Although LEDCs have similar land uses to MEDCs, their layout
is very different. The CBD is still the central section, with the highest
priced land. However, the next section isn’t the cheap housing and industry as
it is in MEDCs, instead you’ll find high cost housing - normally luxury high
rise apartment blocks and / or detached houses.
Industry, instead of being in the inner city, is found along
the main transport routes. Going outward from the luxury housing are the areas
of semi-permanent informal housing, while at the very edge of the city are the
favelas.
Favelas are illegal settlements, built from mud, straw and
scrap metals - whatever they can find. There is no gas or electricity and no
drains, sewage or water supply. The people in favelas pay no rent or rates, the
roads are unmade and there is high unemployment. Where people do have jobs they
are temporary, part-time and low paid. Any of the very limited public transport
that goes as far as the favelas is overcrowded and dangerous. There are major
crime problems in the area, few schools and very little medical care. For many
residents though, they come from the countryside to the city looking for a
better way of life.
Below is the LEDC urban structure model (from BBC Bitesize)…
I read somewhere a lesson plan where the teacher collected a
variety of scrap material and asked students to have a go at making their own
favelas out of what they collected. I think this would be a really good
activity to get students involved, providing I could tie in some suitable aims
for the lesson.
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urban_models_ledcs_rev1.shtml
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/geography/settlements/revise-it/urban-morphology
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