How urban population, distribution and spatial growth change over time (urbanisation, suburbanisation, de-industrialisation, counter-urbanisation, regeneration) and the characteristics of urban land uses and the factors that influence them.

A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Geography B Topic 3 (Challenges of an urbanising world) on how cities change over time, covering urbanisation, suburbanisation, de-industrialisation, counter-urbanisation and regeneration, the characteristics of commercial, industrial and residential land uses, and the factors that shape them.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.810 min answerUpdated 2026-06-02

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What this dot point is asking
How cities change over time
Urban land use and what shapes it
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What this dot point is asking

This is Edexcel GCSE Geography B (1GB0) Paper 1, Section C (Topic 3, Challenges of an urbanising world). Edexcel expects you to explain how a city's population numbers, distribution and spatial growth change over time through urbanisation, suburbanisation, de-industrialisation, counter-urbanisation and, in some cases, regeneration; and the characteristics of the different urban land uses (commercial, industrial, residential) and the factors that influence which land use occurs where (accessibility, availability, cost and planning regulations). Satellite images and land-use models are common resources.

How cities change over time

A city's population, distribution and spatial growth change through several processes that can happen in sequence or together.

These processes reshape where people live: early growth concentrates population in the centre and inner city, suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation move it outward, and de-industrialisation can hollow out inner areas until regeneration reverses the decline.

Urban land use and what shapes it

Within a city, different land uses occupy different zones in a fairly predictable pattern.

The clearest control is the link between accessibility, cost and use: the most accessible central land, where transport routes meet, is the most expensive, so only commercial activities that can afford high rents and need a central location locate there. Industry and housing, which need more space and cannot pay central rents, locate on cheaper land further out, giving the typical zoning from a commercial core to residential suburbs.

Worked example: explaining a land-use transect from the centre outwards

A question gives a model or satellite image and asks you to explain the land-use pattern. Work through it.

step 1: Describe the centre

State that the city centre is the Central Business District, dominated by shops, offices and services in tall, dense buildings.

step 2: Move outward through the zones

Describe the older inner city of industry and high-density housing, then lower-density suburban housing, then the urban-rural fringe with newer development.

step 3: Explain with accessibility and cost

Explain that central land is the most accessible and expensive, so commercial uses outbid others, while cheaper, more spacious outer land suits industry and housing.

step 4: Add change over time

Note how the pattern shifts with suburbanisation (growth at the edge), de-industrialisation (decline of inner industry) and regeneration (renewal of old industrial land). The marks come from linking the land-use pattern to accessibility, cost and the processes of urban change.

Try this

Q1. Define counter-urbanisation. [1 mark]

Cue. The movement of people out of cities into accessible rural areas.

Q2. Explain why commercial activities are concentrated in the city centre. [3 marks]

Cue. The city centre is the most accessible point where transport routes meet, so the land is the most expensive, and only commercial uses (shops and offices) can both afford the high rents and benefit from the central, accessible location.

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

Edexcel B 20194 marksExplain how accessibility and land cost influence land use in a city. (Paper 1, Section C)

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A 4-mark "Explain" question on Paper 1 (Challenges of an urbanising world), assessing AO1 and AO2. Markers reward a chain from the factor to the land-use pattern.

Award credit for: the most accessible land, usually the city centre where transport routes meet, is the most desirable and therefore the most expensive, so it is used by commercial activities (shops and offices) that can afford high rents and need a central, accessible location for customers and workers. Cheaper land further out is used for industry and residential housing, which need more space and cannot pay central rents. The strongest answers link accessibility to land value and then to the type of activity that locates there (bid-rent reasoning), rather than just describing the zones.

Edexcel B 20224 marksUsing Figure 2, explain how the land use shown changes from the city centre outwards. (Paper 1, Section C)

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A 4-mark data-response question assessing AO4 (skills) and AO2. It combines reading a map or model with explanation.

Award credit for: describing the pattern from the figure (a commercial Central Business District at the centre, surrounded by older inner-city industry and high-density housing, then lower-density suburban housing, then the urban-rural fringe). Then explain it: land near the centre is accessible and expensive so it is commercial and high-density, while land further out is cheaper and more spacious so it is residential and lower-density. Markers reward an accurate reading of the resource plus a linked explanation using accessibility, cost and space.

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Sources & how we know this

Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Geography B (1GB0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)