) [8]

(c) Assess the effectiveness of the responses to the issues. [15]

[Total: 30]

a) The Isle of Purbeck is located in the south of England in Dorset. There are several

issues but the main one is regarding employment. As a large number of young people

are migrating out of the area in search of employment, the population is

substantially older than the rest of England, with 21.77% of the population over 65 in

the Isle of Purbeck versus 15.89% in the rest of England. Other issues include the

cost of housing rising exponentially in the past few years; the quantity and quality of

services in the Isle of Purbeck has seen a sharp decline in recent years and public

transport in the whole area of the Isle of Purbeck is incredibly poor as a result of

limited investment from the government because of the rural-urban migration of the

working class.

b) The Isle of Purbeck is located in the south of England in Dorset. Its area is

approximately 200km2 and the south and east of the area are surrounded by sea

(the English Channel) and the north is divided by the River Frome and Poole Harbour.

This makes it a popular area for beach users, diving, fishing and sailing. Several

factors have led to an n economic decline in the rural area. The mechanisation of
 agriculture means less people are needed to work on the land. Raw materials which

may have been mined are becoming exhausted, so mines are closing. Imported food

and raw materials also decreases the demand from the countryside. The cost of

housing in the area has risen exponentially in the past few years, thanks largely to

migrants, second home owners & retirees. Related problems, such as traffic

congestion and increased car journeys are created. There is now more competition

from abroad - for example lamb can be imported at a competitive price from New

Zealand. As agricultural income falls, farms diversify - into providing tourist

accommodation, for instance. This is successful in some areas which attract tourists,

but is limited in many areas as tourism is also very seasonal in the UK. The less

accessible (remote) rural areas have a decreasing population because in these less

accessible rural areas many of the younger population move out. Push factors for the

young people are the shortage of jobs and a lack of social life. However the rural

areas which are accessible to urban areas have an increasing rural population - one

reason is because of counter urbanisation. The depopulation in remote areas means

the local services decline. Independent stores and post offices become less profitable

because of rural depopulation. Bus services may decline leaving the elderly cut off.

The changes in the less accessible (remote) rural areas leads to a cycle of decline.

c) Urbanization is fast becoming one of the most topical issues around the globe. This is

partly due to the rapid population growth of cities and big towns since the 1950s,

and its associated problems. Currently, more than half of the world’s population live

in urban centres, and it is projected that by 2050, this figure will rise to 75% (UN

DESA, 2015). The growth in urban populations has been linked largely to migration. .

Sustainable rural development is vital to the economic, social and environmental

viability of nations. As a result of the decline in the isle of Purbeck, the Purbeck

Community Partnership has is engaged in implementing a number of schemes which

aim at enabling rural people to improve their living standards.

Firstly, assist in funding with farmers in order to reduce unemployment. A healthy

and dynamic agricultural sector is an important foundation of rural development,

generating strong linkages to other economic sectors. Rural livelihoods are enhanced

through effective participation of rural people and rural communities in the

management of their own social, economic and environmental objectives. Here is

considerable potential for rural job creation not only in farming, agro processing and

rural industry.

Again, The PCP can also give cheaper bus fares to schooling children (under the

age of 18) to encourage the use of public transport. Public transport is a very

important factor in the development of any country. Every government should

ensure that it has a well-developed public transport system, this is due to the fact

that public transportation helps in solving some of the challenges. For instance, it

contributes to the creation of jobs for a large percentage of the people in Purbeck,

thus leading to improvement in the quality of life. In order for the public transport

system to be effective in moving the economy towards development. By

implementing public transportation in rural areas, economic growth is enhanced in

many ways. Implementing the system is that it increases the number of customers

who access the different number of services (‘Public transportation on the move in

rural America’). Some of such services include the shopping malls and also the

medical facilities. It also opens up the local rural society to increased opportunities,

especially the youth, in terms of training. Other services that are opened up include
the accessibility to tourism. According to Dennis, rural public transportation is also

cost-efficient. This makes it very important for the government to implement an

effective rural public transport system. By developing the rural public transport

system, most of the rural regions are connected to the urban centres. This means

that economic activities in rural areas are improved.

Lastly, the PCP will also deal with the housing crises by investigating opportunities

with the housing companies and encouraging private landlords with the incentives to

increase affordable housing opportunities for young people. A community should

consider affordable housing for positive outcomes such as education, good health

increases, and economic growth. The development of affordable housing increases

spending and employment in the surrounding economy.

To conclude, most of the actions taken are seen to possibly be effective and should

be done properly to encourage younger people to stay and discourage rural to urban

migration. If Purbeck is developed more, it would favour the government as more

people are moving there and it boosts tourism.