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AQA GCSE Geography · 8035
AQA 8035 · Urban Change in the UK Check the specification (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Urban change means more than a city getting bigger. Its economy, population, transport and use of land also change. Bristol illustrates how these changes can create opportunities while leaving some residents and neighbourhoods at a disadvantage.
Bristol’s economy has shifted away from industries associated with its central docks towards services, high-tech businesses and creative industries. Population growth increases demand for housing, transport and waste disposal, but also supports businesses and a wider range of leisure activities. The important question is not simply whether the city is successful, but who benefits from that success.
A cultural mix develops when people with different cultural backgrounds live in the same city. Bristol’s diverse population contributes to its food, music and festivals. St Paul’s Carnival is a named example of the city’s cultural diversity. Restaurants offering Caribbean, Indian, Chinese and Polish food also show how different traditions contribute to everyday urban life.
These opportunities are both social and economic. Residents gain a wider choice of experiences, while festivals and restaurants attract visitors who spend money in local businesses. That spending supports employment in hospitality, entertainment and retail.
Bristol’s two universities contribute to its youthful population and demand for entertainment. The Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Hippodrome and Tobacco Factory provide theatre and other performances. Bristol City and Bristol Rovers football clubs, alongside rugby and cricket, offer sporting recreation. This variety makes the city attractive to residents and visitors, although the existence of facilities does not mean everyone can afford to use them.
The decline of port-related industry has been accompanied by growth in the tertiary sector, which provides services, and the quaternary sector, which includes research and knowledge-based activities. Bristol has businesses working in microelectronics, robotics and 3D printing, as well as creative businesses such as Aardman Animations.
The city’s universities help provide research and skilled graduates. Businesses can draw on this workforce and collaborate with researchers, making Bristol attractive to high-tech employers. Improved broadband also supports firms that depend on fast communication and digital technology.
Temple Quarter has attracted high-tech and creative businesses, while former industrial buildings have gained new uses. These changes create employment directly and can support further jobs: employees spend their earnings in shops, cafés and other services, increasing demand in the local economy.
However, new jobs do not automatically replace lost industrial employment for the same people. A resident who previously worked in an industrial occupation may not have the qualifications required for a specialist technology job. Economic growth can therefore exist alongside unemployment.
An integrated transport system connects different forms of transport rather than treating each as a separate network. A park-and-ride journey provides a simple example: someone drives to a site outside the centre, parks, then takes a bus into the city. Connections between buses and rail services can extend the journey without requiring a car throughout.
Bristol has developed park-and-ride services and a rapid transit bus network, which became operational in 2018. Such connections aim to make public transport a more practical alternative to driving into the centre.
Better connections can improve access to employment, education, shopping and leisure. Businesses benefit when workers and customers can reach them more easily. If people switch from private cars to public transport, congestion and pollution can also fall. These benefits depend on services being convenient enough for people to use: building a network alone does not guarantee a reduction in car journeys.
Urban greening means adding or improving vegetation and green spaces within a city. It can provide wildlife habitats, places for recreation and relief from the heat and pollution of heavily built-up areas.
Queen Square is a Bristol example. A dual carriageway that crossed the square was removed, restoring an open green space with cycle routes. The change improved the local environment while giving people a place to relax and move through the city without driving.
Bristol also has around 300 parks and eight nature reserves. During its year as European Green Capital in 2015, primary school pupils planted trees. These examples show that environmental improvement can involve both changing land use and involving residents in greening activities.
Green space offers social as well as environmental benefits, but its usefulness depends on residents being able to reach and enjoy it. A city-wide total of parks does not, by itself, show whether access is equal between neighbourhoods.
Deprivation means lacking the resources, services or living conditions needed for an acceptable standard of life. It is wider than poverty alone: someone may face disadvantages in housing, health, education or employment. Inequality describes differences between people or places in access to opportunities and in their outcomes.
In the 2021 Census, 31.8% of Bristol households were deprived in one of the four measured dimensions: education, employment, health or housing. Disadvantage is concentrated in some areas close to the centre and in the south of the city, including Filwood, Hartcliffe and Withywood.
Housing: rising demand has made housing harder to afford. Bristol’s average house price rose from £168,050 in 2010 to £356,686 in January 2023. Demand from students adds pressure to the rental market. Almost 17,000 families were on the council housing waiting list in 2023, while some older housing needed modernisation. Residents with higher incomes have more choice than those unable to afford suitable accommodation.
Education: Bristol has many highly qualified residents, partly because of its universities and graduate workforce. Yet this city-wide picture conceals differences. Higher education attainment is lower in areas such as Highridge, Withywood and Hartcliffe than in more affluent Cotham. Children in the most deprived areas also tend to have lower educational attainment than those in the least deprived areas.
Health: Hartcliffe and Withywood, Filwood and Lawrence Hill experience poorer health and lower life expectancy than more affluent areas such as Clifton and Redland. Poor-quality housing can contribute to ill health through cold, damp and overcrowding. Differences in income and living conditions therefore have consequences beyond people’s purchasing power.
Employment: Bristol’s employment rate was 82.5% in 2022, yet unemployment remained higher in parts of the south and near the centre. Areas with lower educational attainment, including Highridge and Withywood, also experienced greater unemployment. Qualifications influence access to the skilled jobs created by the changing economy.
These disadvantages can reinforce one another. Difficulty finding secure, well-paid work limits housing choices; poor housing can damage health; ill health can make employment harder. This is a possible cycle of disadvantage, not an inevitable outcome for every resident.
Bristol’s central port declined as port activity moved to Avonmouth in the 1960s to accommodate larger ships. Abandoned warehouses and other industrial buildings fell into disrepair. This dereliction left unattractive, underused sites, while former industrial land could contain hazardous contamination.
Redeveloping brownfield land, which has previously been built on, can bring these sites back into use and reduce the need to develop open land. Finzels Reach is a Bristol example of former industrial land reused for offices, shops, restaurants and apartments. However, demolition, waste clearance and decontamination can make redevelopment expensive. Infrastructure may also need upgrading.
Greenfield land has not previously been developed. It often requires less clearance than an old industrial site, making it attractive to developers. The trade-off is the loss of open land and possible damage to habitats. New development can also increase traffic.
Bradley Stoke, established north of Bristol in the 1980s, is a named example of greenfield development. Nevertheless, only around 5% of Bristol’s new housing development between 2015 and 2020 was on greenfield sites. The choice is therefore not simply ‘build or do not build’: it involves balancing housing needs, development costs and environmental protection.
A growing city produces waste from homes and businesses, as well as debris from clearing old buildings. Bristol faces limited landfill space, while alternative disposal methods also have environmental costs. Incineration, for example, produces greenhouse gases.
Recycling and reducing packaging have helped limit domestic waste, but the remaining quantities are substantial. In 2019, Bristol produced about 462 kg of domestic waste per household. Waste treatment at Avonmouth includes converting food waste into methane-rich biogas that can generate electricity.
Recovering energy from waste provides a benefit, but it does not remove the need to reduce waste or manage the material that remains. Collection, transport and treatment all require resources.
Bristol’s changing economy, cultural mix, transport improvements and green spaces create substantial opportunities. However, rising housing costs, uneven access to skilled employment and persistent neighbourhood inequalities mean those benefits are not shared equally. Environmental improvements also coexist with derelict land and waste pressures. Overall success should therefore be judged through both the opportunities created and their distribution across the city.
Use named Bristol evidence, then explain its significance: a high city-wide employment rate does not mean that every neighbourhood benefits equally.
Keep housing, education, health and employment inequalities distinct, but explain links between them where relevant.
For an assessment, weigh benefits against limitations and reach a supported judgement. For example, brownfield development protects undeveloped land but can require expensive decontamination.
Give dates with statistics. Do not present historical figures or future targets as current achievements.
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Last updated
Urban change
Changes over time in a town or city’s population, economy, buildings, infrastructure and environment.
Cultural mix
The presence of different cultural traditions within a population, expressed through features such as food, music, festivals and religious practices.
Integrated transport system
A transport network that connects different forms of transport so passengers can transfer between them and complete journeys more easily.
Urban greening
Increasing or improving vegetation and green spaces within a built-up area, for example through tree planting and creating parks.
Urban deprivation
A lack of the resources, services or living conditions needed for an acceptable standard of life. It includes disadvantages in housing, education, health and employment, not just low income.
Inequality
Unequal access to resources and opportunities, or differences in outcomes, between people or places.
Deindustrialisation
The decline of manufacturing and other industrial activity in an area, often involving factory closures and job losses.
Dereliction
The condition of land or buildings that have been abandoned and fallen into disrepair.
Brownfield site
Land that has previously been developed. It may be available for redevelopment, but it is not necessarily derelict or contaminated.
Greenfield site
Land that has not previously been developed, such as farmland or other open land.
Put your knowledge into practice — try past paper questions for Geography
Urban change
Changes over time in a town or city’s population, economy, buildings, infrastructure and environment.
Cultural mix
The presence of different cultural traditions within a population, expressed through features such as food, music, festivals and religious practices.
Integrated transport system
A transport network that connects different forms of transport so passengers can transfer between them and complete journeys more easily.
Urban greening
Increasing or improving vegetation and green spaces within a built-up area, for example through tree planting and creating parks.
Urban deprivation
A lack of the resources, services or living conditions needed for an acceptable standard of life. It includes disadvantages in housing, education, health and employment, not just low income.
Inequality
Unequal access to resources and opportunities, or differences in outcomes, between people or places.
Deindustrialisation
The decline of manufacturing and other industrial activity in an area, often involving factory closures and job losses.
Dereliction
The condition of land or buildings that have been abandoned and fallen into disrepair.
Brownfield site
Land that has previously been developed. It may be available for redevelopment, but it is not necessarily derelict or contaminated.
Greenfield site
Land that has not previously been developed, such as farmland or other open land.
Urban change creates opportunities, but benefits are uneven. Economic growth does not automatically remove deprivation, housing pressures or environmental costs.