Urban case study: London

Getting started
You’ll need a notepad on which to make notes as you go along, or
you could make notes, paste images, etc. on your device.

You can view these slides:

• as a slide-show for any animations and to follow links; look out for a
voice-over on some slides too.
• in ‘normal’ view if you want to add call-outs or extra slides to make
notes, paste images, answer questions.

These slides cover a broad overview from all the different GCSE
exam boards, and not everything is covered. Do use these along with
your school textbook or revision guide.

There are activities embedded here, with answers, to help you

practice applying some of the knowledge.
© Geographical Association, 2020
 Why study London?

London is a world city, globally connected through business

and finance to cities around the world. It is the capital city of
the United Kingdom and has been an important settlement
since Roman times. Here, we look at the growth and
development of London, the challenges it faces and some of
the ways it is adapting to the modern world.
© Geographical Association, 2020
 Why is London in an important
location?
Site
Roman London was originally built as a
bridging point on the River Thames,
which also meant it developed a port
function.

Situation
The flat land gave the city room for
expansion, with farm land beyond the
walls. All travel across the river came
through the city so the Romans could A reconstruction of Londinium – the
control South-East England. Romans were at this site around the
years 47–50 CE.

What is interesting for geographers is

how the past has helped shape what we
see today.
Activity
1. Watch this history of London.
2. Create a timeline of key events in the development of the
modern
© Geographical city.2020
Association,
© Geographical Association, 2020
 Why is London an important
city?
‘London’s role as a port declined in the twentieth Activity
century but it remained the main hub for the UK Read and
transport network. Motorways converge on London, highlight the
such as the M1. The UK’s two busiest airports – text to show
Heathrow and Gatwick – are both close to London. The the importance
Palace of Westminster is the home of the UK of London:
Government. • local reasons
– use green
London is the UK’s capital and is by far its wealthiest • national
city. The gap between London and the rest of the UK reasons– use
has widened as both earnings and house prices have yellow
risen faster in London than elsewhere. In London the • global
average salary is £34,473 compared to the UK reasons use
average of £22,044. The average house price in red.
London is £514,000 compared to the UK average of
£272,000. London is a ‘world city’ – along with New
York, it is one of the most important financial centres
in the world. The headquarters of many large
international
© Geographical and
Association, 2020 British companies are based there,
 Why is London an important
city?
‘London’s role as a port declined in the twentieth century
but it remained the main hub for the UK transport
network. Motorways converge on London, such as the
M1. The UK’s two busiest airports – Heathrow and
Gatwick – are both close to London. The Palace of
Westminster is the home of the UK Government.
London is the UK’s capital and by far the wealthiest city.
The gap between London and the rest of the UK has
widened, as both earnings and house prices have risen
faster in London than elsewhere. In London, the average
salary is £34,473 compared to the UK average of
£22,044. The average house price in London is £514,000
compared to the UK average of £272,000. London is a
‘world city’ – along with New York, it is one of the most
important financial centres in the world. The
headquarters of many large international and British
companies are based there, such as KPMG. The city also
attracts2020
© Geographical Association, investment and migrants from all around the
 How has London changed over
time?
London has grown and declined over time. Here is some data.

Year Population: millions Activity

1. Make sure you know the
1801 1.0
1811 1.3 meaning of urbanisation,
1821 1.5 counter-urbanisation and
1831 1.8
re-urbanisation.
1841 2.2
1851 2.6
1861 3.2 2. Draw a line graph to show how
1881 4.7
London’s population has
1891 5.6
1911 7.2 changed over time. Annotate
1921 7.4 the graph with the key terms.
1931 8.1
1951 8.2
1961 8.0 Answers on the next slide…
1971 7.4
1981 6.5
1991 6.7
2001 7.2
2011 8.2

© Geographical Association, 2020

 What processes have led to
population change in London?
9,000,000
A line graph to show population change in London 1801–2011
8,000,000

U CO
7,000,000 RB
AN UN N
d IS TER IO
6,000,000 an AT - AT
TH N IO IS
- AN
POPULATION

W TIO N E
5,000,000 RO SA R RB
G I U
AN AN
B
4,000,000
RB UR
U
3,000,000

2,000,000

1,000,000

0
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000

YEAR

© Geographical Association, 2020

 What processes have led to
population change inAsLondon?
areas of London
London grows due to became redeveloped,
9,000,000
migration andA‘ line graph to show population change andinnew jobs
London available,
1801-2011
natural
8,000,000 increase’. London more people
U CO
are
RB
physically grows at the attracted in.
AN UN N
7,000,000
IS TER T IO
edges through the an
d AT -
IO IS
A
N
process
6,000,000
of ‘ TH N N
RE- BA
W TIO R
O U
POPULATION

suburbanisation’. R
G IS
A
5,000,000
AN BA
N As traffic, crime and
B
R R
4,000,000 U U pollution increase, the
wealthy move out of the
3,000,000
city, and make use of
2,000,000 the transport links to
commute to the city.
1,000,000

0
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000

YEAR

© Geographical Association, 2020

 What is London’s age structure?

Fewer older people

possibly indicates
counter-
urbanisation to
retirement (rural
or coastal)
locations.
Large numbers of
young adults in
their 20s living
and working in the
vibrant city. They
are the ones
having the young
children.

© Geographical Association, 2020

 What is London’s cultural mix?
International migration has created Activity
multicultural communities living in 1. Watch this video
about
London. Different cultural groups are
multiculturalism
concentrated in specific areas of the city, in London.
such as the Caribbean community in 2. List the reasons
Brixton, or the South Korean community for the presence
in New Malden. of the Caribbean
community in
Over time, these communities will start Brixton and how
businesses of their own which often cater the area reflects
the needs of the
for the specific needs of that community,
community.
such as shops selling certain types of
food. Building functions can also
change (setting up religious buildings, for
example). This means the area can take
on a specific ‘identity’ linked to different
© Geographical Association, 2020
 How do different parts of London
compare?
Activity – GIS enquiry
The Datashine website loads up an interactive map, showing
layers of data from the 2011 Census.
1. Choose two places, one in Richmond (West London) and one
in Newham (East London). Change the ‘data chooser’ to
collect specific data about the two places.
2. Contrast these two areas of London.

Richmond Newham
(TW9) (E15)
Employment (professional
occupations)
Education (qualification gained,
degree)
Health (general health)
Housing (5 or more bedrooms)
© Geographical Association, 2020
 What challenges does London
face?
As a growing city, London has a number of challenges to
solve.

1. Inequality: London is the wealthiest city in the UK, but

social deprivation affects 2 million people (lack of decent
services, housing, income or employment). Projects such as
redevelopment (see later slides) can help to address these
problems.

2. Housing: The Mayor of London’s office has calculated

66,000 new homes are needed each year; recent new
building has averaged 20,000 per year. New homes can be
built on ‘brownfield’ sites (old industrial wasteland) or
‘greenfield’ sites (open space on the edge of urban areas).

© Geographical Association, 2020

 What challenges does London
face?
3. Transport: Around 3 million people use the London
underground train network every day, and millions more use
the buses. With population increase this will put the transport
network under considerable strain.

4. Pollution and Waste: Air pollution from cars means 2

million Londoners (including 400,000 children and 450
schools) live in areas of pollution above international pollution
limits. A quarter of London’s waste still goes to landfill rather
than recycling.

Solutions to these include encouraging cycling through the

public bike hire scheme (currently called Santander cycles),
and building the Crossrail trainline and the cycle
superhighway. The congestion charge discourages cars from
the city
© Geographical centre.
Association, 2020
 Why did East London experience
industrial decline?
Mass
Manufacturing unemployment,
Industries closed in particularly low-
Area gained
1960–90s: some skilled workers.
negative reputation.
moved abroad, Region became the
where costs are location for newly
lower. arrived, often poor
By 2000 area migrants.
contained brownfield
sites. Newham was
one of the poorest Small existing
Area experiences
boroughs in the UK industries pollute the
graffiti and rise in
on many social land and air; the
litter. Possible crime
measures. Thames still polluted
(and fear of crime)
from former
increases.
industrial age; not
cleaned up.
© Geographical Association, 2020
 How is East London being redeveloped?
These are some of the factors that have led to change. East London
(on the borders of Newham, Waltham Forest, Hackney and Tower
Hamlets) hosted the summer Olympic Games in 2012. A reason for
winning the bid to host the Games was that they would act as a
stimulus
• Socialfor positive
– the change.
Athletes’ Village is now a Activity
new housing development (East Watch this video from
Village), with 2,800 homes, a new 2017. Write a set of
school (Chobham Academy) and five notes, with data to
new communities planned by 2030. support them, under
BUT house prices are rising across the these headings:
whole area, so it is still unaffordable • Olympic Park
for many locals. • Copperbox Arena
• Economic – the International Quarter • Aquatics Centre
is a business hub for 25,000 people • Velodrome
which attracts TNCs. BUT it was still • Here East
being built in 2020. • Housing.
• Environmental – whole park
landscaped, with over 100 hectares of
© Geographical Association, 2020
 How is East London being
redeveloped?

Activity
Draw an
annotated
field sketch of
this view of
the Olympic
Park.

© Geographical Association, 2020

 Wind turbines Canary Wharf and the high rise
generate renewable businesses of London Docklands in
energy across site. background – already investment in
East London

Trees and
grass shows
landscaped
parklands –
Large cranes all makes the
over region area attractive
showing new to tourists and
developments locals.

Landscaping of River Field sketch of the Olympic

Lea valley prevents Park and surrounding area,
flood damage and looking South.
trees help prevent
flooding.
© Geographical Association, 2020
 Practice question
Evaluate the success of attempts to redevelop an
urban area in a high income country you have studied.

Your answer might include:

• Evaluate: this means look at things that went well and
things that did not go so well. You could also look at social,
economic and environmental aspects.
• Place-specific detail: it needs to sound like the Olympics-
led regeneration of East London. You need names of places,
key dates and numbers.
• Answer the question! Make sure you are writing about
redevelopment in London, and the successes of it. Be
critical too, to evaluate successfully.

© Geographical Association, 2020

 Links
Awarding organisations Find out more
Topic • Mind the Gap: ‘Londo
AQA 3.2.1 Urban issues and n vs the rest’
challenges presented by Evan
Edexcel A 4.3 – 4.5. Changing cities. Davis. Available
Edexcel B 5.3 – 5.7 Dynamic UK cities online elsewhere if
not on iPlayer. Very
Eduqas A Key Idea 2.3.2 Urban issues
useful to explore the
Eduqas B Key Idea 1.1.2 – 3:
national dominance
Urbanisation
of London.
OCR A 1.2.6 People of the UK
• See the website of
OCR B 5.1 b, 5.2a, 5.2b Urban the London Assembly
futures.
to explore how they
WJEC Key Idea 2.3.2 Urban issues manage London.
CCEA B: Changing urban areas

© Geographical Association, 2020

 Glossary
• Counter urbanisation: The movement of people out of built-up
areas and into the countryside.
• Migration: The movement of people from one area to another.
• Natural increase: A situation where more babies are being born
than the number of people dying which increases population.
• Re-urbanisation: The movement of people back into an urban
area, after a period of population decrease.
• Site: The physical characteristics of the location of a city.
• Situation: The location of the place in relation to its physical and
human surroundings.
• Suburbanisation: The growth of residential areas at the edge of a
town or city.
• TNCs: Transnational companies- businesses that work in more
than one country.
• Urbanisation: The process by which an increasing proportion of
people live in towns and cities.
© Geographical Association, 2020
 Acknowledgements
This presentation has been written by Richard Bustin, Head of
Geography at Lancing College and an experienced author.

Figures
• Slide 3: Photo (cc by-sa-4) ©User: Colin
Palace of Westminster
• Slide 4: Image Matt Brown
• Slide 5: Image Wikimedia commons
• Slide 8 and 11: ONS Census data 2011

© Geographical Association, 2020