Summary AQA GCSE Geography Section A : Urban Issues and Challenges - Paper 2 notes Grade 9
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Course
Geography
Institution
GCSE
These notes are for Paper 2 AQA Geography written into concise notes that can get you a Grade 9 when memorised. They include notes for all topics for Section A, Case Studies ( listed below) & topic specific exam questions with 4 pages of Grade 9 Model answers .
Case Studies = Rio de Janeiro & Liv...
AQA GCSE Geography Paper 2 notes
Section A: Urban issues and challenges
PAPER, II
SECTION A
Urbanisation
• Urbanisation = increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas
(careful: this is different to urban growth which is the increase in the population
of a city)
• Around 55% of the world lives in urban areas and this percentage is increasing
• Urbanisation is happening faster in poorer countries
• This is because HICs are more economically developed so most of the population
has already moved into urban areas and the country has already experienced
urbanisation – this means that the rate of urbanisation in HICs is quite low
• In LICs, because they are less economically developed, only a small proportion
already live in urban areas so there are high rates of urbanisation
The two main causes/factors that affect urbanisation are:
(1) Rural-urban migration
• Rural to urban migration is the movement of people from countryside into cities
and the rate of rural-urban migration is affected by a combination of push and
pull factors
• Push factors (encouraging people to leave the countryside) include: lack of
employment and sufficient income (especially due to mechanised agriculture),
desertification making land unproductive, worse healthcare and education(it is
too far away)
• Pull factors (encouraging people to move to urban areas) include: more well-
paid employment, better access to healthcare and educational opportunities,
improved quality of life/standard of living, and family members may have
already moved to urban areas
• So, because of rural-urban migration, the proportion of people living in cities is
increasing.
•
(2) Natural increase
• Natural increase is when the birth rate exceeds the death rate so the population
grows
• This is often due to the fact that most people who migrate to the city are young
so are more likely to have children, increasing the birth rate
,TJNOTES
• Also, the better healthcare in the city increases life expectancy which decreases
the death rate
• Higher birth rate due to younger population and lower death rate due to
healthcare leads to natural increase – which in turn increases the proportion of
people living in cities
• Megacities = cities which have a population of over 10 million residents
Rio de Janeiro: A case study of how urban
growth creates opportunities and challenges for
cities in LICs and NEEs
Location and Importance of Rio
• Rio de Janeiro is situated on Brazil’s Atlantic coast and was built around the
Guanabara Bay
• It is seen as the cultural capital of Brazil, with over 50 museums and a famous
annual carnival
• It is a UNESCO World Heritage site that has hosted the 2014 Football World Cup
and the 2017 Olympics – all of which have increased its global importance
• Rio is Brazil’s second most important industrial centre which produces 5% of
Brazil’s GDP with industries like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, clothing, furniture
as well as banking, finance and insurance
• It is internationally important because it is an industrial and financial centre,
with five ports and 3 airports
Why has Rio grown
• Like any other city, Rio has grown due to natural increase and migration
• The economic activities in Rio, such as tourism, commercial and administrative
industries, have led to Rio becoming an attractive city for migrants from other
rural parts of Brazil as well as many other neighbouring countries like Argentina
and Bolivia
• Due to Rio’s economic development, there have been migrants coming from
South Korea and China seeking business opportunities and migrants from
Portugal who share the same language
• As well as migration from all parts of the world, Rio has also grown due to the
natural increase of its very-young population
, TJNOTES
Social Opportunities in Rio
Urban growth has created many social opportunities for Rio:
(1) Access to services – health and education
• With around 6 major hospitals in Rio, the access to health services is much better
in Rio than in rural areas
• In the favela of Santa Marta, there are few roads and the main means of access is
an overcrowded cable car, so it is very difficult to get to a hospital that is 13km
away. Medical staff took a health kit into people’s homes and were able to
diagnose and treat 20 different diseases and treat them, reducing infant
mortality and increasing life expectancy
• Urban growth means medical companies and facilities (as well as the Brazilian
government) are investing more and more in building accessible hospitals to the
people of Rio
• In Rio, about 90% of children aged 10 can read and write as there is a greater
number of schools compared to the countryside
• This makes literacy rates much higher than the surrounding rural areas
• The authorities are also actively trying to improve access to education by
encouraging locals to volunteer to help in schools, giving grants to poor families
to meet cost of keeping children in school; opening a private university in
Rocinha; and making money available to pay for free after-school activities and
lessons in volleyball, football and swimming
(2) Access to resources – water and energy
• Rio has the largest water treatment works in the world so people in Rio have a
much higher chance of having a fresh water supply compared to people in the
countryside
• And, between 1998 and 2014, 7 new treatment plants were built and over
300km of pipes were laid
• By 2014, 95% of the population had a mains water supply
• Due to the growth of Rio and the migration patterns, the Brazilian government
has concentrated on increasing energy supplies to Rio where the population
densities are high
• The percentage of the population with access to electricity is 3 times higher than
in the countryside – the rich areas having the best provision of electricity
• 60km of new power lines have been installed, as well as a nuclear generator and
the Simplicio hydro-electric complex which will increase the supply of electricity
to Rio by 30% (this took over 6 years to build and cost $2 billion
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