Urbanisation and the Environment
Growing cities use large amounts of resources and create pollution, but good planning can make them more sustainable.
▶ Interact
Play with the controls to see the idea in action.
📘 Learn
Growing cities use large amounts of resources and create pollution, but good planning can make them more sustainable.
- Heat islands make cities warmer
- Public transport cuts emissions
- Green spaces improve wellbeing
🧠 Quick quiz
Three questions. Score 2 or more to complete the topic.
What is Urbanisation and the Environment?
Within Earth & Environmental Science, which covers our planet, its resources and ecosystems, and how people can protect the environment, this topic explains Urbanisation and the Environment. Earth and environment topics show how the planet’s systems shape landscapes, climate and life, with models that make these processes visible.
Check that you can explain Urbanisation and the Environment in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.
Understanding Urbanisation and the Environment helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
Urbanisation and the Environment in detail
More than half of the world's people now live in cities, and the share is rising. Cities concentrate energy use, waste and pollution, and spread over land (urban sprawl), replacing natural habitats with hard surfaces that increase runoff and flood risk. Urban heat islands make cities warmer than the surrounding countryside.
Benefits include efficient public transport, shared infrastructure and services, and the potential for lower emissions per person. Sustainable cities use green spaces, renewable energy, efficient buildings, recycling, cycling and walking routes and planning to limit sprawl. The management of rapidly growing cities in developing countries is a major challenge.
How the interactive helps you understand Urbanisation and the Environment
Watch the growth curve in the interactive. Use any sliders or buttons it offers to change the values and see how the growth curve responds.
Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Urbanisation and the Environment.
Real-life uses and examples
- Link Urbanisation and the Environment to a real environmental problem and a possible solution.
- Use a diagram of Urbanisation and the Environment to describe the steps of a process in order.
- Discuss how human activity changes Urbanisation and the Environment, using a named example.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Presenting one cause as the only cause of an environmental change.
- Describing a process without the timescale it works over.
- Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.
Frequently asked questions about Urbanisation and the Environment
What is Urbanisation and the Environment?
Growing cities use large amounts of resources and create pollution, but good planning can make them more sustainable.
What are the most important points about Urbanisation and the Environment?
The main points are: Heat islands make cities warmer; Public transport cuts emissions; Green spaces improve wellbeing.
Why is Urbanisation and the Environment useful?
Understanding Urbanisation and the Environment helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
How can I practise Urbanisation and the Environment?
Open the interactive at the top of this page and change the controls one at a time. Predict the result before each change, then take the three-question quiz. A score of two or more marks the topic as complete on this device.
Which topics are related to Urbanisation and the Environment?
Related topics in Earth & Environmental Science include Floods and Flood Management, Environmental Laws and Agreements, Transport and the Environment.