Urbanisation and the environment | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 5 days ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 80 minutes
Urbanisation and the environment A-Level Sociology revision examines how the growth of towns and cities relates to development and why economic development can create environmental costs. AQA specifically requires students to understand development in relation to urbanisation and the environment. These issues have been tested directly in AQA Paper 2, including a 10-mark urbanisation question and a 20-mark environment essay in 2022. The lesson builds directly on trade and industrialisation [Trade and industrialisation] and the wider debates introduced in development and underdevelopment [Development and underdevelopment].
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define urbanisation and explain its relationship with development.
Explain positive and negative ways in which urbanisation may affect developing societies.
Examine the significance of shanty towns, poverty, health and cultural change within urban development.
Explain environmental consequences associated with development, including pollution, deforestation, climate change and resource use.
Compare modernisation, dependency, neoliberal, sustainability and people-centred interpretations.
Explain possible responses including grassroots development, appropriate technology and technological solutions.
Evaluate whether economic development can be environmentally sustainable.
Revision Notes 📚
Urbanisation and the environment A-Level Sociology revision: the core debate
AQA requires students studying Global Development to understand:
development and underdevelopment
industrialisation
urbanisation
the environment
and the sociological explanations surrounding them.
Urbanisation and environmental change are closely connected to the development process.
Industrial and economic development may create:
jobs
cities
economic growth
changing lifestyles
but can also be associated with:
poverty
poor urban living conditions
pollution
resource depletion
deforestation
climate change
The central sociological issue is therefore:
Can societies achieve economic and social development without creating unacceptable social and environmental costs?
What is urbanisation?
Urbanisation refers to the increasing concentration of people and social and economic activity in towns and cities.
Within AQA Global Development, urbanisation is important because it can accompany wider processes such as:
industrialisation
economic growth
changes in employment
cultural change
AQA's 2022 examination directly asked students to analyse ways urbanisation may affect development. The item focused particularly on:
the growth of shanty towns with poor living conditions
exposure of city dwellers to Western values and practices
Urbanisation should therefore not be treated as automatically positive or negative.
Urbanisation and industrialisation
Urbanisation can be closely related to industrialisation.
As industrial production expands, economic opportunities may become increasingly concentrated in towns and cities.
This can contribute to changes in:
where people live
where people work
patterns of employment
social relationships
values and lifestyles
AQA's modernisation material identifies urbanisation alongside industrialisation and economic growth as part of wider processes associated with development.
This relationship builds directly on trade and industrialisation [Trade and industrialisation].
The modernisation view of urbanisation
Modernisation theory can interpret urbanisation as part of the movement towards a modern economy and society.
Modernisation approaches emphasise transformations away from traditional economic and social arrangements.
Urbanisation may contribute because cities can become centres of:
industrial employment
economic activity
new ideas
cultural change
AQA's 2022 mark scheme explicitly recognises the modernisation argument that exposure to Western values and practices in urban areas may be regarded as important for economic growth.
The modernisation chain may therefore be:
urbanisation → exposure to modern values and practices → economic and cultural change → economic growth → development
Cultural change in cities
Urbanisation is not only an economic process.
AQA's 2022 Item K specifically described urbanisation as exposing city dwellers to Western values and practices.
From a modernisation perspective, changing values may be viewed as part of wider development.
This connects urbanisation with the cultural dimensions studied in globalisation and cultural relationships [Globalisation and cultural relationships].
Cities may bring people into greater contact with:
different lifestyles
new forms of employment
different ideas and practices
However, dependency and post-development approaches may question the assumption that adopting Western practices should automatically be treated as development.
Evaluating the idea of Westernisation
The modernisation argument can be criticised because it risks equating development with becoming more like already developed Western societies.
AQA's development mark schemes recognise dependency and post-development as alternatives to modernisation.
A critical sociologist may therefore ask:
Why should cultural similarity to Western societies be treated as evidence of development?
Economic or social improvement could occur without local cultures simply being replaced by Western practices.
Urbanisation and economic opportunities
Urbanisation may create or concentrate economic opportunities.
Industrial development can produce work in:
factories
workshops
formal-sector employment
AQA's 2024 industrialisation mark scheme recognises the movement towards factory and workshop employment and away from activities such as farming and fishing.
Where urbanisation accompanies industrialisation, cities may therefore provide access to new forms of paid employment.
A possible chain is:
industrialisation → urban economic growth → greater employment opportunities → increased incomes → potential development
Urbanisation does not guarantee employment
However, the growth of towns and cities does not necessarily mean that sufficient secure employment is available for everyone.
AQA's 2022 urbanisation material directly highlights the growth of shanty towns and poor living conditions.
This shows that people may become concentrated in urban areas without automatically gaining the economic resources associated with development.
Urbanisation should therefore be distinguished from successful development.
Shanty towns
A shanty town is an urban settlement characterised by very poor living conditions.
AQA's 2022 question used the growth of shanty towns as one of the central ways in which urbanisation may affect development.
The mark scheme recognised the argument that poor conditions in shanty towns can:
keep people in poverty
hold back development
It also recognised links with poor health.
Shanty towns and poverty
Poor urban living conditions can contribute to continuing poverty.
The potential chain is:
rapid urbanisation → growth of poorly resourced settlements → poor living conditions → continuing poverty → development restricted
AQA's examiner report states that a popular and successful response to the 2022 question was to explain how shanty-town conditions could keep people in poverty and therefore hold back development.
This demonstrates why urbanisation is not itself proof of development.
Shanty towns and health
AQA's mark scheme also recognised that poverty and poor health in shanty towns may require resources that could otherwise be used for development.
This creates a relationship between urbanisation, health and economic resources:
poor urban conditions → poor health → greater need for resources → fewer resources available elsewhere → development constrained
Health as an aspect of development is examined fully in health and demographic change [Health and demographic change].
Urban poverty as a development problem
Urbanisation may therefore change where poverty is experienced rather than automatically removing it.
A rapidly growing city may contain:
new industries
economic opportunities
modern cultural influences
while also containing:
severe poverty
poor housing
poor health
This demonstrates why development should not be judged through one indicator alone.
Economic growth and urban expansion can coexist with significant inequalities.
Global inequality within cities
Urbanisation also reminds us that development differences do not exist only between countries.
Large inequalities may exist within the same city.
Some groups may benefit substantially from economic growth while others remain in poor living conditions.
This reinforces the lesson from global inequality [Global inequality]:
National or urban economic growth does not automatically show how resources and opportunities are distributed.
Urbanisation and self-help
AQA's 2022 mark scheme does not treat shanty towns only as evidence of failure.
It specifically recognises the possibility that shanty towns may foster:
self-help
innovation
which can contribute to development.
This is an important evaluative point.
People living in poor urban settlements should not simply be portrayed as passive victims.
Self-help and development
A self-help interpretation emphasises what people themselves may do to improve their circumstances.
A possible chain is:
limited formal resources → residents develop their own solutions → self-help and innovation → local economic or social improvement → contribution to development
This challenges a purely negative view of informal urban settlements.
It also fits with broader people-centred and grassroots approaches to development.
Urban communities as sources of innovation
The significance of AQA's self-help point is that urbanisation may create opportunities for local initiative even where formal development is limited.
A strong sociological answer could therefore contrast:
shanty towns as concentrations of poverty
with
shanty towns as locations where local people develop strategies for improving their own circumstances
AQA rewarded analysis of this contrast in the 2022 mark scheme.
Avoiding a one-sided account of shanty towns
A weak answer might argue:
"Shanty towns are bad for development."
A stronger answer would explain:
Poor living conditions may reproduce poverty and poor health, restricting development.
An even stronger answer would add:
However, AQA recognises that such communities may also foster self-help and innovation, meaning their effects are not uniformly negative.
That is the type of balanced analysis needed for higher marks.
Urbanisation and modern values
AQA's second 2022 item hook focused on exposure to Western values and practices.
Modernisation theorists may see this as positive because they argue that social and cultural transformation accompanies economic development.
A possible chain is:
urbanisation → greater cultural contact → adoption of practices associated with modern society → changing behaviour and institutions → economic development
However, this needs evaluation.
Dependency criticism of modern urban development
Dependency theory draws attention to unequal relationships between developed and developing societies.
Applied to urbanisation, dependency perspectives may question whether the spread of Western economic and cultural models necessarily benefits developing societies.
Instead, urban development may take place within global inequalities already explored in:
development and underdevelopment [Development and underdevelopment]
globalisation, political and economic relationships [Globalisation, political and economic relationships]
Urbanisation could therefore be part of a global development pattern without removing dependency.
Urbanisation as a symptom rather than a cause
Another useful evaluative distinction is whether urbanisation itself causes development or whether both are produced by wider economic changes.
For example:
industrialisation → economic activity becomes concentrated in cities → urbanisation
In this case, urbanisation may partly be a consequence of industrial development.
It would therefore be too simplistic to assume:
more urbanisation = more development
The relationship can operate in both directions.
Urbanisation and environmental pressure
Urbanisation also has an environmental dimension.
As towns and cities grow, there may be increased pressure associated with:
resources
energy
waste
pollution
AQA's 2022 environmental mark scheme explicitly identifies urbanisation among the concepts relevant to the relationship between development and the environment.
This shows that the urban and environmental halves of this lesson should not be revised separately.
Development and the environment
AQA's 2022 Paper 2 contained an entire 20-mark essay on:
sociological explanations of the relationship between development and the environment.
The item contrasted:
early theories emphasising industrialisation and economic growth
later concern with environmental impacts
arguments that development should be sustainable
This debate is central to the specification.
Early development theories and the environment
AQA's item states that early development theorists tended to see:
industrialisation
economic growth
as essential, while paying relatively little attention to environmental consequences.
This criticism can be applied to both:
modernisation theory
dependency theory
AQA's mark scheme specifically suggests evaluating early approaches such as modernisation and dependency against theories emphasising sustainability.
Modernisation and the environment
Modernisation theory gives a central role to industrialisation and economic growth.
From this perspective:
industrialisation → increased productive capacity → economic growth → modern development
However, industrial activity may increase:
pollution
resource use
environmental damage
AQA's 2025 industrialisation question explicitly reminded students that industrialisation has negative aspects, including environmental damage.
Modernisation can therefore be evaluated through its environmental consequences.
Dependency theory and the environment
Dependency theory focuses on unequal relationships within the global economy.
AQA's 2022 environment mark scheme explicitly identifies dependency as a relevant explanation.
A dependency analysis may ask whether:
environmental resources are exploited through unequal global relationships
developing societies bear environmental costs associated with economic activity
global economic power affects who gains from development and who experiences the damage
Neoliberalism and environmental development
AQA also identifies neoliberalism as a relevant concept in the environment and development debate.
Neoliberal approaches place importance on economic activity and market-oriented development.
An optimistic interpretation may argue that economic development generates resources and technological capacity that can help societies respond to environmental problems.
A critical interpretation asks whether continuous economic growth and consumption increase environmental pressures.
This links neoliberalism with debates concerning consumerism and sustainability.
Industrialisation and pollution
Pollution is one of the environmental consequences explicitly recognised by AQA.
Industrial and economic activity may contribute to pollution of:
land
sea
air
The 2022 examiner report states that students often produced strong discussions of these forms of pollution when explaining environmental consequences of development.
The analytical chain is:
industrial development → increased production → pollution → environmental damage → limits to sustainable development
Global heating and climate change
AQA's environment mark scheme identifies climate change, while the examiner report refers to global heating as a well-used environmental problem.
Economic and industrial development can therefore be evaluated in terms of its contribution to global environmental change.
This is important because the consequences of development can extend beyond the society where production occurs.
The environment demonstrates the increasingly global character of development.
Deforestation
Deforestation is explicitly identified in the AQA mark scheme and examiner report.
Development may increase demand for:
land
raw materials
economic resources
which can place pressure on forests.
A development strategy could therefore increase economic activity while simultaneously reducing environmental resources.
This creates a direct conflict between:
economic development
and
environmental sustainability
Desertification
Desertification is also listed in AQA's indicative content for the relationship between development and the environment.
It represents another way in which environmental change can become relevant to development.
The key sociological point is that environmental degradation may:
reduce resources available to communities
undermine development
make future development more difficult
Environmental damage is therefore not simply a side effect of development, it can itself become a barrier to future development.
Loss of species
The 2022 examiner report states that stronger environmental discussions included the loss of species alongside pollution, deforestation and global heating.
This expands the concept of development beyond human economic activity.
An environmental interpretation asks whether economic development is occurring at the expense of wider ecological systems.
Non-renewable resources
AQA explicitly includes non-renewable resources in the 2022 mark scheme.
Economic growth can involve increasing use of resources that cannot simply be replaced.
This raises a long-term question:
Can a development strategy be successful if it depends on resource use that cannot continue indefinitely?
This question is central to the idea of sustainability.
Energy security
Energy security is another concept identified by AQA in the environment debate.
Development can increase demands for energy.
A society attempting to expand:
industry
urban areas
consumption
may require greater access to energy resources.
This creates a relationship between economic development, resource availability and environmental consequences.
Consumerism
AQA includes consumerism in the 2022 environmental mark scheme.
Consumerism can increase demand for:
goods
industrial production
raw materials
energy
This may contribute to environmental pressure.
The development chain can therefore become:
economic growth → greater consumption → greater production and resource use → increased environmental impact
This creates a critique of development models based primarily on continuous economic expansion.
Consumerism and TNCs
Consumerism can be connected with the global role of transnational corporations [Transnational corporations].
AQA's 2024 Global Development question asked students to analyse ways TNCs may harm the environment.
The mark scheme recognised:
mining for raw materials causing pollution
waste such as electronic waste and plastics
production contributing to global heating
This provides concrete evidence of how economic globalisation can create environmental consequences.
Raw-material extraction
TNCs and other industrial organisations require resources for production.
AQA's 2024 mark scheme directly links mining for raw materials with pollution.
The process is:
economic production → demand for raw materials → extraction → pollution or environmental damage
This is a useful example when evaluating whether industrial development is sustainable.
Waste
Development can create environmental problems not only during production but also after goods have been consumed.
AQA's 2024 mark scheme identifies:
electronic waste
plastics that are difficult to recycle or dispose of
as relevant examples.
This creates another chain:
industrialisation → mass production → consumerism → discarded goods → waste → environmental damage
This connects development, consumer culture and the environment.
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is explicitly recognised in the 2022 AQA mark scheme.
Environmental perspectives challenge definitions of development that focus primarily on increasing economic output.
Instead, they draw attention to the environmental consequences of development.
The central argument is:
Development cannot be evaluated successfully if environmental damage is ignored.
Ecology
AQA also recognises ecology as relevant to the development and environment debate.
An ecological approach draws attention to the relationships between human economic activity and the wider environment.
This means development cannot be considered in complete isolation from:
natural resources
environmental systems
long-term environmental consequences
Sustainability
Sustainability is one of the most important concepts in this lesson.
AQA's 2022 item states that some sociologists believe development can and should be sustainable, with less impact on the environment.
The mark scheme also connects sustainability to:
future generations
resource use
alternative development strategies
Sustainable development therefore challenges the assumption that the only relevant goal is immediate economic growth.
Future generations
AQA explicitly includes future generations within the indicative content for the environment essay.
This adds a time dimension to development.
A development strategy may provide benefits today while reducing the resources or environmental quality available in the future.
A strong evaluation should therefore ask:
Is this form of development capable of continuing without undermining future development?
Economic growth versus sustainability
The central conflict can be represented as:
economic growth → increased production and consumption → greater resources and income
but potentially also:
economic growth → increased resource use and pollution → environmental damage → reduced sustainability
This does not mean economic growth and sustainability are automatically incompatible.
It means the relationship must be evaluated.
Can development be sustainable?
AQA's 2022 item explicitly invites the possibility that development can and should be sustainable.
This means students need to discuss solutions and positive alternatives, not simply list environmental problems.
The 2022 examiner report is especially useful here: students were generally strong on environmental damage but weaker on:
sustainability
grassroots development
people-centred development
These areas are therefore particularly important for revision.
People-centred development
People-centred development is explicitly identified in AQA's environment mark scheme.
People-centred approaches shift attention away from treating economic growth as the sole objective of development.
They focus more directly on development that improves people's lives.
Applied to environmental issues, this encourages questions such as:
Does the strategy meet people's needs?
Are environmental resources protected?
Who experiences the costs of development?
Are local communities involved?
This can provide an alternative to large-scale, top-down industrial development.
Grassroots development
Grassroots development emphasises development involving local communities.
AQA identifies grassroots development in both the environment mark scheme and examiner report.
Grassroots approaches may seek development that is:
locally appropriate
based on community needs
sensitive to local environmental conditions
This connects closely to non-governmental organisations [Non-governmental organisations].
Why grassroots approaches matter environmentally
Large-scale development projects may prioritise national economic growth.
Grassroots approaches can instead focus on the consequences experienced at community level.
The possible process is:
local involvement → local environmental knowledge → development adapted to local needs → reduced environmental damage
However, small-scale projects may have fewer resources than large national or international development programmes.
This provides evaluation rather than simply assuming grassroots development is always superior.
Top-down development
AQA's mark scheme explicitly identifies top-down development.
Top-down approaches involve development decisions being made largely by governments, international organisations or other powerful actors rather than beginning with local communities.
Potential advantages include:
ability to coordinate large projects
greater access to resources
large-scale impact
Potential criticisms include:
limited local participation
failure to reflect local circumstances
environmental costs being imposed on particular communities
Bottom-up development
AQA also recognises bottom-up development.
Bottom-up approaches place more emphasis on development emerging from local communities and their needs.
This overlaps strongly with:
grassroots development
people-centred development
The main evaluative question is whether local responsiveness outweighs the limits of smaller-scale interventions.
Appropriate technology
Appropriate technology is explicitly identified by AQA as relevant to the development and environment debate.
The concept challenges the assumption that development always requires the same forms of large-scale technology used by highly industrialised societies.
Instead, technology can be evaluated according to whether it is appropriate to:
local conditions
local resources
environmental needs
This also appears in AQA's 2025 industrialisation mark scheme, reinforcing its relevance to sustainable development.
Appropriate technology and modernisation
Modernisation approaches may associate development with large-scale industrial and technological transformation.
Appropriate-technology approaches challenge the assumption that one model fits every society.
The contrast can be summarised as:
Conventional industrial development | Appropriate technology approach |
May emphasise large-scale industrial transformation. | Emphasises suitability to local circumstances. |
Economic growth may be a major priority. | Environmental and local needs may receive greater emphasis. |
Technology may be transferred from already industrialised societies. | Technology is judged according to local appropriateness. |
Can increase productive capacity substantially. | May aim to reduce environmental and social disruption. |
Technological fixes
AQA's 2022 mark scheme also identifies technological fixes.
A technological-fix approach assumes that technological innovation can help deal with problems associated with development.
This provides a more optimistic interpretation of the relationship between growth and the environment.
Instead of arguing that economic development must stop, it suggests environmental problems may be addressed through technological change.
Evaluating technological fixes
The strength of technological solutions is that they potentially allow societies to continue developing while reducing environmental costs.
However, sociologists can question whether technology alone addresses:
consumerism
unequal resource use
global power
the overall scale of economic growth
Technological fixes may address the consequences of a development model without necessarily changing the underlying model itself.
Ecological footprints
AQA identifies ecological footprints as a relevant concept.
The concept draws attention to the environmental demands created by ways of living and consuming.
Within development debates, it can be used to question the assumption that all societies could adopt highly resource-intensive patterns of consumption without environmental consequences.
This is particularly useful for evaluating consumerist models of development.
Population growth and the environment
AQA's mark scheme also recognises population growth as relevant to environmental development.
A larger population may increase pressure on:
land
water
energy
other resources
However, the mark scheme also includes theories focusing on economic growth, consumerism and industrialisation.
This means environmental problems should not automatically be reduced to population size alone.
The amount and form of consumption also matter.
Population growth and urbanisation
Population growth can interact with urbanisation.
Where urban populations grow rapidly, pressures may increase on:
housing
services
resources
the urban environment
This can contribute to the kinds of poor living conditions identified in AQA's 2022 urbanisation item.
Population and demographic change are developed more fully in health and demographic change [Health and demographic change].
Urbanisation can both support and restrict development
AQA's 2022 assessment provides evidence for both sides.
Urbanisation may support development through:
economic opportunities
exposure to values associated with modernisation
self-help
innovation
Urbanisation may restrict development through:
shanty-town poverty
poor living conditions
poor health
pressure on development resources
A balanced answer should recognise both.
Development can both improve and damage the environment
The same two-sided structure applies to environmental development.
Economic growth may provide greater resources and technological capacity.
However, development may also contribute to:
pollution
global heating
deforestation
resource depletion
waste
The question is therefore not whether development affects the environment, but what form of development is being pursued and with what consequences.
Modernisation and sustainability compared
Modernisation emphasis | Sustainability emphasis |
Industrialisation and economic growth are central to development. | Development must take environmental consequences into account. |
Urbanisation may accompany movement towards a modern society. | Urban growth must be considered alongside living conditions and resource pressures. |
Technology may help transform production. | Technology should also be environmentally and locally appropriate. |
Rising production may be evidence of economic progress. | Economic progress may be undermined if environmental damage is severe. |
Development focuses strongly on transformation in the present. | Future generations must also be considered. |
Dependency and sustainability
Dependency and sustainability provide different criticisms of conventional development.
Dependency theory asks:
Who benefits from global economic development and whose interests dominate?
Sustainability approaches ask:
Can this form of development continue without unacceptable environmental damage?
Together they challenge a narrow focus on economic growth.
Neoliberalism and sustainability
Neoliberal and sustainability approaches may disagree over the priority given to market-led economic growth.
A neoliberal approach may stress:
economic activity
trade
growth
A sustainability approach may emphasise:
environmental limits
resource use
future generations
A strong evaluation can ask whether economic growth generates sufficient resources to solve environmental problems or whether the growth itself increases environmental pressure.
Environmental inequality
Environmental costs may not be experienced equally.
AQA's Global Development specification requires students to consider the core theme of social differentiation, power and stratification alongside the topic content.
Applied here, sociologists can ask:
Who benefits economically from development?
Who experiences pollution or resource loss?
Which societies have greater power in global economic relationships?
This connects the environment back to global inequality [Global inequality].
TNCs and environmental inequality
AQA's 2024 question on TNCs illustrates the link between global economic power and environmental consequences.
TNC activities may involve:
mining resources
producing large quantities of goods
generating difficult-to-dispose-of waste
contributing to global heating
This shows how the actions of organisations operating globally can produce environmental effects that extend well beyond one workplace.
Industrialisation and environmental inequality
Industrialisation may create employment and economic growth while also creating environmental problems.
AQA's 2025 item makes this tension explicit by stating that environmental damage is one negative aspect of industrialisation.
This means an essay cannot simply conclude:
"Industrialisation is development because it creates growth."
You also need to consider environmental sustainability.
Wider measures of development
AQA's 2023 mark scheme makes clear that development can be measured through much more than economic growth.
Relevant dimensions include:
health
gender equality
sustainability
education
poverty
inequality
Environmental sustainability is therefore not an optional extra to development.
It is one way of evaluating whether development is genuinely successful.
The environment as part of development
A traditional economic model might think of environmental protection as something that comes after economic development.
A sustainability perspective instead treats environmental quality as part of development itself.
This distinction is important.
If environmental damage destroys resources needed by communities, then it may directly undermine:
health
livelihoods
future economic opportunities
Environmental protection and development therefore need not always be treated as opposing goals.
Can environmental damage reverse development?
Yes, in sociological terms environmental degradation may undermine previous development.
For example:
economic activity → resource degradation → livelihoods become more difficult → poverty or poor health increases
This illustrates why environmental consequences need to be included when judging development.
Development for whom?
One of the strongest evaluative questions is:
Development for whom?
An industrial project may increase national income while creating environmental problems for a particular community.
An urban economy may expand while many residents remain in shanty-town poverty.
This demonstrates why aggregate economic growth may conceal unequal development.
Development over what timescale?
A second powerful question is:
Development over what timescale?
A strategy may produce immediate economic gains while damaging resources needed by future generations, a concept explicitly recognised by AQA.
Sustainability therefore requires a longer-term judgement.
Development measured how?
A third question is:
How is development being measured?
If development is measured only through:
production
income
economic growth
environmental damage can disappear from the assessment.
If sustainability is included, the judgement may change substantially.
This connects back to the measurement debates in development and underdevelopment [Development and underdevelopment].
Urbanisation and development: a balanced framework
When revising urbanisation, organise your knowledge into four dimensions.
1. Economic
Cities may create employment and concentrate productive activity.
2. Social
Shanty towns may involve poverty, poor living conditions and health problems.
3. Cultural
Urban residents may encounter new values and practices.
4. Community responses
Shanty towns may also produce self-help and innovation.
This structure allows you to produce two-sided analysis without drifting away from the question.
Environment and development: a balanced framework
For the environment, organise your knowledge into four questions.
1. What causes environmental pressure?
Possible factors include:
industrialisation
urbanisation
consumerism
population growth
resource use
2. What environmental problems result?
AQA recognises:
climate change
pollution
deforestation
desertification
pressure on non-renewable resources
loss of species
3. Why does this matter for development?
Environmental damage may undermine:
health
resources
livelihoods
future development
4. What alternatives are proposed?
AQA recognises:
sustainability
people-centred development
grassroots development
appropriate technology
technological fixes
bottom-up approaches
Building chains of analysis for urbanisation
For shanty towns:
rapid urbanisation → poor urban living conditions → poverty and poor health → resources diverted towards problems → development restricted
For modernisation:
urbanisation → exposure to new values and practices → cultural transformation → economic change → possible development
For self-help:
poor formal provision → residents develop local solutions → self-help and innovation → contribution to development
Building chains of analysis for the environment
For industrial pollution:
industrialisation → increased production → pollution → environmental damage → development less sustainable
For resources:
economic expansion → greater use of non-renewable resources → resource depletion → future development becomes harder
For consumerism:
economic growth → greater consumption → increased production and waste → larger environmental impact
For sustainable development:
environmental concerns → more sustainable development strategy → reduced damage → resources better protected for future generations
How to use theories effectively
Avoid this:
"Modernisation theory says development is good. Dependency theory disagrees."
Instead, apply each perspective to a specific relationship.
For example:
Modernisation theorists may regard urbanisation as part of a transition towards a modern economy because cities expose people to values and practices they associate with economic growth. However, poor conditions in urban shanty towns show that urban growth itself does not guarantee improved living standards.
Or:
Modernisation theories emphasise industrialisation and economic growth, but sustainability approaches argue that pollution and resource depletion must be included when evaluating development.
How to evaluate urbanisation
Useful evaluation questions include:
Does urbanisation create employment?
Are the jobs sufficient for the growing population?
Do living conditions improve?
Does poverty decline?
Does urban cultural change represent development?
Can informal communities produce their own development through self-help?
The answer is unlikely to be simply "urbanisation helps" or "urbanisation harms".
How to evaluate environmental development
Useful questions include:
How large are the economic benefits?
Who receives them?
What environmental damage occurs?
Can technological solutions reduce that damage?
Could appropriate technology provide an alternative?
Are local communities involved?
Can the development continue for future generations?
This produces genuine evaluation rather than a list of environmental problems.
Comparing sociological interpretations
Perspective | Interpretation of urbanisation and the environment | Evaluation |
Modernisation theory | Urbanisation and industrialisation may be part of transformation towards a modern economy and society. | Urban growth can coexist with poverty and environmental damage. |
Dependency theory | Development occurs within unequal global relationships and may reproduce underdevelopment. | Highlights power but does not mean all global economic development has negative outcomes. |
Neoliberalism | Economic growth and market activity may provide resources for development. | Greater production and consumerism may increase environmental pressure. |
Sustainability approaches | Development should minimise environmental damage and consider the future. | May require difficult choices between immediate economic expansion and environmental protection. |
People-centred development | Development should improve people's actual lives rather than focus only on economic growth. | Local priorities may be difficult to combine with large-scale economic strategies. |
Grassroots development | Local participation and self-help can provide alternative routes to development. | Smaller projects may have more limited resources and reach. |
Appropriate technology approaches | Technology should fit local circumstances and environmental needs. | May not always generate economic transformation on the scale of large industrial strategies. |
Exam focus: urbanisation
AQA has already tested urbanisation using a 10-mark analyse question.
The 2022 item provided two clear hooks:
poor living conditions in shanty towns
exposure to Western values and practices
The lesson is clear: when answering an item question, use each hook to build a separate sociological chain.
Exam focus: the environment
The environment has already appeared as a 20-mark essay.
The 2022 item contrasted:
early industrial and economic theories
environmental costs
sustainable development
AQA's highest band expected explicit evaluation, potentially through a debate between modernisation and dependency approaches and those focusing on sustainability.
The relationship between the two halves of the lesson
Urbanisation and the environment are connected rather than separate mini-topics.
Urban development can create environmental pressures through:
concentrated population
production
consumption
waste
increased demand for resources
Meanwhile, environmental problems can undermine urban development through effects on:
health
living conditions
resources
The strongest understanding therefore sees development as an interconnected social process.
Overall sociological judgement
Urbanisation can contribute to development where it accompanies economic opportunities, cultural change, innovation and self-help. However, AQA's assessment material demonstrates that urban growth may also involve severe poverty, poor health and shanty-town living conditions. Urbanisation is therefore neither a guarantee nor a straightforward measure of development.
The environment presents a similar challenge. Industrialisation and economic growth can produce important development benefits, but AQA explicitly recognises environmental costs including pollution, global heating, deforestation, desertification, resource depletion and waste.
The strongest sociological conclusion is that successful development cannot be judged through economic growth alone. It should also consider living conditions, inequalities and environmental sustainability. Approaches such as grassroots development, people-centred development and appropriate technology demonstrate that development strategies can attempt to combine improvements in people's lives with reduced environmental damage.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Urbanisation | Increasing concentration of people and social and economic activity in towns and cities. | Explain how urban growth may contribute to or restrict development. |
Shanty town | An urban settlement characterised by very poor living conditions. | Apply poverty, health and self-help to questions about urbanisation. |
Sustainability | Development that seeks to reduce environmental harm and considers whether development can continue into the future. | Evaluate economic growth and industrialisation. |
Pollution | Environmental contamination associated with activities such as production and resource extraction. | Explain one environmental cost of development. |
Non-renewable resources | Resources that cannot simply be replaced once they are used up. | Evaluate the long-term sustainability of economic development. |
Consumerism | A strong emphasis on acquiring and consuming goods and services. | Explain how economic development may increase production, waste and resource use. |
People-centred development | An approach that judges development through people's needs and living conditions rather than economic growth alone. | Evaluate large-scale industrial and urban development. |
Grassroots development | Development based strongly on local communities and participation. | Explain alternative responses to environmental and development problems. |
Appropriate technology | Technology selected according to its suitability for local conditions and development needs. | Evaluate the assumption that development requires large-scale industrial technology. |
Ecological footprint | A concept used to consider the environmental demands associated with ways of living and consuming. | Evaluate resource-intensive development and consumerism. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: The 2022 urbanisation question was generally answered well. Successful students used the item directly, particularly the link between poor shanty-town conditions, poverty and restricted development.
Examiner hint: Do not overlook positive or alternative interpretations of shanty towns. AQA's mark scheme explicitly recognised self-help and innovation within shanty communities as potentially contributing to development.
Examiner hint: Theory can strengthen an urbanisation answer when it explains the item. The 2022 report notes good application of theories, while the mark scheme specifically links exposure to Western values and practices with modernisation theory.
Examiner hint: Students were generally strong at identifying environmental problems in the 2022 essay. Good answers discussed global heating, pollution of land, sea and air, deforestation and loss of species.
Examiner hint: The weaker area in 2022 was discussion of solutions and positive approaches. Sustainability, grassroots development and people-centred development were less evident in student answers. These should be central to your evaluation rather than added as an afterthought.
Examiner hint: For a 10-mark analyse question, use the two hooks in the item. The general AQA examiner guidance says item questions require answers to be clearly based on those prompts rather than simply the final sentence of the item.
Examiner hint: For a 20-mark essay, select a smaller number of relevant views and develop them properly. The 2022 report warns that answers can lose sight of the question when they become lists of different theories.
Examiner hint: Evaluation means more than learned criticisms. AQA advises students to consider the strengths as well as weaknesses of an argument and keep evaluation focused on the specific question.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Assuming urbanisation automatically means development
Why this is incorrect: AQA's 2022 material shows that urbanisation can involve severe poverty and poor living conditions in shanty towns.
How to improve: Explain the particular process linking urban growth to a development outcome.
Mistake: Describing shanty towns only negatively
Why this is incorrect: AQA's mark scheme explicitly recognises self-help and innovation as possible positive contributions to development.
How to improve: Balance poverty and poor health against community initiative and local innovation.
Mistake: Writing about urbanisation without mentioning development
Why this is incorrect: The question is usually about the relationship between the two.
How to improve: End every chain with a development consequence, for example poverty, economic growth, health or cultural change.
Mistake: Assuming Westernisation and development are the same thing
Why this is incorrect: This reproduces the modernisation assumption without evaluation.
How to improve: Explain why modernisation theorists might see Western values as significant, then question whether cultural similarity to Western societies should be treated as evidence of development.
Mistake: Listing environmental problems
Why this is incorrect:"Pollution, climate change, deforestation" is knowledge, but not analysis.
How to improve: Explain the mechanism:
industrialisation → increased production → pollution → environmental degradation → less sustainable development
Mistake: Writing only about the negative environmental effects
Why this is incorrect: This was a specific weakness identified by the 2022 examiner report.
How to improve: Include sustainability, people-centred development, grassroots approaches, appropriate technology or technological solutions.
Mistake: Treating sustainability as simply "being environmentally friendly"
Why this is incorrect: AQA's mark scheme connects sustainability with development, resource use and future generations.
How to improve: Explain why environmental protection matters for the ability to continue development over time.
Mistake: Assuming technology always solves environmental problems
Why this is incorrect: AQA recognises technological fixes as one approach, not as a guaranteed solution.
How to improve: Evaluate whether technological responses deal with underlying issues such as consumerism and resource use.
Mistake: Treating population growth as the only cause of environmental pressure
Why this is incorrect: AQA's mark scheme also identifies industrialisation, urbanisation, consumerism and economic growth.
How to improve: Consider both the number of people and the ways resources are produced and consumed.
Mistake: Writing separate modernisation and dependency essays
Why this is incorrect: Theory should be used to explain and evaluate the specific relationship in the question.
How to improve: Make the theories directly compete over urbanisation, industrialisation or environmental sustainability.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Question 1
What is meant by urbanisation? (1 mark)
Question 2
Explain one way in which urbanisation may contribute to development. (4 marks)
Question 3
Explain two environmental problems that may be associated with economic development. (6 marks)
Question 4
Outline and explain two ways in which urbanisation may affect development in developing societies. (10 marks)
Question 5
Outline and explain two ways in which industrial development may affect the environment. (10 marks)
Question 6
Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
A rapidly growing city contains expanding areas of very poor housing where residents experience poverty and poor health. At the same time, residents have developed local businesses and community solutions to problems that are not being addressed through formal services.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which urbanisation may affect development. (10 marks)
Question 7
Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
A developing society expands industrial production and consumption. This contributes to economic growth, but also increases demand for natural resources and produces greater quantities of pollution and waste.
Applying material from Item B, analyse two ways in which economic development may affect the environment. (10 marks)
Question 8
Read Item C and answer the question that follows.
Item C
Some sociologists view industrialisation, urbanisation and economic growth as important parts of development. These processes can transform societies and create new economic opportunities.
Other sociologists argue that development should take greater account of pollution, resource use and the needs of future generations. They support approaches that place greater emphasis on sustainability and local needs.
Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of the relationship between development and the environment. (20 marks)
Answers and mark scheme
Question 1
Answer: The increasing concentration of people and social and economic activity in towns and cities. (1 mark)
Award one mark for an accurate definition.
Question 2
Up to 4 marks for one clearly developed explanation.
A possible answer is that urbanisation may concentrate economic opportunities in towns and cities. Where industrial employment develops, people may gain wages and other economic opportunities, contributing to development.
Alternatively, students may explain cultural change or self-help and innovation.
For full marks, the answer must show how urbanisation affects development, rather than simply describing city growth.
Question 3
Award marks for two developed environmental problems.
Possible answers include:
Pollution
Industrial and economic activity can increase pollution of land, air or water, damaging the environment and reducing the sustainability of development.
Deforestation
Economic activity may increase demand for land or natural resources, contributing to deforestation and the loss of environmental resources.
Other relevant answers may include:
climate change or global heating
desertification
use of non-renewable resources
waste
loss of species
Each problem should be connected to development.
Question 4
A high-level response should develop two separate ways.
Possible answers include:
Economic opportunities
Urbanisation may accompany industrialisation, concentrating employment and economic activity in cities. This may increase income and contribute to development.
Poor urban living conditions
Rapid urbanisation may create shanty towns with poverty and poor health. These conditions may hold back development and require resources that could be used elsewhere.
Other relevant material may include:
exposure to Western values and practices
modernisation theory
self-help and innovation
cultural change
The strongest answers will recognise that urbanisation can have both positive and negative effects.
Question 5
A high-level response should develop two distinct environmental effects.
Possible content includes:
Pollution
Industrial production may create pollution of land, air or water. This damages the environment and may limit sustainable development.
Resource depletion
Industrial production requires natural resources. Heavy use of non-renewable resources may make it more difficult to sustain development in the future.
Other valid points include:
climate change or global heating
deforestation
waste
consumerism
loss of species
Each point should explain the mechanism rather than simply name the environmental issue.
Question 6
A strong response should develop both hooks from Item A.
Possible way 1: poverty and poor health
The item refers to poor housing, poverty and health problems. These conditions may keep urban residents in poverty and require resources to address health and living conditions. Urbanisation may therefore restrict wider development.
Possible way 2: self-help and community innovation
The item states that residents create local businesses and community solutions. This demonstrates self-help and innovation. Such activity may improve local economic or social conditions and contribute to people-centred development.
The highest answers will recognise that both effects can occur within the same urban area.
Question 7
A strong response should develop two environmental consequences from Item B.
Possible way 1: natural resources
The item states that industrial production increases demand for natural resources. Greater use of resources, particularly non-renewable resources, may make development less sustainable and reduce what is available in the future.
Possible way 2: pollution and waste
The item states that production and consumption create greater pollution and waste. These environmental costs may undermine health, living conditions and long-term sustainability even where economic growth is occurring.
Students may also connect the item to:
consumerism
technological fixes
ecological footprints
sustainability
Question 8
A strong 20-mark response should explain and evaluate competing sociological explanations of the relationship between development and the environment.
Modernisation arguments may include:
industrialisation is central to economic development
urbanisation accompanies wider economic and social transformation
economic growth increases productive capacity
technology may help societies develop
urbanisation may expose people to values and practices associated with modernisation
Possible supporting material includes:
Rostow
industrialisation
economic growth
urbanisation
technological development
Criticisms of conventional development may include environmental consequences such as:
climate change or global heating
pollution
deforestation
desertification
loss of species
use of non-renewable resources
increased pressure on energy resources
waste
consumerism
ecological footprints
Dependency theory may be used to argue that:
environmental consequences occur within unequal global relationships
developing societies may experience environmental costs associated with global economic activity
economic benefits and environmental costs may be distributed unequally
Neoliberal arguments may include:
economic growth and markets may contribute to development
greater resources and technology may provide ways of responding to environmental problems
Evaluation may question whether:
continuous economic growth increases environmental pressure
consumerism produces unsustainable patterns of resource use
benefits of economic development are distributed equally
Sustainability approaches may argue that:
development should reduce environmental damage
development must consider future generations
economic growth alone is insufficient
resource use must be considered alongside economic benefits
People-centred and grassroots approaches may argue that:
development should respond to people's needs
local participation may create more appropriate development strategies
self-help and community innovation can contribute to development
bottom-up development may better reflect local environmental conditions
Appropriate technology may be used to argue that:
development does not always require the same large-scale technology used in industrialised societies
technology should be appropriate to local circumstances and environmental needs
Technological-fix arguments may suggest that:
environmental problems can be reduced through technological innovation
economic development and environmental protection do not necessarily have to be opposites
This can be evaluated because:
technology may not address consumerism or excessive resource use
solutions may treat environmental consequences rather than underlying causes
Urbanisation can be incorporated through:
shanty-town poverty
poor health
economic opportunities
cultural change
self-help and innovation
environmental pressure in rapidly growing cities
For the highest marks, students should avoid producing one section on "development" and another unrelated section on "the environment". Every paragraph should explain the relationship between the two.
A strong conclusion could argue that industrialisation and urbanisation may make important contributions to economic and social transformation, but economic growth cannot by itself demonstrate successful development. Where development produces severe pollution, resource depletion or other environmental damage, it can undermine the conditions needed for future development. Sustainability, people-centred development and appropriate technology therefore provide important alternatives to models that treat continuous industrial growth as the only route to development.
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