For any city you have studied in mainland Europe, describe the steps taken to solve problems in inner city areas. (5 marks)

Answer:

Traffic congestion is a major problem in many European cities.

For a named city in mainland Europe, describe the measures taken to reduce traffic congestion. (5 marks)

Answer: Paris has tried several approaches to solve traffic congestion. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Boulevard Peripherique was built. The Boulevard Peripherique is an inner ring-road, roads were also widened and underground car parks were provided as well. Also, many offices and industries were decentralised- moved away from the CBD into either the suburbs or other towns, this reduced the number of people needing to travel into the centre of Paris. However, it was soon realised that by improving roads it encouraged more people to travel by car. So,the authorities now try to discourage people from travelling by car. There are no free car parking spaces in the centre of Paris. There has been a new metro line opened, bus lanes and cycle lanes have been increased. The pavements have also been widened and many more streets have become pedestrianised,for example, la voie verte, which means the green road. Once a month on a Sunday, only cyclists are allowed in many areas- cars are banned from these areas. Sometimes, only cars with an even registration number are allowed into the centre and only cars with odd numbers on the following day, on these days the metro is free. This usually happens when air pollution is really bad.

For Sao Paulo, or any other city you have studied in an ELDC, describe the environmental problems associated with its rapid growth and outline ways in which the problems are being dealt with (6 marks)

 

There are many environmental problems associated with the rapid growth of Mumbai. Many of these problems can be seen in shanty towns such as Dharavi. Firstly, because these shanty towns are cobbled together in a short period of time it means that there is more often than not there is no running water or , if there is, it is dirty. This means that even basic hygiene rules cannot be adhered to as there is a lack of toilets and cleaning facilities, leading to very poor sanitation. This, in turn, leads to disease as in dirty places disease starts easily and in shanty towns people are tightly packed together so disease spreads like wildfire. Shanty towns are also displeasing to the eye as they are ramshackle and dirty, which creates a great deal of visual pollution. To help decrease the problems the local authorities are increasing the number of low-cost housing in the city. Though the people still live in one room, there may a be a kitchen or a bathroom shared between some of the families. this means that less people are living in the shanty towns. Another problem is the illegal squatter camps which set up around the edges of the city. With 500 people arriving each day, this is becoming a major problem. One of the ways the authorities are dealing with these camps is by simply bulldozing them down. The problem with this is that the immigrants will either just build up there again or, more likely, move to another are and start again.

OK Ron, some good points-what about urban sprawl, what problems would this create, overcrowding-you've kind of touched on this a bit too. What about the central areas of Mumbai-what has been the impact of the sudden growth on these areas, and how have the city authorities dealt with these?

Adam, good stuff about Shanty Towns and squatter settlements to add to Ron's answer. I look forward to meeting this mystery duo tomorrow ;-)


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