Changes in Function & Characteristics (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Changes in Functions & Demographic Characteristics

• As places develop, the characteristics change:

  • Accessibility, connections and government policies can change the place’s function. It can change between administration, commercial, retail or industry 

  • Gentrification, age structures and ethnic compositions alter the demographics

Function

• The different functions of a location affect the employment opportunities, businesses and industries, and the built environment: 

• Administrative

  • These are places that make decisions about how to organise infrastructure and economic activity for the surrounding areas e.g. council offices

  • Tend to be urban areas that influence the region surrounding them, e.g. Manchester’s influence in the North West

• Commercial 

  • A location with strong business influence. Transnational Corporations (TNCs) may have bases there 

  • There is a large volume of small and large-scale businesses e.g. legal services, accountants

• Retail

  • An urban area with attractive retail facilities - markets, shopping centres, unique shops

  • The retail industry is the main source of income and employment for locals

• Industrial

  • A location whose economy and reputation is predominantly based on its industrial capacity

  • E.g. Sheffield is known as the Steel City for its large industries of steelworks

• One of these functions may dominate a place, but there is more likely to be a combination of them all

• A place’s dominant function is also likely to change over time as the economic needs change:

  • The increased use of online banking and shopping, and click-and-collect (exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic) has led to some places losing their retail function, resulting in economic decline

  • Industrial land in Middlesbrough has declined over the last 50 years due to factory closures in the iron and steel industry

  • In Reading, the commercial function has grown and several large TNCs have bases there e.g. Microsoft and Intel

Demographics

• As the function of a place changes so might the characteristics of its population e.g. age, ethnicity

• New functions will attract different types of people e.g. older/younger, more skilled, higher education qualifications

• Places that are experiencing economic growth will likely attract more young people and become more ethnically diverse

• The ethnic composition of a place is likely to change over time with the movement of people from different countries e.g. migrants to fill labour shortages

• Reading has experienced economic growth due to its developing commercial function, resulting in younger, more economically active people moving there

  • 30% of its population are aged 26-45

• Middlesbrough, which has experienced economic decline, has more older and retired people living there

  • 38% of its population is over 46

• The ethnic composition of the two towns also differs:

  • 65.4% of Reading’s population were white British, compared to 84% in Middlesbrough

  • This greater diversity suggests that Reading is more economically successful and attracts economic migrants

Gentrification

• Gentrification is a change in the social structure of a place when affluent people move into a location

  • E.g. the movement of middle-class people into a rundown inner suburb. This improves the area’s image and houses e.g. Salford Quays in Greater Manchester

• Gentrification leads to an increase in property values. This often results in the displacement of the original, usually poorer residents

  • E.g. Portland Road in Notting Hill, was one of London’s most run-down and deprived areas; now houses sell for £2 million

Reasons for Changes in Place

• A range of factors cause changes in places including:

  • Physical factors

  • Accessibility and connectedness

  • Historical development

  • Role of local/national planning 

• Physical factors include:

  • Location - closeness to large cities and core economic areas

  • Environment - how attractive the place is

• Accessibility and connectedness factors include:

  • More accessibility to other places with improved transport infrastructure (road, rail, air)

  • Connections help competition for investment and visitors

  • Easier access means businesses can attract more skilled workers and trade goods in new ways

  • Improved connectivity through the extension of the 5G network

• Historical development factors include:

  • The decline in the primary and secondary sectors

  • Changes in consumer trends

    • Retail - from corner ship to supermarkets to shopping malls and online shopping

    • House type - more demand for single homes 

  • More affluence means a greater demand for leisure and tourism activities, so buildings are converted to other uses e.g. bars, holiday homes

• The role of local/national planning includes:

  • Government policies on restructuring the UK economy after deindustrialisation. This involved promoting growth in tertiary and quaternary sectors 

  • Government planning regulations can prevent developments, such as in areas classed as green belt 

  • Local authorities have a duty to find suitable land for new housing to reduce the housing shortage in the UK. Estimates suggest that there are 1.2 million extra homes needed 

 How Factors have Influenced Reading & Middlesbrough

Measuring Changes

• These changes can be measured using employment trends, demographic changes, land use changes and levels of deprivation 

• Deprivation is a complex concept

• The multiple deprivation index measures development and takes into account the following:

  • Income, employment and health deprivation

  • Crime

  • Quality of the living environment

  • Abandoned and derelict land

The index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)

• The IMD attempts to quantify deprivation for small areas within the UK

• It combines information from different categories of deprivation (e.g. income, employment, education) to produce an overall score of deprivation

  • Allowing analysis of whether a place is improving or declining

• The IMD is calculated separately for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; the results are not comparable across the four nations

• To measure the deprivation, England is split into approximately 33,000 small areas, with about 650 households in each one

• It is an average measure as not every person will be deprived in a highly deprived area

• It enables the identification and targeting of the most deprived areas for various policies and interventions, nationally and regionally

• Authorities in England use the following seven categories of deprivation. These are ranked by importance (weightings):

  • Income (large weight - 22.5%)

  • Employment (large weight - 22.5%)

  • Education (medium - 13.5%)

  • Health (medium - 13.5%)

  • Crime (less - 9.3%)

  • Barriers to housing and services (less - 9.3%)

  • Living environment (less - 9.3%)

Levels of Deprivation for Middlesbrough & Reading (2019)

• Deciles divide the ranked areas into 10 equal groups - the most deprived (1) to the least deprived (10)

  • E.g. Middlesbrough having a decile rank of 1 in income deprivation means that people in at least 90% of other places in England earn more than people in Middlesbrough

• Middlesbrough and Reading have very different levels of deprivation across the seven domains

  • Middlesbrough ranks amongst the most deprived areas in all domains, except for barriers to housing and services (the second most deprived decile)

  • Reading ranks amongst the least deprived districts in all domains, apart from crime

    • Crime levels in Reading, especially violence against the person and sexual offences, are the highest in Berkshire

Other measures

• Population growth or decline is a key indicator of how economically successful places are:

  • Reading's population has grown by nearly 11% since 2011 to 173,200 in 2021 

  • Middlesbrough's population declined by 5% between 1991 and 2011, but has started to grow again by 3.6% to 143,700 (2021)

    • This is still lower than 1991 figures of 146,000

  • During this time:

    • Reading gained nearly 40,000 jobs in digital economies (industries like mobile technology, ICT, software design and app development) by 2016

    • The Teesside Steelworks closed (2015) with the loss of 3200 direct and indirect jobs

• Increases in house prices can indicate economic success in an area:

  • Average house price in Reading - £433,063 (3.2% growth from 2021)

  • Average house price in Middlesbrough - £149,983 (1.7% growth from 2021)