Summary of case studies

CASE STUDIES

Population distribution and economic development: Two contrasting countries CHINA
vs FRANCE:

CHINA
Pop. Distribution
- The population is
concentrated in
the South and
East, where the
mega cities are.
The Pearl river
delta (PRD)
includes
Shenzhen, Hong
Kong and
Guangzhou and
the Yangtze River
delta region is
centred around
Shanghai
- Due to the
megacities, there
is a concentration
of economic activities in the coastal areas reinforcing the core periphery inequality
of the East (core), West (periphery)
- Only a small area of the land is able to provide for rain fed agriculture: much of the
land is too dry and steep for agriculture.
- The result of Chinas economic growth has been to reinforce the inequalities in
population distribution
- China now has over 50 cities with over 1 million inhabitants each

Internal Migration in China:

- Internal migration is driven by the promise of a better quality of life in the cities
- People will migrate to the cities in search of better living standards
- The main reason is that wages in the urban areas are 40% higher than in rural areas
- For this reason, there is such a dense concentration of development in the coastal
zones
- There are 5 economic zones and 17 open cities to attract inward investment
- Since 1978 China experienced the world’s largest internal migration movement as
160 million migrants left rural areas to find work in urban areas

, - Between 1990 and 1995, 10 million people moved, this grew to 32 million from 1995
to 2000 and 38 million from 2000 to 2005

Physical and Human Factors:

- People will tend to move away from the west because of the Himalaya mountain
range, bordering China
- It brings very harsh weather conditions and inhospitable climates
- Similarly, in the North West, the Gobi Desert brings the same issues with harsh
climates
- There are also more rivers and deltas in the South East and in the coastal region in
general which brings fertile soil and freshwater, optimal for agriculture and water
supply.
- To recap: South & East fertile land  rivers bring nutrients from mountains
lower relief better for agriculture densely populated
- West
- There are several large ports on the coast which provide mobility for trade
- By moving to the cities people will have greater personal freedom, better social
services and better job opportunities
- The cities, industries, and businesses will develop faster:
- Many industries developed in the P.R.D and now provides jobs for approximately
49.7 million people.
- Recap: Westsparsely populatedon the west Himalayas in the north Gobi
Desert so harsh climate and environment poor living standards

, FRANCE:


- The population
distribution is spread
out, there is not one
specific area where
all the population is
concentrated
- The cities which have
the densest
population include
Paris (North),
Bordeaux (west),
Lyon (Central East),
and Marseille (south)
- All of these cities
have populations
around 1-2.1 million
with the exception of
Paris which is around
8million
- These cities have a concentration of jobs and economic activity which will attract
people to move from rural to urban areas.



Internal Migration in France

- Central France is very sparsely populated because the inhabitants will migrate to the
four main economic zones: Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille
- These economic zones provided jobs for approximately 25.5 million people and
about 80% of the population live in urban areas
- Approximately 9% of the population changes residence each year, 6% of which
migrating between communes, 2.9% between departments and 1.8% between
regions

Physical and Human Factors:
- People will move to the cities to find better living standards, because the economic
zones provide a range of jobs for all ages and qualifications will certainly have higher
wages than rural, more labour based jobs
- Paris provides approximately 1.2 million jobs across all sectors
- 40% of the Paris population are internal migrants coming from other regions of
France