SETTLEMENT
Case Study 1 (El Salvador) – Difference in Housing
- The capital of El Salvador, San Salvador, is where you find people living in informal housing just a couple of meters away from people in luxury detached houses.
- Santa Elena is part of San Salvador, where the wealthy live and it is also where the US embassy is located.
- You find large houses made of permanent building materials such as brick.
- Large gardens and private car garages.
- Modern amenities such as indoor toilets, working electricity, and running water.
- Well-maintained features of the houses.
- Many even contain high-technology luxury features such as swimming pools, air conditioning, and games rooms.
- Permanent tarmac roads with gates and driveways.
- Many luxury services such as restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets.
- On the other hand:
- A few meters down the road, in between the Pan-American Highway, you find informal housing known as “champas.”
- The housing is on marginal land, near a polluted river, and squashed between the country’s busiest road. Characteristics of houses include:
- Housing is temporary and made out of scrap materials such as plastic, corrugated steel, and wood.
- Houses are very small, often with only one room where the family eats, sleeps, and lives.
- No inside toilets and no running water. The area is open to sewers and open fires, causing health risks.
- There are no proper roads, just tracks, which makes rubbish collection very difficult.
- The land is marginal and vulnerable to hazards such as flooding and landslides.
- Limited local facilities and services except for small tiendas.
- High crime rates, high unemployment, and poverty.
Case Study 2 (GATESHEAD) – Rural Shopping Centres
- Gateshead is a large-scale shopping centre on the A1 main road in Gateshead near Newcastle.
- Advantages of the site:
- Metrocentre in Gateshead has about 1.3 million people living within 30 minutes. It was opened in 1986 and sold to Capital Shopping Centre for $500 million.
- The site was chosen because it had been a relatively cheap area of land previously occupied by a marshland. It was a fairly flat area with room for expansion and was built on a designated enterprise zone, so planning controls were more relaxed and it was exempt from taxes.
- It is adjacent to the western bypass with 2 km of frontage with good transportation links to the North East modern road network.
- Adjacent to the main railway station, with its own railway.
- THE SCHEME:
- There is free parking for 100,000 spaces, special spaces for disabled drivers, bus and rail stations, and rail stations for rail motorists.
- Inside the mall, there are 400 shops and 40 eating places.
- It creates a very pleasant shopping environment, with wide tree-lined malls with good air conditioning, one kilometer of glazed roof to let natural light in, seating places, escalators, and lifts for the disabled.
- Leisure has been a major part of the project with a ten-screen cinema, a space city for computers, a covered fantasy land for children with children’s shops. A 150-room luxury hotel has been built on the premises of the mall.
- However, there have been noticeable declines in CBD, traffic, congestion, and pollution.
Case Study 3 (LONDON) – Congestion Solutions
- Caused by an increase in car ownership, a limited amount of public transport, an increase in rural to urban migration of cities, and the freight of goods onto lorries.
- Problems of Congestion (Environmental / Social / Economic):
- Environmental: More vehicles on roads increase the amount of road pollution and noise pollution as well. Bigger usage of vehicles causes the need for more roads, destroying greenfield sites. Air pollution from car exhausts leads to acid rain that can then contribute to the greenhouse effect.
- Social: Toxic gases from exhaust fumes in cars lead to respiratory problems such as asthma. People traveling to work need to leave earlier and arrive later due to traffic, meaning they spend more time away from families. More cars on the roads increase the frequency of accidents, and more traffic jams can also increase road rage and stress.
- Economic: It creates a reliance on oil, and oil is used up much quicker when traveling at slow speeds. Road building schemes are very costly, costing governments, especially when private property is bought. Delivery companies often arrive late due to traffic jams and have to supply the cost, and employers arrive late to work.
- Reducing Problems of Congestion:
- Congestion charges: People are now charged to be able to drive into the center of London of 15 pounds a day, which encourages people to use public transport.
- There is now a bike hire scheme in London sponsored by Barclays Bank. This allows people to hire bikes for a limited time throughout the day for minimal costs. Bike lanes have also been introduced that are much faster, encouraging people to travel to work by bike. Work showers have further been introduced so that people can shower once they get to work.
- Pedestrianization in London has made certain areas of London walking-only zones, such as part of Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden. This bans car usage from these areas and encourages walking.
- Bus lanes and priority traffic lights: This has renewed all old buses and created special lanes for buses which also have priority over traffic lights, allowing them to ignore them. This hopefully makes traveling by bus much quicker than by car and should encourage public transport.
- Car sharing and car-sharing lanes: Websites have been created for people who travel on similar routes that can share a car together. Priority lanes have also been created for cars that have more than one person in the car.
- Increased car tax on petrol and possible carbon taxes: The government has increased petrol tax and car tax on bigger cars to encourage people to drive smaller cars. It had also been suggested to increase carbon tax and possibly a tax on car parking spaces.
- Expansion of underground lines: New lines have recently been expanded and upgraded so people can access more places. The Jubilee line has recently been renewed from Central London all the way to East London near the Olympic Games, which greatly helped decrease car usage during the Olympic Games.
Case Study 4 (RIO DE JANEIRO) – Urban Housing Problems
- Around 1 million people live in Rio’s favelas and another million in poor-quality local authority housing called periferias. The Favelas face:
- The houses are constructed from any materials available such as wood, corrugated iron, broken bricks, and tiles.
- Built on steep hillsides that are considered too steep for normal houses, so they often face landslides due to deforestation and flash floods and mudslides after a period of rain.
- Risk of eviction as most of the land they occupy is illegal, so they can be thrown out anytime.
- No proper electricity supplies, and running water and sewage works are very poor, causing open sewers on the streets.
- High population densities mean that diseases can spread very fast.
- Lack of basic services such as medical healthcare and educational facilities.
- Crime rates are very high, and people face a lot of street violence, including drug trafficking.
- With Rio’s mountainous region, there are only a limited number of possible road routes, so during the day, there is a lot of congestion, air pollution, and sound pollution even during the night.
- There is an industrial haze intensified by traffic fumes over Guanabara Bay. The rubbish in the favelas is not collected, and its presence together with polluted water supplies causes outbreaks of diseases.
- SOLUTIONS:
- Self-help housing schemes in Rocinha: The residents of Rocinha slowly transformed their favela into a small city. Most of the temporary wooden buildings have been rebuilt with brick and tile, and many have been extended. Many have set up their own small shops and businesses as an “informal sector” and created their own places of entertainment. The authorities also work with local residents’ associations, adding electricity, paving, and lighting some of the steeper slopes, and adding water pipes.
- Favela Bairro Project (1990): The city authorities put together $200 million to improve living conditions in 60 of the 600 favelas. The plan included replacing old temporary housing and improving the materials, replacing wood and other unstable materials with brick-built houses. They had also extended the size of the houses to 4×5 meters and gave them a yard. They widened selected streets so that emergency services and waste collection trucks could access the area. They laid concrete paths, water pipes, and electricity cables. Improved sanitation added health facilities and provided sporting areas.
- Using manual labor from the favelas: This allowed the residents to develop new skills and reduce unemployment in return for the citizens to pay taxes.
- Barra da Tijuca: A “new” Rio, self-contained town built alongside the coastal motorway. It has 5 km of shops, schools, hospitals, offices, and places of entertainment. It has a culture based around the beach, including shopping malls, expensive restaurants, and leisure activities. This reduces the pressure on housing.
- Site and service schemes: Local authorities sell plots of land to low-income families at reduced prices built on land that the government had built roads, electricity, and water connections for.
POPULATION
Case Study 5 (BRAZIL) – Population and Density
- The average population density for Brazil is 19 people per square kilometer. Brazil has a very uneven distribution of population; however, the trends are very simple.
- 90% of Brazil’s population lives near the coast, mainly in the southeast of the country surrounding São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, with the population density in Brazil being 69 people per square kilometer. Density decreases as you go inland, away from the coast towards the northwest of the country, with the population density varying between 3% to 6% in the North and the west. Most of the areas in the North West of the country are completely uninhibited.
- Causes for a High Population Density in the Southeast Include:
- Reliable supply of drinking water.
- Rich in natural resources and minerals, such as iron ore in São Paulo.
- Best transportation links in the southeast of the country, high amount of services, benefited from government help.
- Good natural harbors had encouraged industry, trade, immigration, and later tourism.
- São Paulo, the world’s second-largest city, is placed on a higher, cooler plateau of the Brazilian Highlands, so it has very rich fertile soil, ideal for coffee plantations, and natural minerals (iron ore), which then developed into energy supplies, allowing the city to develop into an industrial center.
- Causes for Low Population Density in the North and West Include:
- The further from the coast, the fewer natural resources available. Therefore, with a lack of energy supplies, it cannot support many people.
- In the northwest of the country, the Amazon River and its countless tributaries drain the land, making the climate very hot and wet.
- Since most of the land is flooded, transportation is very poor as transport through the tropical rainforest is very difficult.
- These areas suffer from high death rates; birth rates and infant mortality rates are very high, and people do not expect to live till old age.
- Less reliable water supply.
- Lack of proper education, healthcare, and electricity. The region had always lacked help from the government as they prioritize the more urbanized areas, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Case Study 6 (CHINA) – Anti-Natalist Policies
- In the 1970s, concerns grew over China’s growing population of 55 million every three years. In 1979, the state decided to try to control population growth. It would need to reduce to 1.5 children per family. However, the state decided to play it safe and allow only one child per family—ONE-CHILD POLICY.
- This had also raised the marriageable age for men to 22 and for women to 20.
- Couples had to apply to the state before getting married and again before having a child.
- Those who conformed were given a set of benefits such as free education, priority housing, and other family benefits.
- Those who did not conform were deprived of basic human rights, such as housing and education, and were fined heavily. Women who had a second child had to do forced abortion, and persistent offenders were “voluntarily sterilized.”
- Some exceptions included: Couples could have a second child if the first was mentally ill or handicapped, or died at birth. In the countryside, couples were allowed a second child if the first was a girl, as girls were considered less useful. The 6% of China’s ethnic minority groups were allowed a second child.
- By 1999, the birth rate had fallen from 31 births per 1000 to 19 in twenty years, and even too few babies were born to maintain the population. It had been estimated that the population was 230 million less than it would have been if the policy was not introduced.
Semi Case Study 7: Comparison to China (INDIA) – Population Control
- In India, the policies had been introduced more gradually and were not as severe as in China:
- Government incentives had been given to the population to reduce its growth.
- Services such as schools, roads, and drinking water were provided for areas with lower birth rates.
- Cash incentives were given to those who were willingly sterilized.
- Commissions were given to workers who had successfully sold sterilization.
- The government had provided a large-scale family planning organization that organized clinics, marketing, and education for women, which led to a big success, as Kerala had been linked to the education of girls. It fell from 1970 of 38.9 in 1000 to 25.5 per 1000 in 1990, which, although lower than in China, had been less severe.
Case Study 7: Pro-Natalist Policies (SINGAPORE)
- Developed country in SE Asia, population of 5 million.
- Singapore, massively underpopulated, has the lowest fertility rates in the world, standing at 1.1, which is well below the replacement rate of 2.1.
- To overcome worker shortages, Singapore had encouraged immigration but also tried to raise the population by raising birth rates.
- It has increased maternity leave by 50% to 12 weeks, and the government covers the cost of maternity leave to the employers of the parents for the first 4 babies.
- Increased child benefits paid to families, paying money into a special bank account up to nearly $1000 for six years.
- Sponsored dating organizations to encourage people to get married earlier and to have children at an earlier age.
Case Study 7: (JAPAN) – Problems of Aging Population
- Japan has about 27 million elderly people and the largest proportion of over 65’s in any country.
- The country has a very high percentage of old dependents (23%) and an unsustainable percentage of young dependents (13%).
- It has a fertility rate of only 1.25, which is way below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to sustain the population.
- This high proportion of the elderly means the government needs to provide more money for elderly services such as retirement homes, sheltered accommodation, healthcare such as home visits and free prescriptions, social services such as home meals, and providing various subsidies.
- An increased amount of the family doctor’s financial budget is taken up by the elderly.
- There is an increase in long-term diseases that make people housebound and in need of care, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
- There is pressure on the smaller group of economically dependent to provide money for pensions of the elderly through taxation as well as providing consumer goods and services.
- Less money is available for the younger generation for education, improvements in transport, or other social amenities.
- The elderly also face various problems, such as many having to live alone when their married partner dies.
- Those who are still willing to work or did not yet reach pension age face prejudice in the workplace from the younger generation.
- The elderly who live in rural areas of Japan have trouble getting to the doctors, shops, and other services as they do not possess cars, and those living in urban areas often have a fear of traffic and crime on the streets.
MIGRATION
Case Study 8: Mexico to US Migration – International Migration
- People migrate to other international countries because of various push and pull factors.
- The US and Mexico have a 2000 km border with 1 million people attempting to migrate each year.
- Push Factors from Mexico include:
- Poor medical facilities, with 1800 per doctor.
- Poor education, with only a 55% literacy rate.
- Low-paid wages with a GNP of $4,000.
- High crime rate within the country, with 42,000 people dying violently from drug abuse in 2006.
- Life expectancy of 72 years, with poor quality of life.
- 40% of the population is unemployed, and those who are employed receive very low wages.
- Pull Factors from the USA:
- Advanced medical facilities with only 400 per doctor.
- Well-paid skilled jobs with a GNP of $25,000.
- Unskilled jobs are widely available, reducing unemployment and paying higher wages.
- Education: Literacy rates are much better with 99% literacy of the population.
- Life expectancy: 76 years.
- Advantages/Disadvantages for the Losing Country:
- Brain Drain: Skilled workers leave the country of origin.
- Mainly the economically active leave the country, causing a higher dependence on the non-economically active.
- Legal and illegal immigrants send back remittances, estimated to be around $6 million, which go to their families.
- There is reduced unemployment in the country of origin as more of the economically active leave.
- If the immigrants come back in the future, there will be new skills transferred to the country.
- Not enough workers in the country side affecting harvest.
- Families are separated as the men leave to immigrate, breaking up families and leaving women who have difficulty finding marriageable partners.
- Advantages/Disadvantages to Gaining Country:
- Brain Gain: Skilled workers from the country of origin (lawyers, doctors, and baseball players) bring expertise.
- There is a gain of manual workers who are prepared to do the dirty jobs that others don’t want for low wages, such as farming in the fields, and cleaning.
- A new enriched culture between the two states—pupusas are sold in the USA along with Mexican food.
- Better relationships between the two countries, for future trade and franchises.
- Problems caused by racial tension as Americans blame Central Americans for taking their jobs.
- USA spends millions on border patrol for illegal immigrants.
- Pressure on resources, electricity, and housing that may lead to inflation due to a greater demand.
RIVERS
Case Study 9 (Boscastle Flood)
- The Boscastle Flood was a flash flood that people did not have time to prepare for; it was caused by both physical and human factors. Physical Factors Included:
- The Valency Valley had a very steep gradient, so when rain fell, surface runoff was very quick.
- The ground above the river had been saturated as there was heavy rainfall leading up to the 16th.
- During the 16th of August, over 60 mm of rain fell in just a couple of hours as the weather on the 16th had been extremely hot, leading to a convection rainfall.
- As much of the valley was impearmeable, there was little infiltration through the soil and due to the steepness of the valley, the small river channel, surface runoff had been very quick causing the river to reach bankfull discharge very quickly.
- Human Factors Included:
- Due to the urbanization of Boscastle, the surface had been largely impermeable, causing less infiltration by soil and faster surface runoff into the river.
- There were no flood barriers in Boscastle as such events were very unexpected.
- The sewer and drainage in Boscastle were very old, so they became full very quickly and did not get rid of the water.
- The bridge in the center of Boscastle had made material get stuck behind it, forming a temporary dam. This caused the oncoming flood to flood around the village instead of through it.
- EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD:
- Homes, businesses, and cars belonging to more than 1,000 people had all been swept away.
- Income from tourism had been lost due to the flood, causing a drain on the local economy.
- There were vast numbers of subsequent insurance claims.
- However, no lives were lost due to the rapid rescue.
- MANAGEMENT:
- Instantaneous rescue by helicopters that had immediately evacuated people from the village, and buildings were searched for remaining victims.
- In 2004, debris was removed from the roads and river, improved drainage was built, and a temporary bridge was set up as the old one had been completely destroyed.
- In 2005, shops and restaurants had reopened, water and electricity were restored to normal. Defenses had been improved as there were no defense barriers in 2004, which was partly why the flood had been so devastating and damaged buildings and homes were rebuilt to compensate the inhabitants.
- In 2006, work was done to straighten the river channel so that the artificial meander in the river in 2004 would not lead to the river cutting straight through the village again. The car park was raised as it had been very low lying, leading to 1,000 cars being washed away.
- In 2007, drainage was further improved, a proper bridge had been installed instead of the temporary one, and new pipes were installed for the sewers as they had been very old in 2004, leading to them becoming full very quickly and not getting rid of water efficiently.
- In 2008, the old bridge had been demolished as it had collected material and acted as a temporary dam, causing the river to flood the village in 2004, and a harbor pavement was created.
Case Study 10: (Bangladesh Flood) LEDC Flood – 1998
- Causes of the flood include physical and human. Physical Causes Were:
- Most of Bangladesh consists of a huge floodplain and delta of the rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra. 70% of the area is also less than 1 meter above sea level, so when the rivers reach bankfull or breach the protective floodbanks, the water spreads over vast distances.
- Bangladesh has a monsoon climate with most places receiving between 1800 and 2600 mm of rainfall each year, and most of this rain is concentrated from June to September; therefore, some months get heavily flooded.
- The periods of heavy rainfall coincide with high temperatures, so they melt snow in the Himalayas, where the Ganges and Brahmaputra and their tributaries have their headwater, adding to the discharge of the river.
- The high spring tides and the effect of tropical storms can prevent floodwater from escaping to the sea.
- Silt is brought down by the river and deposited at the channels, resulting in the heightening of river beds, increasing the risk of flooding.
- Human Causes Included:
- Deforestation in Nepal’s upper drainage basin had increased runoff of water as there was less interception of vegetation.
- Urbanization of the floodplain had increased impermeable surfaces, increasing the magnitude and frequency of floods.
- The building of dams in India had increased sedimentation in Bangladesh.
- Poorly maintained floodbanks and levees had led to leaks and collapsed during the time of high discharge.
- EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD:
- Over 57% of the land had been flooded.
- Roads, railways, and bridges had been swept away by the river.
- Over 1300 people were killed during the flood, and 7 million homes had been destroyed.
- A further 25 million people were made homeless.
- Most parts of the country had no electricity for several weeks, and due to the floodwater polluting the wells, no safe drinking water was available.
- Hospitals were already full of people suffering from dysentery and diarrhea, and diseases had spread such as bronchitis and cholera.
- As the water receded, it left fields of rotting crops, and 2 million tonnes of rice had been destroyed.
- Half a million cattle and poultry had been destroyed.
- This had put a huge economic strain on the country, as it had cost overall $1 billion to repair the damages.
- MANAGEMENT
- Short-term management included:
- Boats were sent in to rescue people from the river.
- Emergency supplies had been sent in for food, water, tents, and medicine.
- Fodder for livestock had been provided.
- Houses were repaired and rebuilt, along with other services such as sewage.
- International aid had been provided.
- Long-term management included:
- Reduce deforestation in the Nepal upper drainage basin and in the Himalayas as it had led to faster surface runoff in the 1998 flood.
- Build 7 large dams in Bangladesh to store excess water. They would invest $30-30 million and would complete it in 40 years.
- Build 5000 flood shelters to be able to accommodate the population in the event of a flood.
- Build 350 km of embankment over 7 meters high, at a cost of $7 billion, to reduce flooding along the main river channels.
- Create floodwater storage areas and create an effective flood warning scheme so that the population can be better prepared.
TECTONIC PLATES
Case Study 11: (Kobe, Japan) Earthquake MEDC, Causes, Effects, Management
- Kobe is on a minor fault, the Nojima fault, which lies above a destructive plate margin.
- The denser Philippines oceanic is forced under the lighter Eurasian continental crust at a rate of about 10 cm a year.
- This caused an area of the subduction zone where the oceanic crust had been forced under the continental crust.
- As the oceanic crust melts and expands, it causes friction between the two plates, resulting in a pressure build-up and release of energy that caused the Kobe Earthquake.
- The Kobe earthquake had been due to the shallow depth of the focus of the earthquake and its epicenter being very close to Kobe itself and many of the densely populated areas.
- The seismic shockwaves had traveled from the Awaji islands along the Nojima fault to Osaka and Kobe.
- Effects of the Earthquake:
- Primary effects of the earthquake had included:
- Nearly 200,000 buildings collapsed, a km stretch of the Hanshin Expressway and numerous bridges along the 130 km section of the bullet train route had also collapsed, and several trains had been derailed.
- 120/150 days in the port of Kobe were destroyed.
- Secondary effects had included:
- Electricity, gas, and water supplies had been disrupted.
- Fires, caused by broken gas pipes and ruptured electricity mains, raged for several days, destroying a further 7,500 houses, many of which had been made of wood. At one point, the wall of fire extended over 400 meters.
- Roads were at a gridlock, delaying ambulances and fire engines.
- An estimated 230,000 people had been made homeless and had to live in temporary shelters at a time when the night temperatures dropped to -2°C. There were short-term shortages of blankets, clean water, and food.
- People were afraid to return home as the 716 aftershocks lasted several days after the main event of the earthquake.
- Many industries had to close down, such as Mitsubishi and Panasonic, putting a strain on Japan’s economy.
- The final death toll had been put at 5,500, injuries at 40,000, and houses totally destroyed at 180,000.
- MANAGEMENT:
- By July, Kobe’s infrastructure had been rebuilt, including water, electricity, gas, and telephone services, which were fully operational.
- The area that had been worst affected by fires had been cleaned of rubble, and commercial buildings in central areas had been rebuilt.
- All rail services had been back to normal by August, and the port of Kobe was 80% functional.
- Replacement buildings took place; however, this time, buildings had to meet stronger earthquake-resistant standards. High-rise buildings had to have flexible steel frames, smaller buildings had to have concrete frames with reinforcing bars to absorb shockwaves. Houses were not to be built with just brick, which shakes loose or wood, which burns too easily, but with strong earthquake-resistant materials. New buildings had to be built on solid rock and not clay-based grounds, as this had caused liquefaction into mud.
- There was an increase in the number of seismic instruments in the regions to monitor more closely earthquake activity.
Case Study 12 (MERAPI VOLCANO) – Causes / Effects / Management
- Causes of the Eruption:
- Indonesia is part of an island arc that lies on a destructive plate boundary.
- The eruption had been caused by the oceanic crust on the northeastern edge of the Indian Plate, which is forced downwards by the heavier continental crust of the Eurasian Plate. As the oceanic crust melts and expands, partly due to the heat caused by the friction of the two plates and the heat increase as it reenters the mantle, a subduction zone is formed, and the newly formed magma rises to the surface to form volcanoes.
- Indonesia has one-third of the world’s active volcanoes; of these, 34 are located on the island of Java, including Merapi, which is the most active one.
- Effects of 1994 Eruption:
- Destroyed several villages and killed 60 people.
- The worst hit was Turgo, a village 6 km away, where the eruption was both sudden and violent, and before the people could escape, the village had been covered with red-hot ash that made it too dark for people to see where they were going.
- The ash caused houses to collapse and burned any exposed flesh of villagers who were working out in the fields.
- As the cloud dispersed, the villagers had to abandon their homes and flee to temporary shelters.
- Secondary events: Mudflows, lahars. Lahars are caused when heavy monsoon rain picks up ash and other loose volcanic material. The resultant mudflow rushes downhill, covering settlements and farmland, destroying crops.
- Management:
- Prediction of future eruptions: This aims to give villagers more time to flee from an area that is likely to get affected. They had increased the number of seismometers to regulate the amount of tremors inside the volcano. Data from individual stations is collected and recorded centrally. Each month, a team visits the summit to note any changes in pressure and temperature.
- Evacuation: A taskforce of local people, in the event of a volcanic eruption, had been educated to lead people away from danger zones into temporary shelters, to treat the injured, and to organize transport to camps.
- Resettlement: People were no longer allowed to live near the prohibition areas, which were considered too dangerous for settlements, although farming was allowed. The people were given two options: they can live in relocation settlements where the concrete buildings were much safer to live in and have basic amenities such as electricity, however, there was no farming; OR, the people could transmigrate to areas that are further away from volcanic activity, such as Sumatra.
- Protection from mudflows: Dams have been built down each valley leading from Merapi to hold back lahars. These dams trap the mud, which can later be spread over fields and slowly release the water, which can be reused. Over 70 dams have been built by the government authorities to protect local villages, major road canals, and touristic spots.
- WHY PEOPLE STILL LIVE THERE:
- Material that breaks down from the volcano rapidly weathers as a thin layer over the fields, is rich in minerals, and makes soils more fertile for crop growth.
- The productive crop growth, which gives high crop yields, encourages intensive farming.
- Added to this, the hot climate of the area allows up to three different crops to be grown on the same piece of land.
- For many people, relocation is not an option as they have developed their own subsistence farming and have set up homes for generations.
- Some are simply too poor to afford to relocate from these areas.
- Mount Merapi is very scenic, and many stay for the natural beauty of the area combined with its rich soils.
- Mount Merapi has also attracted many tourists to appreciate the natural beauty of the volcano, and tourism has promoted other services, leading to greater income for the local villagers.
TOURISM
Case Study 13 (Courmayeur)
- Attractions:
- SKIING: The resort area rises from 1,224 to 3,470 meters. The main skiing area with 100 km of marked piste is easily reached by the cable cars, which begin just 150 meters from Hotel Pavilion. Skiing is excellent for the intermediate and advanced with the famous Vallee Blanche Run to Chamonix; there are also numerous runs under Mont Blanc.
- Apres-ski: In the evening, the local culture is very famous with tourists, where you can sample local Aosta specialties such as Fontina cheese and beef steak Valdostan, with many wines from northern Italy. There are also nightlife entertainments such as Roma or Steve’s cocktail bars and even mountaineering clubs such as Clochard and Abat Jour.
- Courmayeur is a very traditional town where tourists often enjoy the range of hotel accommodation, a bustling weekly market, great Italian cuisine, varied shopping, lively nightlife, and other winter features such as ice rinks and a local swimming pool.
- Nearby, there are also opportunities for walking, climbing, horse riding, cross-country skiing in the winter, and buses to Chamonix and Aosta. Tourists often like the cable car to the crest d’Arp and cross the Mont Blanc massif.
- BENEFITS/DISADVANTAGES:
- Benefits include:
- More and better-paid jobs in Courmayeur, especially for the younger people who no longer have to outmigrate from the area to find work.
- There is better accessibility to the town due to the expansions of road networks.
- Improved services, including the provision of electricity, a reliable water supply, and sewage disposal that had not been available before.
- Leisure amenities that can be used by the local people, such as the swimming pool, ice rink.
- Improved shopping and the amount of services in town.
- Courmayeur has what they call the multiplier effect. When one type of industry—in this case, tourism—attracts other expansions of work sectors and provides more jobs such as in hotels, restaurants, shops, and in winter as guides and instructors.
- Disadvantages include:
- At peak times, tourists outnumber the local population, causing discomfort and overcrowding.
- The traditional town is swept by new modern buildings, hotels, shops, restaurants, and car parks.
- Many of the new modern buildings, such as ski lifts and ski runs, are unsightly and create visual pollution.
- The culture of Courmayeur is damaged, and traditions are likely to be lost.
- Farmers have lost land and their traditional jobs.
- House prices, due to the expansion of tourism, have increased in value, and locals can no longer afford them.
- Employment is only seasonal, as many jobs rely on winter tourism to keep up its income.
- Hillsides are deforested to create ski pistes. This destroys the fragile alpine ecosystem, frightening away wildlife and destroying soils, and increasing the risk for soil erosion and avalanches.
- The increase in traffic has led to an increase in acid rain, which has damaged vegetation and led to a loss in biodiversity.
AGRICULTURE
Case Study 14 (GANGES RIVER) Subsistence Farming
- The Ganges River flows eastwards from the Himalayas through northern India and Bangladesh.
- Much of India and Bangladesh is very poor, so the main farming type is subsistence farming, which is the growing of crops for immediate friends and family.
- The area around the Ganges is moist due to the monsoon climate, warm (usually over 20 degrees), and has relatively fertile soil due to the alluvium during flood events.
- Due to the natural inputs, growing can take place most of the year and fairly intensively. However, rice farming is very labor-intensive, as rice paddies need to be constructed to hold water, irrigation channels need to be dug, seedlings planted, weeds removed, and rice harvested. Little machinery is used because not only is the area too poor to afford high-technology machinery, but most of the rice paddies and plots of land are very small.
- Tradition means that lands get divided up after death, which makes agriculture less productive.
- To try and improve yield in the Ganges, a Green Revolution had started in the late 1960s. This aimed to introduce Western plant varieties and farming techniques. The main change was the introduction of HYV crops, which aimed to increase yields.
- The successes were that HYV increased food production and made India more self-sufficient. Food prices began to fall, making them more affordable for the poor, and more crops could be grown because of the shorter growing seasons. The yields were more reliable, and different crops could be planted, adding to the variety of the diet of the locals. There were even surpluses, so crops could then be traded commercially, leading to farmers becoming more wealthy.
- Disadvantages had been that more fertilizers were needed for high-yield crops, which could then pollute water sources.
- The HYV crops were more vulnerable to diseases and drought.
- More water had to be diverted into the soils, and poorer farmers could not afford HYV crop seeds.
- Mechanization had taken over, leading to higher unemployment rates, and many natural varieties had been lost.
- Local farmers had become dependent on international companies to sell them the seeds.
Case Study 15 (Lynford Hall Farm) – Commercial
- Lynford Hall farm is a commercial arable farm that mostly grows wheat, potatoes, and peas.
- This is a very intensive type of farming, as Cambridgeshire has flat lands that are very fertile, get consistent annual rainfall, and have warm temperatures throughout the year.
- Lynford farm is a very large farm of 570 hectares with very little manual labor. It is heavily mechanized and computerized and is an extensive type of farming as the outputs are very large compared to the minimal manual inputs.
- The farm receives subsidies under the CAP, which are designed to improve the self-sufficiency of the EU and contribute to protecting the natural environment of the farm.
- It had also tried diversification to save money. It had additionally sold some unused land and rented bungalows on the farm territory to save capital.
- Tried building a wind turbine but had received complaints from the local villagers.
Case Study 16 (The Sahel) – Desertification
- Area of land in the south of the Sahara desert.
- It stretches from Mauritania to Eritrea and Ethiopia.
- The fertility rates in the Sahel are very high, leading to a steady increase in population, thus leading to a greater demand for food. The farming, however, is affected by severe land degradation from the following sources:
- Overgrazing: An excessive amount of cattle grazing on one particular field causes all the vegetation to disappear and decreases the integrity of the soil, leading to topsoil erosion and land degradation.
- Deforestation: Deforestation leads to the biomass of trees being destroyed, which causes the soil to lose its vital nutrients, leading to land degradation and a higher frequency of soil erosion due to the soil being exposed to more areas of the land.
- Rainfall: A shortage in annual rainfall means that the crops aren’t receiving the minimal amount of rainfall, leading to crop shortages or the need to use more irrigation, which uses up water supplies.
- Increased temperatures: Temperatures that are too hot kill crops as they need a consistent steady temperature.
- The increased demand for food and the shortage of food available means that the Sahel is facing famine when there is not enough food to feed all of the population.
- In Niger, the area is experiencing very minimal rainfall of 2 to 85 cm a year, mostly concentrated in 2 months. The percentage of crop failure has risen to 25% with the increase in temperatures to 30 degrees, meaning evaporation rates are high.
- Niger is facing severe food shortages, with 15 million people using subsistence farming to supply their families. The effects of low rainfall, high temperatures, deforestation, and desertification mean that Niger is potentially facing very severe famine problems.
- It also has a rising fertility rate of 7.4 that increases steadily each year, meaning that in the future, Niger will suffer from much worse food shortages than it currently does.
