Fancy understanding how our world is changing and developing? This...
Geography AQA Paper 2 Revision Mindmaps - Focus on Energy







Urban Growth and Sustainable Cities
Urbanisation is happening everywhere, but it's absolutely exploding in poorer countries. Since 2007, more than half the world lives in cities - and that number keeps climbing. The main drivers are people fleeing rural poverty (called rural-urban migration) and higher birth rates in cities where young people have more babies.
Push factors force people out of rural areas - think natural disasters, war, drought, and lack of jobs. Pull factors draw them to cities with promises of better employment, healthcare, and education. Meanwhile, natural increase happens when birth rates exceed death rates, especially common in cities with lots of young adults.
A megacity has over 10 million people, and most are in developing countries like Brazil and Nigeria. By 2030, we'll have 41 megacities compared to just 28 today. These massive urban areas create both incredible opportunities and serious challenges.
Key insight: Two-thirds of current megacities are in poorer countries where urbanisation is happening fastest due to rapid economic growth.
Sustainable urban living means cities that don't trash the environment whilst ensuring future generations can thrive. Solutions include water conservation (rainwater collection, efficient toilets), energy conservation (renewable sources, efficient homes), waste recycling, and creating green spaces that provide cooling, exercise areas, and flood protection. Freiburg in Germany shows how it works - 40% forest coverage, integrated transport, and renewable energy making the city both liveable and environmentally friendly.

City Case Studies: London and Rio
London's story shows how urban regeneration transforms cities. With 8.7 million people, it's the UK's largest city and a global financial powerhouse. The industrial revolution first drew rural migrants, then World War II bombing required rebuilding, and recently economic migrants from Poland, India, and Eastern Europe have arrived seeking opportunities.
London faces typical urban challenges: house prices averaging £475,000 create shortages, whilst areas like Newham remain deprived. Many jobs are low-paid despite the high cost of living. Urban sprawl pressures surrounding greenfield sites. However, opportunities abound - the West End theatres, financial sector jobs, and London's status as one of the world's greenest cities with Royal Parks.
The Lea Valley regeneration for the 2012 Olympics transformed derelict brownfield sites into the East Village with 2,800 new homes, parkland, schools, and improved transport links. Critics argue existing residents can no longer afford the area.
Reality check: Urban regeneration can improve areas dramatically but sometimes pushes out the very communities it's meant to help.
Rio de Janeiro represents urbanisation in developing countries. This coastal Brazilian city of 6.5 million faces massive social inequality between rich and poor. Millions migrated from drought-stricken rural areas seeking better lives, creating rapid urbanisation and sprawling favelas (shanty towns) on hillsides. The Favela Bairro Project provides basic materials for home improvements, community policing, and better transport connections between rich and poor areas.

Understanding Global Development
Development means improving living standards through better resource use. It's measured economically (GDP per capita, employment types), socially (life expectancy, literacy rates, infant mortality), and environmentally (resource management, pollution control). The Human Development Index (HDI) combines life expectancy, education, and income into one number.
Countries fall into categories: LICs (Low Income Countries) are the poorest with low living standards, NEEs (Newly Emerging Economies) are getting richer as they industrialise, and HICs (High Income Countries) are wealthy with high living standards and strong service sectors.
Uneven development has both physical and human causes. Physical factors include natural resources (oil, minerals), climate reliability for farming, natural hazards, and terrain. Human factors involve education creating skilled workforces, political stability, trade relationships, healthcare systems, and historical factors like colonialism.
Think about it: Countries that industrialised early (like the UK) had a massive head start over those that were colonised or faced political instability.
The Demographic Transition Model shows how populations change: Stage 1 (high birth and death rates), Stage 2 (death rates fall, population explodes), Stage 3 (birth rates fall), Stage 4 (low birth and death rates), Stage 5 (birth rates below death rates, population decline). Most LICs are in Stage 2-3, whilst HICs are in Stage 4-5.

Reducing Development Gaps and Economic Change
Several strategies help reduce the global development gap. Microfinance loans let people start small businesses. Fair trade ensures farmers get decent prices. Foreign direct investment brings money, technology and expertise. Debt relief frees up money for development. Aid can build infrastructure but might create dependency.
Jamaica shows how tourism can drive development - 2.12 million visitors in 2015 contributed 27% of GDP and created 130,000 jobs. The multiplier effect means tourist spending creates more jobs in shops and services. However, tourists often stay in resorts without benefiting local communities, and infrastructure improvements don't reach everyone.
Nigeria demonstrates how TNCs (Transnational Corporations) like Shell bring investment and jobs but take profits abroad and sometimes damage environments through oil spills. Political stability since 1999 has encouraged global investment from China and the USA. Nigeria's economy shifted from agriculture to 50% manufacturing and services.
Key point: TNCs can drive development through investment and technology transfer, but profits often flow back to wealthy countries.
The UK's economy transformed from manufacturing to services. De-industrialisation occurred as globalisation moved industries to countries with cheaper labour. Science parks cluster high-tech businesses with access to universities and transport. The government invested £15 billion in road improvements, £50 billion in HS2 railway, and £18 billion for Heathrow's third runway to maintain competitive transport links.

Resource Management Challenges
Food, water and energy security are essential for human development. Global population growth from 7.3 billion to an expected 9 billion by 2050, plus economic development in LICs and NEEs, means demand is skyrocketing. Our resource consumption now exceeds Earth's carrying capacity - the maximum number of species the planet can support.
The UK imports 40% of its food, increasing our carbon footprint through food miles. Agribusiness treats farming like industrial business, using machinery and chemicals to maximise production. This increases efficiency but employs fewer workers and can damage habitats. Sustainable food alternatives include organic farming, local sourcing, and growing your own food.
UK energy mix is changing from fossil fuels toward renewables. 75% of oil and gas reserves are used up, making the country dependent on imports. By 2020, the government aims for 15% renewable energy. Wind farms provide clean energy but face opposition over visual impacts and noise. Nuclear power offers low-carbon electricity but raises safety concerns and high costs.
Reality check: The UK has become dangerously dependent on imported energy as North Sea oil and gas run out.
Water management involves moving water from areas of surplus (north and west) to areas of deficit (south and east through water transfer schemes. More than half of England experiences water stress where demand exceeds supply. Pollution from chemical run-off, oil spills, and untreated waste threatens water quality. Solutions include strict discharge laws, education campaigns, and waste water treatment plants.

Food, Water and Energy Security
Food security means reliable access to nutritious food. Food insecurity affects areas facing poverty, conflict, climate change, and poor transport. The global map shows huge calorie intake differences - some countries consume over 3,000 calories per person daily whilst others struggle with under 2,000.
Increasing food supply uses various methods: hydroponics grows plants without soil using nutrient solutions, biotechnology creates genetically modified crops, irrigation provides water in dry areas, and the New Green Revolution combines GM varieties with sustainable farming. Thanet Earth in Kent uses massive greenhouses and hydroponics, supporting 700 jobs and producing food year-round but requiring lots of energy.
Water security means reliable access to clean water. Water insecurity and water stress (less than 1,700m³ per person annually) affect billions. Physical factors include climate, geology, and droughts. Human factors involve pollution, poverty, limited infrastructure, and over-abstraction. Solutions include dams and reservoirs, desalination, water transfer schemes, and groundwater management.
Crucial fact: Water insecurity affects food production, spreads disease, reduces industrial output, and can trigger conflicts between countries.
Energy security means reliable, affordable energy supplies. Energy insecurity results from geological factors, climate variations, natural disasters, extraction costs, and political conflicts. Increasing energy supply involves both non-renewables (more efficient fossil fuel plants, nuclear power) and renewables (wind, solar, biomass). Sustainable energy includes better home design, efficient technology, and changed transport habits. Fracking for shale gas offers job creation but risks groundwater pollution and earthquakes.
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Geography AQA Paper 2 Revision Mindmaps - Focus on Energy
Fancy understanding how our world is changing and developing? This collection covers everything from why cities are exploding in size to how countries become wealthy, plus the massive challenges we face with resources like water and energy. It's basically the...

Urban Growth and Sustainable Cities
Urbanisation is happening everywhere, but it's absolutely exploding in poorer countries. Since 2007, more than half the world lives in cities - and that number keeps climbing. The main drivers are people fleeing rural poverty (called rural-urban migration) and higher birth rates in cities where young people have more babies.
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Key insight: Two-thirds of current megacities are in poorer countries where urbanisation is happening fastest due to rapid economic growth.
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London's story shows how urban regeneration transforms cities. With 8.7 million people, it's the UK's largest city and a global financial powerhouse. The industrial revolution first drew rural migrants, then World War II bombing required rebuilding, and recently economic migrants from Poland, India, and Eastern Europe have arrived seeking opportunities.
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Countries fall into categories: LICs (Low Income Countries) are the poorest with low living standards, NEEs (Newly Emerging Economies) are getting richer as they industrialise, and HICs (High Income Countries) are wealthy with high living standards and strong service sectors.
Uneven development has both physical and human causes. Physical factors include natural resources (oil, minerals), climate reliability for farming, natural hazards, and terrain. Human factors involve education creating skilled workforces, political stability, trade relationships, healthcare systems, and historical factors like colonialism.
Think about it: Countries that industrialised early (like the UK) had a massive head start over those that were colonised or faced political instability.
The Demographic Transition Model shows how populations change: Stage 1 (high birth and death rates), Stage 2 (death rates fall, population explodes), Stage 3 (birth rates fall), Stage 4 (low birth and death rates), Stage 5 (birth rates below death rates, population decline). Most LICs are in Stage 2-3, whilst HICs are in Stage 4-5.

Reducing Development Gaps and Economic Change
Several strategies help reduce the global development gap. Microfinance loans let people start small businesses. Fair trade ensures farmers get decent prices. Foreign direct investment brings money, technology and expertise. Debt relief frees up money for development. Aid can build infrastructure but might create dependency.
Jamaica shows how tourism can drive development - 2.12 million visitors in 2015 contributed 27% of GDP and created 130,000 jobs. The multiplier effect means tourist spending creates more jobs in shops and services. However, tourists often stay in resorts without benefiting local communities, and infrastructure improvements don't reach everyone.
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Key point: TNCs can drive development through investment and technology transfer, but profits often flow back to wealthy countries.
The UK's economy transformed from manufacturing to services. De-industrialisation occurred as globalisation moved industries to countries with cheaper labour. Science parks cluster high-tech businesses with access to universities and transport. The government invested £15 billion in road improvements, £50 billion in HS2 railway, and £18 billion for Heathrow's third runway to maintain competitive transport links.

Resource Management Challenges
Food, water and energy security are essential for human development. Global population growth from 7.3 billion to an expected 9 billion by 2050, plus economic development in LICs and NEEs, means demand is skyrocketing. Our resource consumption now exceeds Earth's carrying capacity - the maximum number of species the planet can support.
The UK imports 40% of its food, increasing our carbon footprint through food miles. Agribusiness treats farming like industrial business, using machinery and chemicals to maximise production. This increases efficiency but employs fewer workers and can damage habitats. Sustainable food alternatives include organic farming, local sourcing, and growing your own food.
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Reality check: The UK has become dangerously dependent on imported energy as North Sea oil and gas run out.
Water management involves moving water from areas of surplus (north and west) to areas of deficit (south and east through water transfer schemes. More than half of England experiences water stress where demand exceeds supply. Pollution from chemical run-off, oil spills, and untreated waste threatens water quality. Solutions include strict discharge laws, education campaigns, and waste water treatment plants.

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Increasing food supply uses various methods: hydroponics grows plants without soil using nutrient solutions, biotechnology creates genetically modified crops, irrigation provides water in dry areas, and the New Green Revolution combines GM varieties with sustainable farming. Thanet Earth in Kent uses massive greenhouses and hydroponics, supporting 700 jobs and producing food year-round but requiring lots of energy.
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Crucial fact: Water insecurity affects food production, spreads disease, reduces industrial output, and can trigger conflicts between countries.
Energy security means reliable, affordable energy supplies. Energy insecurity results from geological factors, climate variations, natural disasters, extraction costs, and political conflicts. Increasing energy supply involves both non-renewables (more efficient fossil fuel plants, nuclear power) and renewables (wind, solar, biomass). Sustainable energy includes better home design, efficient technology, and changed transport habits. Fracking for shale gas offers job creation but risks groundwater pollution and earthquakes.
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The app is very easy to use and well designed. I have found everything I was looking for so far and have been able to learn a lot from the presentations! I will definitely use the app for a class assignment! And of course it also helps a lot as an inspiration.
This app is really great. There are so many study notes and help [...]. My problem subject is French, for example, and the app has so many options for help. Thanks to this app, I have improved my French. I would recommend it to anyone.
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