1ère Euro
M Foulletier
Lycée A Renoir
“METROPOLISATION” IN EUROPE
I - URBANISATION AND “METROPOLISATION” ( on a World scale)
Key question : Do the urban regions in the world have the same development ?
What is urbanisation ?
What is “metropolisation” ?
“Metropolisation” is a very recent word which describes a phenomenon consisting (in the developed
countries) in the growth of major cities. These have economic, political, and cultural advanced
functions. They have a big influence zone.
Document : Urban population in the world (2002)
Introduce this document
This document is a planisphere which describes the urban situation .
Word Box :
An urban area : une zone
urbaine
An agglomeration
major cities
Urban mutations
Population rate : taux de
population
The Third World
Developed countries
Describe and analyse the document
Strong population rate for the developed countries (more than 50%) : America (Northern and southern
America), western Europe and northern Africa, Australia.
Minor population rate for the underdeveloped countries (less than 50 %) : Sub-Saharan Africa Eastern
Asia and India.
We must be careful because a population rate of 40% in China corresponds to ?
What are the European and English situations ?
Europe and England belong to the developed countries and the population rate is strong (more than 75 %
of the whole population)
The growth of major cities in developed countries is slow, while third world cities are expanding
rapidly, though chaotically. For example : at the beginning of the 21st century, more than half the world
population is concentrated in major cities. London which used to be the first city in the world in 1900,
now ranks only 25th although it remains the top of European city. (Paris 10 million inhabitants ; London
9 million inhabitants)
II - METROPOLISATION IN ENGLAND (on a national scale)
Key question : Why can we say that England experiences the “metropolisation” phenomenon ?
Word Box :
Rural areas / urban areas
creeping urbanisation : urbanisation rampante
The inner city : centre ancien
Suburbs
migration
functional zone : part of the city with a specialised function
a network : un réseau
1ère Euro
M Foulletier
Lycée A Renoir
-
The growth of the English population and the extension of cities, towns, agglomerations …
MAP KEY :
Capitals
Main towns
SCOTLAND
Urban sprawl
TITLE :
EIRA
WALES
Differences between rural areas and urban areas are more and more visible
BBC website
1ère Euro
M Foulletier
Lycée A Renoir
Introduce these documents
These are a map and a graph of the evolution of the English population in rural and urban areas.
Comment the graph :
People under 44 years old are used to live in urban areas whereas people over 45 years old prefer living
in rural areas. (use urban and rural population rate)
According to you what reasons can explain this location ?
- migration (rural exodus)
- nowadays cities are attractive (jobs, activities, cares …)
- the phenomenon of urban sprawl : suburbs win spaces on rural areas.
Sometimes urbanisation can be dangerous :
Creeping urbanisation could destroy rural England in 30 years
Creeping urbanisation and development may lead to the destruction of
the traditional English countryside in a single generation, a report warns today.
The remorseless expansion of housing, industry, traffic, road-building
and airport construction, combined with the steady decline in traditional
farming, may mean the treasured, traditional countryside will have all but
disappeared by 2035, says the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor (Independent News and Media Limited)
Published: 09 September 2005
Remorseless : impitoyable
Steady : progressif
What is “creeping urbanisation” ?
An urbanisation with a spatial expansion
What danger is pointed out in this document ?
City planners and politics in England use an urban policy called urban planning.
What is urban planning ?
New urbanism, new orthodoxy
Richard Rogers used to be an ardent supporter of modernist town planning – the old 1947
orthodoxy. Now he champions New Urbanism: high-density urban villages where everything
is within a ten-minute walk, to use Leon Krier’s pithy phrase; mixed uses; preservation of the
countryside and respect for the fabric of the traditional city.
Planning is the problem Jules Lubbock 4 - 7 - 2001
1ère Euro
M Foulletier
Lycée A Renoir
Urban planning should organise and contain the urban sprawl, but according to numerous city
planners this policy leads to many problems :
The new urbanism (represented by Richard Rogers) is shallow and authoritarian. Its impulse
to confine people in high-density settlements has disastrous social and economic effects. The
truly radical answer is to dismantle the planning system, allow people to live where they wish,
and nurture a creative mix between town and country. Let Swindon breathe, the Yorkshire
Dales thrive, and Glasgow flourish!
Planning is the problem Jules Lubbock 4 - 7 - 2001
Settlement : installation
Planning and prices
One of the major effects has been upon the general cost of living. The price of land has
been massively inflated by an artificial shortage of supply, resulting from the draconian
system of planning permission instituted in 1947.
For example, Grade 2 agricultural land in Essex costs about £4,000 an acre. But once
planning permission for housing is granted this rises astronomically. Developers are said to
have paid about £500,000 an acre for land with planning permission to build executive houses
outside Chelmsford.
Housebuilders make much of their profit from sharing that planning gain with the
landowners. The selling price for such houses is around £120,000. At 12 houses to the acre,
the cost of our planning system amounts to an extra £40,000 on each of those houses before a
single brick has been laid.
Planning is the problem Jules Lubbock 4 - 7 - 2001
Is there a solution to these real problems?
Mixing Town and Country
I believe that there is. Moreover, it is to be found in one of the fundamental principles
of New Urbanism – reinstating mixed uses within urban areas. If mixed uses are so desirable,
why restrict them to towns alone? As we have seen, the most fundamental land-use zoning is
that between town and country. Almost no one questions it.
Planning is the problem Jules Lubbock 4 - 7 - 2001
1ère Euro
M Foulletier
Lycée A Renoir
Summary : what are the characteristics of “metropolisation” in England ?
-
growth of population
urban sprawl
a functional zone in the inner city and huge suburbs
activities are numerous and quite different (services leisure industry …)
Towns are linked by a network
III - THE METROPOLISATION PHENOMENON IN ENGLAND :
THE EXAMPLE OF LONDON (on a local scale)
Key question : How is such a major city as London evolving?
History :
The city grew on a privilege geographical location with two poles emerging in the Middle
Ages : Upstream, Westminster became the political centre, and downstream, the City became the
economic centre.
In the 19th century, when the docks where built east of the city, London grew to become the
first port in the world.
WWII’s damage and the crisis that mired port activities altered the appearance of the two
banks. While the City bristled with high-rise buildings, the docks underwent heavy renovation with new
creation of new CBD downstream, and new buildings, like Tate Modern were erected to revitalise the
south bank.
History and geography Hatier
location
theme
The City of London (City + Isle of dogs)
Services; CBD
East end + Whitechapel
Quartiers populaires
Westminster + Whitehall
Buckingham; Trafalgar square tourism politic
West end (Soho Mayfair)
Piccadilly Oxford Street tourism + eco
M Foulletier
Lycée A Renoir
1ère Euro