Urban Issues and Challenges

What Urban Issues and Challenges covers

Urban Issues and Challenges is examined in Paper 2, Challenges in the human environment. It covers global urbanisation: patterns, trends and what drives them, the rise of megacities, A major city in a poorer or emerging country, and planning for the urban poor, the UK's urban population and a major UK city, an urban regeneration project and sustainable urban living and urban transport.

The 8 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Global urbanisation: patterns, trends and what drives themWhat urbanisation is, how urbanised richer and poorer countries are, where urban growth is fastest, counter-urbanisation, natural increase and migration, and the push and pull factors that draw people into cities.Open →
• The rise of megacitiesMegacities, millionaire cities and world cities, how and where megacities have multiplied, why they grow around capitals and ports, the problems of very large cities, and their effect on the rest of their country.Open →
• A major city in a poorer or emerging country, and planning for the urban poorThe location, importance and growth of a major city in a poorer country, its social and economic opportunities, slums and squatter settlements, water, sanitation, energy, health and education, unemployment, crime and pollution, and planning schemes for the urban poor.Open →
• Rio de Janeiro: growth, opportunities and challengesRio de Janeiro's location, importance and growth, its social and economic opportunities, favelas such as Rocinha, the challenges of water, sanitation, health, education, crime and pollution, and the Favela Bairro project and Complexo do Alemão cable car.Open →
• The UK's urban population and a major UK cityThe distribution of the UK's population and largest cities, why they grew, conurbations, and a major UK city's importance, migration, cultural mix, jobs, transport, urban greening, deprivation, dereliction, brownfield and greenfield sites, waste, sprawl and commuter settlements.Open →
• Bristol: urban change in a major UK cityBristol's location, importance and migration, St Pauls Carnival, jobs, MetroBus and its European Green Capital title, the gap between Filwood and Stoke Bishop, brownfield redevelopment, sprawl at Bradley Stoke, waste and commuter towns.Open →
• An urban regeneration projectWhat urban regeneration is, why inner city areas decline, the features and funding of regeneration schemes, contaminated land, judging success and gentrification, and the regeneration of Bristol's Temple Quarter around Temple Meads station.Open →
• Sustainable urban living and urban transportFeatures of a sustainable city, conserving water and energy, recycling waste, creating green space, why congestion matters, and strategies such as public transport, park and ride, congestion charging and cycle lanes.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Urban Issues and Challenges further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Urbanisation vs Counter-urbanisation

  Urbanisation: the rising share of a population living in towns and cities. Counter-urbanisation: the movement of people out of large cities to smaller towns and rural areas.

• Megacity vs Millionaire city

  Megacity: an urban area with more than ten million people. Millionaire city: an urban area with more than one million inhabitants.

• Brownfield site vs Greenfield site

  Brownfield site: land inside the built-up area that has been built on before. Greenfield site: land at the edge of a city that has never been built on.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does urbanisation mean?

   Model answer

   The rising share of a population that lives in towns and cities rather than in the countryside.

2. 2

   Describe how urbanised the world's countries are today.

   Model answer

   Richer countries are already highly urbanised, with most of their people in towns and cities, while many poorer countries still have a large share of people living rurally.

3. 3

   In which parts of the world are urban populations growing fastest at present?

   Model answer

   In Asia and Africa, where poorer and rapidly developing countries are urbanising very quickly.

4. 4

   What is the urban trend in richer, high income countries?

   Model answer

   They are already highly urbanised, so their cities grow slowly, and some older inner areas lose people to suburbs and smaller towns.

5. 5

   What is counter-urbanisation?

   Model answer

   The movement of people out of large cities to live in smaller towns and rural areas.

6. 6

   What is the urban trend in the world's low income countries?

   Model answer

   Their city populations are rising steeply from a low starting point, so the share of people living in urban areas is climbing fast.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Urban Issues and Challenges revision questions

What does Urban Issues and Challenges cover in AQA GCSE Geography?

8 subtopics: global urbanisation: patterns, trends and what drives them, the rise of megacities, a major city in a poorer or emerging country, and planning for the urban poor, rio de janeiro: growth, opportunities and challenges, the uk's urban population and a major uk city, bristol: urban change in a major uk city, an urban regeneration project and sustainable urban living and urban transport. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Urban Issues and Challenges organised?

By the AQA 8035 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.