IGCSE Geography / Urban environments

The problems of rapid urbanisation

Edexcel International GCSE Geography (4GE1), chapter 6: Urban environments, specification point 6.1c, 6.S2. Free lesson.

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Rapid urbanisation happens when a city’s population grows faster than its homes, jobs and services can keep up. This creates problems for people and the environment, so explain each problem by linking its cause to its effect.

Why rapid urbanisation causes problems

Migration and natural increase (more births than deaths) add people to a city. Homes, jobs, roads and water pipes cannot be built quickly enough, and the city may have little money to build them. Demand therefore outruns supply, leaving too many people to share each service and resource. When there are too few homes, people may build their own homes on land they do not own. These areas are called squatter settlements.

Five problems and their effects

For each problem, give the cause, then explain the effect. Linking the two with “so” makes the chain clear. Congestion: there are more vehicles than the roads were built for, so journeys are slow and deliveries arrive late. Transport: there are too few buses and trains for the passengers, so public transport is overcrowded and people may spend hours getting to work. Employment: there are more workers than formal jobs (jobs with a contract), so people may be unemployed, underemployed with too few hours, or doing informal work such as street selling. Crime: poverty, few jobs…

Four environmental issues in more detail

Be specific about the kind of pollution and its source. A source is where the pollution comes from. For example, vehicle exhausts are a source of air pollution, not the name of a gas. Air pollution comes from traffic exhaust fumes, factory smoke and burning rubbish. It can cause breathing illnesses such as asthma. Water pollution happens when untreated sewage from homes without sewers, or factory waste, runs into rivers. Diseases such as cholera can spread. Waste builds up when the city produces more rubbish than it can collect. Piles of rubbish in the streets attract rats.…

How to use a photograph as evidence

Photograph questions reward evidence you can see and an explanation of what it suggests. Use what is shown rather than assuming that a problem is present. Vehicles packed together are evidence of congestion, so journeys may be slow. Crowds walking in the road are evidence of overcrowding, suggesting that more people live and work there than the streets were built for. Cycle rickshaws are evidence of informal work, because pedalling one is a way to earn money outside a formal job. Do not write about a problem, such as crime, if the photograph does not show evidence for it.

Build a clear answer

A vague word such as “pollution” does not explain the problem. Name the type and source, then say what happens as a result. For a four-mark question about two problems, use two different cause-and-effect chains. Example: Homes with no sewers send sewage into rivers, so the water is polluted and people who use it can catch diseases.

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