2013 Geography Coursework Outline
Objectives:
1. To delimit the City Core / CBD of Singapore
2. To distinguish the core, the frame, zone of assimilation and zone of discard by using a set of
parameters e.g land use, building height etc.
3. To test the hypothesis formulated..
4. To explain any anomalies and uniqueness of the Singapore city centre
Possible Hypothesis
1. The height of the buildings decreases with distance from core
2. The banking and financial institutions tend to cluster in the core / CBD
3. Pedestrian density decreases away from the core /CBD
Location
The Shenton way area is likely to be the current city core. Before modernization of the economy,
the CBD used to be the current Clark Quay area. Decades later, the CBD will have likely to have
shifted to the Marina Bay.
Procedure
(A) Pre-fieldwork – Jan 2013 Briefing of coursework topic
(B) Fieldwork
1. Jan 2013 Land use and Environment Survey
2. Jan / Feb 2013 Pedestrian and Traffic count
(C) Post fieldwork
1. Mar 2013 All students obtain a copy of the data
2. Apr 2013 Cartographic and Graphic analysis of data
3. May – Jun 2013 Written Report
Data Analysis and Findings (hypothetical)
1. Building Height
As a ratio / percentage of
(1) above 25 floors, (2) Between 10 – 24 floors, (3) 4-10 floors (4) total number of buildings as
below 4 floors
pie chart or bar graph of
fieldwork areas
2. Landuse
Survey the use of ground floor and dominant land use (of taller
buildings)
Colour coded land use map
Bar or pie graph to show
proportion of land use
3. Pedestrian and traffic density
Measure one way foot flow and traffic flow during peak and off
peak hours
Isoline map
4 Environment Quality - bipolar surveys and noise measurement
Colour code and isoline
5. Retail Quality - bipolar surveys
Colour code and graph
6. Land value – secondary data
1
The location:
2
The indicators:
The Theoretical Model
3
IB Geography
Internal Assessment Methodology
1. Title page – include the title (see above), name, school number, candidate number. Include
number of pages at the bottom.
2. Any acknowledgements
3. Table of Contents – with page numbers. Make sure you include an Introduction and a
Conclusion.
4. List of Illustrations – Include figure numbers for all illustrations as well as page numbers.
Illustrations are all diagrams, graphs, and maps.
5. Introduction- Try to make a fieldwork question out of your investigation. You can also
make a prediction and turn this into a hypothesis. Comment on the geographical context of
your investigation and explain why this investigation has been carried out. Include a map
of the research area with a proper key, orientation, and scale. Write around 300 words.
6. Method of Investigation – Explain how you collected the data, the sampling techniques
you used, the time and location and any special circumstances involved. Make sure you
show that your method was justified. Write around 300 words.
7. Data Analysis and Presentation- Here you should display the data collected using
appropriate graphical and statistical techniques. You can also include other maps and
diagrams. Make sure they are all really clear and exact and accurately labeled. Look at
some of the sample data and statistical techniques given. You could use line or point
graphs to see where you would delineate the boundary of the catchment area or you could
also use the breaking point theory. You could use the Spearman’s correlation technique to
see how strong distance-decay is in the catchment areas being studied. Integrate all of this
data in your analysis and see if you can recognize any trends and spatial patterns. Are
there any anomalies in the data you present? Make sure your analysis relates directly to
your topic and research question. Write around 1,350 words.
8. Conclusion – Here you should summarize the findings of your investigation. Make sure
you have answered your fieldwork question. Write around 200 words.
9. Evaluation – Review your methodology and how you collected the data. Were there any
factors which influenced the validity of your data? What are some ways your study could
have been improved or what other suggestions could you make for future studies? Write
around 300 words.
10. You may want to include an appendix.
MAKE SURE YOUR REPORT IS WITHIN THE 2,500 WORD LIMIT.
NUMBER ALL PAGES.
USE REFERENCES IF USING SECONDARY SOURCES.
Items 5, 6 and 9 around 900 words due by 25 March
Items 7 and 8 due by 29 April
First draft (official) due 2 July (comments given. no grade)
Final draft (official) due 29 July (preliminary grading given)
Formal report due 29 August (no extension will be given)
4
Guide
Shopping Quality Survey
As well as making an overall survey of the degree of cloning, it is possible to look at individual
streets of the town centre in more detail. There are likely to be areas of higher and lower retail
quality. One way in which this can be done is to choose a study area, then score each shop within
the area as follows
Shop type
Score
Department store
5
High street chain
4
Independent specialist shop
3
Convenience store
2
Charity shop
1
Vacant retail premises
0
This is based on the assumption that large shops like department stores act as 'anchors', attracting
many shoppers, while smaller shops have a lower attractive pull.
Add all the scores together to calculate the retail value for the street.
Worked example
Department store
5
Number in
High Street
3
High street chain
4
10
2
Independent
specialist shop
3
7
7
Convenience store 2
2
2
Charity shop
1
0
6
Vacant retail
premises
0
0
2
80
39
Shop type
Score
TOTAL RETAIL
QUALITY
Number in
Market Street
0
In this example, High Street has a higher retail value (80) than Market Street (39).
5
Name of Street / Road (or section of street):
Attached a map indicating clearly the section surveyed
Ground Land use
(name of
establishment)
Building Height
Land Use
P- Personal accessories (shoes, clothing)
H – Household and grocery
B - Banks and financial organisation
FB - Food and Beverage (cafes and
restaurants)
R - Residential
H - Hotels and service apartments
Others - specific
Shop type
Score
Department store
5
High street chain
4
Independent
specialist shop
3
Convenience store
2
Charity shop
1
Vacant retail
premises
0
Number
in this
Street
TOTAL RETAIL QUALITY
Litter/vandalism
None ----------------------------------Loads
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Pedestrian pavement
Well maintained------------------------Poor
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
New street lighting and street signs
Common --------------------------------Few
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Landscape quality (open spaces, trees)
Great------------------------------------Poor
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Total street environmental quality: ______
Name of student and date of survey
6
Ground Land use
(name of
establishment)
Building Height
Name of student
Name of road (section of road) ____________________________________________
Mark the spot with X on the map below
Day
Mon
Mon
Date
Time
No of
Pedestrians
0800-0805
0800-0805
1730-1735
1730-1735
Time
0805-0810
0805-0810
1735-1740
1735-1740
7
No of
Vehicles
Remarks
8