HSIE Teachers - HSC Geography: Urban Places
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    • Nature, character and spatial distribution
    • Role of world cities
    • Global networks
    • London case study >
      • London transect
      • London Population density maps
      • London- Urban Observatory
      • London: Urban World app
    • Dominance and dependence
    • Regional centres
    • Demise of the small town
  • Megacities
    • Nature, character and spatial distribution
    • Challenges >
      • Extended Response Activity
    • Responses to challenges
    • Mexico City >
      • Mexico City cloze passage
  • Urban Dynamics
    • Urban dynamics of change
    • Case study: Sydney >
      • Sydney - Urban Dynamics
      • Advantage and disadvantage
      • Economic Character Research lesson >
        • Economic Character Research lesson
      • Sydney - Culture of place
      • Sydney - Growth
      • Sydney - Sustainability
  • Skills
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Urban Places

Urban Places

Students learn about: 
World cities 
• the nature, character and spatial distribution of world cities 
• the role of world cities as powerful centres of economic and cultural authority 
• the operation of global networks 
• the relationships of dominance and dependence between world cities and other urban centres and the changing role of regional centres and the demise of the small town. 

Mega cities 
• the nature, character and spatial distribution of mega cities in the developing world 
• the challenges of living in mega cities such as housing, traffic infrastructure, water and power supplies, sanitation services, employment, and other social and health issues 
• the responses to these challenges such as self-help projects, community self-government, cooperation from NGOs, urban protest and the operations of informal economies. 

Urban dynamics 
• the urban dynamics of change: suburbanisation, exurbanisation, counter urbanisation, decentralisation, consolidation, urban decay, urban renewal, urban village, spatial exclusion.
• a case study of the results of the urban dynamics in a large city selected from the developed world including its 
– social structure and spatial patterns of advantage and disadvantage, wealth and poverty, ethnicity 
– changing economic character, nature and location of residential land, commercial and industrial development 
– culture of place as expressed in the architecture, streetscape, heritage architecture, noise, colour, street life, energy, vitality and lifestyles 
– growth, development, future trends and ecological sustainability 
• a case study showing one of the urban dynamics listed above, operating in a country town or suburb. 

Students learn to: 
investigate and communicate geographically by 

• asking and addressing geographical questions such as 
– what are the challenges of living in mega cities? 
– what is a world city and why are they so important? 
– what will the city be like in the future? 
 
use geographical skills and tools such as 
• calculating population density using maps of a large city
• constructing a transect to show land use change in a local area 
• describing patterns, linkages, networks and change, using maps of large cities and other urban areas 
• constructing and interpreting choropleth maps 
• synthesising and evaluating fieldwork data about the dynamics of change in a country town or suburb 
• interpreting trends from logarithmic and semilogarithmic data about the growth of mega cities 
• analysing population pyramid data to investigate the implications on health and social issues of a rapidly growing city 
• calculating the time of day when a photograph was taken and relating a photo to a map of a streetscape. 

identify geographical methods applicable to and useful in the workplace such as 
• using GIS, satellite imagery and aerial photography 
• analysing maps including topographic, cadastral and land use maps 
• collecting and analysing urban field data 
• the relevance of a geographical understanding of urban places to a particular vocation such as: urban and regional planning, designing effective city infrastructure, planning the delivery of social services, monitoring environmental quality and sustainability, preserving heritage sites. 
 
Rates of Urbanisation:
- More and more people are attracted to city centres globally.
- Two centuries ago less than 5% of the world’s population lived in cities and towns. Today that figure approaches 50%.
- The number of cities with a population over 1 million has increased from 2 in 1850, to 109 in 1970, and is expected to be 380 in 2010.
Urbanisation: Future State 2030 Infographic

World City: a city that has global and national significance
Mega city: a very large agglomeration of at least 10 million people
Urbanisation: an increase in the proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas.
          

Websites

Its Biology All Cities Are Alike. Read more...
Growing self-sufficient cities. Read more... 

Sim City

Sim City is a computer game which allows you to build your own city. Choose one of the following tasks, and outline the challenges that you faced in completing your task: 
  • Reduce the car dependence within your city.
  • Encourage more people into your city while increasing the amount of protected bushland.
  • Reduce air pollution without discouraging economic development.
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  • Home
    • Assessment
    • Extended Responses
    • Vocations
  • World Cities
    • Nature, character and spatial distribution
    • Role of world cities
    • Global networks
    • London case study >
      • London transect
      • London Population density maps
      • London- Urban Observatory
      • London: Urban World app
    • Dominance and dependence
    • Regional centres
    • Demise of the small town
  • Megacities
    • Nature, character and spatial distribution
    • Challenges >
      • Extended Response Activity
    • Responses to challenges
    • Mexico City >
      • Mexico City cloze passage
  • Urban Dynamics
    • Urban dynamics of change
    • Case study: Sydney >
      • Sydney - Urban Dynamics
      • Advantage and disadvantage
      • Economic Character Research lesson >
        • Economic Character Research lesson
      • Sydney - Culture of place
      • Sydney - Growth
      • Sydney - Sustainability
  • Skills
  • HSIETeachers