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New
New
Year 11
AQA

Social and economic changes in the rural landscape

I can assess the impacts of rural population growth and decline.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 11
AQA

Social and economic changes in the rural landscape

I can assess the impacts of rural population growth and decline.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The rural landscape in the UK has experienced social and economic change.
  2. The rural landscape in South Cambridgeshire has experienced social and economic changes due to population growth.
  3. The rural landscape in Gwynedd has experienced social and economic changes due to population decline.

Keywords

  • Counter-urbanisation - the movement of people to rural areas from urban ones

  • Natural increase - the growth of the population through its rise in birth rate and/or decline in death rate

  • Greenbelt - green space around cities for which there are strict planning controls to preserve natural spaces and prevent urban sprawl

  • Commuter - someone who lives a distance from where they work and has to regularly travel between the two locations

Common misconception

Everyone living in a rural area will have a higher standard of living.

While retirees moving into a rural area may be able to live comfortably, local people may experience a stagnation in employment opportunities and not be able to afford to live where they grew up.


To help you plan your year 11 geography lesson on: Social and economic changes in the rural landscape, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Discussing population growth and decline provides opportunities for students to practise calculating percentage increase and decrease from raw data.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does rural mean?
Correct answer: places that are in the countryside, outside built-up area
places that are in cities and towns, within built-up areas
places in the south of the UK
Q2.
What does urban mean?
Correct answer: places that are in cities and towns, within built-up areas
places that are unused or derelict
the decline of manufacturing within a country
Q3.
Who do you think is most likely to live in an urban area?
Correct answer: people aged 20-29
people aged 50-59
people aged 70-79
Q4.
What is migration?
Correct answer: the movement of people within a country or between countries
the movement of people to a new country
the growth of the population through its rise in birth rate
Q5.
What is a commuter?
Correct answer: someone who has to travel from where they live to where they work
someone who has moved to a new area
someone who has come to live in an urban area
Q6.
Match the sector with its definition.
Correct Answer:primary sector,the production or extraction of raw materials
tick

the production or extraction of raw materials

Correct Answer:secondary sector,the manufacture of goods, e.g. cloth from cotton
tick

the manufacture of goods, e.g. cloth from cotton

Correct Answer:tertiary sector,providing services to people, e.g. a doctor
tick

providing services to people, e.g. a doctor

Correct Answer:quaternary sector,knowledge-based industries or high-tech industries
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knowledge-based industries or high-tech industries

4 Questions

Q1.
areas tend to be towns and cities, with large population density and limited open, green spaces.
Correct Answer: Urban
Q2.
areas tend to have a small population density and large proportion of open, green spaces.
Correct Answer: Rural
Q3.
Match the lesson's key words with their definitions.
Correct Answer:counter-urbanisation,the movement of people to rural areas from urban ones
tick

the movement of people to rural areas from urban ones

Correct Answer:natural increase,growth of the population due to increased birth rate
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growth of the population due to increased birth rate

Correct Answer:greenbelt, space around cities for which there are strict planning controls
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space around cities for which there are strict planning controls

Correct Answer:commuter,someone that has to travel to work regularly
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someone that has to travel to work regularly

Q4.
Match the impact of rural population growth.
Correct Answer:Positive economic impact,shops and services benefit from increased footfall
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shops and services benefit from increased footfall

Correct Answer:Negative economic impact,competition for houses raises prices making them unaffordable
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competition for houses raises prices making them unaffordable

Correct Answer:Positive social impact,opportunity for more diversity in the community
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opportunity for more diversity in the community

Correct Answer:Negative social impact,potential for poor community cohesion between locals and newcomers
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potential for poor community cohesion between locals and newcomers