Population, economic activities and settlements – key elements of the human landscape
Edexcel B GCSE Geography > The UK’s Evolving Human Landscape > Population, economic activities and settlements – key elements of the human landscape
The UK was once described as the most crowded country in Europe when it comes to population density. Still, if you consider the map below, you will see that not all of the UK is so crowded. Cities and towns attract large populations, mainly looking for work opportunities, so they will be more densely populated, but many rural areas are sparsely populated.
London has an average population density of 5500 people for every km², which is very crowded, but if you consider England’s population density, this is only 413 people per km². Wales is only 149 per km², Northern Ireland 135 per km² and Scotland only 68 per km². This shows that the UK is not crowded and that only 7% of the UK is classed as an urban area. That leaves 93% of the UK as rural.
While only 7% of the UK is urban, these towns and cities are significant for the economy as they drive economic growth. London produces 22% of the UK’s annual GDP with just 13% of its population. These regions are called Core Regions or Urban Core. Let’s compare the core region to the rural areas.
Urban Core | Rural Areas | |
---|---|---|
Population density | High – over 200 people per km² | Low – less than 100 people per km² |
Age structure | Mostly young adults, who are single | Mostly elderly people, retired pensioners, with some single people. High amount of outward migration of young people looking for better opportunities. |
Economic activities | – Lots of retail, large shops. – You will find many offices located in cities. – MNC/TNC headquarters. – Tourism and cultural centres – lots of museums, theatres and libraries. – Lots of jobs available in shops, offices and manufacturing industries. – Higher wages and steady incomes. | – Mostly primary industries; farming, fishing, mining. – Rural tourism. – Renewable energies such as wind turbines and solar farms. – Potential to work from home in IT industries. – Low incomes – seasonal work, minimal wages and elderly people on pensions. |
Settlement type | – Property can be expensive. – Large towns, cities, conurbations and metropolis. – Mixture of low- and high-rise buildings, sky scrapers and apartment buildings. | – Property tends to be cheaper – Small farms, villages and market towns. – Mainly low-rise buildings, with open space around properties. |
The UK’s main urban core regions are the major cities: London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. With a better offer of jobs, housing and services, many people migrate to larger cities to take advantage of these opportunities. This, in effect, creates more jobs, which results in a multiplier effect. This spreads beyond the city into surrounding towns, creating a conurbation. People commute to the city for work, taking home wages to spend in their area, boosting the wider region. This is called a positive multiplier effect. London is a major city with a population of 8.6 million people, and Greater London is a conurbation with a population of 11 million.
Many of the UK’s conurbations (Greater Manchester, Greater Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford, Glasgow) started as manufacturing cities, focusing on mining, metalwork, textiles, shipbuilding and engineering. During the Industrial Revolution, these regions were thriving, but since many of these industries moved overseas, these regions have struggled to replace the thriving economies they once had. However, these regions have retained their large populations, rivalling that of London and have developed finance and property industries. Politicians call these regions the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ due to the potential these areas have to drive the UK’s economy.
One of the key issues in the peripheral areas is the lack of funding received compared to core urban areas. This lack of funding or investment can reduce the quality of life for those living in rural areas, with cuts to key services such as health and education and a reduction in key transport links such as bus routes, restricting the movement of the elderly and those without a car.
The UK government and the EU have developed several incentives to encourage investment in these rural areas: