Urban issues and challenges
What's covered
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Key facts
Global urbanisation
Counterurbanisation is the movement of people from cities to rural areas, often driven by quality-of-life motives such as cheaper housing or less congestion.
Sustainable urban living
Active travel is walking and cycling for everyday journeys, replacing motorised trips and reducing emissions.
Extended Response Practice
Investing in integrated public-transport networks reduces traffic congestion and per-trip emissions.
Urban change in the UK
Bristol Harbourside is a UK urban-regeneration example of redeveloped former dockland.
Urban growth in LICs and NEEs
The Favela Bairro Project aimed to upgrade Rio's favelas in place by adding paved roads, sanitation, lighting and social services rather than clearing them.
Global urbanisation
An informal (or squatter) settlement is an area of self-built, often illegal housing that typically lacks basic services such as clean water and sanitation.
Sustainable urban living
The BedZED sustainable-development scheme is in London, in the London Borough of Sutton (Hackbridge).
Urban change in the UK
A brownfield site is previously developed land within an urban area, often vacant or derelict.
Urban growth in LICs and NEEs
Favelas develop on hillsides in Rio because wealthier residents already occupy the flat land along the coast, pushing migrants to settle on steep, less desirable slopes.
Global urbanisation
A megacity is a metropolitan area with a population of over 10 million people.
Sample questions
A taste of the 66 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is urbanisation?
- ✓an increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas
- •cities becoming cleaner and more economically efficient over time
- •movement of people from cities back to rural areas
- •the growth of new towns and cities in previously rural areas
What is a sustainable urban area?
- •A city built entirely with locally-sourced renewable materials
- ✓A city that meets present needs without harming future generations
- •A city with the most public transport per resident in its region
- •An urban area that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions
What is urban regeneration?
- •demolishing old housing and replacing it with new-build properties only
- ✓investment in derelict urban areas to improve them economically and physically
- •restricting new development in protected green belt zones
- •the movement of people and businesses from cities to rural areas
What is urban primacy?
- •Capital cities that are also major ports
- •Cities ranked by which had the first university
- •Megacities that span more than one country
- ✓One city dominates a country's economy and population
What is a megacity?
- •a city with a population of over 1 million people
- ✓a city with a population of over 10 million people
- •any city that acts as a financial hub for a wider region
- •the capital city of a country with the highest GDP
Which of these is a feature of sustainable urban living?
- •Free private car parking to encourage commuting flexibility
- ✓Mixed land use to reduce the need for travel
- •Out-of-town shopping centres to ease city-centre congestion
- •Single-use residential zones to keep industry separated
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