AQA GCSE Geography · 3.2.1

Urbanisation and cities in LICs and NEEs

Revision questions with answers for 3.2.1 Urbanisation and cities in LICs and NEEs in AQA GCSE Geography (spec 8035). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

All questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.2.1
What is urbanisation?
Answer:
The increase in the proportion of a country's population living in towns and cities. It is caused by rural-urban migration and natural increase.
Question 2 · Spec 3.2.1
What is the global pattern of urban change?
Answer:
Over half of the world's people now live in urban areas (about 55%), and the share is rising. Urban growth is fastest in Asia and Africa and slowest in high income countries.
Question 3 · Spec 3.2.1
How do urban trends differ in HICs and LICs?
Answer:
HICs urbanised during the Industrial Revolution and are now over 75% urban, with slow growth and counter-urbanisation. LICs and NEEs are urbanising rapidly as people move from the countryside.
Question 4 · Spec 3.2.1
Where is urbanisation happening fastest?
Answer:
In Asia and Africa, in countries such as India, China, Nigeria and Bangladesh, where cities are growing by millions of people each year.
Question 5 · Spec 3.2.1
Why is urbanisation slow in many HICs?
Answer:
Most people already live in cities, many people have moved to suburbs or rural areas (counter-urbanisation), and birth rates are low.
Question 6 · Spec 3.2.1
What is rural-urban migration?
Answer:
The movement of people from the countryside to cities in search of work and a better quality of life.
Question 7 · Spec 3.2.1
What are push factors?
Answer:
Reasons that make people leave rural areas: poverty, lack of jobs, mechanised farming, drought or floods, poor services, and conflict.
Question 8 · Spec 3.2.1
What are pull factors?
Answer:
Reasons that attract people to cities: more jobs and higher wages, better schools and health care, reliable services, and the hope of a better life.
Question 9 · Spec 3.2.1
How does natural increase cause urban growth?
Answer:
Migrants are mostly young adults who have children in the city. Births exceed deaths, so the population grows even if migration slows.
Question 10 · Spec 3.2.1
What is a megacity?
Answer:
A city with a population of more than 10 million people, such as Tokyo, Delhi, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Lagos.
Question 11 · Spec 3.2.1
Where are most megacities located?
Answer:
Mainly in Asia, followed by Latin America and Africa. The number of megacities has risen sharply since 1950, and more are expected in LICs and NEEs.
Question 12 · Spec 3.2.1
Why have megacities emerged?
Answer:
Fast economic growth and globalisation attract investment and jobs, while migration and natural increase add people. Most growth is now in LICs and NEEs.
Question 13 · Spec 3.2.1
Rio de Janeiro: where is it?
Answer:
On the Atlantic coast of south-east Brazil, around Guanabara Bay. It is Brazil's second largest city, with about 6-7 million people in the city and 12-13 million in the metropolitan area.
Question 14 · Spec 3.2.1
What is Rio's importance in the region?
Answer:
It is the capital of Rio de Janeiro state, a major port and transport hub, and a centre for oil, services and industry in south-east Brazil.
Question 15 · Spec 3.2.1
What is Rio's importance nationally?
Answer:
Brazil's capital until 1960, it remains a top economic and cultural centre, with the headquarters of oil firm Petrobras, major media companies and a large port.
Question 16 · Spec 3.2.1
What is Rio's importance internationally?
Answer:
A global tourist destination (Christ the Redeemer, Copacabana), it hosted the 2014 World Cup final and 2016 Olympics and the 1992 Earth Summit.
Question 17 · Spec 3.2.1
What are the causes of growth in Rio?
Answer:
Rural-urban migration, especially from the poorer north-east of Brazil, and natural increase among a young population.
Question 18 · Spec 3.2.1
Why do people migrate to Rio?
Answer:
Push: poverty, drought, few jobs and few services in rural areas. Pull: jobs in industry and services, schools, hospitals, and a better standard of living.
Question 19 · Spec 3.2.1
What social opportunities has urban growth created in Rio?
Answer:
Better access to services: more schools and hospitals, and improved access to electricity and clean water for many people compared with the countryside.
Question 20 · Spec 3.2.1
How has urban growth improved access to resources in Rio?
Answer:
Piped water, electricity and gas networks reach more households than in rural areas, and incomes help people afford them.
Question 21 · Spec 3.2.1
What economic opportunities has urban growth created in Rio?
Answer:
Jobs in oil and gas, shipping, tourism, finance, manufacturing and services, plus informal jobs such as street trading and domestic work.
Question 22 · Spec 3.2.1
How can urban industrial areas stimulate economic development?
Answer:
Factories and port industries provide jobs and wages, which creates demand for housing, shops and services. Taxes help pay for infrastructure, so growth feeds on itself.
Question 23 · Spec 3.2.1
What is the informal sector?
Answer:
Work that is unregulated and unregistered, such as street selling, recycling and domestic work. It gives income to many poor people but without security or tax revenue.
Question 24 · Spec 3.2.1
What are favelas?
Answer:
Informal settlements built by squatters on steep hillsides or marginal land in Brazilian cities. About one in five Rio residents lives in a favela.
Question 25 · Spec 3.2.1
Why do favelas grow in Rio?
Answer:
Migrants cannot afford formal housing and the city cannot build homes fast enough, so people build on unused land, often steep hills.
Question 26 · Spec 3.2.1
Describe Rocinha.
Answer:
One of Rio's biggest favelas, on a steep hillside in the south of the city with tens of thousands of residents. It has dense self-built housing, narrow lanes and a lively informal economy.
Question 27 · Spec 3.2.1
What problems do squatter settlements have?
Answer:
Overcrowded self-built housing, no legal ownership, poor sanitation and water, unreliable electricity, risk of landslides and fire, and limited access to services.
Question 28 · Spec 3.2.1
How is providing clean water and sanitation a challenge in Rio?
Answer:
Many favelas have no sewage system or have shared standpipes, so waste enters streams and Guanabara Bay and disease spreads.
Question 29 · Spec 3.2.1
How is providing energy a challenge in Rio?
Answer:
Rapid growth outpaces supply, and many households in informal areas connect illegally, causing power cuts and safety risks.
Question 30 · Spec 3.2.1
How is providing access to health and education a challenge?
Answer:
Schools and clinics are overcrowded or too far away, and many favela residents struggle to access them, leaving lower literacy and health.
Question 31 · Spec 3.2.1
How is unemployment a challenge in Rio?
Answer:
There are not enough formal jobs for the growing population, so many rely on low-paid informal work with no security.
Question 32 · Spec 3.2.1
How is crime a challenge in Rio?
Answer:
Poverty, inequality and weak policing have allowed drug gangs to control some favelas. This brings violence and fear and damages tourism.
Question 33 · Spec 3.2.1
How is waste disposal an environmental challenge in Rio?
Answer:
Rubbish collection is poor in steep and crowded favelas, so waste piles up, blocks drains and pollutes land and water.
Question 34 · Spec 3.2.1
What causes air and water pollution in Rio?
Answer:
Vehicles, industry and burning waste pollute the air, while sewage and industrial waste flow into rivers and Guanabara Bay.
Question 35 · Spec 3.2.1
Why is traffic congestion a problem in Rio?
Answer:
The city is built on a narrow coastal strip between mountains and sea, many people commute by road and public transport is limited.
Question 36 · Spec 3.2.1
What was the Favela-Bairro project?
Answer:
An urban planning programme begun in 1994 that upgraded favelas by providing infrastructure and services, rather than demolishing them.
Question 37 · Spec 3.2.1
What were the main features of Favela-Bairro?
Answer:
Paved streets, street lighting, water supply and sewers, rubbish collection, community centres, play areas and legal titles for residents.
Question 38 · Spec 3.2.1
How did Favela-Bairro improve quality of life?
Answer:
Safer, cleaner neighbourhoods, better health, access to services, increased security of tenure and a feeling that favelas are part of the city.
Question 39 · Spec 3.2.1
What were the limitations of Favela-Bairro?
Answer:
Not all favelas were upgraded, maintenance was uneven, and it did not create enough jobs or tackle crime, so problems remain.
Question 40 · Spec 3.2.1
What other schemes have improved life in Rio's favelas?
Answer:
Pacifying Police Units (UPP) to reduce crime, a cable car in Complexo do Alemao, sports and health centres, and the Morar Carioca housing plan.
Question 41 · Spec 3.2.1
How can self-help schemes improve favelas?
Answer:
Residents are given materials, tools or loans to build and improve their own homes, which is cheaper and gives local people control.
Question 42 · Spec 3.2.1
How are Rio's favelas at risk from landslides?
Answer:
Steep slopes, cleared vegetation and heavy tropical rain make houses built on hillsides vulnerable to landslides and flooding.
Question 43 · Spec 3.2.1
How does inequality show in Rio?
Answer:
Wealthy neighbourhoods such as Copacabana and Ipanema lie close to favelas, but incomes, services and safety differ greatly.
Question 44 · Spec 3.2.1
How did hosting major events change Rio?
Answer:
The World Cup and Olympics brought new transport, stadiums and investment, but critics said money went to events rather than poor areas and some people were relocated.
Question 45 · Spec 3.2.1
What transport improvements has Rio made?
Answer:
Metro extensions, light rail and rapid bus lines, built partly for the Olympics, to reduce congestion and link poorer districts to jobs.
Question 46 · Spec 3.2.1
Why is it better to upgrade favelas than demolish them?
Answer:
Upgrading keeps communities and jobs together, costs less than rebuilding and improves life quickly, while demolition forces people to move far away.
Question 47 · Spec 3.2.1
Evaluate urban growth in Rio.
Answer:
It brings jobs, services and cultural benefits, but rapid growth causes slums, pollution, crime and inequality that planning has only partly solved.
Question 48 · Spec 3.2.1
Why are LIC and NEE cities growing faster than they can plan?
Answer:
Migration and natural increase add people faster than governments can build homes, services and transport, so informal settlements spread.
Question 49 · Spec 3.2.1
What is counter-urbanisation?
Answer:
The movement of people from cities to smaller towns and rural areas, common in HICs where people want more space, cleaner air and can commute or work from home.
Question 50 · Spec 3.2.1
How urbanised is Brazil?
Answer:
About 87% of Brazilians live in urban areas. Urbanisation was rapid after 1950 as people left the countryside for cities such as Rio and Sao Paulo.

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