Paper Two Overview: Human Geography

Jun 4, 2024

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Paper Two Overview: Human Geography

Topics Covered

  • Urban Issues
  • Changing Economic World
  • Resource Management

Urban Issues and Challenges

Urbanization

  • Definition: More people moving into towns and cities.
  • Trend: In 2007, the UN reported over 50% of the world's population living in urban areas.
  • Causes:
    1. Rural to Urban Migration
    • Push Factors: Natural disasters, droughts, lack of employment.
    • Pull Factors: More jobs, better quality of life, family.
    1. Natural Increase
    • Birth rate exceeds death rate.
    • Influencing factors: Lack of contraception, younger population, better living conditions, improved medical care.

Types of Cities

  • Mega City: Urban area with 10 million people.
  • Millionaire City: City with 1 million people.
  • World City: City with financial or worldwide importance.
  • Two-thirds of current mega-cities are in NES and LIC's, notably in Brazil and Nigeria.

Keywords

  • Integrated Transport System: Linking public and private transport.
  • Brownfield Sites: Previously developed areas of land.
  • Greenbelt Land: Green areas surrounding towns/cities.
  • Regeneration: Reviving an area through investment and rebuilding.

Sustainable Urban Living

  • Four main methods:
    1. Water Conservation: Collecting rainwater, educating on water usage.
    2. Energy Conservation: Reducing fossil fuel use, promoting renewable energy.
    3. Waste Recycling: Increasing recycling awareness.
    4. Creating Green Space: Urban greening to promote green areas in cities.

Sustainable Planning Case Study: Tempo Housing in Lagos

  • Homes from recycled shipping containers.
  • Benefits: Quick construction, cheaper than conventional homes, plumbed facilities, job creation.
  • Downsides: Still expensive, potential loss of community, steel heat conduction.

Traffic Issues in Urban Areas

  • Environmental, economic, and social problems:
    • Environmental: Air pollution.
    • Economic: Work delays.
    • Social: Accident risks.
  • Solutions: Widening roads, building ring roads, introducing congestion charges.
  • Case Study: Curitiba
    • Use of articulated buses, part of waste management and green exchange programs.

Changing Economic World

Development

  • Improving living standards via better access to resources (economic, social, environmental).
  • Grouped into LICs, NEs, and HICs.

Measuring Development

  • Economic Indicators: Employment type, GDP, income.
  • Social Indicators: Infant mortality, literacy rate, life expectancy.
  • Human Development Index (HDI): Combines social and economic indicators.

Demographic Transition Model

  • Five stages tracking development from high birth/death rates to low birth/death rates and varying population levels.
    • Stage 1: High birth/death rates, stable population (tribes).
    • Stage 2: High death rate, falling birth rate (Kenya).
    • Stage 3: Low birth rate, population growth (India).
    • Stage 4: Low birth/death rates, stable population (UK).
    • Stage 5: Negative population growth (Japan).

Uneven Development

  • Physical Factors: Natural resources, climate, natural hazards, location.
  • Human Factors: Aid, trade, healthcare, education, politics, history.
  • Consequences: Wealth disparity, healthcare differences, migration.

Reducing the Development Gap

  • Six methods:
    1. Microfinance Loans
    2. Aid
    3. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
    4. Debt Relief
    5. Fair Trade
    6. Technology
  • Case Study: Tourism in Tunisia
    • Multi-tier benefits: Job creation, infrastructure investment, increased literacy rates, cultural exposure.
  • Case Study: Economic Development in Nigeria
    • Role of TNCs: Investment, employment vs. profit leakage, environmental damage.

Resource Management

General Resources

  • Essential resources: Food, water, energy.
  • Current challenge: Demand outstripping supply due to population growth.

Food in the UK

  • Increased support for people and income taxes from farmers.
  • Agribusiness: Efficient but uses chemicals, small workforce.

Energy in the UK

  • Decline in coal, reliance on imported energy, push for renewables.

Water in the UK

  • Increasing household demand, leading to water stress.
  • North-south water divide, with transfer schemes to balance supply.

Water Security and Insecurity

  • Influences: Pollution, poverty, over-abstraction, climate, and geology.
  • Impacts: Food production, industrial output, disease, conflict.

Increasing Water Supply

  • Methods: Water diversion, dams & reservoirs, transfer, desalination.
  • Sustainable water supply methods: Conservation schemes, groundwater management, recycling, grey water.

Case Studies for Resource Management

  1. South North Water Transfer Project (China) (SNWTP)
  • Goal: Transfer 44.8 billion cubic liters annually.
  • Pros: Reliable water, industrial support, farmland irrigation.
  • Cons: High costs, environmental damage, displacement of 345,000 people.
  1. Kenyan Sand Dams
  • Purpose: Sustainable water supply in dry climates.
  • Benefits: Uses local materials, employs local workforce, minimal environmental impact.