Changing Rural Environments Case Studies

Bluewater, Kent

• It is an out-of-town regional shopping centre
• It is in a high access location within London's rural-urban fringe.
• It was built in a disused chalk quarry
• It places a lot of pressure on the rural-urban fringe and this part of Kent is a lot more urbanised and congested than it used to be.

Chalgrove, Oxfordshire

• It lies on the edge of the rural-urban fringe between Oxford and London.
• The population has risen to over 11 thousand.

• Close to M40, good access to London
• A-road access to Oxford
• Mainline railway stations accessible nearby
• Nearby towns provide a range of local services
• New job opportunities
• Outside greenbelt so no limit to development

• They are highly mobile
• Work in professions or in management
• Have lived there for less than 10 years.

East Anglia

Crops:

• It is well known for cereal crops, growing more than a quarter of England's wheat and barley 
• Sugar beat and potatoes are also mass produced in this region
• Peas, beans, salad crops, strawberries, other fruits and flowers are also cultivated.

Livestock:

• Mainly pig and poultry
• 2.2 million eggs and 25% of chickens consumed weekly are from this region
• Mainly indoors, under intensive systems 

Physical:

• The climate is ideal for intensive arable farming
• Low rainfall and warm summers.

Human:

• Large farming machinery used
• Farms often share expensive equipment
• Chemicals are sometimes used by company owned farms

Kenya, East Africa

• Kenya produces flowers as a cash crop
• It has a good climate for flower growing but most roses are grown in greenhouses to protect them.
• They are grown near the rift valley lakes as they are a good source of water
• It employs tens of thousands of workers but often on low wages
• Sometimes benefits are given to workers such as free education for their children, and free housing.