Year 8 - Geography
The growth of cities
Cities: What are they like to live in?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit teaches pupils about how cities have grown and developed over time. Life in contrasting cities is explored through focussing on Manila and London.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain the process of urban growth and describe the distribution of cities around the world.
Key Notes
- The urban hierarchy explains how settlements range from small villages to global cities based on size and function.
- Urbanisation is the growth of urban areas and is a phenomenon experienced globally.
- The location of the biggest cities in the world has changed over time from high to low and middle income countries..
- The two main causes of urbanisation are rural to urban migration and natural increase.
- In 2008, for the first time in world history, over 50% of the world's population lived in towns and cities.
Vocabulary To Learn
- urbanisation: the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
- natural increase: when a population grows because births outnumber deaths
- rural to urban migration: the movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Urbanisation only happens in rich countries.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this geography topic using two clear key points.
The urban hierarchy explains how settlements range from small villages to global cities based on size and function. Urbanisation is the growth of urban areas and is a phenomenon experienced globally.
2. Define this geography term and use it in an example. 'urbanisation'
the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities.
3. Correct this common geography misunderstanding.
Mistake: Urbanisation only happens in rich countries. Correction: Urbanisation is occurring fastest in low and middle income countries due to rapid population growth and rural to urban migration.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Benefits of living in cities Study Guide
- Challenges of living in cities Study Guide
- Cities and climate change Study Guide
- GIS: Visualising and analysing the growth of cities Study Guide
- Global cities and megacities Study Guide
- Population in cities Study Guide
- Regenerating cities Study Guide
- Steel cities: Tangshan and Sheffield Study Guide
- Sustainable cities Study Guide
- The future of cities Study Guide
- Urban structure and land use Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 8 Geography guide library.