Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Geography B (C112) · Spec 1.1
Urbanisation in contrasting global cities
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
- Urbanisation is a rise in the share of a country's people who live in towns and cities. It is not the same as one city getting bigger.
- Many cities in LICs and NICs grow fast for two reasons: migration from the countryside and natural increase (more births than deaths).
- Push factors make people leave a place, such as few jobs and low pay. Pull factors draw people to a place, such as more jobs, schools and hospitals.
- Fast growth brings opportunities (jobs, schools, health care) and challenges (informal settlements, traffic, waste, pollution).
- In a LIC or NIC city, strategies include self-help housing, slum clearance, new housing projects and mass transit. In an HIC city, strategies aim at a more sustainable city, such as public transport, low-emission zones and green space.
- You study cities from different levels of development, so learn named detail for each: the city, the scheme, the area.
Key terms
- Urbanisation
- A rise in the share of a country's people who live in urban areas.
- Rural-urban migration
- People moving from the countryside to cities.
- Push factor
- A negative of the place people leave, such as few jobs.
- Pull factor
- An attraction of the place people move to, such as better pay.
- Natural increase
- When births are higher than deaths.
- Informal settlement
- Housing built without legal permission or basic services, often called a slum or favela.
- Sustainable city
- A city that meets people's needs without harming the environment or the future.
Common mistakes
- Saying a LIC or NIC city grows only through natural increase. Migration into the city is a big part of the growth too.
- Giving a pull factor when the question asks for a push factor. Push is about the place people leave.
- Writing 'they build houses' for a named city. That is too thin. Name the scheme and say what it changed.
- Using a city from the wrong group, such as London for a LIC or NIC question.
Exam tip
Explain questions are band marked at 4 and 6 marks, and a list of reasons stays low. Take each reason one step further with 'because' or 'so'. Use named detail whenever the question says 'a city you have studied'. The closing 8-mark answer in Theme 1 also carries 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar, so check your key terms.
Free practice questions
7 questions, 15 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
What does the term urbanisation mean?
- Question 2 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
A ___ factor is an attraction of a city that draws migrants in. Moving from the countryside to a city is called rural-urban ___.
Word bank: increase · pull · push · migration
- Question 3 · True or false[3 marks]
Decide whether each statement about opportunities of urban growth is true or false.
1. Access to clean water and energy counts as a social opportunity.
2. A social opportunity means the chance to socialise.
3. Urban industrial areas can stimulate economic development.
- Question 4 · Matching[4 marks]
Match each migration term to its meaning.
- Question 5 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO are economic opportunities created by urban growth?
Choose 2.
- Question 6 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which is a push factor that makes people leave the countryside for a city?
- Question 7 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
The Favela-Bairro programme in Rio gave residents legal land ___ and brought ___ to favelas.
Word bank: rent · tenure · sanitation · tolls