GCSE Geography Case Studies

Managing Economic Development

1. Contrasting Levels of Development
Effects of different levels of economic development on the quality of life
in: MEDC ……………………
LEDC ……………………….
NIC ………… eg Brazil
Three Gorges Dam, China
Sustainable development projects, eg Liana Project, Brazil, or Tools for
Self Reliance, Africa (briefer notes needed)
Industrial change in Teesside

2. Depletion of Resources
Deforestation in Brazil
Coal mining in South Wales

3. Managing Economic Development

Bhopal, India, 1984
Chernobyl, Ukraine, 1986
Cubatao, Brazil
Kyoto Protocol and Bali conference of 2007
Oil spill (we did Prestige but you could do a different one)

4. Tourism and Development

Changes in tourism patterns over time in the UK
Consequences of growth or decline of tourism in one area – we did coastal
and safari tourism in Kenya (growth) and Mediterranean tourism, Spain (decline)
Nepal (sustainable tourism)
Ecotourism e.g. in the Amazon rainforest

Managing the Physical Environment

5. Unstable plate margins
Kobe earthquake, 1995
Pakistan (Kashmir) earthquake, 2005
Asian tsunami, 2004
Mt St Helens, 1980
Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, 1997 or Pinatubo, Indonesia 1991

6. Weather Hazards
Hurricane Mitch, 1998
Hurricane Katrina, USA 2005
 Boscastle floods, 2004
Flooding in Bangladesh
Summer 2007, UK
Management of the River Mississippi

7. Food and Water Supply

Drought and desertification in the Sahel
Strategies to improve water and food supplies in MEDCs and LEDCs e.g.
Thames Water Marunda Project, Jakarta
Aswan Dam, Egypt
Sustainable farming, Thailand
Water Aid, Ethiopia

8. Pressure on the physical environment

Lake District national park (glaciated scenery)
Peak District national park (limestone scenery)

Managing Change in the Human Environment

9. Population change
China’s One Child Policy
Kerala, India
MEDCs – strategies to encourage more births (e.g. Italy or Japan)
Ageing population (e.g. UK)

10. Rural-urban migration

Sao Paulo, Brazil (problems of favelas and strategies to improve them)
Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

11. Changing towns and cities

Problems of an urban area (e.g. Los Angeles or Inner London)
Inner city redevelopment – London Docklands
Transport solutions e.g. San Francisco

12. Pressures at the rural-urban fringe

Impact of out-of-town shopping centre e.g. Bluewater
Effects of development at rural-urban fringe e.g. Disneyland Paris