Examine the strengths and weaknesses of resilient city design as a way of managing climatic challenges.

Examine why social deprivation occurs for different reasons in urban areas at varying stages of development.

Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 1 markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).

Climatic challenges to urban areas occur at both the macro and local scale, long and short term. They include challenges from global climatic change, including secondary impacts such as rising sea levels and increasing frequency and intensity of storms. At the local scale, increasing air pollution poses a serious threat to the environment, human health and increasing death rates. The local heat island effect might also intensify. Strategies to manage escalating climatic risks include adopting resilient city design. Resilient cities are cities that have the ability to absorb, recover and prepare for future shocks, especially challenges associated with climate change.

Possible applied themes (AO2) demonstrating knowledge and understanding (AO1):

• Challenges include global warming, resulting in rising sea levels, increased storm activity and flooding, especially in low-lying coastal cities.
• Man-made climate challenges include increased air pollution and heat island effects, causing serious health issues and possible death.
• Strength of resilient city design include equipping cities to face future climate challenges. For example, improved flood defences; land-use zoning; strategies to improve air quality. Cities become more sustainable, and better-suited to face future climate shocks.
• Increased provision of open space; conservation and enhancement of natural systems.
• Weaknesses include high economic costs in modifying infrastructure; rapid growth of population, and low incomes, in some cities makes it difficult to enact to design principles.

Good answers may be well-structured (AO4) and may additionally offer a critical evaluation (AO3) of the statement in a way that shows understanding of how the principles of resilient city design can be used to manage climatic challenges, and illustrates the power and different perspectives of stakeholders. Another approach might be to consider how the challenges and their management might vary between different places, at varying levels of development, or at different timescales.

For 5–6 marks, expect weakly-evidenced outlining of at least one resilient city design to manage a climatic challenge.

For 7–8 marks, expect a well-structured account that includes:

• either an evidenced explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of resilient city design in managing climatic challenges
• or a discursive conclusion grounded in geographical concepts and/or perspectives, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of resilient city design.

For 9–10 marks, expect both of these traits.

Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 1 markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).

Urban social deprivation includes increasing levels of poverty, low living standards, poor health, low educational attainment, and poor access to resources. Deprivation occurs in all urban areas, in countries at varying levels of economic development. The causes of deprivation are often difficult to determine. It is often associated with high unemployment and rising crime levels. Urban deprivation is concentrated in particular areas of cities, including inner-city and outer-city housing estates and areas of informal housing.

Possible applied themes (AO2) demonstrating knowledge and understanding (AO1):

• Urban social deprivation includes: poverty and low living standards; lack of access to resources, low provision of health care and education; high crime rates.
• Social deprivation is concentrated in particular areas of cities.
• There is an increasing divide between “rich” and “poor” areas in cities, and increasing social and economic inequalities.
• Management of deprivation involves perspectives of different stakeholders, including national and local governments, city planners, and local residents.
• Causes of social deprivation may differ between urban areas at varying stages of development.
• Low income countries have rapidly growing populations, resulting in low quality housing, shanty towns and high levels of unemployment and poverty.
• In high income countries the deprivation may be on a smaller scale, and concentrated in specific areas of a city. Deprivation linked to poor housing and low income levels may be caused by factors such as closure of traditional industries and planning policies.

Good answers may be well-structured (AO4) and may additionally offer a critical evaluation (AO3) of the statement in a way that shows evidenced judgment of the processes causing social deprivation in different urban places. Another approach might be to consider the power and perspectives of different stakeholders.

For 5–6 marks, expect weakly-evidenced outlining of one or more reasons for urban social deprivation.

For 7–8 marks, expect a well-structured account that includes:

• either an evidenced explanation of a variety of different reasons for social deprivation in two or more cities at different stages of development
• or a discursive conclusion (or ongoing evaluation) grounded in geographical concepts and/or perspectives.

For 9–10 marks, expect both of these traits.

Stronger candidates were able to provide evidenced explanations of city design but not many were able to combine this with ongoing evaluation of specific designs for climate challenges. Many wrote about how cities can be eco-friendlier, for example, Curitiba, but did not address how the cities are going to be better at managing and coping with climatic challenges, and many also ignored the strengths and weaknesses part of the question.

This was reasonably well-answered. Most candidates compared deindustrialization in Detroit with growth of shanty towns/favelas (e.g. Rio or Dharavi Mumbai) in large urban areas in less-developed countries. A few (correctly) examined deprivation at a small scale within cities in high-income countries.