AQA GCSE Geography Unit 2B UK Economy - summative note-booklet
This document serves as a multipurpose tool to aid your GCSE revision, made by a Grade 9 student. It contains elaborate details of this unit in GEO Paper 2, including key learning points from the AQA specification. Through a plethora...
GCSE GEOGRAPHY
The UK Economy
notebooklet
Paper 2 Section B :
The Changing Economic World
, • Primary industry → extraction of raw materials from the ground or sea
• Secondary industry → manufacturing of raw materials into goods
• Tertiary industry → carrying out a service within a community
• Quaternary industry → highly qualified people utilising knowledge to research and
create new things
Pre-1800s : The UK was predominantly working in the primary sector
→ most had jobs in agriculture or mining
→ extraction of raw materials was the foundation of the UK economy in C19th
In the 1800s : The UK experienced industrialisation as a result of the Industrial Revolution
→ urbanisation lead to the expansion of towns and cities where people sought better-
paid jobs and
→ lead to the opening of factories, mainly housing manufacture of steel, weaponry and
textiles in the UK
Post-1800s : The UK is currently experiencing de-industrialisation ( → the decline of a
country’s traditional manufacturing industry) due to :
→ exhaustion of raw materials
→ mechanisation ( → machines/technology replacing labour jobs in modern industries)
→ competition from other countries
→ lack of investment in manufacturing industry and high labour costs
Now, de-industrialisation has lead to the tertiary and quaternary industries boosting the
UK’s economy as more services and innovative research is conducted.
Politics & Its Impact on the UK Economy
1945 to 1979 :
→ Labour politics (left-wing - socialism)
→ created state-run industries (lead by gov.)
→ overtime, lack of investment/maintenance lead to urban decline (issues eg. poor
housing, vacant buildings/factories, pollution, vandalism, etc)
→ 1970s was a period of strikes and social unrest, so the UK struggled to cope with the
impacts of de-industrialisation (with limited government money too)
1979 to 2010 :
→ Conservative politics (right wing - capitalism)
→ Privatisation ( → gov. sold industries to private companies) created a more
competitive business environment in the UK & around the world through trade
→ this ensured innovation, change and most importantly profit
→ but did lead to the diminishing of the UK’s secondary industry to the introduction of
tertiary (services) and quaternary (research) industries
2010 to Present Day :
→ The aim now is to rebalance the UK economy, by rebuilding the manufacturing
industry and relying less on the service sector
→ Gov. policies include : improving transport infrastructure; more investment in
manufacturing industries; granting easier access to loans/finance; encouraging global
firms to situate within the UK
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