Urbanisation Unit
1) Life in different cities Historical perspective
Read intro page 122/94 Source 3.1 Sydney CBD
a. How did the European settlement of Australia begin? (pg. 94/122)
First fleet 11 ships 1788
b. What attracted people to the region of Sydney? (pg. 94)
Gold rush/farming
c. How has Sydney’s population changed from the beginning of the 20 th century to today?
(pg. 94)
1 million – 4.6 million
2) Where Australians live (pg. 124/96) choropleth map Source 3.5
a. What is unique about Australia’s population spread? (pg. 96)
b. Where do most Australians live? (pg. 96)
c. Why do you think all of Australia’s large cities are located on the coast? (pg. 96)
d. Look at the map on page 97. This map shows where people live in Australia. Which
parts of Australia are densely populated?
e. Which parts of Australia are sparsely populated? (pg. 97)
f. Why do you think so few people live in parts of Western Australia? (source 3.2 on page
96 will help you answer this question)
Glossary.
Population Density: Number of people per square kilometre. The higher the population
density the more crowded the country is.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
3) Why Australians live where they do (pg.126)
Why do so few people live in inland Australia?
What is an important economic factor that helps to explain why people live where they
do?
How has the Great Dividing Range influenced where people live in Australia?
List 3 ways in which water has influenced where people live.
Study Source 3.6 Which features of the natural environment do you think were
important factors when deciding on the locations of Gympie, Hobart and Kalgoorlie?
4) Australia’s population (pg. 128/100)
a. Look at the timeline on page 100. Provide a description of the four events that are
highlighted on this timeline.
b. Type into Google ‘abs population clock’ and click on the first result. What is the current
population of Australia?
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c. When calculating population growth, what four assumptions does the Australian Bureau
of Statistics make?
d. Link:
http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/population_grow.htm
What are some of the environmental problems caused by population growth?
5) World population statistics.
a. Go to the following link: http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?t=0&v=21000&r=xx&l=en
This map shows you the population density (number of people per square
kilometre) for every country in the world. The higher the population density,
the more crowded the country is.
Which places in the world are the most crowded?
b. Which places in the world are the least crowded?
c. Use the drop-down box to bring up the population of each country. Which places in the
world have the highest population?
d. Which places in the world have the lowest population?
e. Use the drop-down box to bring up the birth rate of each country. Which places in the
world have the highest birth rate?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
6) Where Americans live (pg. 130)
What is the difference between a suburb and an exburb?
Why do you think the continuous urban are in the north-east of the United States is
sometimes referred to BosNYWash?
What do geographers call areas like BosNYWash? Megalopolis.
Source 3.11 Patterns.
US cities often have 3 main parts. What are these parts? Do large Australian cities also
have these parts?
Create a venn diagram to show similarities and differences between Australia and U.S
Using Source 3.11 American and 3.5 Australian.
7). Why Americans live where they do (pg. 132)
Key points physical and Climate.
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g. Go
to
the
following
link:
http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2006/sep/01/guardianweekly.guardianweekl
y1
What is happening to Uganda’s population?
h. What are the reasons why this is happening to Uganda’s population?
i. What is going to happen to Uganda as a result of its fast growing population?
j. What is going to happen to countries such as Australia?
7)
a. Go
to
the
following
link:
http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/population_grow.htm
What are some of the environmental problems caused by population
growth?
8)
a. Go
to
the
following
link:
http://www.learner.org/libraries/makingmeaning/makingmeaning/support/1childa.pdf
What is China’s ‘One Child’ Policy?
b. Why was the policy introduced?
c. What did the policy hope to achieve?
d. Go to the following link: http://geography.about.com/od/chinamaps/a/China-One-ChildPolicy-Facts.htm
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
a.
b.
c.
d.
When and by whom was the One Child Policy created?
Explain the two major exceptions to the One Child Policy.
What effect will the One Child Policy have on China’s population in the future?
What rewards do families get for following the One Child Policy?
What happens to families who do not follow the One Child Policy?
There are concerns about Australia’s fast growing population. How do you think the
Australian public would react if the government enforced a one child policy?
9)
Explain how most cities in the United States are organised. Make sure you include the
city centre, suburbs and exurbs. (pg. 102)
Look at the map on page 103. Which places in the United States are the most crowded?
Which places in the United States are the least crowded?
In the United States, the most densely populated places tend to share what features?
(pg. 104)
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e. What is similar between Australia and the United States when it comes to where people
live? (map on pg. 103)
f. Look at the map on page 105. Write a general, short sentence describing what this map
shows.
g. Which places in the United States receive the most rainfall?
h. Which places in the United States receive the least rainfall?
i. On page 105 you will see two climate graphs; one for Las Vegas and one for Miami.
What are the similarities and differences between Las Vegas and Miami?
a.
b.
c.
d.
10)
Why is New York called a megacity? (pg. 106)
New York is made up of five areas known as what? (pg. 106)
Name these five areas. (pg. 106)
Choose three of these five areas to do some further research on. For each area, answer
the following questions:



What is the population?
What are some of the popular tourist attractions? Describe three.
List three interesting facts about the area.
e. What is similar between most Australian cities and Staten Island and Queens? (pg. 106)
f. Describe a typical New York apartment building and apartment. (pg. 106-107)
g. What do many New Yorkers do in order to socialise with their friends? Why do they do
this? (pg. 107)
h. Explain why Manhattan’s population more than doubles on a typical working day. (pg.
107)
i. What makes this large population increase possible? (pg. 107)
11) Refer to page 108 for the next set of questions.
a. What are some of the reasons why cities grow?
b. What is unusual about Las Vegas?
c. What is Las Vegas known for?
d. Create a line graph showing the growth of the population of Las Vegas from 1910 to
2010 (see Source 3.21).
Use Microsoft Excel to do this, following these steps:
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Type the data into the spreadsheet, labelling one column as ‘Year’
and the other as ‘Population’
Highlight all the data
Click on ‘Insert’, then ‘Line’, and choose the first graph
You will notice that the years do not appear
To fix this you need to right click on the graph, then click on ‘Select
Data’
Click on ‘Year’ and then the ‘Edit’ button located on the right
Type in 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990,
2000, 2010
Click ‘OK’, then ‘OK’
Include this graph in your assignment and make sure you give it a
title
e. Create a column graph showing the number of casinos in selected states in America (see
Source 3.22).
Use Microsoft Excel to do this, making sure you give your graph a title.
Include this graph in your assignment.
f. Look at the two satellite images of Las Vegas on page 109. How has the city changed
from 1984 to 2011?
12) Refer to pages 110-111 for the next set of questions.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Look at Source 3.25. What does this graph tell us?
Why has this occurred?
What is a megacity?
How many are there in the world?
Define the term ‘urban explosion’.
f. Do some research and find a list of all the megacities in the world. Choose five of these
cities to do some further research on and answer the following questions for each:
i. What is its population?
ii. What are some of the popular tourist attractions? Describe three.
iii. List five interesting facts about the city.
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g. On pages 112-113 you will find information on five of the world’s megacities. What
problems does each of these cities face?
13) Read pages 114-115 about how cities are organised. Pretend that you are the
owner of a city.
a. Give your city a name.
b. Draw a basic map of your city. Your map must include:
i. Title
ii. Border
iii. CBD, residential area(s), commercial area(s), industrial area(s) and
parkland/nature area(s)
iv. A legend that clearly identifies each of these areas
14) Refer to pages 116-117 for the next set of questions.
a. Explain two economic advantages that cities provide.
b. Explain two social advantages that cities provide.
c. People in cities usually live longer than people in rural areas, particularly in poorer
countries. Why do you think this is the case?
d. Why do you think young people in country towns often move to a city after they finish
their high school education?
e. Australian inventions include the black box flight recorder, Google maps, spray-on skin,
the bionic ear, Wi-Fi and plastic bank notes. Select two of these (or other Australian
inventions) and answer the following questions for each:
i. Who invented it?
ii. Where was it invented?
15) Refer to pages 118-119 for the next set of questions.
a. Explain one environmental disadvantage of cities.
b. Explain three social disadvantages of cities.
c. Now that you have an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of cities,
would you rather live in or close to a major city, or in a rural area? Give reasons why.
16) Refer to pages 120-121 for the next set of questions.
a. Look at Source 3.39. Use direction (north, east, south or west) to describe the area of
Sydney where the highest percentage of unemployed people live.
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b. What might be some of the advantages of living in this region for people who are
unemployed?
c. Look at Sources 3.39 and 3.40. What conclusions can you make about the Fairfield and
Canley Vale areas?
d. Look at Source 3.40. Using the CBD as your starting point, use direction (north, east,
south, west) to describe what this map is telling us.
e. Look at Source 3.42. Why do you think the areas of highest public transport use make a
linear pattern (form lines)?
f. Look at Source 3.41. Use direction (north, east, south, west) and distance to describe
the most recent pattern of urban growth in Sydney.
17) Refer to pages 122-123 for the next set of questions.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
How did immigration to Australia first begin?
Do some internet research and define the term ‘penal colony’.
Do some internet research and define the term ‘Anglo-Celtic’.
During the 19th century, what attracted immigrants to Australia?
Go to the following link:
http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/hotwords/unpack/White.Australia.Policy
i. What was the White Australia Policy?
ii. What was the main method used to prevent certain people from
immigrating to Australia?
iii. What happened to people who failed this test?
iv. In the early 1900s, how many tests were administered and how many
people were successful?
v. When and by whom was the White Australia Policy abolished?
vi. Why is the White Australia Policy considered racist?
f.
g.
h.
i.
What is Australia known as today?
What policy was released in 2011?
What does the policy state?
What happens once a year to help promote this policy?
18) Refer to pages 124-125 for the next set of questions.
a. Provide an example of social change that has occurred in Melbourne.
b. Provide an example of technological change that has occurred in Adelaide.
c. Interview your parents.
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i. Find out what types of technology they used when they were your
age.
ii. How does it differ from the technology (mobile phone, game
consoles, netbook, internet etc.) you use today?
iii. How do you think these differences have affected the town or city
you live in today, compared with when your parents were young?
d. Provide an example of how economic change can change a city.
e. Go to the following link and watch the video on Cyclone Tracy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B89wBGydSvs
This demonstrates how a natural event can have a devastating impact on a city.
Go to the following link and then answer the following questions:
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs176.aspx






In which city did this natural disaster occur?
When did it occur?
How fast were the winds recorded as?
What were the consequences of the cyclone?
What happened to Darwin’s population after the cyclone?
What was the Darwin Reconstruction Commission?
19) Refer to pages 126-127 for the next set of questions.
a. Why do people from the same language and cultural backgrounds tend to settle in the
same areas of a city?
b. Studies show that English-speaking migrants arriving in Australia tend not to settle in
groups as much as non-English-speaking migrants. Why do you think this is the case?
c. Look at the choropleth map on page 127. Which areas in Sydney have a high percentage
of Chinese people?
d. Why is the suburb of Hurstville in Sydney known as an area of high ethnic
concentration?
e. Describe the history of immigration in Hurstville.
f. Describe the history of Chinese immigration to Australia.
20) Refer to pages 128-129 for the next set of questions.
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a. In your own words, explain the meaning of the words found at the base of the Statue of
Liberty. Who are they written about?
b. What is the ‘American Dream’?
c. In what ways is the history of immigration to the United States similar to the history of
immigration to Australia?
d. How many legal immigrants does the United States accept each year?
e. Are these the only people that are immigrating to the United States? Explain your
answer.
f. Look at the map on page 129.
i. Where do the large majority of Mexicans live?
ii. Where do the large majority of African Americans live?
21) Refer to pages 130-131 for the next set of questions.
a. How long is the border between Mexico and the United States?
b. How many border crossings are made each year?
c. Study Source 3.61.
i. Identify which states have the largest percentages of illegal
immigrants.
ii. Describe the location and distribution of these states.
iii. Which regions (groups of states rather than individual states) have
the smallest percentage of illegal immigrants?
d. Examine Sources 3.62 and 3.64. Where are most illegal immigrants to the United States
arrested?
e. Go to the following link and watch the video, then answer the questions below:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/efforts-secure-us-mexico-border-ariz-nativeamericans/story?id=19496394
i. What strategies do border patrol officers use to capture illegal
immigrants?
ii. Why do you think so many Mexicans migrate to the United States,
both legally and illegally?
iii. What strategies do illegal immigrants use in an effort to not be
caught?
iv. What stops many illegal immigrants from even getting close to the
border?
v. Some Americans believe that illegal immigrants should be arrested
and sent back to the countries they came from. Others believe that
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they should be welcomed into society and allowed to become US
citizens. What is your opinion? Explain your answer.
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