Geography People and the Planet

What is happening to Japan?

• Japan has the oldest population in the world
• People in Japan are living longer due to their diet and quality of life
• The birth rate in Japan is declining

What does this mean for Japan?

• An increase in pension costs
• An increase in demand for nursing homes
• An increase in healthcare costs
• Not enough people in their Disneyland!

What is happening to Mexico?

• Mexico has a very young population
• People in Mexico are living for longer and the birth rate is also increasing, due to an increase in healthcare for the country

What does this mean for Mexico?

• An increase in school places
• Large numbers of unemployment
• Abortions have now been legalised to reduce number of abandoned children

Positives

• It is effective in preventing births
• It keeps the government from having to face problems such as high unemployment levels and lack of housing
• Couples recieve financial rewards and welfare benefits

Negatives

• China's tradition mean that the Chinese are sex-selective, this means that girls are often left abandoned because boys are prefered to girls
• There is now an imbalance of males to females
• Couples may end up paying huge fines if they disobey the policy

Anti-Natalist policy - A policy to encourage couples to have fewer children by providing a reward of some sort (China's one child policy)

Pro-Natalist policy - A policy to encourage couples to have more children by providing a reward of some sort (Sweden - Give extra paternal leave, cash benefits and sick child care)

Immigration policy USA 

• A visa must be obtained to enter the country

The policy aims to:

• Admit workers with specific skills for jobs with workers in short supply
• Reunite families
• Increase ethnic diversity

Mathus

Malthus believed that we should just carry on as we would normally and not do anything. He believed that 'natural checks' would happen such as famine/war that would allow the population to return to normal.

Boserup

Boserup believed that 'necessity is the mother of invention'. She thought that we could invent new ways of farming with our new technology that we have. 

Renewable (Wind Power USA)

There are 13,000 wind turbines in California providing 2.3% of the state's energy requirements.

Sustainable (Bio-gas India)

There are over 2.5 million bio-gas plants across India providing 57% of the country's energy requirements.

Non- renewable (Natural gas Europe)

The UK imports 50% of it's gas supplies because Europe's supplies are running low. 

Abu Dhabi - A major producer of oil but with a very desert-like climate, can't grow it's own food, it therefore spends all of it's profits from selling oil importing food. Abu Dhabi now have land in Sudan which has been given to them free of charge in exchange for technological expertise in improving farming techniques. 

Ecological Footprint - The area of land and sea that supplies all the 'stuff' you need to live

An average ecological footprint is about the size of 6 football pitches.

• Social - Crime rates, health care, education availability, communications
• Economic - Services (range, quality, choice), job opportunities, transport
• Environmental - Water available, possibility of natural disasters, pollution
• Political - Stability, opportunity to participate in democracy, free speech

• Chernobyl, Ukraine - Environmental accident (Radiation)
• Baghdad, Iraq - Political tensions and war
• Detroit, USA - De-industrialisation, unemployment
• Mexico City, Mexico - Overcrowding, rural-urban migration, crime, poverty
• Zimbabwe - Poverty, hyperinflation, famine, disease, drought

Urban

• Very high densities of people
• Significant proportion of poor people
• May live in illegal settlements
• Some services
• Range of employment - formal/informal
• Some public transport

Rural

• Very poor public transport
• Many people employed in agriculture
• Poverty very common
• Disease
• Poor educational facilities
• Limited/no services

Urban 

• High densities of people
• Good public transport
• High numbers of shops and services
• High-speed broadband access and cable

Rural

• Fewer shops and services
• Higher levels of car ownership
• Less transport infrastructure
• Low speed internet access

The rural idyll is the image people have of rural life (MEDC). They imagine a close community with less traffic and crime, near the countryside, with pubs and village shops. 

The rural idyll has caused rural property house prices to become very expensive.

Most houses in a rural village are used as second homes causing village's population's to decline meaning that post offices and pubs have been closing rapidly. 

Benefits

• Warmer climate - good for health problems such as arthritis
• Excellent transport links
• Lower house prices than the UK
• Cheap to fly home to visit family
• Form close communities with other retired people

Disadvantages

• Away from family/friends
• Language barrier

Reasons 25-35 year olds

• Good nightlife
• Close to work
• Modern living spaces
• High-quality shopping

Reasons for 60+ year olds

• May be close to family/friends
• Minimal maintenance housing
• Less isolated

Reasons for both

• Lots of good places to eat out
• Good transport
• Culture and leisure facilities close by

A green belt is an area of open land around a city. It is protected from development so that the city can't expand too much. 

An Alice City (named after Alice in Wonderland) is being planned by people to be built underneath Tokyo. The plans are for a complex network of offices, shopping malls and hotels to be built underneath the city. 

Benefits

• Surface area free for parks 
• Tokyo wouldn't expand any further outwards
• It escapes the huge land prices of the city (£1000 per sq m!)

• Primary Industry - Extracting raw materials (farmer/fisherman)
• Secondary Industry - Manufacturing (building/car making)
• Tertiary Industry - Providing a service (Teacher/doctor)
• Quaternary Industry - Provide information/expert help(IT/media)

Economic Impacts

• Loss of personal income
• Loss of tax income for local/national government

Socail Impacts

• Crime
• Family breakdown

Environmental Impacts

• More available land
• Reduced traffic pollution
• Derelict land
• Empty factory buildings (vandalism/litter)
• Reduced air pollution

• Making 'green' products (from natural, renewable materials/recycled goods)
• Constructing 'green' buildings(using less energy, recycling water or built from natural materials)
• Offering 'green' services (eco-tourism)
• Quaternary services (architects designing 'green' buildings)

Landfill advantages

• Good use of old quarries
• Easily managed

Landfill disadvantages

• Attracts vermin
• Gives off bad smells

Incinerator advantages

• Safe disposal

Incinerator disadvantages

• Gives off toxic gas
• 25% of the original waste remains after burning

Congestion Charge

Benefits

• 21% fall in traffic in Central London
• Increase in bus users/cyclists
• Generates money for the city

Disadvantages

• Inconvenient for residents inside the congestion zone
• Bus travel is expensive for those who choose to take that option rather than the car

Supermarket advantages

• Huge variety
• Good prices
• Convenient

Farmer's market advantages

• Good-quality local produce
• Low food miles

Supermarket disadvantages

• Food from around the world

Farmer's marker disadvantages

• Expensive

• One way systems
• Restricted parking
• Traffic calming measures and speed restrictions
• Park and Ride systems
• Ring Roads
• Cycle lanes and footpaths
• Dedicated bus lanes

Maharashtra - India's richest region, the wealth has come from:

Services, manufacturing, entertainment (Bollywood), leisure and business services 

Bihar - India's poorest region

• The average income per person per year is £75
• 55% of households live in poverty

The Sardar Sarovar Dam, India

Benefits

• Multi-purpose (Drinking water and hydroelectric power)
• A series of canals distributes water across India

Problems

• Villages drowned
• Few local villages can afford the electricity (only cities benefit)
• Good farmland has been submerged

This is an example of top-down development because locals that have been affected by the dam don't actually benefit from it, showing that they probably didn't have any say.

Biogas, India

Benefits

• Smoke and ash-free kitchen
• Women and children don't have to gather firewood
• Jobs have been created in bio gas plants

All of these are benefits to all residents of India, not just the ones who can afford it. This shows a bottom up development because everyone has had a say in it. 

• Involve local people in decision-making
• Be affordable
• Promote good health
• Protect native plants and animals
• Use land that has been developed before where possible
• Minimise waste
• Minimise energy use
• Minimise water use
• Minimise pollution
• Offer benefits to the poor as well as the wealthy

• Account for - Explain the reasons for something
• Compare - Identify similarities and differences between two or more things
• Define - Give a clear meaning
• Describe - Say what something is like ; identify trends
• Explain - Give reasons why something happens
• How far? - Put in both sides of an argument
• Justify - Give evidence to support your statements
• List - State the factors
• Outline - Describe and explain, use more description than explanation

Level 3 

• Describe a range of characteristics with some detail for some areas
• Some use of appropriate examples
• Accurate/clear link to question
• Well written with correct geographical terminology, spelling, punctuation and grammer