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Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography A (1GA0) · Spec 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8

Case study of a city in a developing or emerging country

Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.

Key ideas

  • The question sets the tier. Use a city in a developing or emerging country, such as Mumbai in India. A UK city earns nothing.
  • Cities grow fast through migration from the countryside and natural increase (births minus deaths). Natural increase is high when birth rates stay high and death rates fall.
  • Growth creates opportunities such as jobs, health care and education, and challenges such as informal settlements, pollution and pressure on services.
  • Management can be top-down (led by government, such as a bus rapid transit line) or bottom-up (led by residents, such as saving to improve houses).
  • An 8-marker asks you to weigh both sides: problems and benefits.

Key terms

Informal settlement
A neighbourhood built without legal permission, often with poor services.
Natural increase
Births minus deaths.
Top-down
Led by government or large organisations.
Bottom-up
Led by local people, sometimes with an NGO.
Economic opportunity
A chance to earn a living, such as a job in a factory or port.

Common mistakes

  • Explaining natural increase by people moving in from villages. Natural increase is births minus deaths.
  • Giving a bare reason such as 'jobs' for migration. Show the contrast: better-paid jobs in the city than in the countryside.
  • Writing only about problems. 'More problems than benefits' needs both sides weighed.

Exam tip

For Assess and Evaluate, use named policies with evidence (such as a named housing or transport project), link them to quality of life, and give a clear judgement at the end.

Free practice questions

6 questions, 9 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.

  1. Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]

    A question asks about a city in a developing or emerging country. Which city is suitable to write about?

  2. Question 2 · Choose more than one[2 marks]

    Which **two** of these are bottom-up approaches to improving an emerging city?

    Choose 2.

  3. Question 3 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]

    Health care and education are ___ opportunities, while jobs in factories and ports are ___ opportunities.

    Word bank: environmental · social · health care · economic

  4. Question 4 · Multiple choice[1 mark]

    Which statement correctly explains why the natural increase of a growing emerging city is high?

  5. Question 5 · Multiple choice[1 mark]

    A squatter settlement has grown on the edge of an emerging city. Which is an environmental impact of this settlement?

  6. Question 6 · Choose more than one[2 marks]

    Which TWO are economic opportunities created by urban growth?

    Choose 2.