An urbanisation effect is believable when you trace it from a number of people to one service. Follow the chain: growth, demand, shortfall, consequence, response.
This lesson belongs to settlements and urbanisation. It uses the boundary idea from explaining urban growth.
What does the chain look like?
Write five links. First the growth, then the demand that follows, then the existing supply, then the shortfall, then the consequence or response.
State any assumption in words, such as “if 8% of residents are of secondary school age”.
Worked example: a new township
Here is an original township. It adds 6 000 homes with an average of 4 residents each. The nearest secondary school has 1 200 places.
- Growth: 6 000 × 4 = 24 000 new residents.
- Demand: if 8% are of secondary school age, 24 000 × 0.08 = 1 920 students.
- Supply: the school has 1 200 places.
- Shortfall: 1 920 − 1 200 = 720 students without a place.
- Response: longer journeys to other schools, larger classes, or a new school.
Model sentence: “The township adds about 1 920 secondary students but the nearest school holds 1 200, so 720 students may travel further or join crowded classes.”
The mistake that costs marks
The common slip is to write a general pressure with no service and no number.
- Vague: “Urbanisation puts pressure on services in the township.”
- Traced: “The township adds 24 000 residents, so demand for secondary school places rises by about 1 920, which exceeds the nearest school’s 1 200 places.”
A second slip is to treat an assumption as fact. Write “if 8% are of school age” so a reader knows the figure is a working assumption.
Check yourself
A township adds 3 000 homes with 4 residents each. Assume 25% of residents take a bus at peak hours and each bus carries 50 passengers. How many bus loads are needed at peak hours, and what might follow if only 40 bus loads run?
Answer
Residents: 3 000 × 4 = 12 000. Bus riders: 12 000 × 0.25 = 3 000. Bus loads: 3 000 ÷ 50 = 60.
With only 40 loads, 20 loads’ worth of riders (1 000 residents) could not board, which may lead to crowding, longer waits, or more people using cars.
What to study next
Responses to shortfalls involve trade-offs. Continue with comparing responses to an urban issue with explicit trade-offs, then try the settlements practice set.
If you want a teacher to trace a chain with you, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.