Here are the typical mistakes and the examiners tips... If I was you I would listen to these as the examiner is the person who marks your papers!!!
Typical Mistakes:
- It is often forgotten that three in every four urban dwellers live in the developing world and that this proportion will increase steadily for at least the next 30 to 40 years.
- because urbanisation refers to the proportion of urban dwellers in a country or region, urbanisation can increase even when the absolute number of people in urban areas falls.
- A common misconception is that counterurbanisation is due to a relative shift of population from cities to rural settlements such as hamlets and villages. In the UK, counterurbanisation mainly involves urban dwellers moving out, beyond the green belt, to smaller urban settlements in rural districts.
- Reurbanisation is less about migration of people from the suburbs to inner city locations and more about the residential preferences and life styles of younger, professional groups.
- You should appreciate that urban decline has social and environmental, as well as economic dimensions.
- Decentralisation as a process does not usually mean that an urban retailer transfers a store in the CBD to the suburbs. Rather the shift in favour of the suburbs is the result of new investment being channelled there, rather that to the CBD.
- The retail functions of the CBDs of British cities have changed in the past three or four decades. The CBD is no longer the exclusive centre of high-order product retailing, while service retailing, feared to recreation and leisure, has become relatively much more important. The latter tend partly reflects the growing popularity of city centres as places to live.
- A useful way of learning the causes of suburbanisation is to divide them into 'push' and 'pull' factors. Push factors are problems within central areas (e.g. lack of space, poor quality housing) that encourage people and businesses to leave. Pull factors are the attractions of the suburbs (e.g. space for expansion, better quality housing ect.)
- In addressing the issue of urban decline in extended answer questions, a useful distinction can be made between decline at intra-urban and inter-urban scales.
- You must understand the nature of urban regeneration schemes, and be able to evaluate their impact.
- Accurate and informed descriptions of urban service centres and hierarchies should demonstrate understanding of the key concepts of threshold and range.
- Discussion of the effects of decentralisation could be structured in terms of social, economic and environmental impacts.
- Most students will know from experience some of the measures taken to tackle the problems of waste and traffic congestion where they live. However, convincing exam answers on these topics will require details and facts set in a specific geographical context.
