The graph shows the total population living in urban areas of different sizes, between 1970 and 2011.

(i) Estimate the number of people worldwide living in megacities (10 000 000 people and over) in 1990.

(ii) Describe changes in the total number of people living in small cities of less than 500 000 people.

Explain two characteristics of the distribution of one named economic activity within one named urban area.

“Managing a city sustainably requires a wider range of strategies than those that only limit its ecological footprint.” Discuss this statement.

(i)

Accept responses within the range 130 million to 175 million.

(ii)

Award [1] for each valid change and reserve [1] for quantification.

For example:

• increased rapidly between 1970 and 1990 [1] by approximately 50 % [1].
• increased very slowly from 1990 to 2011 [1], to about 135 million [1].

Economic activity can include manufacturing industries, retail and service industries. In some urban areas there are primary industries (mining towns).

Examples must be developed. For example, would need to identify locational features of the industry eg transport corridors, edge of town, close to the CBD, rather than a generic example such as the motor industry in Detroit.

Award [1] for each characteristic identified, and a further [2] for an explanation of the features of the spatial distribution, up to a maximum of [5]; reserve the final [1] for the example of the urban area.

For example, retailing in Cardiff is concentrated in the CBD [1] due to accessibility [1] (transport), leading to a higher pedestrian flow [1].

Sustainable cities are those that seek to maintain and improve the quality of life for current and future urban dwellers. Ecological footprints are the theoretical measurement of the amount of land and water a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing technology.

There are many factors used in an ecological footprint calculation, which is a
measure of the environmental impact/requirements of people:

• bioproductive (currently used) land such as farmland, gardens, pasture and managed forest
• bioproductive sea used for human consumption
• energy land – the amount of land that would be required to support renewable energy instead of non-renewable energy
• built land – land used for development such as roads and buildings
• biodiversity land – land required to support all of the non-human species
• non-productive land such as deserts is subtracted from the total land available.

Other aspects of sustainability may be social (housing quality, social equality, crime), economic (type of employment, employment, unemployment) and/or environmental (air, water, land resources).

Good responses are likely to discuss the definition of urban sustainability. They may refer to social indicators (the percentage of people in over-crowded conditions, crime rates, educational achievement/literacy levels, etc) or economic indicators (Gini coefficient and unemployment rates). Candidates may question whether all of the data can be collected or even whether it is possible to accurately measure ecological footprints. Ecological footprints are therefore only one part (albeit important) of the sustainable city.

Answers may draw from a number of examples – Curitiba, Masdar City, and
Bedzed and/or from sustainable strategies for transport, housing management,
in-migration.

At band D, responses are likely to describe urban ecological footprint management or another urban sustainability strategy.

At band E expect either a more detailed explanation of how ecological footprints and other strategies (at least one) are used to manage urban sustainability or a discussion of urban sustainability/issues in a more varied way.

At band F expect both.

Marks should be allocated according to the markbands.

(i/ii) Few problems.

This question caused some difficulties. The term “economic activity” was sometimes weakly understood, and some failed to describe its distribution. Some referred to informal settlements.

Most responses discussed city sustainability, with limited reference to ecological footprint. Examples often referred to Curitiba and Masdar City. Sustainability focused on environmental rather than social and economic factors.