Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Marsh.

I'm here today to teach you all about Liverpool suburbs and rural-urban fringe, the challenges and opportunities of growth.

So grab everything that you need for today's lesson and let's get going.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe how 20th and 21st century changes in Liverpool's population and and economy led to challenges and opportunities for the suburbs in rural-urban fringe.

There are three key terms for today's lesson and those are decentralisation, urban sprawl, and greenbelt.

Decentralisation refers to the outward movement of businesses and administrative organisations from the city centre to the outskirts or beyond.

Urban sprawl refers to the physical outward expansion of a city into the surrounding countryside.

And greenbelt refers to land that is protected from development and surrounds major English cities.

There are two learning cycles for today's lesson.

I'm gonna start with learning cycle one, which is opportunities from growth.

Now between 1931 and 2021, the population of Liverpool local authority declined drastically.

Population was though more stable and grew in some local authorities in the Liverpool City region, for example, Halton.

Now if we look at the two graphs below, we can really try to identify what it is that I've just described.

If we look at the graph on the left, this shows us Liverpool local authority.

We can see that indeed from 1931 to 2001, we see a massive decline in terms of its overall population.

And if we look at the graph on the right, we see the breakdown of that in terms of those different local authorities.

If we look at Liverpool, we can see that overall decline there at the top in that black line.

But if we look at the other authorities which make up Liverpool City Region, for example, Halton, we can see that they are much more stable or in fact even increasing during the same time period.

Indeed, since the 1960s, some of Liverpool suburbs and rural-urban fringe areas experienced increases in population due to decentralisation.

And the map on the left does a great job in illustrating those movements of people since the 1960s.

We can see that they're moving, moving north, east, south and west to different local regions.

During this time, people moved from the declining CBD and inner city to the suburbs and nearby towns in the rural-urban fringe seeking work And many towns expanded, were built to accommodate the increases in population.

Now, what enabled this decentralisation was the improvements in transport as people were able to access areas surrounding Liverpool much, much more easily.

These transport connections remain invaluable today and continue to be developed.

Let's have a look at the map just below and see how these infrastructure changes have enabled this decentralisation.

While we can see that new motorways, for example, the M57, M58, and M62 all opened in the 1970s.

We can see that the second Mersey Tunnel opened in 1971, which connected the city to the Wirral.

The electrification of rail lines made it cheaper and quicker to commute.

And finally we see international and national airports in the local region.

So all of these different factors, all these different developments in infrastructure really enable this decentralisation away from Liverpool.

Many people moving to the Liverpool City Region today are attracted to the opportunities of the suburbs in the rural-urban fringe leading to their continued population and economic growth.

Now, reasons for their popularity include the following.

You can find affordable housing there.

The housing is much more lower densities, there is more space, there is increased leisure and entertainment facilities.

There are employment opportunities as well, as well as easy access to those transport networks, which we showed on the previous slide.

Now the increases in population from the 1970s has led to the economic growth in both the suburb and rural-urban fringe areas.

And it's been done mainly through the development of things like outta town shopping centres, retail parks, as well as business parks.

And on the right map there you can see examples of those different economic developments, such as the Wavertree Business Park opened in 1983.

The Belle Vale Shopping Centre opened in 1973 and finally the New Mersey Shopping Park opened in 1985.

So quick learning check, it says who is correct, and you have three statements on the screen in front of you, one by Sam, one by Sofia, one by Alex.

What you need to do then is pause the video whilst you read through those three statements and decide who you think is correct.

And the correct answer was Sofia.

Now Sofia, she says that decentralisation led to the development of out-of-town shopping centres, retail and business parks enabled by good transport links.

Really, really well done if you too were able to select Sofia as the correct statement.

Now, what actually attracts businesses to the suburbs in rural-urban fringe areas? Well, it's to do with the following.

You can find lower land and property costs there.

There's room for expansion should your business actually need it.

There are great transport links to both the local and national and perhaps even international region.

And finally, you have a good supply of local employees.

Speke in Liverpool City Region's rural-urban fringe, And Jaguar Land Rover has a large factory sited there.

What I'd like you to do then right now is perhaps pause the video whilst you study the two maps in front of you and consider why is Jaguar Land Rover situated a factory at this precise location? Why is it a good location? So as I said, you may like to pause the video here whilst you consider your own answer to that question or perhaps even have a discussion with someone near you.

Time now for a learning check.

It says businesses are attracted to the suburbs and rural-urban fringe for a number of reasons.

Which reason is missing? So you can see on the slide in front of you, you've got three different answers already presented.

Your job is to try to consider and remember the fourth remaining option which is missing.

So pause the video here whilst you read through those three options and try your best to recall the fourth and final remaining option.

And the answer was room for expansion.

So really, really well done if you're able to recall that piece of information.

We're onto our practise task for the first learning cycle, and you can see you have four questions to attempt.

The first one says to describe the trend in population change in the Liverpool City Region between 1931 and 2021.

The second question says, how can decentralisation explain these trends? The third says what enabled decentralisation in the Liverpool City Region from the 1970s? And the fourth and final question says, explain the opportunities for people and businesses in the suburbs and rural-urban fringe as a result of decentralisation.

So what I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you attempt these four practise questions.

Best of luck.

In terms of feedback then for the first question, you were asked to describe the trend in population change in the Liverpool City Region between 1931 and 2021.

Now your answer could have included something like this.

Liverpool saw the greatest population decline from 1931 to 2021 with the sharpest drop between 1961 and 1991.

Wirral, Sefton and St.

Helens fluctuated, but remained stable overall.

Halton's population gradually increased while Knowsley's grew significantly from 1931 to 1971, declined until 1981 and then stabilised from 1991 to 2021.

The feedback for the second question, which was asking you to explain or show how can decentralisation explain these trends? Your answer may have included the following.

The CBD and inner city are founded in the Liverpool local authority.

These areas suffer depopulation in the 1960s and 1970s as people migrated to the suburbs and rural-urban fringe driven partly by decentralisation.

These city zones are found predominantly in local authorities such as Knowsley, which saw a population increase in the 1960s and 1970s.

The third question asked what enabled decentralisation in the Liverpool City Region from the 1970s? Now you may have said decentralisation was enabled by development in transport infrastructure in the wider Liverpool region.

For example, the 1970s, so the construction of new motorways such as the M57.

The fourth question asked, explain the opportunities for people and businesses in the suburbs and rural-urban fringe as a result of decentralisation.

You may have said decentralisation creates significant opportunities for both people and businesses in the suburbs and rural-urban fringe.

Businesses benefit from lower land and property costs allowing for larger premises and room for expansion.

Good transport links ensures accessibility for customers and suppliers while a local workforce reduces commuting challenges.

Many people moving to the Liverpool City Region today are attracted to the opportunities in these areas driving continued population and economic growth.

Their popularity is due to affordable and low density housing, increased leisure and entertainment options, employment opportunities, and easy access to transport networks.

So really, really well done if you're able to include anything like that in your own answers.

We're now to our second and final learning cycle, and this is all about the challenges from growth.

This growth of the population and the economy of the suburbs and the rural-urban fringes led to many, many challenges associated with urban sprawl.

But what is urban sprawl? What if we direct our attention to the diagram in front of you? We can see that urban area coloured in purple, and you can see how it is trying to expand outwards into those greenbelt areas and slowly encroaching onto that rural-urban fringe.

Greenbelt land was actually designed to prevent this urban sprawl.

It was designed to prevent urban areas from growing into our rural areas, those countryside areas.

Now Jacob has a really interesting point here.

He says that he's confused about greenfield and greenbelt.

What is the difference between the two terms? Well, greenfield is a description of a site.

It is land that has never been built on before.

For example, a farmer's field.

Greenbelt is the name of a planning policy.

It is land that is actually protected from development.

These are the differences between greenfield and greenbelt.

So a quick learning check and it says who is talking about greenfield sites? And you can see there are three statements on the screen in front of you, one from Andeep, one from Sam, and one from Alex.

What I'd like you to do is pause the video here whilst you read through those three statements and then decide who you think is talking about greenfield sites.

And the correct answer was Alex.

Alex says that greenfield sites is land that has never been built on before, and he's absolutely correct.

So really, really well done if you too were able to select Alex as the correct answer.

And now I'd like you to consider who is talking about greenbelt land.

And once again, we have three statements from once again Andeep, Sam, and Alex.

And once again, I'd like you to pause the video whilst you read through those three statements and then consider and select your answer.

And the correct answer was Sam, yes, greenbelt land is land that is protected from development.

Really, really well done if you're able to identify Sam as the correct answer.

And our final learning check says, what is greenbelt land designed to prevent? I would like you to pause the video here, whilst you try to recall that piece of information.

And the correct answer was urban sprawl.

Really, really well done if you're able to recall that piece of information.

12.

6% of England is designated as greenbelt, and this quantity hasn't changed significantly over the last 20 years.

Those greenbelt areas are nicely mapped on the image you see in front of you, and it shows how these greenbelt areas are distributed across England.

The Northwest Greenbelt covers over 1000 square miles and prevents urban sprawl happening between Liverpool, Manchester and other cities.

Land in the Liverpool City Region can actually be broken down further.

We can see that 30% of land in that region is developed while 70% is undeveloped and of the undeveloped land, 92% is within greenbelt areas, which shows the significance and importance of greenbelt areas within this region.

Only 8% of land in the Liverpool City Region is undeveloped and outside of the greenbelt.

Most of this actually lies within the suburbs and the rural-urban fringe.

The greenbelt within the Liverpool City Region has prevented significant urban sprawl, but it has put pressure on areas within the suburbs and the rural-urban fringe areas which are not protected by law.

These include areas such as Crosby, Croxteth Park, and Aigburth.

Quick learning check.

What percentage of land in the Liverpool City Region is undeveloped? You have three options in front of you, so please pause the video here whilst you consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was B, 70% of land within the Liverpool City Region is undeveloped.

And my next learning check says what percentage of undeveloped land in the Liverpool City Region is actually protected under greenbelt designation? Once again, you have three options, and once again, I'd like you to pause the video as you consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was 92%.

Really, really well done if you're able to recall that piece of information.

Urban sprawl then has led to a number of different challenges for the suburbs and the rural-urban fringe.

But what are these? Well, we see more traffic congestion as a result of more people living in those areas and perhaps working in those areas too.

A loss of countryside too, as there are more building projects happening there, be it housing or indeed infrastructure.

More air and noise pollution caused once again by more traffic congestion and more people living in that area generally and find loss of wildlife and habitats.

For example, building projects around Croxteth park have led to countryside loss whilst the New Merseyside Retail Park has increased traffic congestion, which is leading to both air and noise pollution.

Potential expansion of the John Lennon Airport also threatens greenbelt land as we can see on the satellite image in front of you.

Conservationists are really, really concerned about the destruction to habitats and also to wildlife in Oglet, which is an area of wetlands, which is very important for both birds, bats, plants, and amphibians.

Time now for a learning check, it says true or false.

Challenges of urban sprawl on the suburbs and rural-urban fringe are mainly economic.

So pause the video here whilst you consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was false.

Now, once again, I'd like you to pause the video whilst you consider as to why this statement is false.

And the reason it's false is because while challenges of urban sprawl on the rural-urban fringe are mainly environmental, for example, habitat loss and perhaps even pollution as well.

Really, really well done if you're able to identify those two correct answers.

Another learning check says the proposed expansion of Liverpool's John Lennon Airport threatens wetland habitats in? Now once again, you can see you've got three options on the screen.

I'd like you to pause the video whilst you consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was Oglet.

Really, really well done if you're able to recall that piece of information.

For our final learning cycle, we have two practise tasks and the first one says to match the term to the definition.

So you can see on the left hand side you've got the term and on the right you've got the definition.

Your job is to match those two together.

The second practise task says a new retail park is to be built on the outskirts of Crosby.

Some residents have written to the local council to complain.

I would like you to complete the substance of the letter with four reasons as to your objection.

And you can see I've given your writing frame to really help you produce this piece of writing.

So what I'd like you to do then right now is pause the video whilst you attempt these two practise tasks.

Best of luck In terms of feedback then for the first practise task, these are the correct answers.

So suburb refers to housing areas located near the edge of the city.

Greenfield refers to land that's not been built on before.

Greenbelt refers to land that is protected from development.

The rural-urban fringe refers to broad area of land on the urban rural boundary.

And finally, urban sprawl refers to the outward growth of a city or town.

The feedback for the second practise task is something like this.

So I've written that the development will increase traffic leading to longer commute times and potential safety risks.

The construction will destroy valuable green space and remove recreational space for residents.

Increased vehicles and construction work will contribute to poor air quality and noise negatively affecting residences' health and wellbeing.

The proposed site is home to diverse wildlife.

The destruction of this habitat will threaten local biodiversity and disrupt delicate ecosystems. So really, really well done if you're able to include anything like that in your own response.

In terms of a learning summary, this is what you need to know from today's lesson.

We need to know that the population of Liverpool suburbs and rural-urban fringe we're broadly stable, grew between 1931 and 2021.

Population change was partly a result of decentralisation, as people left the declining CBD and inner city from the 1960s.

Presently, many people are attracted to the suburbs and rural-urban fringe due to employment opportunities, more space, and affordable housing.

Increases in population though has led to significant challenges due to urban sprawl, which has caused a loss of countryside and is threatening habitats and increasing traffic congestion.

The economic growth of the suburbs and rural-urban fringe has been a result of the growth of business parks, out-of-town shopping centres as well as retail parks.

So really, really well done during today's lesson.

It was a pleasure teaching you and I will see you again on the next lesson.

Goodbye.