Impacts of population growth Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management revision
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In plain words
When a city adds a million people in ten years, everything is needed at once: homes, water, drains, power, buses, jobs. Where the building keeps up, growth brings opportunity. Where it does not, the result is the list in this unit.
9 things to know
- A megacity is a city with more than ten million people.
- Informal urban settlements grow up where people build their own homes on land they do not own, without planning. They often lack piped water, drains and electricity.
- Availability of resources and land: more people need more food, water, building materials and space. Farmland and habitats are built over.
- Energy usage rises with the number of homes, vehicles and factories.
- Water supply and sanitation come under strain. Without sewers, human waste pollutes the water that people use, and disease spreads.
- Management of waste: more rubbish is produced than can be collected and disposed of safely.
- Facilities and infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, roads and power lines, become overcrowded or cannot be built fast enough.
- Pollution of every kind increases: air, land, light, noise, visual and water pollution. Traffic congestion wastes time and fuel and adds to air pollution.
- Employment opportunities change. A growing city creates jobs in building, services and industry. If people arrive faster than jobs appear, there is unemployment, and many work in informal jobs with low pay.
Worked example
Explain why an informal settlement is likely to have outbreaks of disease.
- The homes are unplanned, so there are usually no sewers and no piped, treated water.
- Human waste gets into the water that people collect for drinking.
- People live very close together, so a disease such as cholera spreads quickly from person to person.
Tips and tricks
- Informal settlement is the term this syllabus uses. Use it, and describe what is missing: land rights, planning, water, sanitation.
- Population growth has positive impacts too, such as more workers and larger markets. A balanced answer on employment mentions jobs created as well as unemployment.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Impacts of population growth: 6 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
What is a megacity?
Ten million is the figure to learn.
What is an informal urban settlement?
It usually lacks water, drains and electricity.
Why does poor sanitation spread disease?
Diseases such as cholera are carried in the water.
Which is a cause of traffic congestion?
Roads fill as the population grows.
How can rapid population growth affect employment?
The result is unemployment and low-paid informal work.
Why is the management of waste a growing problem in fast-growing cities?Stretch
Uncollected rubbish pollutes land and water.
Quiz
6 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 7 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Impacts of population growth
Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 · 7 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
State what is meant by a megacity.[1]
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A city with a population of more than ten million people.
Describe three problems of living in an informal urban settlement.[3]
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Any three: no piped, clean water; no sewers or sanitation; no electricity; overcrowding; homes built of poor materials; no right to the land, so people can be moved on.
Describe three types of pollution that increase as a city's population grows, with a cause of each.[3]
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Any three: air pollution from vehicles and factories; water pollution from sewage; land pollution from rubbish; noise pollution from traffic; light pollution from street lighting; visual pollution from litter and unplanned building.
Answers: Impacts of population growth
- 1. A city with a population of more than ten million people.
- 2. Any three: no piped, clean water; no sewers or sanitation; no electricity; overcrowding; homes built of poor materials; no right to the land, so people can be moved on.
- 3. Any three: air pollution from vehicles and factories; water pollution from sewage; land pollution from rubbish; noise pollution from traffic; light pollution from street lighting; visual pollution from litter and unplanned building.