IBDP Geography complete summary

1. Changing population
1.1 Population and economic development patterns

Factors affecting population distribution at a global scale:

Most people live close to the sea, on low grounds and 80% live on the northern
hemisphere. Favourable locations include fertile river valleys, places with regular supply of
water and good communications and the potential for trade. Human factors like the
distribution of raw materials, government policies, new town policies, influence of conflicts
and wars and the migration of people also influence population distribution.

1.2 Changing populations and places

Population change and demographic transition over time:

Natural increase can be calculated by

subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate. Natural change doesn’t take
into account migration. The total fertility rate is the average number of births per
thousand women of childbearing age. Life expectancy is the average number of years that
a person can be expected to live. The dependency ratio relates to the working population
to the dependent population, formula (number of dependents / population (ages 15-64)) x
100%.
The consequences of megacity growth:
The perception of megacities as a place of potential economic benefit for migrants fuels
their growth. It is associated with urban sprawl, increased traffic congestion and declining
air and water quality. The provision of services may be inadequate.
The causes of forced migration:
Forced migration is the movement of refugees and internally displaced people, caused by
conflict, development or disasters. A refugee is a person residing outside his or her country
of nationality, who is unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of
persecution. Asylum seekers are people who have left their country in search of protection
in another country. Internally displaced people (IDPs) are groups of people who have been
forced to flee their home and are still within their country.

1.3 Challenges and opportunities

Ageing populations:
Ageing population is one with an increasing number of elderly people. The older
dependency ratio (ODR) is the number of working-age people to the older population that
they support. Countries with high ODR have to fund retirement and health care for their
older population. However, elderly people have many skills that can be useful in the
workplace. Also they can care for their grandchildren, allowing the parents to work and
provide. In HICs, elderly is viewed as an important market, the ‘grey economy’.
Trafficking and policies against it:
Some people have a higher risk of trafficking, refugees and migrants, LGBTQ+ people,
minorities and people with disabilities. Human trafficking is a multinational issue. The fight
against it has three main components, protection, prosecution and prevention.
Demographic dividend:
Is the increase in the proportion of adults in a population. This leads to increased labour
supply, increase in savings, healthier women and fewer social and economic pressures at
home (investing more per child leading to better outcomes) and greater consumer
spending and economic growth. However, eventually the dependency ratio increases
again, causing a major economic burden in the younger generations.

2. Global climate –vulnerability and resilience

2.1 Causes of global climate change

2.2 Consequences of global climate change

2.3 Responding to global climate change
3. Global resource consumption and security
3.1 Global trends in consumption
3.2 Impacts of the changing trends in resource consumption
3.3 Resource stewardship
4. Power, places and networks
4.1 Global interactions and global power
4.2 Global networks and flows
4.3 Human and physical influences on global interactions
5. Human development and diversity
5.1 Development opportunities
5.2 Changing identities and cultures
5.3 Local responses to global interactions
6. Global risks and resilience
6.1 Geopolitical and economic risks
6.2 Environmental risks
6.3 Local and global resilience
7. Food and health
7.1 Measuring food and health

Food security:
All people always have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary
needs and food preferences. Access at all times by all family members to enough food for
an active and healthy life. Food security includes: the ready availability of nutritionally
adequate and safe foods and an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially
acceptable ways.
Calorie intake:
Calorie intake is the amount of food (measured in calories) a person consumes. The
minimum recommended is around 1,800 kcal/person/day. This varies per age, gender,
type of work, amount of physical activity and climate.
Global hunger index:
(GHI) ranks countries on a 100-point scale, 0 being the best. GHI is based on four
components.
 Undernourishment: proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the
population
 Child wasting: proportion of children under 5 who suffer from wasting (low weight
for their height)
 Child stunting: proportion of children under 5 who suffer from stunting (low height
for their age)
 Child mortality: the mortality rate of children under the age of 5
Indicators of malnutrition:
Malnutrition means poor nourishment, refers to a diet with lacking or too many nutrients.
The nutrition transition:
As income increases, there is an increase and change in food consumption. HIC derive food
energy from carbohydrates and fat with a contribution with meat and dairy, LIC from
carbohydrates small contribution of fats, meat and dairy. In general, when a LIC increases
its GDP, there is a diversification of the diet.
Health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE):
Indicator of overall health of a population. Indicates the number of expected years of life
according to years lived in full health, based on the average experience in a population, or
quantity and quality of life.
Maternal and infant mortality rate:
The MMR is the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births. The IMR is the
number of deaths in children under the age of 1 per 1,000 live births per year. The highest
IMRs are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The epidemiological transition:
As a country develops, there is a change in the health profile, away from infectious or
contagious communicable diseases (epidemics), “diseases of poverty”, to non-
communicable diseases (like degenerative diseases), “diseases of affluence”. This is the
epidemiological transition. Heart disease becomes more common with the transition, as
mortality decreases, nutrition improves and infections are controlled, high blood pressure,
heart disease and strokes become more common.
Ageing and disease burden:
The epidemic of chronic diseases is linked to population ageing. In HICs the fertility drops
as the life expectancy increases. Cardiovascular diseases are more prevalent with the
epidemiological transition. In HICs people advance into the age of “delayed degenerative
diseases”, age-adjusted mortality due to heart disease decreases as a result of better
prevention and treatment.

7.2 Food systems and spread of disease

Energy efficiency (photosynthetic efficiency):

Agriculture can improve productivity by adding fertilizers, water and/or pesticides, which
may have a negative impact on the local environment. The energy efficiency ratio (EER) is a
measure of the amount of energy inputs into a system compared to the outputs. Water
footprints are a measure of how much water is used in human activities. The sustainable
yield is the amount of food (yield) that can be taken from the land without reducing the
ability of the land to produce the same amount of goods in the future, without additional
inputs.
Food availability and food entitlement:
FAD says food deficiencies are caused by local shortages due to physical factors. FED
occurs when people´s access to food is reduced.
Food consumption is affected by income and level of education since it influences the food
choice through the resources available to purchase a higher quality food. The variety of
foods carried in an area can cause a ‘food desert’.
Disease diffusion:
Refers to the spread of a disease into new locations. Disease spreads out of the initial
source. The frictional effect of distance, or distance decay, is when areas closer to the
source are more affected. There can be physical barriers like mountains or water, but
there can also be political and economic boundaries.
7.3 Stakeholders in food and health

International organizations, governments and NGOs combating food insecurity and

disease:
United nations food and agriculture organization (FAO) aims to eradicate hunger and
malnutrition. The world food programme (WFP) aims to end global hunger by providing
food for the poorest and most vulnerable. National governments (especially in HICs) often
subsidize agriculture. Many NGOs deliver food to those with insufficient access to food.
Influence of media and TNCs in food consumption habits:
TNCs are displacing traditional food systems. ‘Big food’ refers to the food and drinks TNCs
that increasingly control the production and distribution of processed foods and drinks.
These are generally high in sugars, fats and oils, usually marketed as “fast foods” or
“convenience foods”.
Factors affecting famines:
Famine refers to a long term decline in the availability of food in a region. Factors affecting
include: length and severity, people in governance, power of media, access to international
aid, population growth, unemployment and entitlement to food and access to land and
production of food. Emergency aid can be implemented but it won’t solve the root of the
problem.

7.4 Future health and food security and sustainability

Solutions to food insecurity:

One third of the food is thrown away in HICs while in LICs up to 80% is lost before it
reaches shops. More efficient farming and storage would reduce food waste. Many stores
reject edible food because it’s not marketable enough, in HICs. Better roads and vehicles
would significantly reduce food waste in LICs.
Other solutions are: increasing production and reducing set-aside, increasing food aid,
greater use of seeds and fertilizer, export bans on food from countries experiencing
shortages, free trade, biofuels, agricultural investment, genetically modified (GM) crops
and sustainability.
Genetically modified food:
Helps increase yields by protecting crops against pests and weeds. It adds traits to a plant
to make it more nutritious or more resistant.
Vertical farms:
Aim to grow year round in high rise urban buildings. It could make food supplies more
secure because production can continue even in extreme weather. Vertical farming would
(in theory) need no herbicides or insecticides.
Prevention and treatment of disease:
Adopting policies and lifestyles that will reduce the risk of disease, like not smoking on
having a healthy diet. Treatment is required to treat diseases such as cancer, heart disease
or strokes, much more expensive and may involve lengthy hospitalization.
Poor communities receive primary health car while wealthy individuals receive curative
hospitalized care. Investment in clean water and sanitation would have a greater impact
on health among poor communities than health care. Scientific, curative medicine is more
suited for degenerative diseases.
Pandemics:
Pandemics are global epidemics. The large scales make it difficult to manage, may involve
new diseases which don’t have a specified treatment. To manage them there must be a
coordinated effort among global communities.
Diabetes is a chronic, lifelong condition and a major cause of other health issues. Diabetes
causes a large economic burden on national health care systems and affects national
economies, families and individuals.

8. Urban environments
8.1 The variety of urban environments

Characteristics of urban spaces:

Urban places are characterized by population size, features like CBD and residential zones,
predominant economic activities and an administrative function. The site of a settlement is
the actual land on which a settlement is built, while the situation or position refers to its
relationship with its surrounding area. Favourable factors include, reliable supply of water,
freedom for flooding, level sites to build on, timber for construction, sunny south facing
slopes, fertile soils for cultivation and the potential for trade and commerce.
Most urban places have an industrial role and a service role, as well as an important
residential role.
Millionaire cities are those with over one million inhabitants, while megacities have over
10 million inhabitants. Megacities grow due to economic growth, rural-urban migration
and high rates of natural increase. A lot of people migrate to megacities looking for jobs,
leading to a large population of young adults, which drives the birth rate up.
Urban economic activities:
The value of the land varies, that variation is known as bid rent. Land at the centre of the
city is most expensive since it is the most accessible land and there is very little land
available. Price decreases away from the most central area.
The hierarchy of retail outlets in cities is first low order goods concentrate in
neighbourhood stores and shopping centres, high order goods in high street shops and
department stores and then out of town superstores and retail parks. Central shopping
areas are characterized by department stores, chain stores, specialists’ shops and
pedestrianized malls. Factors explaining retail hierarchy change include population change
suburbanization of wealthier households, technological change, economic change,
congestion and inflated land prices and social changes.
The central business district (CBD) is the commercial and economic core of a city. It is the
most accessible are to public transport and it’s the location with highest land values.
Factors affecting the location of urban residential areas:
Wealthier people live near attractive physical landscapes. LICs the poor live close to rivers,
where there is high risk of flooding and in steep relief, where mass movements are at risk.
HICs high stable grounds are attractive to wealthy households, because of the attractive
views.
Positive segregation is when ethnic groups decide to live together, gaining advantages by
being enough of them to support their own services. Negative segregation is when
population groups are excluded from certain areas.
Planning is important in cities, since there should be a balanced social mix. However, ‘Edge
cities’ are gated communities of wealthy people who use security for self-segregation.
HIC cities highest residential densities are in inner-city areas. Residential density is low
because of high land value. The further away from the centre, the lower residential
density. Poor people locating near the centre, reflect their need to be close to sources of
employment since wealthy people can commute.
Poverty, depravation and informal sector:
Poor areas are zones of depravation, poverty and exclusion. In HICs these are inner-city
areas and in NICs/LICs it is shanty towns.
The dual economy consists of formal economy (offices, factories, commercial buildings)
and an informal economy (gardeners, maids, taxi drivers). Formal economy produces
goods and services for an elite population, informal economy is small scale, locally owned
and labour intensive.
Slums are usually located on land that planners don’t want: steep slopes, floodplains, edge
of town locations and areas close to major industrial complexes.

8.2 Changing urban systems

Urbanization, natural increase and population movements:

Urbanization is the increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas. It can be
caused because of rural to urban migration, higher rates of natural increase or
reclassification of rural areas as urban areas. In HICs, there is a cycle of urbanization,
suburbanization, counter-urbanization and re-urbanization.
There is usually a higher natural increase rate in urban areas because it attracts young
people.
Rural urban migration refers to the long term movement of people away from the
countryside to towns and cities. They believe they will be better off in urban areas than the
rural areas. Push factors include unemployment and low wages, pull factors are better
wages, more jobs and good schools.
Gentrification is the regeneration of inner-city areas by their residents, especially those
who are young and upwardly mobile. Gentrification may lead to social displacement of
poor people, since the house prices rise and the poor are unable to afford increased prices.
As they move out, upwardly mobile populations move in.
As urban areas grow, there is higher demand for access to clean water, sanitation, waste
disposal, transport facilities and telecommunication networks. If these work, they can
attract new economic activity.
Suburbanization and counter urbanization:
Suburbanization is the outward expansion of towns and cities, due to improvements in
transport and infrastructure. Housing is more available, affordable and of quality. Counter
urbanization is the process involving movement of a population away from urban areas
into rural areas. Reasons include high land prices, congestion, pollution, high crime rates,
lack of community and declining services in the urban area.
Causes and consequences of urban deindustrialization:
It is the long term, absolute decline, in employment in the manufacturing sectors of an
economy. It refers to a loss in jobs, not a decline in productivity. This can happen due to
increasing cost of raw materials, mechanization, increased competition or falling demand.
Positive deindustrialization occurs when industries replace their workforce with machines,
making it more competitive. Negative deindustrialization occurs when the number of
workers in an industry declines but there is no compensating rise in productivity or
mechanization.

8.3 Urban environmental and social stress

Urban microclimates:
1- Radiation and sunshine: greater scattering of short wave radiation by dust but much
higher absorption of longer waves because of dark surfaces and CO 2. More diffuse
solar radiation because of variable screening by tall buildings in shaded, narrow
streets. Reduced visibility from industrial haze.
2- Clouds and fogs: higher incidence of thicker clouds cover in summer and radiation fogs
or smog in winter because of increased convection of air pollution. Day temperatures
are around 0.6°C warmer
3- Temperatures: stronger heat retention and release, including FF combustion, leads to
significant temperature increase from suburbs to centre of built-up areas, creating
‘heat islands’. Snow in rural areas increases albedo, therefore increasing the
temperature difference. Heating from below increases air mass instability overhead,
big local contrasts between sunny and shaded surfaces.
4- Pressure and winds: severe gusting and turbulence around tall buildings, causing
strong local pressure gradients from windward to leeward walls. Deep narrow streets
much calmer unless aligned with incoming wind, causing the ‘canyon effect’.
5- Humidity: decreases in relative humidity occur in inner cities because of lack of
available moisture and higher temperatures.
6- Precipitation: more intense storms, especially during hot summer nights because of
greater instability and stronger convection above. Higher incidence of thunder and less
snow cover in urban areas.
Traffic congestion patterns, trends and impacts:
There is more congestion on weekdays, especially at rush hour (morning and evening).
Congestion is worse when the new school year starts, festivals and national holidays.
Traffic congestion can delay journeys, increases fuel consumption, adds to vehicular
emissions, causes “road rage” and can negatively impact on people’s health because of
stress and poor air quality. Noise pollution has been associated with raised blood pressure,
heart disease, psychological stress and annoyance, and sleep disturbance.
Depletion of urban green spaces:
Open green spaces are important for physical and mental health, but the amount of green
spaces in cities is declining. Governments are converting them into parking spaces, bus
stations and sports stadiums.
Urban crime:
Majority of criminal activity occurs in the most urbanized and industrialized area, where
there is a concentration of clubs, bars and retail outlets. Risk of being a victim of a
household crime is higher in more deprived areas as well as rates of vandalism, burglary
and vehicle related theft.

8.4 Building sustainable urban systems for the future

Resilient city design:

Resilient cities are economically productive, socially inclusive and environmentally friendly.

Cities can reduce their ecological footprint by burning less fossil fuels and increasing the
number of resources that can be recycled, reused and reduced. Densely populated cities
have certain advantages over less dense cities because they tend to produce less CO 2 and
have greater potential for public transport.
Eco-city design:
Compact cities minimize travel distances, use less space, require less infrastructure of
pipes, cables, roads, etc and are easier to provide a public transport network for. These
cities aim to be sustainable. For this they reduce the use of FF, keep waste production to
levels that can be treated locally, provide sufficient green spaces, reuse and reclaim land,
conserve non-renewable resources and use renewable resources.
Smart cities:
A smart city happens when there is an investment in social and human capital, along with
physical infrastructure and enable sustainable development and high quality life. Smart
cities should perform well in economy, environment, people, living conditions, governance
and mobility.