RIVER ENVIROMENT

Hydrological cycle:
 Water constantly being recycled as it moves through.
 It’s a CLOSED SYSTEM – water neither enters nor leaves the earth.
 The amount of water remains exactly the same.
Stores:
 The atmosphere – as water vapor or droplets in clouds.
 The land – as livers, lakes and reservoirs.
 The sea – as water in seas or icebergs.
Flows and transfers:
 Evaporation – Water turning into vapors.
 Transpiration – The evaporation of water from plants.
 Condensation – Water vapors cooling down and turning into water.
 Precipitation – Rain, hail or snow falling into the earth.
 Overland flow/runoff – The amount of water that runs off in the land.
 Infiltration –Water soaks or filters into the soil.
 Throughflow – Water moves downhill through the soil.
 Groundwater flow – Water moving slowly through the soil and porous rocks to move back
towards the sea.
 Evapotranspiration -- Water vapor is evaporated from the trunk and leaves of trees and other
vegetation, back into the atmosphere.
The drainage basin system:
 It’s an OPEN SYSTEM – it has external inputs and outputs.
 The amount of water in the basin varies over time.

Some inputs and outputs of the drainage basin:

INPUTS OUTPUTS
 Energy from the sun.  The rivers discharge.
 Precipitation.  The water in its basin from which
 Water from tributary drainage evaporation and transpiration
basins. takes place.

Drainage basins can be of at least 3 broad types:

1. Collect and deliver water to the sea.
2. Parts of much larger drainage basin.
3. Do not lead to the open sea.

Characteristics of the drainage basin

 Drainage basin - the area of land drained by a river.
 Catchment area - the area within the drainage basin.
 Watershed - the edge of highland surrounding a drainage basin which marks the boundary
between two drainage basins.
 Source - the beginning or start of a river.
 Confluence - the point at which two rivers or streams join.
 Tributary - a stream or smaller river which joins a larger stream or river.
 Mouth - the point where the river comes to the end, usually when entering a sea.
What is a drainage network?
The system of surface and underground channels that collects and transports the precipitation falling on
the drainage basin.

Factors affecting the runoff

o Rock type
o Land use
o Channel network destiny
o Relief
o Temperature
o Precipitation

Features of a drainage basin

 Size
 Rock type
 Land use
 Shape
 relief

River regimes and hydrograph:

Storm hydrographs:
Shows the variation in a river discharge over a period of time.
River discharge:
The volume of water passing through a river at a given time.
River regime:
The seasonal variations in the discharge of a river.

Storm hydrograph:

We have two types of flows:

1-Base flow – the normal discharge of the river.
2-Storm flow – the additional discharge of the river as a result of the rainstorm.
Factors that affect river regimes:
1. amount of rainfall – the more the rain the faster it will reach to the river
2. temperature – the cooler the temperature the slower it will reach to the river
3. steep slope – the steeper the slope the faster it will reach the river
4. rock type – impermeable rocks will allow water to flow easily where permeable rocks wont
5. vegetation – plants and trees absorb water and so they slow the flow of the water
6. land use – bare soil and rocks speed up runoff and reduce the time lag
7. human interventions – dams and reservoirs are an obvious form of intervention in river regimes

Fluvial process:
The processes at work are: Erosion, transport, deposition, weathering, mass movement.

1-Weathering
It’s the breakdown of rocks by natural processes acting on rocks.
Types of weathering:
 physical weathering –it’s done by changes in temperatures and the freezing and thawing of rain
in the rock cracks.
 chemical weathering – it’s done by acidic rain seeping into porous rocks.
 Biological weathering – the roots of plants growing into cracks in the rock causing it to split
apart.
2-Mass movement
The movement of materials down a slope due to gravity.
Types of mass movement:
 Slumping – this occurs when the bottom of the valley side slope is cut away by the river flowing
at its base.
 Soil creep – weathered materials move slowly down slope under the influences of gravity.

3-Erosion
The weathering away and removal of materials by a moving force.
Types of erosions:
 Hydraulic action – water wearing away the river bed and bank.
 Abrasion – picking up sediments and rubbing them against rocks in beds and banks
 Corrosion / solution – minerals in the rocks forming the sided of the river channel dissolved by
the water flowing past.
 Attrition – where particles carried by rivers are worn down as they collide with each other so
they become smaller, smoother and rounder.

4-Transport
The movement of material by the river.
Types of transport:
 Traction – large boulders rolled on the bed.
 Saltation – small boulders bounced along the bed.
 Suspension – lighter material carried along by river flow.
 Solution – material dissolved in the water.
5-Deposition
A process where sediments are dropped by the river
 The slip off slope: the inner part of the river where deposition occurs.
 River cliff: the outer part of the river.

River landforms
A river's features will change as it moves from the upper course to the lower course.

1-Upper course
In the upper course river features include steep-sided V-shaped valleys, interlocking spurs, rapids,
waterfalls and gorges.

V-shaped valley

Waterfall

Interlocking spurs
Waterfalls
 Waterfalls can usually be found in the upper and middle course of a river.
 They are found when a river runs over alternating layers of hard and soft rock.
 As the water moves over the hard rock it will be able to erode any exposed softer rock.
 The erosion processes of hydraulic action, abrasion and attrition will work together to erode the
rock – causing the waterfall to start to move backwards and leave a steep-sided gorge.

Interlocking spurs
 In the upper course the river does not have a huge amount of energy to erode as it does not
have high discharge.
 When the river meets areas with harder rocks that are difficult to erode it changes direction.
 This creates something called spurs
 Where these points mesh together they are then called interlocking spurs

V-shaped valley
 As the river erodes downward the sides of the valley are exposed to freeze-thaw weathering
which loosens the rocks and steepens the valley sides.
 Deposition and freeze-thaw weathering helps in breaking down of the rock creating a steep
sided bend.
 The rock which have fallen into the river helps the process of corrosion which leads to further
erosion.

Gorge
 Gorges are formed as a result of a change in rock type at a waterfall.

Meanders
 water flows through the river eroding and undercutting the outsides of the bend due to fast
flowing water and decreased friction.
 This forms the river cliff.
 The inside of the mend has slow flowing water due to deposition and increased friction.
 This forms a slip off slope.
 In time water eroded the bends making them widen and tighten which created the meander.

Ox-bow lake
 Overtime the meanders become wider and starts to tighten.
 As the fast flowing water erodes the river and deposition is present it comes to a points where it
undercuts the meander and separates it.
 The undercut part is then called an ox-bow lake.
Floodplains and levees
In the lower course, the river has a high volume and a large discharge. The river channel is now deep
and wide and the landscape around it is flat.
However, as a river reaches the end of its journey, energy levels are low and deposition takes place.

Floodplains
 A floodplain is the area around a river that is covered in times of flood. It is a very fertile area
due to the rich alluvium deposited by floodwaters.
 This makes floodplains a good place for agriculture.
 Every time that a river floods its banks, it will deposit more silt or alluvium on the flood plain.
 A build-up of alluvium on the banks of a river can create levees, which raise the river bank.
-

Levees
 It is the building up of materials
close to a river cliff due to flood plains.
 When a river floods most materials
will be dumped close to the river banks.
 Over time these materials build
up creating a levee.
Delta
  When a river reaches the sea the water slows down and loses the power to carry sediments.
 The sediments are dropped at the mouth of the river.
 The waves can’t carry these sediments.
 It then builds up in layers forming the delta.

Distributaries
 A branch of a river or glaciers which flows away from the main stream and doesn’t return to it.

Water uses, demand and supply:

Uses:
 Fresh water makes only 3%.
 It’s found in glaciers, ice sheets and underground.
The worlds remarkably small amount of fresh water is:
 Essential to all life
 Vital to economic development
 Unevenly distributed
Fresh water is needed for:
1. Domestic use – bathing, drinking, cooking and washing.
2. Industrial use – producing goods from steel and generating electricity.
3. Agriculture use – irritating crops and providing drinking water.
4. Leisure use – sports like fishing, sailing and watering golf courses.
All forms of water use revolve around two key elements:
1. Demand – this is the need for water for a range of uses.
2. Supply – meeting the demand for water by tapping various sources.

Demand:
Factors of rising demand:
 The continuing growth of the world’s population.
 The rising standards of living.
 The rise in agriculture productivity.
 Industrialization Is a key part of development.
Water consumption in developed and developing countries:
 Water consumption in developed countries is very high, while in developing countries is very
low.
 In developing countries, most water is used for agriculture and relatively little for industry or in
the home.
 In developed countries, it is the industry that uses most water followed by agriculture. Domestic
use is small but its greater than developing countries.

Supply:
We have three main sources for supply:
1. Rivers and lakes.
2. Reservoirs.
3. Aquifers and wells.

Sources of water pollution:

There are 3 main groups of water pollution
1. Agriculture:
 Liquid from farm silage and slurry from farm animals.
 Fertilizers seep into groundwater.
 Deforestation.
2. Industry:
 Taking water for electric power and returning it.
 Spillages from industrial plants.
 Working of metallic minerals and heavy use of water in processing ore.
3. Domestic:
 The discharge of untreated sewages
 Use of rivers for washing clothes and bathing
 Emptying highly chlorinated water.

Managing the supply of clean water:

It involves 3 main stages:
1. Collection
2. Treatment
3. Delivery

1-Collection:
The 3 main sources of water:
1. Rivers.
2. Reservoirs and lakes.
3. Aquifers and wells.

2-Treatment:
They include:
1. Chlorination – to control any biological growth.
2. Aeration – to remove dissolved iron and manganese.
3. Sedimentation – to remove suspended solids.
4. Filtration – to remove any fine sediments.
5. Disinfection – to kill bacteria.
3-Delivery:
1. Can be delivered through pipes.
2. Stand pipes in the streets.
3. In plastic bottles.

Flooding
 Flooding occurs when the amount of water moving down a river exceeds the capacity of the
rivers channel.
Causes of flooding:

Consequences:

Effects on the environment Effects on people

 Soil erosion  Loss of belongings
 Land slides  Death and injury
 Loss of wildlife habitats  Damage to property
 Destruction of settlements  Disease and stress
 Vegetation destroyed  Crops and animals lost
 Soil contamination by sewages  Disruption to transport

Control:
Flood control can involve 3 different types of action:
1. Construction -- hard engineering like building dams and flood embankments
2. Adjustment – soft engineering like restoring a river and minimize building on the flood plain.
3. Prediction – know their extent and depth

Soft engineering:
Protecting the coast by working with nature
Hard engineering:
Protecting the coast by building structures

Why is soft engineering being more environmentally friendly?

Because it has a less impact on the environment and work with the natural coastal process.

HAZARDOUS ENVIROMENT
What is a hazard?
A hazard is an event that threaten and causes damage and destruction to people’s property and
settlements.
What is a natural hazard?
A natural hazard is the one produced by environmental processes and natural events.

Why are some places more hazardous than others?

 They experience more than one type of hazard event.
 They experience hazard more frequently than others.
 The hazards are stronger and more destructive than others.

Types of natural hazards:

Geological Climatic Biological Technological

Earthquakes Storms Fires Nuclear explosion
Volcanic eruptions Floods Pests Transport accidents
Landslides Droughts Diseases Pollution
 The hazard caused by the environment: geological, climatic, biological.
 The hazards caused by humans: technological.

Tropical cyclones
What is the tropical cyclone?
A weather system with very low pressure formed over tropical seas involving strong winds and heavy
rainfall.
Which type of hazard is a tropical cyclone?
Climatic hazard
Formation of a tropical cyclone
 It needs warm water over 27 degrees to form
 Warm moist air rises and condenses releasing huge amount of energy. This powers the storm
 As the air rises it sucks in more warm moist air behind it
 The air spirals upwards rapidly which causes high winds.
 The water vapor in the air condenses as it rises forming huge clouds and heavy rainfall
 The cool and dry air falls in the center of the storm forming the eye.
Conditions to develop a tropical storm:
 Deep layer of humid and unstable air
 Supply of energy from the surface of the sea
 The sea should be the warmest
 Small changes in wind speed and direction
 Presence of the Coriolis force
What is a Coriolis force?
The force created by the earth’s rotation that deflects any object moving at the earths surface.

Characteristics of tropical storms:

  The average length is 10 days.
 They cause 3 typed of damage: strong winds, storm surges floods and torrential rain.
 The tropical storm moves westwards because wind blow from the east around the equator.
 They lose strength on land because they are powered by warm sea water.
 The eye is in the center of the storm. Here there are light winds and no clouds or rain.
 The vortex surrounds the eye. Here there are strong winds, storm clouds and heavy rainfall.
 They have very low air pressure.

Distribution:
o North America, central America, north pacific and north Atlantic they call it hurricanes.
o Western north pacific around china they call it typhoons.
o Western south pacific and Indian ocean they call it tropical storms.

Movement of the cyclone:

Southern hemisphere: clockwise
Northern hemisphere: anti clockwise
Causes of a tropical storm:
  A tropical cyclone starts when high temperature causes air to rise from the surface of the sea .
 The rising air causes a local thunderstorm
 The small storms come together and create a strong flow of warm, rapidly rising air which
produces an area of increasingly low pressure.

Parts of a tropical storm:

 The eye (the calmest place).
 The vortex (the most dangerous place).
 Edge of the storm.

The earths structure

The earth is made up of different layers:

1. The inner core is the center and the hottest part of the earth. It is a solid made from iron and
nickel with temperatures up to 5500 degrees.
2. The outer core is the layer surrounding the inner core. It is a liquid layer, also made uo of iron
and nickel.
3. The mantle is the thickest section of the earth at approximately 2900 km. the mantle is made up
of semi-molten rock called magma.

Types of boundaries:
1-Constructive boundaries/divergent plate margin:
 Where two plates move part from each other.
 Many of these are under the sea as the two
plates pull the mantle, it melts.
 This molten mantle is called magma.
 Magma erupts as liquid lava.

2-Destructive boundaries/convergent plate margin:

 Where an oceanic plate slides underneath a
Continental Plate.
 As the plate is pushed down the mantle melts
then the magma Slowly rises to the surface and
form dangerous explosive volcanoes.
 At the same time when the plates become
stuck and move Suddenly this causes the earthquake.

3-Collision boundaries:
 Where continental plates collide.
 This happen when two continental
plates are pushing together.
 Both plates buckle up forming large mountains.
 No volcano is produced but violent earthquakes
can happen.

4-Conservative boundaries:
  When two plates slide past each other.
 Suddenly the rocks break and one plate shoots
forward this movement causes powerful earthquakes

Volcanoes:
What is a volcano?
A volcano is an opening in the Earth's crust. It allows hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below
the surface.

 Magma chamber - large underground pool of magma

 Lava - magma, once it reaches the surface
 Crater - bowl-shaped basin in the top of the volcano
 Vent - central tube which magma travels through
 Secondary cones - eruptions from other vents may build up secondary cones on the flanks
 Ash, steam and gas - material thrown out by the volcano
 Volcanic bombs - larger material thrown out by the force of eruption

What causes a volcanic eruption?

  When the pressure within the magma chamber is greater than the strength of the crust, it
begins to break through.
 Magma rises to the Earth’s surface for a combination of reasons. Inside the magma chamber
there are a number of gases that are mixed with the magma. Just like a carbonated drink, the
bubbles of gas rise to the surface of the magma chamber, pushing against the Earth's crust.
 Another reason an eruption can occur is simply an overload of magma in the magma chamber.
Once the chamber is filled to capacity, an eruption is sure to occur.
How do volcanoes form? How do earthquakes form?
1-Constructive boundaries/divergent plate Earthquakes are sudden violent shaking of the
margin: ground. This happens because the earths plates are
 Where two plates move part from constantly moving.
each other. The point inside the earth’s crust where the
 Many of these are under the sea as earthquake originates from is known as the focus.
the two The earthquakes energy is released is seismic
plates pull the mantle, it melts. waves, which spread out from the focus. The
 This molten mantle is called magma. seismic waves are most powerful at the epicenter.
 Magma erupts as liquid lava. The epicenter is the point on the earth’s Surface
2-Destructive boundaries/convergent plate directly above the focus.
margin:
 Where an oceanic plate slides
underneath a
Continental Plate.
 As the plate is pushed down the
mantle melts
then the magma Slowly rises to the
surface and
form dangerous explosive volcanoes.
 At the same time when the plates
become
stuck and move Suddenly this causes
the earthquake.

Distribution:
Volcanoes: Earthquakes:

Characteristics:
Volcanic eruptions:
Volcanoes have distinctive features:
 Magma chamber – this is where the molten rock is stored beneath the ground
 Main vent – this is the channel through which magma travels to reach the earths surface
 Secondary vent – some magma may escape through the side of the volcano. Particularly if the
main vent becomes blocked.
 Crater – this is found at the top of the volcano where the magma erupts from.

Earthquakes:
 The center of the earthquake underground is called the focus
 Shockwaves travel outwards from the focus
 These are strongest close to the epicenter (the point on the surface directly above the focus)

Effects of volcanoes:
Volcanoes have a large effect on their locality. They produce ash, lava, volcanic bombs,pyroclastic flows
and lahars.
The effects of the volcano can be both positive and negative:
Positive:
 Geothermal energy used to generate electricity
 Ash acts as fertilizers for soil
 Tourists viewing dramatic scenery
Negative:
 Habitats and landscapes damaged
 Damaged businesses
 Damaged property

Effects of earthquakes:
The effects of the earthquake can vary depending on:
 The size of the earthquake on the richer scale
 Level of development – weather it occurs in a rich or a poor country
 The depth of the focus – if its shallow
 Distance from epicenter
 Population density
 The time of day whether people are in their homes, work or travelling

The scale of tectonic hazards:

Volcanic eruptions:
They use volcanic explosively index (VEI) – it measures the intensity of volcanic eruptions.
Earthquakes:
They use richer scale – it measures the strength according to the amount of energy released during the
event. Energy is measured by a seismograph.
They use a mercalli scale – it’s based on what people experience and the amount of damage done.
They use moment magnitude scale (MMS) – it measures the energy released by an earthquake on a
logarithmic scale.

Impacts of tectonic hazards

Earthquake:
Primary impacts:
 Collapsed buildings and the people killed or injured by falling masonry.
 Broken water, gas and sewage pipelines.
 Drowned electric power lines.
Secondary impacts:
 Tsunamis.
 Aftershock.
 Fires due to ruptured gas mains.
Volcanoes:
Primary impacts:
 Buildings, roads and crops destroyed by lava flows.
 Death and injuries resulting directly from the outpourings of lava, ash and gas.
 Contamination of water supplies by ash falling on them.
Secondary impacts:
  Lahars created by the mixing of volcanic ash and mud with rainwater or melting snow.
 Fires started by lava and pyroclastic flows
 The psychological trauma of losing family members and friends.

Responses – are how countries react. They are categorized as follows:

 Short term or immediate – a response in the days and weeks immediately after a disaster has
happened. Short term responses mainly involve search and rescue and helping injured people.
 Long term – responses that go on for months and years after a disaster. They involve rebuilding
destroyed houses, schools and hospitals. They also involve kick starting the local economy.

Why do so many people continue to live in these hazardous areas?

 Disasters might be rare, so people either think that it will never happen again or they aren’t
sufficiently educated to know how likely it is to happen.
 Very fertile soil from volcanic ash and geothermal energy.
 People may not be able to move away because they don’t have the money or job prospects to
move
 People may believe they will nothing be affected or think that what happens will happen
regardless of what they do.
 Population densities have built up over centuries and large population especially in big cities
have many advantages that help them growing.

Tropical cyclones and their impacts:

Measurements:
A saffir-simpson scale is used – the scale recognizes five categories of cyclone strength based on four
features: Wind speed, air pressure, storm surges and tropical damage.

Impacts:
Short term impacts:
 Physical – the damage to property caused by high winds, heavy rainfall and storm surges alond
coasts
 Social – the number of people killed or injured and the disruption of communities.
 Economic – the distribution and destruction of businesses, transport links and services
  Environmental – landslides, soil erosion, upset ecosystems and prolonged flooding

Primary impacts:
 High winds.
 Torrential winds.
 Storm surges.
 Flooding.
 Damaged buildings.
Secondary impacts:
 Costs of repairing the damaged objects.
 Spread of waterborne disease.
 Loss of homes and personal possessions.

Predicting and preparing for earthquakes:

The obvious way of reducing the destructive impact of a hazard event:
 To know when and where the hazard will occur (prediction).
 To take precautions before the event actually occurs (preparation).

Risk assessment:
A risk assessment is a careful examination of what would cause harm
to people. It aims to identify whether enough precautions. Or control
measures are in place or whether further action is required to minimize
the level of risk identified.
To assess risk, we need to be aware of 4 features:
 Its distribution.
 Its frequency – how often does it occur?
 Its scale.
 Its predictability – does the hazard always behave in the
same way?

Prediction:
Prediction is knowing that a hazard event is shortly about to take
Place.
Systems that are needed:
 A system that gives people time to more into what are thought
to be safe locations
 a system that puts emergency
devices on immediate alert.

Measuring according to weather conditions:

Meteorologists are using different sources of data:
 Weather stations: they monitor weather conditions. These data are used for forecasting and
also tracking tropical storm.
 Weather satellites: allow meteorologists to see and analyses picture of cloud formation from
images captured during the day. Satellites sensors monitor energy radiations which can be
captured during day or night.
 Radar: provided important information on the direction and speed that clouds are moving and
allows meteorologists to gauge precipitation.

Preparation:
It’s about finding ways to reduce the possible impacts of earthquakes and tsunamis.
Possible actions fall into four categories:
1. Building design – this involves minimizing damage to property. Heavier building that made from
concrete are safer.
2. Location – settlement should be confined to areas that are safe.
3. Warning system – warnings are given by local radio through the mobile phone.
4. Education – making sure that people know what to do during and immediately after the hazard
event
5. Remote sensing and GIS – satellite images are increasingly being used in connection with
earthquakes
GIS has various aspects like:
 Mapping the degree of seismic risk.
 Detailing the location of settlements, transport networks and economic activities.
 Identifying areas where landslides are likely to be triggered by an earthquake.

Responding to hazards:
First of all, emergency services must take place:
 Releasing people bodies trapped in a
collapsed building.
 Using lifting gear and diggers to clear
away rubble and storm surge debris
 Restoring basic services like water and gas
 Providing medical help and counselling
victims
 Setting up temporary shelter for people
made homeless
After the emergency has been dealt with, the next
stage of recovery involves deciding what needs to be
done to restore the disaster area to be normal.
This is where organizations such as the world bank help in recovery phase by providing loans to rebuild
homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Appraisal and long term planning:

The final stage is appraisal. This is the inquest, looking back at the disaster and assessing how well or
otherwise the emergency operations worked.
The appraisal considers whether anything more could be done to reduce the impact if a similar event
were to occur again (long term planning)
Attention will focus on the answers to questions, such as:
 Do the risk need to be reassessed?
 Do the warning systems need to be improved?
 Should settlements be relocated away from high risk locations?

The answer to these questions should be guide any long term planning aimed at reducing hazard risk
and its damage potential.
It is also at this stage that the united nations international strategy for disaster reduction (UNISDR) can
offer technical advice.

What is an earthquake?
Earthquakes are the unexpected uncontrollable shaking of the ground.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND ENERGY

What is an economic activity?
Economic activity is the activity of making, providing, purchasing, or selling goods or services. Any action
that involves producing, distributing, or consuming products or services.

Economic sectors and employment

Each and every economic activity does at least three things:
 It creates jobs (employment)
 It generates income (wealth)
 It produces something for sale or consumption

Economic activities can be grouped according to what they produce and the types of jobs they offer.
Each group is known as the economic sector . we have 4 sectors of the economy:
 Primary sector
 Secondary sector
 Tertiary sector
 Quaternary sector

1-Primary sector:
Working with natural resources. These involve the extraction of raw materials to be supplied to other
industries. The main activities are farming, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying.
2-Secondary sector:
Processing things, making things by manufacturing, assembling or building. These are where raw
materials are assembled or manufactured to produce finished goods. The main activities are: Oil refining
Energy production, Food industries, Textile and clothing industry, Consumer good industry.
3-Tertiary sector:
Providing services. These jobs involve providing goods and services for the public. The main activities
are: Hospitality industry/tourism, Mass Media, Healthcare/hospitals, Public health, Pharmacy,
Information technology, Retail sales.
4-Quaternary sector:
These include people who provide specialist information and expertise to all the above sectors. The
main activities are: research, design engineer, computer programming, financial management.

How do we measure the relative strength of the sectors?

There is two ways to measure:
1. Employment
The sectors are compared in the terms of the percentage of the total workforce that they
employ.
2. How much the sectors contributes to the overall economic output of the country.
Their percentage of either gross domestic product (GDP) or gross national income(GNI).
Gross domestic product: the total value of goods and services produced by the economy of a country
during a year.
Gross national income: the GDP of a country plus all the income earned by the investment aboard.

Changes over time (the Clark-fisher model)

  Pre-industrial phase - the primary sector leads the economy and may employ more than two
thirds of the working population. Agriculture is by far the most important activity.
 Industrial phase - the secondary and tertiary sectors increase in productivity. As they do so the
primary sector declines in relative importance. The secondary sector peaks during this phase but
rarely provides jobs for more than half of the workforce
 Post-industrial phase - the tertiary sector is now the most important sector. The primary and
secondary sectors continue their relative decline. The quaternary sector begins to appear.

Meanings:
 INDUSTRIALIZATION: the development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale.
 DEINDUSTRIALIZATION: the reduction of industrial activity or capacity in a region or economy.
 SUBSISTENCE FARMING: the practice of growing crops and raising livestock sufficient only for
one's own use, without any surplus for trade.
 ECONOMIC SECTORS: a major division of the economy based on the type of the economic
activity.
 ACCESSISABILITY: easy to access anything.
 DECENTRALIZATION: Movement of jobs from cities to suburbs.
 COMMERCIAL FARMING: A type of agriculture.

Factors affecting the location of economic activities:

 Amenities
 Cheap land
 Customers
 Good transport
 Employees
 Infrastructure
 Raw materials

Economic activities will be most profitable in those location

where their needs are best met. One example is:
- Commercial farming: the basic raw material for commercial farming is land with suitable climate
conditions for the growth of particular crops.
Water is also important. Next priority is access &
nearness to places where food will either be taken in its natural state or processed into convenience
food
Light Industry: Typical industries. Electrical goods and processing food are examples. This type of
industry consumes large amounts of energy.
Heavy Industry: Their most important tools are raw materials. It’s needed for industries like steel,
shipbuilding, and chemicals. It needs supply of energy.

The local attractions of the urban fringe:

Urban fringe : In the urban fringe these are located :

 Superstores and retail parks : Large areas with adjacent car parks occupied by a company
serving customers drawn from more than one town or city.
 Industrial estates : Areas of modern light and service industries with a planned layout and
purpose-built road network
 Business parks : Areas created by property developers in order to attract firms needing office
and retail accommodation rather than industrial units. These often include leisure activities.
 Science parks : Usually located close to university or research Centre with the aim of
encouraging and developing high-tech industries and quaternary activities.

The Growth and Decline of Traditional Industries

Traditional industries in the UK declined due to the global shift of manufacturing. Reasons for this
decline were :
> Loss of the world market and increased competition from other countries.
> Exhaustion of the local resources
> Imports of cheaper raw materials or finished products

Factors affecting location of manufacturing

  Raw materials
 Labor
 Land
 Transport / Accessibility
 Energy supply
 Market
Important developments affecting the location of manufacturing
 Transnational corporations
 Transport — easier now
 Communications — easier now
 Energy
 Governments — tempt industries to be in their countries
 >» New branches of manufacturing — footloose industries

Changes is sector employment

The Clark-Fisher model is based on the idea that, as a country develops, the relative importance of the
economic sectors changes in terms of:
 their contribution to a country's economic effort (GDP or GNI)
 the percentage of a country's labor force employed in each sector.
These shifts are the result of a number of factors and processes. All these are related in some way to the
broad development process .

Causes of changes
RAW MATERIALS
The sources of raw material, for example minerals such as iron and copper, often become exhausted.
When this happens. manufacturers may change their location. Much of the energy needed by
manufacturing now comes from electricity. Thanks to grid networks, electricity can be supplied to
almost any location. The same is true of oil and gas distributed by pipelines and tankers.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Advances are constantly made in technology. Many of these advances impact directly on the economic
sectors. Technology advances have also had a major impact on transport, greatly reducing the friction of
distance. It is now possible to move people and goods much more quickly and relatively cheaply. Thanks
to modern communications, the transfer of information around the world is almost instantaneous. The
net effect is that places have become closer and better connected.
Factors encouraging the global economy

GLOBALISATION
Globalization describes the process by which the countries of the world are being gradually drawn
together into a single global economy by a growing network of links and organizations . The advances in
transport and communications technology have contributed to countries becoming increasingly
dependent on each other. What this means is that all places can concentrate on their economic
strengths.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Any responsible government will be concerned about their country's economy and its future prospects.
The degree of government intervention in the economy varies from minimal in capitalist countries to
complete control in communist countries.
DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE
This is about people. Clearly, populations change over time. Mostly they grow. This raises the demand
for a range of goods and services such as food.
manufactured home appliances and schools and medical services. The growth of these goods and
services, in turn, will boost the economic sectors, but to varying degrees. Population growth also means
more workers, and this can encourage the growth of economic activities needing a plentiful supply of
labor.
The cycle of growth in the tertiary sector

Other demographic changes occur as a country moves along the development pathway. This is
illustrated by what happens in the tertiary sector:
 people earn more money and have money to spend in the shops on basic requirements such as
food and clothing
 after they have bought the basics, people have more money left (disposable incomf ) to spend
on non-essential goods and services such as entertainment, holidays, eating out and recreation
 people's preferences change and this impacts on the tertiary sector; for example, people in HICs
now prefer to shop on a weekly basis at superstores and retail parks rather than making daily
visits to a local shop.

Sector shifts in three countries

Sector shifts are changes in the relative importance of the economic sectors that take place as countries
develop. The sequence has been described on page 104. See also Figure 4.2 on page 100.
The case studies that follow will look at the impacts of sector shifts in three countries at different stages
of development:
 Ethiopia - a developing country in the pre-industrial phase
 China - an emerging country in the industrial phase
 UK - a developed country now in the post-industrial phase.
Together they represent different points along the development pathway

Informal Sector
Informal sector includes jobs such as shoe polishing, street trading which are unofficial as they do not
pay any tax. Thebearnings are low and most of the time the people do not have social insurance.
Informal sector is most often seen in LICs of the world.
Characteristics of Informal Sector
 >» Self employed
 >» Small scale — family enterprise
 » Little capital involved
 » Labour-intensive with the use of very few tools
 |rregular hours — low wages
 >» Jobs often done at home or on the street
 Often illegal
 » Employ mostly children, females
 >» Mostly “services” are provided
 >» Mostly unskilled labour
Benefits
 >» Provide cheap services and goods for the low income
 people
 >» Provide jobs — so a means of survival for millions of people
 in LiCs
Drawbacks
 Cycle of poverty cannot be broken
 No health care / no insurance
 Work-related risks
 >» An uncertain legal status

Causes of the Informal Sector

The Informal sector develops and exists because of people wish to make money and cannot or do not
want to pay tax so al this off records payment (informal employment) creates the informal sector.
In many LIC’s today, large numbers of people are migrating from rural to urban areas.
The reasons for this are people are in search of jobs with regular wage and the belief that cities hold a
better standard of living and quality of life. But jobs are limited this causes both unemployment and
underemployment. It’s true wages are higher in LIC’s cities but is still not enough to feed a family.
Population and resources
The link between this section and the rest of the chapter is that most economic activities involve the
consumption of resources and energy. The rate at which resources are consumed is strongly influenced
by two processes: population growth and development.

Three different views have been expressed about the relationship between population growth,
development and resources. With all three, the focus is on food.
 Malthus (1798) was the first person to put forward a very pessimistic view. He argued that
population growth proceeded at a faster rate than the increase in food supply. So, there would
come a time when there was no longer sufficient food to feed the population. At this point,
population growth would stop, either by a lowering of the birth rate (people having fewer
children), or a raising of the death rate as a result of famine, disease and war.
 Boserup (1965) based her theory on the argument that increases in population stimulate an
improvement in food production. So, developments in technology would solve the problem.
 The Club of Rome (1972) argued that the limits to global population growth would be reached
within the next 100 years if population and development continued at the rates of growth seen
in the 1970s. However, they suggested that it would still be possible to reduce the trends by
means of growth-regulating processes. If this happened, then a sustainable triangular balance
between population, development and resources might be reached. Presumably modern
technology could also be used to reach the equilibrium.
We might think of population and resources as being weighed by a set of scales. Three different
balance situations are possible:
 overpopulation - population numbers exceed resources; this is an unsustainable situation
 underpopulation - resources exceed population numbers; a rare situation
 optimum population - population and resources are in a balance which is sustainable.

Achieving the right sort of balance depends on:

■ controlling population growth, for example by family planning
■ reducing our own resource consumption by using resources much more efficiently and cutting out
waste
■ using technology to discover and exploit new resources
■ making sure that development is less based on natural resources.

Rising energy demand

Energy is one of the most important of all the world's resources. We need energy to keep us warm and
to cook with. It gives us light and powers industrial machinery and transport. Fortunately, the natural
environment provides us with a wide range of energy sources. There is a difference between primary
energy and secondary energy.
 Primary energy describes fules that provide energy without undergoing any conversion
processes.
 Secondary energy includes electricity, petrol and coke, which are made from the processing of
primary fuels. In today's world, electricity is undoubtedly the leading source of energy.

There is another important distinction made in the world of energy. Energy sources such as fossil fuels
(coal, oil and gas) are classed as non-renewable. Once used up, they cannot be replaced. Newer energy
sources such as solar, wind and tidal power are described as renewable. They can be used again and
again. For this reason, they are sustainable and are likely to play an increasingly important role in the
future.

Energy demand
 The demand for energy across the world is constantly rising . This increase in demand is caused by the
increase in population and by economic development. The amount of energy that a country uses is
widely used as an indicator (or measure) of its level of development. As a country develops, energy-
consuming activities such as manufacturing, provision of services and transport increase in scale and
importance.

This model shows the global distribution of energy consumption. It also shows energy demand. Europe
and North America use 70 per cent of the world's energy, although only 20 per cent of the world's
population lives there. These areas were the first to experience large-scale economic development. They
used their own supplies of fossil fuels to provide the necessary energy for this development. Today, with
many of their own reserves falling low or finished, they need to import energy, especially oil, to meet
their ever-rising energy demand.
 This rising demand for energy will be met by either the country using its own energy resources or
importing energy from producer countries

Energy production
Three-quarters of the world's energy production comes from three sources: oil, natural gas and coal. All
these are non-renewable. The major producers of energy are the USA, Canada, Western Europe, Russia,
parts of the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand

Energy security
Energy security exists when a country is able to meet all of its energy needs reliably, preferably from
within its own borders
The number of such countries is small. Today, most countries face an energy gap
between energy demand and energy supply. In these countries, the rising demand for
energy can only be met by importing energy.

Non-renewable Sources
Non-renewable resources are finite – once they are used they cannot be reused or replaced, because
they take too long to form or regrow. They include the major fossil fuels formed over tens of thousands
of years i.e. coal, oil and natural gas.
Coal
Overview
 Fossil Fuel
 Formed underground from compacted and decaying plant and animal matter – flammable solid
 Over 200 years lifespan
 Makes 23% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – USA, Chine, Australia, India, South Africa and Russia
 Energy uses – electricity, heating and coke
Advantages
 High world reserves
 Newer mines are highly mechanised
Disadvantages
 Could be the cause of climate change due to CO2
 Releases pollution
 Its mining can be difficult and dangerous
 Opencast pits destroy land
 It is heavy and bulky to transport

Oil
Overview
 Fossil Fuel
 Formed underground from compacted and decaying plant and animal matter – flammable liquid
 Around 50 years lifespan
 Makes about 37% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – Saudi Arabia, USA, Russia, Iran, Mexico, Venezuela and China
 Energy uses – electricity, petroleum, diesel, fuel oils, liquid petroleum gas, coke, plastics,
medicine and fertilisers.
Advantages
 Has a variety of uses
 Is fairly easy to transport
 Is efficient and less polluting than coal
Disadvantages
 There are low reserves
 Some air pollution and danger of spills and explosions

Natural Gas
Overview
 Fossil Fuel
 Formed underground from compacted and decaying plant and animal matter – flammable gas
 60 years lifespan
 Makes 23% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – Russia, USA, Canada, UK and Algeria
 Energy uses – electricity, cooking and heating
Advantages
 It is efficient
 Clean least polluting of the fossil fuels
 It is easy to transport
Disadvantages
 Risk of explosions and some air pollution

Partially Renewable Sources

Partially Renewable resources can only be so as they can be rejuvenated naturally and for a shorter
amount of time than fossil fuels. But if a resource is used from natural source this is non-renewable, the
source has to produced for the specific function of energy manufacturing. Furthermore if a recourse is
used more that it is rejuvenated this is non-renewable.

Fuel Wood
Overview
 Relies on a supply of wood
 Trees, usually in natural environments, but can be grown renewably and specifically for fuel
 Totally variable lifespan
 Makes about 10% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – LIC’s: African and Asian countries
 Energy uses – heating and cooking
Advantages
 Is easily available
 Collected daily by local people
 Free and replanting is possible
Disadvantages
 Trees can be used up quickly
 It is time consuming to cut
 Collect and transport daily
 Replanting cannot keep up with the consumption due to the time taken to grow a tree
 Deforestation can lead to erosion and desertification.

Nuclear
Overview
 Relies on a supply of nuclear material and other such costs
 Heavy metal elements found naturally in rock deposits
 Potentially infinite lifespan
 Makes 6% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – USA, France, Japan, Germany and Russia
 Energy uses – used to generate energy from the release of heat from heavy metal elements
Advantages
 It is clean and efficient
 Has fewer greenhouse emissions
 It uses very small amount of raw materials and has small amounts of waste
Disadvantages
 There is a danger of radiation
 High costs of building and decommissioning power station
 Causes problems when disposal of nuclear waste

Renewable Sources
Renewable energy sources are generally cleaner than non-renewable sources in the respect that they
have little to no by-products or pollutants. As yet renewable energy production makes only 10% of the
world’s energy needs. Most sources of renewable energy seem attractive options. They directly exploit
aspects of the environment that are inexhaustible and don’t negatively affect the environment much.
The disadvantage to renewable sources is they cannot produce energy in the same huge quantities as
non-renewable sources. They way to solve the problem with fossil fuels releasing by-products, is to no
longer use them and make the switch to renewable energy, specifically nuclear energy, to fore fill the
worlds energy demands.

Hydro-electric
Overview
 A supply of water is needed; held with in a reservoir and channelled down pipes to turbines
 Makes 3% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – Canada, USA, Brazil, China and Russia
Advantages
 Is totally clean
 Reservoirs also control flooding and can provide water in times of shortages and are often
remotely located in mountains and sparsely populated areas.
Disadvantages
 Large areas of land can be flooded for a reservoir
 Silt is trapped behind dam therefor lakes silt up and is visually polluting.

Geothermal
Overview
 Boreholes can be drilled below ground to use the earths natural heat to boil water and generate
electricity or directly heat a near by area or building
 Makes less than 1% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Iceland and Hungary
Advantages
 Many potential site – most are in volcanic areasat the moment
Disadvantages
 Sulphuric gases are released from the earth
 It is expensive to develop
 Very high temperatures can create maintenance problems

Wind
Overview
 Wind drives blades to turn turbines generating electricity
 Makes less than 1% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – Denmark, USA and others
Advantages
 Very clean
 No air pollution
 Small-scale and large-scale schemes possible
 It is cheap to run
Disadvantages
 Winds are unpredictable and not constant
 It means visually and noise pollution in quite rural areas
 Many turbines needed to produce sufficient energy

Tidal/Wave
Overview
 Tide water turns turbines and waves generates energy from movement
 Makes an insignificant % of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – France and Russia
Advantages
 Large schemes could produce a lot of electricity
 It is clean and a non-pollutant
 Barrage can protect coasts from erosion
Disadvantages
 Very expensive to build
 Few suitable sites
 Disrupts coastal ecosystems and shipping

Solar
Overview
 Relies on there being a clear sky and a sunny day.
 Solar panels or photovoltaic cells utilise energy from the sun
 Makes less than 1% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – USA, India and others
 Energy uses – electricity and direct heating
Advantages
 Could be used in most parts of the world
 There is a virtually unlimited supply
 Is clean and efficient
 Can be built into new buildings

Disadvantages
  Is expensive
 It requires no clouds and for it to be day time for energy to be collected
 Large amounts of energy require technological development and reduction in costs of
photovoltaic cells

Biofuel
Overview
 Relies on good weather, rain and fertile ground.
 Plants and animal waste are fermented with micro-organisms and the gases released from this
are used as fuel to boil water generating electricity.
 Makes less than 1% of the worlds energy use
 Main producers – Argentina, Brazil, japan, Germany, Denmark and India
 Energy uses – electricity, ethanol, methane and heating
Advantages
 It is widely available, especially in LICs
 It uses waste products
 It can be used at a local level
Disadvantages
 It can be expensive to set up
 Waste cannot be recycled
 It leaves some pollutants

Sustainable energy
In this part of the topic you should recall and make use of what you have learned from your research
into different approaches to developing energy resources.
Two things are clear in today's world of energy, particularly as global demand increases and a larger
strain is placed on global energy resources.
 Energy must be used sparingly and with the utmost efficiency.
 The non-renewable sources of energy are finite and must be conserved. We simply cannot
afford to be wasteful; energy is a precious resource. Neither do we want the pollution caused by
burning them.

URBAN ENVIROMENT
Urbanization and its processes
Urbanization:
An increasing percentage of a country's population living in urban settlements leads to growth in cities
and towns and is called urbanization. Urbanisation is a process of change that converts rural areas and
regions into urban ones.

Urban settlements (towns and cities) differ from rural ones (hamlets and villages) in terms of:
 their economies - residents make a living from manufacturing and services rather than
agriculture
 their size - they are larger in population and extent
 the density of people and buildings, which is generally high
 their way of life.

Level of urbanization (the percentage of the population living in urban settlements) varies across the
globe:

Present-day rates of urbanisation show the difference in the speed of growth between urban areas in
developed countries and those in developing countries. The rate of urbanisation is much higher in the
developing world. Present trends are expected to continue. However, the overall level of urbanisation
remains higher in the developed world.

Urbanisation in the developed and developing worlds

The changing global balance of

rural and urban populations (1950-2030)

High rates of urbanisation occur in developing and emerging countries because:

 most new economic development in these countries is concentrated in the big cities
 push-pull factors are leading to high rates of rural-to-urban migration
 cities are experiencing high rates of natural increase in population.

In developed countries, rates of urbanisation are much slower because a large proportion of the
population already lives in towns and cities. But the built-up areas of towns and cities continue to grow.
Because of modern transport and communication, the urban way of life is gradually spreading into
rural areas. In fact, the countryside and its settlements are experiencing what is referred to as rural
dilution.

A country starts at a very low level of urbanisation (Stage 1). During the next stage the rates of
economic development and urbanisation speed up (Stage 2). Later, as the pace of economic
development slows, so too does the rate of urbanisation (Stage 3).

Processes
As towns grow, they expand outwards by a process known as suburbanisation. This adds to the built-up
area, but the building densities are generally lower than in the older parts of the town. The creation of
these new suburbs, places of employment and services, is encouraged by:
 improvements in transport that allow people to move easily between the new suburbs
 overcrowding, congestion and rising land prices in the older parts of the town
 a general decline in the quality of the residential environment near the centre
 the arrival of more people (mainly from rural areas) and new businesses
As a result of these two processes - agglomeration and suburbanisation -some towns grow into cities.
Towns and cities located close to each other sometimes join together into one vast continuous built-up
area known as a conurbation.
As urban settlements continue to prosper and grow, a new process sets in. People move out of the town
or city altogether and live instead in smaller,often mainly rural settlements. These are called dormitory
settlements because many of the new residents only sleep there. They continue to have links with the
town or city they have left. They commute to the same place of work and still make use of urban
services, such as shops, colleges and hospitals.

Urban processes timeline

1. Agglomeration:
This is how urban settlements first appear. It is the concentration of people and economic
activities at favourable locations.
2. Suburbanisation:
The outward spread of the urban area, often at lower densities compared with the older parts of
a town or city. As towns grow, they expand outwards through suburbanization. Adds to built-up
area but building densities lower than in older parts of town.
3. Commuting:
People start to move out of the town/city to live in smaller more rural areas. These are often
called dormitory settlements because many new residents only sleep there. They commute to
work and still make use of urban service like shops and hospitals. Commuting definition: Travel
some distance between one’s home and place of work on a regular basis.
4. Urban regeneration:
involves re-using areas in old parts of the city where businesses and people have moved out into
the suburbs or beyond.
5. Counter-urbanisation:
the movement of people and businesses (employment) from major cities to smaller towns/cities
and rural areas.
6. Urban re-imaging:
changing the image and look of an area to attract people. (Urban regeneration and re-imaging)
7. Urbanisation of suburbs:
suburbs are generally areas of low-density development, so instead of using rural areas
governments want to use suburban areas–suburban areas become denser, raised to an urban
level–. Empty spaces are being developed and large detached houses are replaced by flats. The
suburbs are no longer just residential areas anymore, shops and other services start to locate
there too.
Urbanization and the rise of megacities
Main factors affecting the rate of urbanization
 The pace of economic development - it is economic growth that drives urbanisation. When the
growth of the secondary and tertiary sectors is fast, so is the pace of urbanisation.
 The rate of population growth - economic growth needs an increasing supply of labour. The
demand for more workers can be met in two ways: by either natural increase in the urban
population or by rural-urban migration. The latter is usually by far the more important source of
labour. It involves people being attracted by urban job opportunities and services, and by the
perception that cities offer a better lifestyle.

The global distribution of large cities has changed dramatically, but so has the total number of people
living in them. The scaling up of city size is a feature of world urbanisation today. For many years, the
millionaire city (a city of more than one million people) was considered a big city.

More recently, the term megacity has been used to describe cities with populations of over 10 million
 What are the reasons for the growth of these megacities?
There are 4 main factors:
1. Economic development
2. Economies scale
3. Multiplier effect
4. Population growth

The problem with mega cities can be seen at the national level where these huge cities grow and
prosper at the expense of towns, cities and regions elsewhere in the country. Mega-cities become
powerful cores that create large peripheries around them.

Global or world cities

Global or world cities can be of any size. At present, there are 31 such cities. They all have populations
over 1 million and seven of them are megacities (Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Mexico City, New York, Rio
de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Seoul). A World City is a city that is a major centre for finance, trade, business,
politics, culture, science information gathering and mass media.
What distinguishes a global city from a megacity?
Global cities are recognised worldwide as places of great prestige, status, power and influence. All global
cities are critical hubs in the growing global economy. A megacity is a very large city, typically with a
population of more than 10 million people.

The problems of rapid urbanization

1. Housing – The growth of LICs has been caused by people moving from rural areas or other parts
of the country. When they arrive, there is nowhere for them to live, especially as many are looking for
cheap, low-cost housing. Millions of people live in what where meant to be temporary housing have
now become shanty towns or squatter settlements. Even for those with money, the demand for
housing exceeds supply. As a result, housing is expensive relative to people’s wages and salary. In
general, because of poor transport, the most sought after housing is close to the city centre with its
shops and places of work.
2. Access to water and electricity – It is commonly the case that the provisions of basic services
does not keep up with the growth of population. As a consequence, not all parts of the built-up area
are provided with running water, sanitation or electricity. Many people have no option but to rely on
fires for cooking and lighting and on polluted steams for water and sewage disposal.
3. Traffic congestion and transport – The provision of proper roads and public transport is another
aspect city life that lags behind the growth in population. As a result the transport systems in cities
are overloaded and overcrowded, and traffic congestion is a major problem for everyone – rick or
poor. The high numbers of vehicles also causes high levels of atmosphere pollution in cities, many of
which suffer regularly from smog (a mix of smoke and fog).
4. Health – There are not enough doctors, clinics or hospitals to deal with the rapid increase in
population. With large parts of the mushrooming city having little or no access to clean water or
sanitation, diseases and infections, such as typhoid and cholera, spread quickly. Atmosphere pollution
leads to widespread respiratory problems.
5. Education – Rapid population growth also means a lack of schools. Although most cities manage
to provide some primary education not all children go on to secondary school. This is because of the
cost and because many children have to work to help support the family.
6. Employment – Although people are attracted to cities for work, many are unable to find
decently paid jobs and so become part of the massive informal sector, surviving as best as they can.
This includes selling goods on the street, working as cleaners, shoeshine’s or cooking and selling food
for home or by the roadside. Even where there is paid work in new factories, these are often many
kilometres away from the shanty areas where most newcomers live.
7. Social problems – Given how close to each other people live and the poor conditions experience
by sometimes millions of city dwellers, it is not surprising that they also suffer from high crime rates,
drugs trafficking and theft. The poorest areas are often inhabited by violent street gangs.

The urban land use pattern

 Commercial: This is businesses, mainly offices. The main commercial area will normally be in the
CBD.
 Residential: This is housing and is where people live. Apartment type housing is found near the
CBD and bigger houses towards the suburbs.
 Industrial: This is factories, traditionally found in the transition zone, they are now more likely to
be found in the rural-urban fringe.
 Agricultural: This farming and is obviously normally found in rural areas although some cities may
have some small urban farms.
 Recreational: Any activity that people do in their spare time. This land use may include golf
courses, football pitches, museums, sports centres and tennis courts.
 Retail: This is shops. Traditionally the main shopping areas have been in the CBD but increasingly
shops have been relocating to shopping malls in the rural-urban fringe.
 Educational: Any building connected to education e.g. libraries, schools and universities. This land
use may be found anywhere in urban areas.
Land values
The main cause of the segregation is the urban land market. As with
the selling of any item, a particular site within the built-up area will
normally be sold to the highest bidder. The highest
bidder will be that activity that can make best use of a site. Usually
retail shops can make the best financial use of land and property. To
understand this, two related points need to be made clear: land
values and locational needs.

Locational needs and accessibility

Secondly, similar activities or land uses come together because:
 they have the same locational needs; these may be large amounts of space or being accessible to
customers and employees
 they can afford the same general level of land values.

CBD (central business district)

CBDs are very accessible because they are where roads and train lines met. A CBD’s accessibility makes
it prime for different types of land use and big competition for buyers which makes it very valuable and
puts up the price. The buyers of this land are usually shops, banks or offices. High-rise buildings are a
good choose for shops and offices because they are cheaper than other options.
Shops in prime area are specialist shops that have enough profit to afford the area. As Time passes
CBD’s Become more congested and busy which this reduces accessibility and in turn makes it a less
attractive place to live, shop and work.

The four zones of a city

Because towns and cities grow outwards from a historic nucleus, they show concentric zoning - that is, a
series of rings wrapping around the historic nucleus or core.
 a core - the oldest part of the city which normally contains the central
business district and some of the earliest buildings
 an inner-city ring - early suburbs, so this has old housing and often
some non-residential land uses
 a suburban ring - present suburbs with housing as the dominant land
use
 an urban fringe - countryside being 'eroded' by the outward spread
of the built-up area to provide space for housing and some
non-residential uses.
We may make three more generalizations about the structure of cities as we move
outwards from the core:
 the general age of the built-up area decreases
 the style of architecture and urban design changes
 the overall density of development decreases.
Residential pattern
People like land-use become sorted within urban areas. They are segregated into groups on the basis of
their social class type or occupation and ethnicity. They prefer to live close to those with the same
status. The wealthy are able to buy smart and homes in the best locations. The poorest people have no
option but to live in cramped or substandard housing in the worst areas. They are unable to buy these
houses and therefore have to rent. Their houses are small and therefore there is high density.

Urban challenges int the developed world

Many cities in the developed countries face challenge which threaten both their general prosperity and
the quality of urban living:

Urban challenges in the developing and emerging worlds

Squatter settlements
In many instances, people build on land that they do not own, or build on land without permission to
build. As a result, such areas are also known as squatter settlements.

The percentage living in squatter settlements and slums

Informal economy
An informal settlement AKA: shanty town, favela, slum, squatter camp or spontaneous settlement, is a
settlement in which land is not owned but is built on with what ever resources are available.
Problems
 General – The city is one of the most notorious because it has grown
to fast with a lack of resources and poor sanitation.
 Location and growth – The city is on a flat swamp next to a river.
The city had a population explosion of 7 million in 1970 to 12
million in 2000 because everyone moved from rural areas to
cities for jobs.
 Physical problems – Very low to sea level along with heavy rainfall
and other natural causes and disasters such as typhoons means there is 
a great risk of flooding. Water from flooding is contaminated with
Informal employment as a
sewage, this water cost a lot for the government to have pumped away.
 Housing – 500000 people live in the open and 3000000 live in bustees (a percentage of total non
collection of  houses built with temporary materials such as wattle, agriculture employment in
tiles and mud) these bustees aren’t to withstand hazardous a sample of countries
environments that can come about. Bustees are separated only by
narrow alleys, each houses has only one room the size of a bathroom which families of up to
eight live in. These bustees are actually owned by landlords that will evict anyone who cannot
pay, no the less these bustees have over 150000 people per km2.
 Water sanitation and health – most of Kolkata’s population has access to pipe water but most
of this is unsanitary, one tap can be used by up to 35-45 families. Sanitation is non-existent
because of how no one has a toilet and the sewage systems are dysfunctional and pour out. The
infant mortality in 1991 was 123:1000, theses deaths were caused by cholera, typhoid,
dysentery, tetanus and measles.
 Segregation – People are segregated according to whether they’re upper class, middle class,
artisan class, farmers, business workers or refugees. There is also segregation in religion
between different types of Hindus.
 Provision of services – electricity, clean water, schools, hospital and rubbish clean up is afforded
by the area
 Transport – although many people walk, there is public transport in the form of buses that are
old, slow, small and numerous so cause congestion and have people holding onto the outside.
 Employment – only a few people are unemployed because so many people are employed in the
way they uses the outside of their house to sell wood, food and cloths only working a few hours.

Urban population
It is not surprising that pollution is a problem in squatter settlements. They lack piped water, proper
sanitation and waste disposal. The burning of fuelwood pollutes the air. There are also other sources of
pollution outside the slums. Congested traffic causes air pollution. Manufacturers exploit lax controls
and pollute both air and rivers with their discharges. Adding to the pollution of the urban environment
are smells and noise. Visual pollution is caused by garbage in the streets, graffiti and unsightly buildings.

Low quality of life

Deprivation is a term widely used when discussing a low quality of life.
This is defined as a standard of living below that of the majority of people
in a particular city, region or country. The Quality of Life Index (QLI) takes
into account eight different variables. These include safety, healthcare,
cost of living and pollution.
Developments of urban fringe
Urban fringe
The rural urban fringes also know as just urban fringes are the areas between built up towns and open
spaces of fields and such like. Here the countryside is being taken for the outward growth of these
towns and cities, this is most evident in the suburbs.
Push factors
 Housing is old, congested and relatively expensive.
 There are various forms of environmental pollution - air quality is poor, and noise levels are
high.
 Companies find that there is a shortage of land for building new shops, offices and factories. So,
any unused land is costly
Pull factors
 Land is cheaper so houses are larger.
 Factories can be more spacious and have plenty of room for workers to park their cars.
 Closeness to main roads and motorways allows for quicker and easier customer contacts.
 New developments on the outskirts are favoured by the personal mobility allowed by car
drivers.

Significant non-residential developments

 Retail Parks – In HICs towns and cities rural urban fringes there has been a great increase in out-
of-town retailing, with large purpose-built superstores, modern malls and shopping centers. The
number of superstores and access to them has increased since 1980 because of how everyone
now has a car and the stores are right next to the motorway junction. In city centers or CBDs
shoppers have to deal with traffic congestion and pay and display parking.
 Industrial estates – These are areas of modern light and service industries with a planned layout
and purpose-built road networks. These need to be built around people who will work.
 Business parks – Theses are areas created by property developers in order to attract firms
needing office accommodation, rather than industrial units. These often include leisure activities
such as bowling alleys, ice rinks and cinemas. These need to be built in an area where business
works are.
 Science parks – These are usually located near to a university or research centre with the aim of
encouraging and developing high-tech industries and quaternary activities

The greenfield versus brownfield debate

 Greenfield: A greenfield site is stereotypically flat, away from large cities and open land. This
land is great demand for housing, industry, shopping, recreation and the needs of the public
utilities, such as reservoirs an sewage works.
 Brownfields: brownfield site is land previously used for commercial uses or industrial purposes.
The land may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution. This has
the potential to be reused once it is cleaned up, but the cost of this is huge. The overall cost of a
project on a brownfield site would therefore also be huge compared to the overall cost of a
greenfield site.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of greenfield and brownfield sites:

Making urban living more sustainable

Making urban living more sustainable may be achieved through a range of different activities:
 using renewable rather than non-renewable resources
 using energy more efficiently
 relying on public rather than private transport
 improving the physical infrastructure - clean water and proper sanitation
 improving social services and access to them
 improving the quality of life, particularly of the urban poor.
Making urban challenges
One challenge that is common between all cities at all levels of development – slums.
There are probably five different slum-management options:
1 bulldoze and clear away (Zimbabwe)
2 clear away but relocate (Brazil)
3 redevelop (Brazil)
4 improve by self-help or site-and-services schemes (Philippines)
5 ignore (India, Bangladesh).

The groups of interested people and organisations may be divided into three.
1.Local
 Slum residents
 Residents living nearby
 Utility suppliers (water, waste disposal and electricity)
 Representatives in parliament or on city councils
 City councils
 Landowners and property developers
 Employers
 Planners
2.National
 Government
 National charities
3.International
 International charities
 Intergovernmental organisations