GeographyThe urban and economic world25 min★★★ difficulty

A changing UK city: decline, regeneration and sustainability

Walk through most large British cities and you can read the last hundred years in the buildings: warehouses turned into flats, docks turned into offices, and estates built when the factories were still open.

Part of your national curriculum

Locational knowledge: Understand the wider context of the UK, including the physical and human geography of its counties and regions, and its major cities
Place knowledge: Understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of the human and physical geography of a region within the UK
Human and physical geography: Understand urbanisation, including the causes and geographical effects, at country and city scale, of urbanisation and megacities

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Explain how and why UK cities have changed, and evaluate regeneration.

Key learning points

• How the UK city was built
• Deindustrialisation and decline
• Regeneration
• The sustainable urban living checklist

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

citieschangedregenerationdeindustrialisationdecline

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A changing UK city: decline, regeneration and sustainability illustration

Visual introduction

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A changing UK city: decline, regeneration and sustainability

In a nutshell

Explain how and why UK cities have changed, and evaluate regeneration.

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 21

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · How the UK city was built

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

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How the UK city was built

Industrial cities grew around coal, ports and factories, with dense terraced housing packed beside the workplace. From the 1930s onwards, cars, railways and rising incomes let wealthier residents move outwards, creating suburbs with larger gardens. The inner city was left with older housing, ageing industry and lower incomes: the classic zone of transition.

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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Deindustrialisation and decline

From the 1970s heavy industry closed under overseas competition, containerisation and automation. Unemployment concentrated in inner areas. Shops closed, buildings were left derelict, and derelict land, sometimes contaminated, became a brownfield problem. Population fell as those who could afford to move did, a process of counter-urbanisation into commuter villages.

Quick check

Part 6 of 21

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Deindustrialisation in UK cities was mainly caused by

Give me a hint

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Part 7 of 21

Quick check

Brownfield land is

Give me a hint

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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 · Regeneration

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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Regeneration

Regeneration schemes reuse brownfield land for housing, offices, universities, retail and culture, often around a waterfront. Benefits include jobs, improved transport, restored buildings and civic pride. Criticisms are serious: new housing is often unaffordable for existing residents, incoming higher-income households push up rents, service jobs may be lower paid than the industrial jobs lost, and the poorest streets a short walk away can be left out entirely.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 21

Learn

The sustainable urban living checklist

Sustainable cities aim to use resources at a rate that can continue. In practice: build on brownfield rather than greenfield, insulate homes and use renewable energy, harvest rainwater and reduce leakage, cut waste to landfill through recycling and energy recovery, create green space and tree cover for cooling and wellbeing, and design integrated public transport, cycling and low-traffic neighbourhoods so car use is a choice rather than a necessity.

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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

A common criticism of regeneration is that

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Quick check

Part 14 of 21

Quick check

Which best describes counter-urbanisation?

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Part 15 of 21

Worked example

Worked answer: assess the success of urban regeneration in a UK city (9 marks)

Successes: derelict brownfield land is brought back into use, which protects greenfield countryside; new offices, universities and cultural venues create employment and attract visitors; restored historic buildings and improved public transport raise the quality of the environment for everyone. Limitations: much of the new housing is priced beyond local incomes, so original residents may be displaced by rising rents; the jobs created often require qualifications those residents do not have; and improvement can be sharply bounded, leaving neighbouring streets unchanged. Judgement: regeneration is clearly successful judged on land use, investment and environment, but only partly successful judged on social equity, so the verdict depends on which criterion is used, and schemes that include affordable housing quotas and local training score far better on both.

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.

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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.

Industrial ____ grew around coal, ports and factories, with dense terraced housing packed beside the workplace.

____ schemes reuse brownfield land for housing, offices, universities, retail and culture, often around a waterfront.

Challenge round

Part 19 of 21

Game · Recall cards

Deindustrialisation in UK cities was mainly caused by

Card 1 of 4

Mastery quiz

Part 20 of 21

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: A changing UK city: decline, regeneration and sustainability

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

1. Deindustrialisation in UK cities was mainly caused by
2. Brownfield land is
3. A common criticism of regeneration is that
4. Which best describes counter-urbanisation?

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How this is going

Not looked at yet
Understand the wider context of the UK, including the physical and human geography of its counties and regions, and its major cities
Not looked at yet
Understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of the human and physical geography of a region within the UK
Not looked at yet
Understand urbanisation, including the causes and geographical effects, at country and city scale, of urbanisation and megacities