Geography 8 Marker 2011

Define the process of suburbanisation and describe the impact that it has had on areas beyond inner city. (8 marks)

Suburbanisation is the movement of people from city centres to the outskirts. it can have negative and positive impact depending on the area and the city. The reason suburbanisation has occurred is due to the improvement in transport infrastructure. As people can easily commute using cars and rails into the inner city.

One of the impacts on the suburbs is that as more people move there the number of houses increase, meaning that more houses are built as more people arrive. This disrupts the wildlife in the area. Also due to more housing there would be more concrete in the area which would lead to increase surface run off and therefore increase the chances of the area being flooded. Another negative impact is that the green belt around is constantly under pressure as more houses are needed. As people still work in city centres most of them commute by car increasing congestion and pollution. But, in 2003 London introduced congestion charges which reduced the traffic in congestion zone charged areas by 15%.

As people move out of the city centre and inner city so do the businesses. This leaves a lot of unemployment in the city centre itself. As a result, a there are a lot of empty buildings; overtime their condition is worsened and no one invests in them. However, these building can be knocked down and the derelict land could be used to create more environmental friendly places. Since the businesses move to the suburbs/countryside it increases job opportunities. As wealthier middle class people move in they demand for facilities like gym and golf course. Overtime the area develops further increasing the standard of living there.

Suburbanisation can have a positive or negative impact on the city depending on the country. Though, I think that the negatives outweigh the positives and suburbanisation can have a really bad impact on the economic condition on a city.