Case Study 13: A case study of the steel industry. The reasons for changing locations and the social, economic impacts of change
- Created by: Elise-741
- Created on: 28-05-17 12:29
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- Case Study 13: The reasons for changing locations and the social, economic impacts of change
- Key Terms:
- Raw Materials: natural resources such as coal, oil, iron ore which are then processed
- Globalisation: the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange
- Footloose: an industry that can be placed and located at any location regardless of factors such as resources and transport
- Energy: the power required for the steel industry to run. This would be provided by natural resources such as coal
- Merthyr Tydfil is in south Wales near to the southern coast. It is 20miles north west of Cardiff and 25 miles north east of Swansea
- Reasons for this location:
- Human
- Demand for steel weapons for world wars
- Age of railways making steel important for tracks
- New technology to extract deeper areas with higher quality
- Better transport and communication needed so growth of railways and road networks
- Lots of labour requirement led to population increase
- Physical
- Surrounding hilly area caused relief rainfall which created rivers that provided water for industry
- Geology was a coal field including raw materials such as coal and limestone
- Area is rich in ironstone
- Human
- Reasons for this location:
- Reasons for decline in industry:
- Conservative government closed many in 1981 as they were deemed unprofitable and cheaper to import from abroad
- Expensive to convert old facilities into new iron processing plants so new plants were built in more accessible locations
- Manufacturing moved to India were labour and production costs were lowers
- Raw materials (coal, limestone and ironstone/ore) ran out so production moved to Port Talbot on the coast or abroad as globalisation made it easy to import raw materials and it became too expensive to transport inland
- Differences between Merthyr Tydfil and Port Talbot:
- Port Talbot is on the coast so is nearby to where raw materials are imported
- Port Talbot has good connections to major road networks such as the M4 so can access the whole of the British Market for sale
- Port Talbot is on flatter land so plant construction is easier and cheaper
- Impacts of the changing location of the steel industry:
- Social:
- Large-scale unemployment among men
- Loss of community spirit as crime rates increased
- Young people migrated to towns and cities leaving the area into further decline
- Economic:
- Negative multiplier effect
- The set up of the Welsh Development Agency to encourage investment in the region and create jobs
- Social:
- Key Terms:
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