OCR GCSE (9-1) Geography A: Geographical Themes (J383) · Spec 2.2.4, 2.2.5 and 2.2.6
Urbanisation and cities in LIDCs and EDCs
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 people living in towns and cities.
- A megacity has about 10 million people or more. A world city has global influence in finance, business, culture or politics, such as London, New York and Tokyo. It is not about size or being a capital.
- Urban growth is fastest in LIDCs and EDCs, mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Advanced countries are already highly urban.
- Two causes: rural-urban migration and natural increase. Push factors include poverty, drought and few services. Pull factors include jobs, schools and healthcare.
- Consequences are social (informal settlements, overcrowding, strained services), economic (informal jobs, cheap labour) and environmental (waste, air and water pollution).
- Your city case study must be a major city in an LIDC or EDC. Cover its place in the region and world, how migration shapes it, and its ways of life.
- For challenges such as housing, transport and waste, pick ONE and judge a named, located strategy for it.
Key terms
- Urban population
- The number or share of people living in towns and cities.
- Rural-urban migration
- The movement of people from the countryside to cities.
- Push factor
- A negative about the place people leave.
- Pull factor
- An attraction of the place people move to.
- Natural increase
- Births exceeding deaths in a population.
- Informal settlement
- Housing built without legal permission or basic services, often called a slum or shanty town.
Common mistakes
- Thinking people move to LIDC cities from advanced countries. Growth comes from people moving in from the countryside and from natural increase.
- Thinking a world city is a capital or a very big city. It is a city important in the global economy.
- Listing push and pull factors. A list earns one mark at most. Explain each one.
- Choosing a UK city, or a whole country, for the LIDC or EDC city case study. An advanced-country city is capped.
Exam tip
'Explain' questions need a chain: growth, then the strain it causes, then the impact. For example, rapid growth means a housing shortage, which leads to informal settlements, which means poor sanitation and disease. On a 4-mark 'explain two', write two developed points rather than four short ones.
Free practice questions
7 questions, 12 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which of these defines a megacity?
- Question 2 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Urban populations are growing fastest in LIDCs and EDCs. Which statement best explains this?
- Question 3 · 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 4 · Matching[4 marks]
Match each migration term to its meaning.
- Question 5 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Why does a city such as Lagos keep growing?
- Question 6 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO are economic opportunities created by urban growth?
Choose 2.
- Question 7 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which is a push factor that encourages people to leave rural areas?