With reference to one country of the region, evaluate the causes of urbanization during a period of approximately fifty years.

Candidates are required to offer a considered and balanced review of the causes of urbanization in any one country. Candidates will attempt to cover a c50-year time period as set out in the question, rather than focusing on much longer or shorter periods of time. This is an opportunity for candidates to write about their own national history; so any country in the region is permissible.

Indicative content

• The causes of urbanization will vary according to the country and period that is chosen.
• In many cases, industrialization attracted people to cities. On the other hand, changes in agriculture, for example mechanization and the growth in the size of farms, led to rural underemployment and unemployment, pushing people away from the land (as was the case in the United Kingdom during the 19th century). Improvements in transport also made cities more accessible.
• Other factors that led people to move to cities could include famine/food shortage, for example in Germany in the 1840s.
• In the 20th century, one could argue that in some cases, the growth of education and the increased spread of media, such as radio, television, newspapers, made people more aware of the economic and/or cultural opportunities available in cities, and that this was another factor that prompted urbanization, for example in post-1945 France or Italy.

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]