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Urban Issues and Urbanisation Flashcards
Free GCSE Geography Revision Cards
From push-pull migration and megacities to gentrification, urban heat islands, and sustainable city planning, these free Geography flashcards cover the key urban issues topics for GCSE revision.
Question
What is urbanisation?
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Answer
The process by which an increasing proportion of a country's population lives in urban areas (towns and cities). Driven by rural-to-urban migration and natural population increase in cities.
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Question
What are push and pull factors in urban migration?
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Answer
Push: factors driving people away from rural areas (poverty, lack of jobs, poor services). Pull: factors attracting people to cities (employment, better wages, education, healthcare, entertainment).
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Question
What is a megacity?
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Answer
A city with a population of over 10 million people. Examples: Tokyo (Japan), Mumbai (India), São Paulo (Brazil), Lagos (Nigeria).
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Question
What are squatter settlements (informal settlements)?
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Answer
Illegal housing built by migrants on land they do not own, usually on the edge of cities in LICs/NEEs. Lack clean water, sanitation, electricity, and secure tenure. Also called shanty towns or favelas.
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Question
What are the main challenges of rapid urbanisation in LICs?
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Answer
Growth of squatter settlements, overstretched infrastructure (water/sewage/roads), inadequate healthcare and education, unemployment, pollution, and social inequality.
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Question
What is counterurbanisation?
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Answer
The movement of people away from cities to rural or suburban areas, typically in HICs. Driven by improved transport, remote working, desire for space, and lower costs.
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Question
What is urban regeneration?
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Answer
Improving run-down urban areas through investment in housing, infrastructure, and facilities. Example: London Docklands (LDDC), regenerated from derelict industrial land into residential and commercial areas.
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Question
What is suburbanisation?
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Answer
The outward growth of urban areas, with people moving from city centres to suburbs. Driven by car ownership, desire for larger homes, and lower land prices on the urban fringe.
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Question
What is a green belt?
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Answer
A zone of protected countryside around a city where development is restricted, to prevent urban sprawl, preserve agricultural land, and maintain areas for recreation.
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Question
What is urban heat island effect?
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Answer
City centres are warmer than surrounding rural areas due to dark surfaces absorbing heat, waste heat from vehicles/industry, reduced vegetation, and buildings trapping longwave radiation.
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