Key term
Edexcel A-Level Geography 9GE0
Tectonic Processes and Hazards
Topic overviewGlobal distribution of tectonic hazards and plate boundary processesThe structure of the Earth and mantle convectionRidge push, slab pull and sea-floor spreadingDestructive and constructive plate marginsCollision and transform marginsMagma composition and eruption styleThe Benioff zone and earthquake magnitudeSeismic waves and their effectsVolcanic hazards and tsunamisHazard, vulnerability, resilience and the risk equationThe Pressure and Release modelThe impacts of tectonic hazardsMeasuring hazards, and the hazard profileSpeed of onset, areal extent, duration and predictabilityWhy impacts differ between countriesEducation, buildings, healthcare and income as factors in vulnerabilityGovernance at local and national levelPopulation density, isolation and urbanisationHow development level shapes disaster outcomesTrends in tectonic disasters, data reliability and samplingMega-disasters and multiple-hazard zonesTheoretical frameworks for prediction, impact and managementLand-use zoning and hazard-resistant designMonitoring, prediction, preparedness and aid
Glaciated Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe cryosphere and the types of glacierGlacial chronology and the causes of climate changeEvidence for Pleistocene ice extentRelict glacial landscapes, and polar against temperate glaciersPermafrost, nivation, frost heave and solifluctionIce wedges, patterned ground, pingos and loessGlacial mass balance and the ice-albedo feedbackAccumulation and ablation processesThe equilibrium line and how glaciers moveWhat controls the rate of glacial movementBasal slip and internal deformationWhat speeds a glacier up or slows it downDebris entrainment, transport and the scale of glacial landformsGlacial erosion, corries, aretes and pyramidal peaksTroughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and roches moutonneesMoraines: lateral, medial, recessional and terminalDrumlins, till plains and the two kinds of tillErratics and reconstructing former ice movementMeltwater pathways, and analysing fluvioglacial sedimentFluvio-glacial (meltwater) landformsThe value of glaciated landscapes to peopleNatural hazards and human threats to glaciated landscapesClimate change and the players who manage these landscapesManagement approaches, legislation and scale
Coastal Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe littoral zone and the influences that shape itConcordant and discordant coasts, and geological structureCoastal types and the influence of rock structureFaulting, folding and geological weaknessesRock type, permeability and cliff profilesPsammosere succession on sand dunesHalosere succession and rates of recessionWaves, beach profiles and marine erosionWave-cut notches, platforms and cliffsCaves, arches, stacks and stumpsLongshore drift and the transport of sedimentSpits, bars, tombolos and other depositional landformsSediment cells: sources, transfers and sinksWeathering on the coastMass movement and its landformsRapid coastal recession and variations in its rateCauses of sea level change, and emergent coastlinesSubmergent coastlines and contemporary sea level riseCoastal flooding as a significant and increasing riskLosses from coastal recession, and environmental refugeesHard and soft engineering on the coastIntegrated coastal zone management and shoreline policiesHow coastal management decisions are made, and by whomUsing GIS, photographs and crowd-sourced data in coastal management
Globalisation
Topic overviewWidening, deepening and the global flowsThe five global flows definedTransport, ICT and the shrinking worldPolitical and economic decision making in globalisationMeasuring globalisation: the AT Kearney and KOF indicesTNCs, glocalisation, outsourcing and switched-off placesThe global shift and who gains from itThe social and environmental costs of the global shiftDeindustrialised regions in developed countriesRural-urban migration and the growth of megacitiesGlobal hub cities and international migrationThe costs and benefits of economic migrationCultural diffusion and the spread of a global cultureCultural erosion and opposition to globalisationMeasuring development: GDP, HDI and the Gender Inequality IndexEnvironmental measures, the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curveGeographical skills: statistics, data and research ethicsWinners, losers and the widening development gapSocial, political and environmental tensions from global changeLocal sourcing and its costs and benefitsFair trade, ethical consumption and recycling
Regenerating PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewEconomic classification and variation from place to placeThe functions of a place and why they changeMeasuring place change and deprivationPast and present connections shaping economic and social characteristicsEconomic and social inequalities changing perceptions of areasLived experience, attachment and conflict over placeEvidence, representations, Spearman's rank and significance testingMeasures of dispersion: range, interquartile range and standard deviationSuccessful regions and the spiral of declinePerceptions of the need for regenerationNational planning, transport and funding decisionsNational policy: Levelling Up, house-building targets and foreign investmentLocal government incentives and inward investmentWhat attracts investment, and the multiplier effectLocal interest groups and tourism, sport and rural regenerationRebranding to change public perception of placesRebranding deindustrialised cities and rural areasEconomic, social and environmental measures of successDeprivation domains and demographic changeHow different stakeholders judge regenerationUrban stakeholders and their criteria for successUrban regeneration: reality, image and contested decisionsRural stakeholders and their criteria for successRural regeneration: reality, image and contested decisions
Diverse PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewPopulation structure variation from place to place and over timePopulation characteristics variation from place to place and over timeGlobal, national and regional influences on placeHow places are represented in film, art, music and mediaContinuity and change in demographic and cultural characterUrban places viewed differently by different groupsIdyllic and negative perceptions of rural placesHow reputation, media and lived experience shape rural viewsEvidence about living spaces, and research ethicsMedia and creative sources, coding and samplingIncreasing cultural and social diversity in the UKWhat causes segregationSegregation along the rural-urban continuum, and migrationPerceptions of segregated places, and measuring segregationLand-use change and tension between residents and newcomersMeasuring integration, and community cohesion in SloughDiverse rural communities: the Lake District
The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity
Topic overviewThe processes of the hydrological cycleThe stores of water and their relative sizeFluxes, residence time, fossil water and the cryosphereThe drainage basin as an open systemWhat influences drainage basin processesWater budgets and river regimesWhat shapes a storm hydrographReading a storm hydrographMeteorological and hydrological drought, ENSO and human causesThe impacts of drought on wetlands and forestsThe physical causes of floodingHuman causes of floodingThe environmental and economic impacts of floodingSocial impacts, case studies and synoptic chartsHow climate change alters the hydrological cycleENSO, uncertainty and future projectionsWater stress, scarcity and the physical causes of insecurityHuman causes of water insecurity and rising demandPhysical and economic water scarcityWhy economic scarcity happens, and the price of waterHow water is used: industry, energy and agricultureThe consequences of water insecurityCompeting users and trans-boundary riversThe players in water conflict, and its causesWater transfers as a hard engineering solutionMega dams and their costsDesalination, and the case against the techno-fixThe value of more sustainable schemes of restoration of water supplies and water conservationIntegrated drainage basin management and water treatiesThe players in water management and the conflicts between them
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security
Topic overviewCarbon stores and fluxesChemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycleBiological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)Balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systemsEnergy security and measuring energy useWhat shapes a country's energy mixContrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPECThe players in energy security, and energy pathwaysEnergy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demandUnconventional fossil fuels and their environmental costRenewables and nuclear: the costs and benefitsBiofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertaintiesLand-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cyclesOcean acidification and coral reefsClimate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem servicesForest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudesHow warming changes the hydrological cycleUncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regionsUncertainty, feedback loops and tipping pointsAdaptation and mitigation strategiesWhy players disagree, and handling climate data
Superpowers
Topic overviewWhat makes a superpower: economy, politics and militaryCultural, demographic and resource characteristicsHard power, soft power and smart powerThe Belt and Road Initiative, and power indexesPatterns of power change over timeEmerging powers and how their strengths are assessedWorld systems, dependency and modernisation theoryIGOs and how superpowers dominate themTNCs, cultural influence and WesternisationHow superpowers and emerging nations act in global decisionsAlliances, IGOs and geostrategyThe environmental cost of superpower demandThe rising middle class in emerging superpowersContested resources and intellectual propertyContested political spheres and open conflictChina's ties with the developing worldTensions in Asia and the Middle EastChallenges to existing superpowers, and future power structures
Health, Human Rights and InterventionConnections
Topic overviewConcepts of human developmentWhat causes variations in health and life expectancyHealth variations within countriesGovernments and IGOs defining development targets and policiesHuman rights in international law and agreementsDifferences between countries in definitions and protection of human rightsVariations in rights within countriesProgress towards equality, and the case studiesForms of geopolitical interventionDevelopment aid and the arguments about itEconomic development projects and military aidDevelopment focused on human rights and welfareHealth and life expectancy variation between and within countriesWelfare states, neo-liberalism and IGO programmesThe Responsibility to Protect and UN authorisationMilitary alliances, war crimes and the cost of military powerMeasuring the success of geopolitical interventionsThe mixed record of development aidWhy superpowers give aid, and the Gini coefficientMilitary interventions, both direct and indirect, have a mixed record of success
Migration, Identity and SovereigntyConnections
Topic overviewGlobalisation and the growth of migrationWhat changes migration patterns, and flow-line mapsVaried and complex causes of migrationConsequences of international migrationNation states and their varied historiesNationalism in the development of the modern worldTax havens, new state forms and alternatives to capitalismThe UN and its interventionsThe IMF, World Bank, WTO and other IGOsMigration in a globalised worldOpen borders, deregulation and migrant integrationNation states, borders and contested territoryNationalism, decolonisation and low-tax regimesIGOs managing environmental problemsNational identity as an elusive and contested conceptChallenges to national identityConsequences of disunity within nations
Diverse Places
- 17 subtopics
- 49 things to know
- Paper 2
- Shaping Places option, one of two
What Diverse Places covers
Covers who lives where and how they see it: population structure and characteristics, the influences that shaped them, how urban and rural places are perceived, segregation and diversity, the tensions change brings, and how integration and community cohesion are measured and managed.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
Human Geography. Optional content is not drawn on by the synoptic paper.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 17 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Population structure variation from place to place and over timeUneven population growth across UK regions, the rural-urban continuum and density, how accessibility, physical factors, historical development and planning shape density and structure, and how fertility, mortality and international and internal migration change population structure, with London and northern England as contrasts.Open →
- Population characteristics variation from place to place and over timeHow gender and ethnicity vary within and between settlements, social clustering, how accessibility to cities, terrain, climate and government policy foster or suppress cultural diversity, and how fertility, mortality and international and internal migration change the cultural characteristics of places over time.Open →
- Global, national and regional influences on placeHow TNCs, global economic shifts, immigration, emigration and international trade shape local places, the influence of national planning, economic policy and infrastructure investment, regional migration, specialisation and proximity to cities, and the growing role of TNCs and IGOs.Open →
- How places are represented in film, art, music and mediaHow photography, film, art, literature, music and social media represent places in ways that contrast with formal statistics, GIS for representing place data, and what social media reveals about how residents feel and how demographic and cultural characteristics shape place identity.Open →
- Continuity and change in demographic and cultural characterContinuity and change in the demographic and cultural characteristics of a place, how density, population turnover, demographic structure and cultural change affect services, social networks, jobs, identity and belonging, and how first-generation migrants, later generations and older residents experience a diverse area as it changes.Open →
- Urban places viewed differently by different groupsVictorian London and the view of cities as dangerous, why young people and migrants find urban places attractive, crime, environmental quality, population and reputation in perceptions of undesirability, how age, ethnicity and life-cycle stage shape views of suburbs and inner cities, lived experience and perception of place, GIS mapping of crime, and interviews with residents.Open →
- Idyllic and negative perceptions of rural placesTranquillity, natural landscapes and historical and cultural associations behind the rural idyll, Thomas Hardy's Wessex as a literary example, why urban and rural residents see the countryside differently, and remoteness, limited social opportunities and services, high transport costs and population characteristics as reasons rural places seem undesirable.Open →
- How reputation, media and lived experience shape rural viewsHow reputation, quantitative data, lived experience and media representation shape negative views of rural places, how very remote areas, retirement villages and commuter villages are perceived, why demographic groups differ in their attitudes, and advertising, tourist agency material and local art as evidence of a rural place's meaning.Open →
- Evidence about living spaces, and research ethicsCrime statistics, environmental quality indicators and demographic and population data as evidence about how people view their living spaces, interviews, oral histories, lived experience and community group perspectives, and research ethics including informed consent, anonymity, photography, socio-political consequences and power relationships.Open →
- Media and creative sources, coding and samplingHow newspapers, social media, film, photography, art, literature and music shape perceptions of living spaces, why residents, outsiders, interest groups and ethnic communities give contrasting accounts, Spearman's rank and scatter graphs, and coding and sampling in qualitative research, with their opportunities, limitations and effect on the representations produced.Open →
- Increasing cultural and social diversity in the UKWhat international migrants bring, chain migration, social networks, housing affordability and cultural amenities in social clustering, why diversity varies between places, cultural and social diversity defined, and migration history from the Empire Windrush, the West Indies and the Indian sub-continent through Commonwealth restrictions, EU enlargement in 2004 and Brexit to the Windrush scandal.Open →
- What causes segregationThe cultural, economic and social causes of segregation, social clustering, how accessibility, physical geography and government planning and actions foster or suppress diversity, and Southall in west London as an example, with its South Asian settlement, shops, places of worship, leisure and the 1979 clashes.Open →
- Segregation along the rural-urban continuum, and migrationHow segregation and diversity vary along the rural-urban continuum, how international and internal migration can reinforce or reduce segregation, variation in gender and ethnicity within settlements, using the IMD, and Eastern European migration to rural Lincolnshire, with the census figures, opportunities, social challenges, exploitation and 2016 referendum vote in Boston.Open →
- Perceptions of segregated places, and measuring segregationHow perceptions of suburban and inner-city areas differ between demographic groups, how quantitative data, media representation and lived experience shape views and can reinforce or challenge segregation, indexes for measuring diversity and segregation, photographic and map evidence of change, and dot maps with their uses and limitations.Open →
- Land-use change and tension between residents and newcomersHow community groups, governments and TNCs change land use, tension between long-term residents and newcomers in Luton and in Sighthill and Pollokshields in Glasgow, and the social exclusion of asylum seekers and migrants.Open →
- Measuring integration, and community cohesion in SloughPolitical engagement, voter turnout, community groups and falling hate crime as measures of integration and their limits, contrasting newspaper reports, Slough and the Aik Saath peer mediation charity as an example, the community cohesion strategy after the 2001 riots, and why stakeholders disagree over whether cohesion strategies succeed.Open →
- Diverse rural communities: the Lake DistrictThe Lake District as an example of a diverse rural community, the National Park Partnership, how young people, older residents, farmers and ethnic minority groups view it as a living space, strategies to make national parks more inclusive, housing for local people, and the effects of World Heritage status.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Why might residents' perceptions of their living space differ from those of outsiders?
Key term
How can music be used as a source to understand representations of a local place?
Key term
Give an example of how gender composition might vary within a settlement.
Key term
How do perceptions of suburban areas as places to live differ between demographic groups?
Key term
How does population density typically change along the rural-urban continuum?
Key term
Why might improved transport infrastructure lead to changes in population structure?
Key term
Why might remote rural areas have lower cultural diversity than well-connected urban areas?
Study
Why might variations in fertility rates between groups lead to cultural change in a settlement?
Key term
Define continuity in cultural characteristics.
Key term
How does population stability or turnover shape social networks for individuals in a place?
Key term
What economic factor makes urban places attractive to migrants today?
Key term
Explain why attitudes towards suburban and inner-city desirability vary between demographic groups.
Evaluation
Why might urban residents and rural residents hold different attitudes towards rural places?
Key term
Why might limited social opportunities contribute to negative perceptions of rural places?
Key term
What would happen to the cultural diversity of a rural area if it became more accessible to a major city with high immigrant populations?
Key term
What is the primary driver of increasing cultural diversity in the UK?
Key term
What types of cultural variation contribute to levels of segregation in places?
Key term
How does accessibility to key cities explain variations in cultural diversity between places?
Key term
How might internal migration reduce segregation between places?
Process
How might inner-city areas be perceived differently by contrasting age groups?
Key term
How does immigration shape the demographic and cultural characteristics of local places?
Key term
What effect can emigration have on the population structure of a local place?
Key term
How can photography provide a different representation of a place compared to statistical data?
Key term
How can quantitative data shape perceptions of rural places as undesirable?
Key term
What type of statistical evidence can be used to assess how people view their living spaces in terms of safety?
Key term
How can environmental quality indicators be used to evaluate perceptions of living spaces?
Key term
Describe the overall pattern of population growth across UK regions over the last 50 years.
Key term
Name two population characteristics that can vary within and between settlements.
Key term
How do international trade links influence local economies and place characteristics?
Key term
What is meant by continuity in demographic characteristics of a place?
Key term
State four factors that can cause urban locations to be perceived as undesirable.
Key term
How do natural landscapes contribute to idyllic perceptions of rural places?
Key term
How might tourist agency material reveal perceptions of a rural place?
Key term
How can population characteristics help evaluate perceptions of a living space?
Key term
In what way can literature shape perceptions of a place?
Key term
What cultural elements do international migrants bring to local areas in the UK?
Key term
How does religious diversity contribute to spatial segregation?
Key term
How do segregation patterns typically vary along the rural-urban continuum?
Key term
How do both quantitative data and lived experience contribute to perceptions of undesirable areas?
Process
How can changes to diverse places create opportunities as well as tensions?
Process
How did tension over diversity show itself in Luton in 2009?
Process
What tensions arose when asylum seekers were housed in Sighthill in Glasgow?
Process
Why is voter turnout an imperfect measure of integration?
Process
Why must police-recorded hate crime figures be interpreted with care?
Process
Why might different stakeholders disagree about whether cohesion strategies in a diverse town have succeeded?
Process
How might older and retired residents view the Lake District differently from young local people?
Process
How are ethnic minority groups affected by the Lake District as a rural space?
Process
What national and local strategies affect housing for local people in the Lake District?
Take Diverse Places further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Place identity vs Place representation
Place identity: meanings and attachments associated with a location. Place representation: portrayal of a location through media or narratives.
Assimilation vs Integration
Assimilation: minority adoption of dominant cultural practices. Integration: participation in shared society while retaining cultural differences.
Population density vs Population distribution
Population density: number of people per unit area. Population distribution: spatial pattern showing where people live.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Describe the overall pattern of population growth across UK regions over the last 50 years.
Model answer
Population growth has been uneven, with some regions experiencing rapid growth while others have grown much more slowly.
- 2
Which parts of the UK have experienced the most rapid population growth over the past 50 years?
Model answer
London and the south-east of England.
- 3
Which region of England has experienced slower population growth compared to the national average over the last 50 years?
Model answer
The north-east of England.
- 4
What is meant by the rural-urban continuum in relation to population geography?
Model answer
The gradual transition from rural to urban areas, along which population structure and density vary systematically.
- 5
How does population density typically change along the rural-urban continuum?
Model answer
Population density generally increases from rural areas towards urban centres, with the highest densities found in city cores.
- 6
Explain how accessibility influences population density in an area.
Model answer
Areas with good accessibility (transport links, proximity to services and employment) tend to attract higher population densities, while poorly accessible areas often have lower densities.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Diverse Places revision questions
- What does Diverse Places cover in Edexcel A-Level Geography?
- 17 subtopics: population structure variation from place to place and over time, population characteristics variation from place to place and over time, global, national and regional influences on place, how places are represented in film, art, music and media, continuity and change in demographic and cultural character, urban places viewed differently by different groups, idyllic and negative perceptions of rural places, how reputation, media and lived experience shape rural views, evidence about living spaces, and research ethics, media and creative sources, coding and sampling, increasing cultural and social diversity in the uk, what causes segregation, segregation along the rural-urban continuum, and migration, perceptions of segregated places, and measuring segregation, land-use change and tension between residents and newcomers, measuring integration, and community cohesion in slough and diverse rural communities: the lake district. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Diverse Places organised?
- By the Edexcel 9GE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Diverse Places, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.