Changes in Urban Land Use (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Geography)

Urban Land Use Changes

Changes to the CBD

• Every urban area undergoes changes over time and is dependent on the needs of the urban region

• What works for one city may not work for another or be relevant to a town or area

• Some changes include:

  • Pedestrian zones are known as car-free zones and are areas for pedestrians only. Traffic is severely restricted or banned and its aim is to provide a safe, accessible area for pedestrians to improve the volume of people for businesses

  • Shopping centres/malls: centralising businesses for people is convenient and increases spending. Almost all centres include car parks with a variety of stores and activities—food, clothing, cinemas, games, jewellers and more. They are beneficial to both shoppers and businesses; costs are cut for maintenance and advertising and there is a ready-made clientele from other businesses 

  • Leisure: traditional urban leisure activities such as parks, museums, theatres, private clubs, opera houses, etc now stand alongside multi-plex cinemas, IMAX, sports centres, niche marketplaces and cafes, waterfront developments and smart nightspots

  • Brownfield sites—disused shops and offices are converted into desirable residential lofts or trendy places for people to meet or work. 

  • Safety: many urban areas are now monitored through CCTV, management of traffic during the day or night, pedestrian-only zones; or limited parking have all added to the safety of people in urban areas

Changes to the inner city

• With deindustrialisation, inner city areas have been viewed as centres of poverty and low-cost housing, waste grounds with derelict buildings 

• This cycle of boom and bust resulted in urban blight

• Inner cities provide a way for companies to grow and governments to draw people back into urban areas when property value, rents, council taxes, and building restrictions rise in cost

• Redevelopment has allowed the CBD to spread and clear cheap, high-rise blocks of flats to help with the pressures of urban growth

• Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) were large-scale projects that brought about major changes to inner cities with the help of private and public investments

  • London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) redeveloped Canary Wharf

  • Although the LDDC ceased to exist in 1998, development still continues to this day

  • Canary Wharf is a new financial district for London, attracting a younger workforce

  • Transport links have been upgraded and extended

  • New health centres, schools, colleges and university 

  • Business, leisure and residential areas are placed alongside each other, cutting down on the need for transport and making pollution levels lower

Changes along the urban fringe

• Some of the biggest changes in the urban landscape can be seen at the rural-urban fringe

• Growth at the urban fringe is due in part to counter-urbanisation, population growth, lack of space and spiralling land costs

• Other than new housing estates, there are also:

  • Retail parks: large sphere of influence due to being easily accessible, ample free parking, concentration of businesses in one place, longer opening hours, large choice of goods

  • Industrial estates: space for expansion, purpose-built road networks, cheaper land, sited away from housing

  • Business parks: space is created for a nicer working environment, easier access and commute for workers. The area is specifically created for office space and includes a conference hotel

  • Science parks are purpose-built to encourage research and development (R&D), high-tech industries and other quaternary activities, close to a university and transport networks (including airports) to allow for knowledge transfer

  • Airports: increase in air traffic and low-cost carriers, but also airports feed into businesses on the fringe through imports and exports but also knowledge with speakers and investors having easy access to businesses 

  • Motorways and ring roads—feed into ease of access for residents, workers, lorries, buses, cars, etc. 

Urban sprawl

• Cities are centres of attraction, which creates an ever-changing population density

• Cities are a pull for inward investment, which increases opportunities for young people and increases growth

• Urban growth if left unchecked leads to urban sprawl

• Many older cities prevent this through planning and use of 'green belts' to limit outward urban growth

• Most of this change has been at the urban fringes due to:

  • Availability of space for housing, retail and manufacturing—including options for expansion

  • The cost of land is cheaper to develop 

  • Better access to main arterial routes for private and heavy transport

  • Many services are now located at the urban fringe—major hospitals, superstores, specialist manufacturing, etc. 

• However, urban sprawl has also created problems such as:

  • Loss of farmland to build new homes

  • Loss of traditional 'green spaces' from school fields, parks, etc. that are being built on

  • Impact on ecosystems—natural and built (removal of trees increases pollution levels, etc.)

  • Creates impermeable surfaces and surface run-off

Urban redevelopment and renewal 

• All urban areas see growth and decline; however, some have seen decline and suffered urban blight, particularly following suburbanisation

• This happens when a city's core is built around one type of industry (Liverpool and its docks)

• The city expands to accommodate this growth, but if the industry dies or moves further out, then the inner-city declines

• Urban redevelopment attempts to counter this by improving an urban area through demolishing, reconstructing or substantially renovating existing buildings and infrastructure—there is a distinct change in the area

• Urban renewal involves the improvement of existing buildings, parks, roads, and industrial areas; the area remains recognisable 

• Government, public and private investors are involved at both levels to varying degrees

Gentrification

• Development of a city neighbourhood from low to high-value

• A poor area experiences an influx of educated or wealthy individuals who gradually renovate and push up property values

• This usually forces out poorer families as the area becomes too expensive to live in

• Ultimately, the character and demographic make-up of the neighbourhood is changed completely through new services and functions of the area