That Blue Square Thing

GCSE Unit - Rural-Urban Fringe

WARNING! These pages are now very old. Although I’ve updated the a little, the content really applies to an old version of any geography syllabus currently active in the UK.
I've kept them here because there might be something useful for someone and the general marking principles aren't all that different. But be aware that it's old and a bit out of date

This is an example of an old GCSE unit. There's an exam question below (with a markscheme) that is still worth a look, as well as a revision sheet that might just be useful and a set of long questions that could be helpful still.

The rural-urban fringe is the area at the edge of cities where the countryside meets the urban area. These are areas of rapid change in cities - this unit always focussed on Higher Income Countries (HICs - which we used to call MEDCs).

PDF IconRural-Urban Fringe revision sheet

Rural-Urban Fringe exam question

This is a 20 mark exam-style question. The marks start small and build towards case study questions at the end.

You want to aim to take around 25 minutes to do this question. Make sure your answers to the simple questions are accurate and that you develop the longer answers to explain points properly - don't leave things vague. Remember that 2 or 3 well developed points are better than 10 simple points. As always, try and use case studies to back up your answers.

There is a markscheme provided.

Study figure 1, which shows information about house building in the UK.

Figure 1
The government is proposing to build 4.4 million new houses in the UK by 2040. Hertfordshire County Council is considering plans to build up to 10,000 new houses on greenbelt land near Stevenage.

a) How many new houses is the government planning to build by 2040?
(1 mark)
b) Suggest two reasons why it is thought so many new houses will be needed by 2040.
(2 marks)
c) Which term best describes where the new housing will be built?
  1. Inner City
  2. Rural-urban fringe
  3. Central business district
  4. Inner suburbs
(1 mark)
d) What is the purpose of 'greenbelt land'?
(2 marks)
e) Describe some of the advantages to developers of building new housing on 'greenbelt land'?
(4 marks)
f) Up to 10,000 new houses could be built near Stevenage. Describe how people living in this area could be effected by this development.
(4 marks)
g) Some groups are opposed to new developments on greenbelt land. Name a pressure group you have studied which opposes development on greenbelt land. Explain why they are opposed to this sort of development.
(6 marks)

Mark your work using the markscheme provided.