Urban Growth in LICs & NEEs Flashcards
All 24 cards in this deck
What are the two causes of the rapid population growth of major cities in LICs and NEEs?
Natural increase and migration (mainly rural–urban migration).
Why do major LIC/NEE cities usually have a high rate of natural increase?
Most migrants are young adults of child-bearing age, so birth rates are high while better urban healthcare lowers death rates.
What does it mean to say a city is regionally important?
It is important to the surrounding region or part of the continent.
e.g. a main financial or cultural centre for that region.Give one way a major LIC/NEE city can be nationally important.
It is the country's main financial centre, or its capital, or contains a large share of the country's industry and GDP.
Give one social opportunity created by urban growth in an LIC/NEE city linked to health care.
Hospitals and clinics are concentrated in cities, so urban residents can reach health services that were not available in rural areas.
Give one social opportunity created by urban growth in an LIC/NEE city linked to education.
Children can attend school when none was available in the rural area they migrated from, including small informal schools run by volunteer teachers.
Give one social opportunity created by urban growth in an LIC/NEE city linked to water supply.
A higher proportion of people have access to piped water than in rural areas, which reduces water-borne disease.
Give one social opportunity created by urban growth in an LIC/NEE city linked to energy supply.
Urban households are more likely to be connected to an electricity supply, allowing lighting for study and cutting reliance on fuelwood.
Give one way urban industrial areas act as a stimulus for economic development in an LIC/NEE city.
They create jobs and attract investment, raising incomes and tax revenue that can be spent on services.
What is a squatter settlement?
An area of poor-quality, self-built housing on land the residents do not legally own.
Give one reason slums and squatter settlements grow so quickly in LIC/NEE cities.
Natural increase and rural–urban migration outpace the supply of affordable housing, so poor migrants build their own homes from waste materials.
Give one reason why providing sanitation is a challenge in LIC/NEE cities.
Slums are unplanned and often illegal, so they have no sewers; shared public toilets are rarely cleaned and spread disease.
Give one reason why providing clean water and energy is a challenge in LIC/NEE cities.
The population grows faster than pipes and power lines can be laid, and governments lack the money to extend them into unplanned settlements.
Give one reason why providing access to health and education services is a challenge in LIC/NEE cities.
Rapid growth means demand rises faster than schools and clinics can be built, and actual population numbers are often unknown, making planning difficult.
Give one reason why reducing crime is a challenge in LIC/NEE cities.
High poverty, unemployment and social exclusion mean some people may resort to crime to survive, gangs control areas of informal settlements, and police corruption means many distrust the police.
What is the informal economy?
Work that is unofficial, untaxed and unregulated, so workers have no rights, protection or job security.
Give one reason why air pollution is high in LIC/NEE cities.
Many vehicles are old and lack emissions technology, factories are unregulated, and many people still burn fuelwood or kerosene.
Give one reason why waste disposal is a challenge in LIC/NEE cities.
Only a small share of waste is collected, so rubbish is dumped in ditches, blocking drains and attracting rats and flies.
True or false? Slums in LIC/NEE cities can be described only as places of despair.
False. Slums can be places of hope as well as despair – older slums often gain brick housing, services and community life, and offer a better future for the next generation.
What is a self-help scheme (site improvement) for the urban poor?
Residents are given materials, loans or training, and often legal rights to their land, so they can improve their own homes.
What is a site and service scheme?
People are given a plot of land already connected to basic services such as water, electricity and sewerage, on which they build their own home.
Give one way providing clean water and better sanitation in a slum improves quality of life.
It reduces the incidence of water-borne disease, so fewer people (especially children) fall ill or die.
Give one way granting legal ownership rights and brick-built housing improves quality of life for the urban poor.
Residents no longer face the danger of eviction, so stress is reduced and they feel secure enough to invest in improving their homes.
True or false? Urban planning for the urban poor is limited to improving housing.
False. It also includes services such as water and sanitation, adult education and training to improve job prospects, and transport to improve access to employment.