1. Case Study NEE: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Paper 2 Q2: Urban Issues and Challenges Overview & NEE Case Study: Rio
A growing % of the world’s population live in urban areas.
Terms
Urbanisation
when an increasing percentage of a country's population live in towns and cities
Migration
when people move from one area to another
Natural increase
birth rate minus the death rate of a population
Urban
A built up area like a town or city
Rural
A countryside area
Megacity
an urban area with a total population of more than ten million people
Favela
a squatter settlement (an area of often illegal, poor-quality housing, lacking in services like water supply, sewerage and electricity) in a Brazilian city
HIC
Higher income country e.g. UK, Japan, Germany
LIC
Lower income country e.g. Ethiopia, Nepal, Afghanistan
NEE
Newly emerging economy e.g. Brazil, China, Nigeria, India
Key content
Case Study NEE: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Importance
and context
Rio is located on Brazil’s Atlantic Coast in South America at 230S and 430W. It has grown around a large natural bay called Guanabara Bay. It has global importance as an industrial & financial centre; international importance as it is a major tourism destination plus has 5 ports and 3 airports and hosts sporting events such as the 2014 World Cup & the 2016 Olympics. It is vital to Brazil’s national economy as it produces 5% of the country’s GDP and provides a wide variety of jobs regionally.
Causes of growth
Rio has grown rapidly in the last 50years due to migration (city & wider surroundings population 12.5million in 2014) from within Brazil and other countries e.g. South Korea, China, Portugal, UK and USA leading to a racially mixed population that has helped the economy to further develop.
Opportunities
Social
Rio has better access to services and resources than rural Brazil.
There are more healthcare centres and hospitals and a better range of medicines in Rio.
There are more schools in Rio so more children can attend primary and secondary school than in rural areas.
In Rio people can use electricity for cooking and lighting. Access to electricity also means more business opportunities.
Water treatment plants provide safe water piped straight to areas of the city.
Economic
Rapid industrial growth of the city means that there were many construction jobs in the North Zone e.g. building the Olympic Park.
Even more variety of jobs are available as Rio is home to many of the country’s banks and manufacturing industries e.g. chemicals.
There are several ports and an airport providing an even wider range of employment (job) opportunities.
Challenges
Education is compulsory in Brazil for children aged The level of school enrolment in Rio is low and drop-out rates are high.
Water pipes can run near to sewage pipes. 37% of water is lost through leaky pipes, fraud and illegal access. Leakages can lead to contamination of water and spread water-borne diseases.
Many people living in the favelas get their electricity by tapping into main supply which is dangerous.
Unemployment rates in the favelas are over 20%.
Environmental
Waste pollution is worst in the favelas. Many are built on steep slopes and have few proper roads making access difficult for waste collection lorries.
Guanabara Bay is highly polluted causing a major threat to wildlife. Commercial fishing has declined 90% in the last 20 year s. Tourism could even be damaged.
Key content
Urbanisation
Urban Growth
Rate of urbanisation differs between countries that are richer and poorer.
Rate of urbanisationHICs
Very slow as urbanisation happened much earlier in HICs than in LICs and NEEs e.g. during the Industrial Revolution and so most of the population already live in urban areas. HIC cities can be overcrowded and many people are choosing to leave them for quieter rural areas for a better quality of life made possible by high speed broadband connections and good transport networks.
Rate of urbanisation NEEs
Varying rates of urbanisation are experienced in countries that have economic development that is increasing rapidly. Nigeria and China have rapid urban growth.
Rate of urbanisation LICs
The fastest rates of urbanisation in the world are generally happening in less economically developed countries as not many of the population live in urban areas.
Causes
Natural increase
Urbanisation is caused by this because more people are being born than are dying i.e. birth rate is higher than death rate.
Migration
A combination of push and pull factors causes rural to urban migration which leads to urbanisation. Younger ,working age people tend to migrate to cities to find better paid jobs. High rates of urbanisation leads to the growth of megacities.
Megacities
The majority of megacities are in Asia and in particular China and India. There is only one in Europe with a slightly higher three in each of North America, South America and Africa. (2014)