Regeneration (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Perceptions & Inequalities

• The economic and social inequalities, that occur in different places, can affect people's perceptions of an area

• Perceptions are relative to people, place and time, for example in London:

  • Wealthier people, who have a higher quality of life and more opportunities, may view London as exciting and enjoy the fast pace of life

  • Poorer people, with a lower quality of life, may feel economically and socially trapped by London

  • Inequality can make young people feel like however hard they work, they will be unable to break the cycle of inequality (unable to afford a house or get a well-paid job)

  • Retired people may view London as too busy and look for other places which offer a slower pace of life

Successful places

• Successful places often experience a spiral of growth, which can be shown in the cumulative causation model

  • Cumulative causation occurs when people move to a successful area to provide services for those already there

  • This makes the area even more attractive to people and investors

• Successful regions, such as the San Francisco Bay area, tend to be characterised by: 

  • High rates of employment

  • High rates of inward migration (both internal and international)

  • Higher levels of income

  • Low levels of multiple deprivation

• However, a wealthy and developing region can develop negative knock-on effects:

  • High property prices

  • Skills shortages in urban and rural areas e.g. teachers, healthcare workers

  • Congestion of roads and public transport

  • Strains on services, such as healthcare and education

• The growth of rural areas is usually on a smaller scale than urban areas

  • Improvements in broadband coverage mean rural businesses can attract customers from greater distances

  • Lots of growth in smaller and micro businesses (under 10 employees), such as artisan food, winery, beekeeping, dog boarding, micro-brewery

  • Investments in mobile networks and high-speed broadband have allowed more people to work from home, regardless of their location

San Francisco - a successful place

• San Francisco is known as an international centre for commerce and innovation, particularly as a hub for the technology industry 

  • IT and digital media companies, like Twitter and Dropbox, have their headquarters there

• There is also a large cluster of bioscience companies based there, which has fuelled job opportunities

• It has attracted highly educated migrants from across the USA, as well as Asia

  • In 2019, 190,000 immigrants gained permission to work long-term in California, where San Francisco is located

• The multiplier effect is fuelled by its technological and transportation infrastructure, high quality of life and highly skilled workforce

• San Francisco is one of the wealthiest cities in the USA, with low unemployment levels of about 3% (Unemployment rate for the USA = 3.9%)

• However, there are large amounts of inequality:

  • In San Francisco, the average income of the top 1% of households in the city averages $3.6 million, 44 times the average income of the bottom 99%

  • The city is facing an affordability and housing crisis

    • In 2015, 64,000 jobs were created but only 5,000 new homes were built

    • The average house in San Francisco now costs over $1.25 million

  • The arrival of tech companies has led to the gentrification of poorer neighbourhoods (e.g. Tenderloin) so that many existing residents can no longer afford to live there

Deindustrialisation & Decline

• Some places experience a spiral of decline after economic restructuring due to a change in economic sectors.

• The spiral of decline is sometimes termed the negative multiplier effect

• It occurs in:

  • Urban areas due to deindustrialisation, where factories close and unemployment increases

    • Skilled, local people leave the area to find work, leaving behind the less skilled or older workers, who would be difficult to retrain

  • Rural areas due to a decline in the primary sector (e.g. agriculture) or the mechanisation of farming, leading to unemployment

    • Young people leave the area, leaving behind an ageing population

    • Decline in rural services (e.g. post offices, banks, petrol stations) due to less demand

• Economic restructuring causes increased levels of social deprivation and a decline in:

  • Job opportunities

  • Education

  • Health

  • Crime

  • Services 

  • The living environment

• Economic decline often leads to a social decline:

  • Less investment in public services (healthcare, education)

  • Unemployment can lead to depression and an increase in drug use

  • Increased crime and anti-social behaviour

• It is difficult to break the spiral of decline and stop the area from declining without intervention e.g. regeneration strategies

The Rust Belt, USA

• The decline of the heavy manufacturing industry (deindustrialisation) in the USA’s Rust Belt began in the 1950s and led to higher levels of unemployment in the region:

  • Cheaper imports increased 

  • Manufacturing shifted south due to cheaper labour

  • The increased automation of industrial processes

• Cities such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh shared several difficulties:

  • Population loss - some cities lost more than 40% of their populations 

  • Declining tax revenues

  • Higher levels of unemployment - increased by 20%

  • Limited opportunity for retraining

  • Increased crime and drug use, especially among unemployed males

Priorities for Regeneration

• Social and economic inequalities create a need for regeneration

• The role of regeneration is to reverse the spiral of decline and to create more equality through social and economic change 

• By regenerating an area, business opportunities occur, which improves the overall quality of life and wellbeing

• Key priorities for regeneration, due to the vast inequalities found there, include:

  • Sink estates

  • Declining rural settlements

• Other areas, such as gated communities and commuter villages have low levels of deprivation and are a low priority for regeneration

Regeneration priorities for four different places

• Areas that need regeneration can be found next to those that do not need it at all

  • Rich, gated communities can be found right next to 'sink estates' in urban areas

  • In rural areas, successful, wealthy commuter villages may be only a few miles away from less accessible rural villages suffering from population decline and service deprivation