OxfordAQA IGCSE Geography: Urban Issues and Challenges (9230)

This guide covers Section A: Urban Issues and Challenges, the first of three examined sections within Topic 2 Challenges in the Human Environment, OxfordAQA International GCSE Geography (9230), Version 4.3, for International GCSE exams May/June 2020 onwards.

Where this fits in 9230

Topic 1 (Living with the Physical Environment) covers natural systems; Topic 2 shifts to human processes, systems and outcomes, studied across higher-income countries (HICs), lower-income countries (LICs) and newly-emerging economies (NEEs). Section A opens Topic 2 with urban growth specifically, before Sections B (The Changing Economic World) and C (Global Issues) broaden out to development and resource themes.

Syllabus coverage

OXFORDAQA INTERNATIONAL GCSE GEOGRAPHY (9230) — SECTION A: URBAN ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

• 3.2.1.1 Urban growth and challenges — the global pattern of urban change; urban trends in HICs and LICs; factors affecting the rate of urbanisation, including migration (push-pull theory) and natural increase; the emergence of megacities; a required case study of a major city in an LIC or NEE covering its location and importance, causes of growth, the social and economic opportunities urban growth creates (access to services and resources; industrial areas as a stimulus for development), the challenges it creates (managing slums and squatter settlements, providing clean water/sanitation/energy, seeking sustainability, providing access to health and education, reducing unemployment and crime, managing environmental issues), and an example of urban planning improving quality of life for the urban poor
• 3.2.1.2 World cities — London and New York — the global distribution of world-city population; London or New York as examples covering their national and global location, the impact of national and international migration on their growth and character, their importance in finance, business, trade, culture and politics; economic, social and environmental opportunities (employment, recreation, urban greening); and challenges including urban deprivation and housing/education/ health/employment inequalities, dereliction, brownfield/greenfield development, urban sprawl, food supply, traffic congestion, and waste, water and energy management; and an example of a flagship urban regeneration project showing the reasons why the area needed regeneration, the main features of the project, and its social, economic and environmental impact

How to approach it

The required case study of a major LIC or NEE city (within 3.2.1.1) is one of the most exam-productive pieces of preparation in this section — build it around a real, named city with specific facts (location, population growth drivers, at least two named opportunities and two named challenges, and one named planning example), since generic, unnamed answers score poorly against a question that explicitly asks for a case study.

For 3.2.1.2 the specification asks for London or New York as the example world city, so one well-learned city is enough: know its location, the role of migration in its growth, its national and global importance, and its opportunities and challenges. Some students learn both and note one similarity and one difference per theme, which is a useful extension, but the specification does not require a comparison.

3.2.1.2 also requires an example of a flagship urban regeneration project. Prepare one named project with three things ready: why the area needed regeneration (for example dereliction or deprivation), the main features of the project, and its social, economic and environmental impact — judged, not just listed.

Across both sub-topics, keep a clear distinction between causes of urban growth (natural increase and migration) and its consequences (both opportunities and challenges) — a common weak-answer pattern is listing challenges without first establishing why the growth that produced them happened in the first place.

Worked example: structuring a case-study answer

A question asks candidates to describe how urban growth has created both opportunities and challenges in a named LIC or NEE city.

Named city:      [chosen case-study city]
Cause of growth: rural-urban migration driven by push factors (rural
                 poverty, limited services) and pull factors (jobs,
                 education, healthcare) in the city
Opportunity:     growth of informal and formal industry creating
                 employment and stimulating economic development
Challenge:       rapid, unplanned growth outpacing infrastructure,
                 leading to squatter settlements lacking clean water
                 and sanitation
Response:        a named urban planning scheme improving conditions,
                 e.g. providing basic services or upgrading a
                 settlement, with an assessment of how effective it was

Structuring an answer this way — cause, opportunity, challenge, response — covers the full range of what 3.2.1.1 expects, rather than only describing challenges in isolation.

Common mistakes

Describing urban growth in general terms without a named, specific case study when the question requires one. Writing about a world city in general terms instead of using specific detail from London or New York. Listing challenges without first explaining the causes of growth that produced them. Omitting an evaluation of how effective a named planning response actually was, when the specification explicitly asks for an example of urban planning improving quality of life, not just its description.

Key terms to define precisely

Examiners reward candidates who use the specification’s own vocabulary accurately rather than loosely. Be ready to define, in a sentence each: urbanisation (the increasing proportion of a population living in urban areas), megacity (an urban area with a population over 10 million), push and pull factors (the negative conditions driving migrants from rural areas and the positive conditions attracting them to cities), natural increase (population growth from a higher birth rate than death rate, distinct from migration-driven growth), squatter settlement (informal housing built without legal permission or planning, often lacking services), and urban sprawl (the unplanned outward spread of a city into surrounding countryside). Confusing natural increase with migration as a cause of urban growth is a common source of lost marks, since the specification expects both to be explained as separate mechanisms.

Quick revision checklist

• Prepare one detailed, named LIC or NEE city case study covering cause, opportunity, challenge and planning response.
• Build a theme-by-theme profile of London or New York (the specification needs one of the two cities, not both).
• Keep causes of urban growth and its consequences clearly distinguished.
• Practise evaluating (not just describing) a named urban planning example.
• Prepare a named flagship urban regeneration project: why the area needed regeneration, its main features, and its social, economic and environmental impact.

Related resources

• Urban Issues and Challenges revision notes
• Urban Issues and Challenges practice questions

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International GCSE Geography (9230) specification, Version 4.3 — oxfordaqa.com.