GeographyThe urban and economic world25 min★★★ difficulty

Life in a fast-growing city: opportunities and challenges

Squatter settlements are usually shown as a problem. They are also, viewed honestly, the fastest self-built housing solution on the planet. Both statements are true, and the geography sits in between.

Part of your national curriculum

Place knowledge: Understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of human and physical geography of a region in Africa and a region in Asia
Human and physical geography: Understand urbanisation, including the causes and geographical effects, at country and city scale, of urbanisation and megacities
Place knowledge: Understand the physical and human characteristics of an area of the UK and a wider region of the world beyond Europe

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Evaluate the opportunities and challenges of rapid urban growth in an NEE.

Key learning points

• Opportunities
• Challenges: housing and services
• Challenges: work, traffic and environment
• Urban planning that works

This lesson at a glance

25 minutes
21 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

opportunitieschallengesgrowthhousingservices

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Part 1 of 21 · Discover5%

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Part 1 of 21

Life in a fast-growing city: opportunities and challenges illustration

Visual introduction

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Life in a fast-growing city: opportunities and challenges

In a nutshell

Evaluate the opportunities and challenges of rapid urban growth in an NEE.

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 21

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Opportunities

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 21

Learn

Opportunities

Rapid growth concentrates labour and customers, so businesses cluster and productivity rises. Cities are cheaper to supply with piped water, electricity, schools and clinics per person than scattered villages. Access to secondary education and healthcare is usually far better than in rural areas, and remittances sent home spread the benefit beyond the city.

Reset break

Part 4 of 21

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

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Explore the idea

Part 5 of 21

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Challenges: housing and services

Growth outpaces planning, so informal settlements appear on the cheapest, most hazardous land: steep slopes prone to landslides, floodplains and land beside railways or tips. Housing is self-built from salvaged material, often without secure tenure. Water may come from standpipes or vendors at a higher price per litre than piped supply, and sanitation is shared or absent, so waterborne disease spreads.

Quick check

Part 6 of 21

Quick check

Informal settlements often occupy hazardous land because

Give me a hint

Quick check

Part 7 of 21

Quick check

A strength of informal employment is that it

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Part 8 of 21

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

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Learning cycle

Part 9 of 21

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Challenges: work, traffic and environment

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

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Part 10 of 21

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Challenges: work, traffic and environment

Much employment is informal: street trading, waste picking, repair work. It is flexible and real but untaxed, unprotected and insecure. Traffic congestion wastes hours and worsens air pollution from vehicles and industry. Waste collection cannot keep pace, so tips grow and rivers carry plastic and sewage. Air quality and water quality become the two clearest health measures of a city under strain.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 21

Learn

Urban planning that works

The most successful schemes work with residents rather than clearing them. Site-and-service gives a plot with water, sanitation and electricity so families build incrementally. Slum upgrading legalises tenure, paves alleys and adds drainage and lighting. Community-run water kiosks and micro-finance let residents invest. Bus rapid transit gives dedicated lanes at a fraction of the cost of a metro. The common thread is affordability and local involvement, which is what makes a scheme sustainable.

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Part 12 of 21

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

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Quick check

Part 13 of 21

Quick check

Bus rapid transit is often chosen over a metro because

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Quick check

Part 14 of 21

Quick check

What makes slum upgrading sustainable?

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Part 15 of 21

Worked example

Worked answer: explain why site-and-service schemes are often more successful than clearing informal settlements (6 marks)

Residents receive a plot with water, sanitation and power and secure legal tenure, so they are willing to invest their own money and labour in improving the structure over years (2). Because building is incremental, the initial cost to the city is low and far more families can be housed with the same budget than by constructing finished apartments (2). People also remain near the informal work and support networks they depend on, so they do not abandon the new housing and return to a central settlement, which is the usual failure of clearance and relocation (2).

Reset break

Part 16 of 21

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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Challenge round

Part 17 of 21

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 18 of 21

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Rapid ____ concentrates labour and customers, so businesses cluster and productivity rises.

____ is self-built from salvaged material, often without secure tenure.

Challenge round

Part 19 of 21

Game · Recall cards

Land values are usually highest…

Card 1 of 4

Mastery quiz

Part 20 of 21

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Life in a fast-growing city: opportunities and challenges

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. Land values are usually highest…
2. Gentrification often causes…
3. Out-of-town retail parks grew because of…
4. What three dimensions are combined in the Human Development Index?

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Part 1 of 21 · Watch & discover

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Understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of human and physical geography of a region in Africa and a region in Asia
Not looked at yet
Understand urbanisation, including the causes and geographical effects, at country and city scale, of urbanisation and megacities
Not looked at yet
Understand the physical and human characteristics of an area of the UK and a wider region of the world beyond Europe