Optional theme: Urban environments practice questions.

The medieval core of Durham, England, occupies a steep-sided peninsula inside an incised meander of the River Wear, which made the town easy to defend. This description refers to the settlement's:

• Site
• Situation
• Function
• Sphere of influence

Answer: Site

Site is the actual ground a settlement stands on, described through relief, drainage, shelter and defence. Situation would instead describe its position relative to other places, such as its position on the routes between London and Edinburgh.

The table shows survey data collected along a transect running outwards from the CBD of one city. Which statement is supported by the data?

• Land value falls by the same absolute amount for every kilometre travelled outwards
• Building height rises with distance from the CBD because suburban land is cheaper
• Retail and office use is spread evenly along the whole length of the transect
• Land value and building height both fall with distance, most steeply near the CBD

Answer: Land value and building height both fall with distance, most steeply near the CBD

Land value drops by about US$830 per m² in the first 1.5 km but by only about US$115 per m² between 4 km and 8 km, so the decline is steep and non-linear. Height and land value fall together because expensive central sites are used intensively.

Over one decade the urban population of a country rose from 12.0 million to 14.1 million, while the share of the national population living in urban areas stayed at 54 %. Which term best describes what happened?

• Counter-urbanisation, because the urban share of population did not rise
• Suburbanisation within the existing built-up areas of the country
• Urban growth without further urbanisation of the country
• Re-urbanisation of the inner-city districts

Answer: Urban growth without further urbanisation of the country

Urbanisation is a rise in the proportion of people living in urban areas. Here towns and rural areas grew at the same rate, so the country urbanised no further even though its cities gained 2.1 million residents.

Software firms in Bengaluru, India, cluster in the same districts in order to draw on a shared pool of trained engineers, on specialist suppliers and on informal exchange of knowledge between companies. Which process does this describe?

• Economies of agglomeration
• Internal economies of scale
• The demographic dividend
• Comparative advantage

Answer: Economies of agglomeration

Agglomeration economies are external to the individual firm: the saving comes from being close to other firms and to a deep labour market. Internal economies of scale would instead come from one firm growing larger on its own site.

In Lima, Peru, a street trader sells prepared food from an unregistered stall, pays no tax on the earnings and has no written contract or pension. Which statement correctly identifies the significance of such work?

• It is unproductive, so it makes no measurable contribution to the urban economy
• It is counted in full in official employment statistics because the trader works daily
• It is criminal activity, and is therefore policed in the same way as smuggling
• It is unregulated and untaxed, so it is largely invisible in official statistics

Answer: It is unregulated and untaxed, so it is largely invisible in official statistics

The informal sector is unregistered rather than criminal: the activity itself is lawful but escapes taxation, labour law and the official count, which is why urban employment data understate how many people actually work.

The table shows mean annual PM2.5 concentrations measured at four sites along a transect in one city. Which statement is supported by the data?

• PM2.5 concentrations fall steadily towards the city centre because through traffic is restricted there
• PM2.5 rises towards the centre and is seven times the rural value at the kerbside
• PM2.5 is effectively identical at all four sites once distance is allowed for
• Only the rural station exceeds the concentration measured at the inner ring road

Answer: PM2.5 rises towards the centre and is seven times the rural value at the kerbside

The concentration climbs from 8 to 56 µg m⁻³ as distance to the centre falls, a sevenfold rise. Urban PM2.5 comes mainly from combustion and from brake, tyre and road-surface wear, all of which concentrate on busy roads.