1. PAPER 2: Challenges in the human environment
SECTION A: Urban Issues and Challenges 1

2. Urban change (Cities) Urbanisation: Expansion of cities.
More people moving into towns and cities.
2007 over 50% now live in cities.

3. Urban trends: HICs (rich) and LICs (poor)
HICs: Slow growth (fast growth happened in past during industrial revolution)
LICs: Rapid growth/ Hyperurbanisation as industrialising now people move to cities for factory jobs.

4. Factors of urbanisation – 1
Factors of urbanisation – 1. Rural to Urban Migration (push-pull theory) 2. Natural increase (high birth rate)

5. The emergence of megacities
Over 10 million, are known as megacities.

6. A case study of a major city in an LIC or NEE to illustrate: LAGOS the location and importance
Nigeria/ West Africa
Lagos is Africa’s biggest city.
Equator
Importance:
About 80% of Nigeria’s industry is based in and around Lagos.
Main financial centre in West Africa.
The city also has a major international airport & a busy seaport.

7. LAGOS : causes of growth: migration and natural increase
Migration/ Push from countryside:
Education poor.
Health services poor.
Climate Change: Droughts and floods occur more often now.
Farming pays low wages but requires a lot of hard work. (Subsistence Farming)
Few job opportunities.
The terrorist group, Boko Haram, is active in the north of Nigeria.

8. LAGOS: social opportunities (good things for people
LAGOS: social opportunities (good things for people!) Access to services – health & education

9. LAGOS: Opportunities: (good things about growth)
More jobs both formal & informal.
unemployment lower than the rest of Nigeria
More schools & universities
Healthcare is available but not always free
Rapid transit network (public transport)
Major international airport – main arrival point for 80% of flights to West Africa
Growing population provides a large market for goods & services
All encouraging more industry to locate there

10. Lagos: economic development opportunities (how help develop and make money)
Employment = 3% primary, 19% secondary & 78% tertiary in Nigeria.
More money than people being subsistence farmers
TNC Investment: Shell – drill oil/ provide secondary jobs/ education scholarships
Opportunities & challenges created by the informal economy e.g. Olusosun rubbish dump.
Industrialisation – investment opens factories – people get jobs – get money – pay for education – city gets better (multiplier effect)

11. Lagos challenges: (bad things about growth)
No unemployment benefit
90% of new jobs created in Lagos are in the informal economy e.g. street vending, car washing, shoe shining or waste recycling
40% of the workforce are in the informal economy
Congested roads
High crime rates (street gangs)
Electricity in short supply (uses generator)
Poor sewage system (no toilets)
Squatter settlements e.g. Makoko

12. LAGOS challenges: slums, squatter settlements
Informal/ illegal settlement
Land built up out of rubbish/ scraps
Built on marsh/ lagoon – land no one wanted to build on
Overcrowded
Basic facilities
Not enough drinking water
Lagoon toilets
Polluted water
Disease
Cholera spreads

13. LAGOS challenges: clean water, sanitation systems
Only 10% of the population in Lagos have a piped water supply that has been treated and purified.
Rest rely on street vendors or wells & sink boreholes to reach groundwater.
Water is also often polluted with bacteria or chemical pollution.
One of the causes is the lack of proper sewage system in the city.
Rising sea levels are also a threat as most of Lagos lies less than 2m above sea level.
Water aid is coming in to help build toilets/ wells and give hygiene education.

14. LAGOS challenges: health & education
Healthcare
Healthcare is not free.
Although it is closer than in rural areas.
If you can’t afford to pay, you may have to queue.
Education
Large population means pressure on education.
Not always free.
However there are more schools & universities in Lagos than you find outside of the city.

15. LAGOS challenges: reducing unemployment & crime
Most people need to find work in the informal economy in order to survive.
90% of new jobs created in Lagos are in the informal sector.
Crime
3 helicopters for police to spot criminal activities.

16. LAGOS challenges: air & water pollution, traffic congestion
Water polluted through a lack of proper sewage system.
Waste in water can spread cholera.
Waste disposal is a challenge. Many rubbish dumps such as Olusosun which do provide informal employment opportunities for people who sort the waste.

17. LAGOS: improving the quality of life
Makoko Floating School was built.
It has classrooms that can host lessons for up to 60 children at a time
Community centre when not being used as a school.
Prototype for structures that could help to house the population of Makoko and other Lagos communities in the future.
The school is environmentally sustainable, and with its floating design, it would help communities to withstand the impact of rising sea levels as a result of climate change.