Geography 2.

Inner cities in MEDC's.

Most inner cities of large urban areas once had industry located there, however this has almost totally moved out. The Victorian terraces built to house thefactory workers remain in many inner cities, however in some they have been replaced by huge tower blocks.

Shanty towns in LEDC's.

They have occurred because of the huge numbers of people migrating from the rural areas to the cities, which just cannot cope with this massive influx of people. The main points to note about them are:

• The cities most likely to have shanty towns are centres for commercial and industrial activity as well as being transport centres. They are very attractive to in-migrants.
• Most of the new in-migrants have very few skills, education or money, so they will often find whatever work they can.
• Shanty towns develop on marginal land, often close to where the in-migrants hope to get work. The high cost of land near the CBD means that shanty towns are either built on the periphery of the city or in hazardous areas closer to the city centre.

The term population density is used to describe the pattern of where people live in the world. It is worked out by dividing the total population of a place by its area. This figure is then shown per square kilometre.

Physical reasons.
Accessibility: Early settlers travelled by boat, and so established settlements on the coasts of the countries they landed in.

Climate: The best climates for people to live in are areas where there is a steady climate, with enough sunshine and rain for crops to grow.

Resources: People need water in order to survive, so that is an essential resource which determines where they choose to live.

Vegetation: Wood was an important fuel and building resource, so many people have concentrated near forests.

Human reasons.

Economic Factors: People tend to concentrate around prosperous areas.Most countries have experienced massive rural to urban migration at some pointin their development, as the farm based workers have left the rural areas to try their luck in the big cities.

Political Factors: Countries with a stable government where people have no fear of persecution tend to have a high population density

Social Factors: Many cultural groups tend to group together, especially when they first enter a new country.