NSW Year 7 Geography 2. Influences and Perceptions

1. Topic 2 – Place and Liveability Sub-Topic 1 – Influences and Perceptions

2. Before we start Main focus • There are a number of factors that influence the choices we make about where we would like to live. Why it’s relevant to us • All places need to be liveable and governments need to plan for the needs of their community. Inquiry questions • What is liveability? • What types of factors influence where people live? • Why do people live where they do? • Where would you like to live?

3. Let’s begin • A range of environmental and human factors will influence our decision on where we live, such as climate, landforms, natural resources, culture, income, employment, crime and safety. • Where we choose to live is very personal and there are factors that influence this decision within our control, but there may be others that we have very little control of. • For example, we may like the idea of living near a surf beach, but our work may be in a major city, well away from the coast.

4. 1.Place and Liveability…Place • A place can range in size from a comfortable chair in a room to a national park, to a country or to the whole world. • It can be a natural feature, such as an old-growth forest, or a human construction, such as a house. • It could also be a place where natural and human features and human constructions interconnect, such as a farm.

5. Place • In geography we use the geographical concept of space to better understand where, how and why places are located and connected over the Earth’s surface. • As we move, or send something, from one place to another place, we are using our understanding of space. • For example, the form of transport you use and the route you take to go from your home to school is informed by your understanding of how they are connected across space. • Often maps are used to show the location, distribution and reasons for the pattern of places over space.

6. Place For example, this is a political map of Europe showing territorial boundaries between countries. Maps, such as this political map of Europe, show us the distribution and location of places.

7. Place • How we connect and identify with a place depends on our personal perception of that place and why it is important to us, our people and our future. • Perception can differ depending on a number of factors including our environmental worldview, age, cultural background, and place of employment.

8. Copy the graphic organiser and identify and describe the places you and other students find important. Write down the chosen place Describe the chosen place 1st reason why the place is important to you 2nd reason why the place is important to you 3rd reason why the place is important to you Discuss with the class any common reasons you found for why places are important.

9. Liveability • How do people decide where they would like to live? There are a number of factors that influence a person’s perception of the liveability of a place. • In this topic we will begin by looking at how people’s perceptions of liveability are influenced by both environmental and human factors.

10. In small groups, reflect for a moment on what it is that you think attracts people to where they live or wish to live. The following list of features will help start this process:

11. Potential answers… • the people are friendly • it’s quiet and peaceful • the shops and cafes are good • there are plenty of sports facilities • it’s easy to get around • the houses look awesome • it’s safe • people speak many languages • there’s no violence • feel at home

12. 2. Environmental factors that influence perceptions of liveability • The environment of a place contributes a great deal to peoples’ perceptions of its liveability. • According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australians are becoming increasingly concerned about the quality of our environment. • Environmental quality impacts our wellbeing, and we are taking more notice of air quality, water, biodiversity and land quality.

13. Environmental factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Climate The climate of a location has a definite impact on a person’s perception of place. This can be seen in the movement of people from one location to another to live. The most common movement is from one capital city to another – though this is often linked to economic needs including employment and housing prices. However, one example of the way that people sometimes move for reasons of climate in Australia is the movement of people from southern states to live in northern Queensland to enjoy the warmer weather year-round. According to the Queensland government’s recent ‘Population growth, highlights and trends: 2015 study’, Queensland is the only state in Australia to have had internal migration growth every year since 1981. In fact, the biggest number of people to move interstate to Queensland in 2013–14 was 4260 from New South Wales. The Queensland government often mentions the state’s famously warm climate in tourism campaigns, such as the ‘Beautiful one day: perfect the next’ slogan.

16. Environmental factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Landforms • As well as the appeal of a change in climate, distinctive landforms can be one type of natural feature that can attract people to a certain location. • This is largely because the appearance of a place can also play a large role in shaping perceptions of liveability. • For example, Cape Town in South Africa is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world. • Cape Town is surrounded by impressive landforms, including mountains and sandy flats, and has over 307 km of coastline. • The city is the centre of the Cape Floral Kingdom, one of the world’s six ‘floral kingdoms’, and has over 9000 different plant species. • Cape Town itself is reported to have over 3000 plant species. The city also has large areas of national parks and reserves.

18. Environmental factors that influence perceptions of liveability – Natural Resources • A major concern for geographers is the sustainability, or maintenance, of Earth’s environmental resources, especially those that support human life. • Environmental resources are natural resources that have originated directly from the biophysical environment, such as water. Other examples include soil, wood, fish, minerals and fossil fuels. • We will soon consider how natural resources affect perceptions of liveability, but first we must understand how different types of natural resources are classified.

25. 3. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability • Before we continue with this topic, it is useful to pause and consider your own personal choices regarding liveability. • What do you think is the most important factor for where you choose to live? And is your own personal set of liveability criteria the same as someone else’s?

26. 3. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability

27. 3. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability • Next we will consider how human factors influence people’s perceptions about the liveability of a place. • We will begin by looking at how liveability is influenced by culture, income and employment, and crime and safety.

28. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Culture • Culture influences how people connect to a place, and their perspective. • The Australian population is made up of many different cultural groups, and is known to be one of the most multicultural societies in the world. • Throughout our history, Australia has been subject to immigration from all corners of the world. • From the invasion of Europeans that first established towns and cities, to the arrival of Chinese workers attracted by the gold rushes of the nineteenth century, to the mass international migration of eastern Europeans after World War II, to an influx of southeast Asian people during and after the Vietnam War, modern Australia has been built on the back of immigration.

30. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Culture • When migrants come to Australia, many of them congregate and live in areas or suburbs where other migrants from their country live. • There are a number of examples of how migrants have influenced the culture of an area. • In Harris Park in Sydney, 43% of the population were born in India. • In Perth, 43% of the residents of Jindalee were born in Britain. • In Adelaide, the suburb of Hectorville has 16% of its population born in Italy. • Pacific Pines and Upper Coomera on the Gold Coast in Queensland have 15% of their residents born in New Zealand.

31. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Culture • When large concentrations of people from the same nationalities and cultures live in an area, they tend to have an impact on the built environment. • For example, in the western Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, 35% of the population were born in Vietnam. • As a result of this, there have been changes in the built environment that reflect their culture, such as mall gates, which reflect and symbolise Vietnamese heritage and beliefs. • Similarly, there are many specialty shops in Cabramatta such as grocery stores, bakeries, seafood stores and spice stores that cater to the Vietnamese community. • Overall, these examples show that belonging to a cultural group can actually influence people’s perceptions on the liveability of a place.

32. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Income and employment • People’s economic status, including their level of income and type of employment, also dictates the locations in which they can choose to live. • The higher your income, for example, the more choice you will have in selecting where you live. • A higher average income in a location generally indicates that the area is wealthier. • A higher average income indicates that house prices are high and that predominantly wealthy people and families can afford to live there.

33. These figures from the 2011 Census illustrate the division that exists between income levels and the state that people live in. This in turn influences the nature of the place and who lives there. For example, people seeking higher incomes are more likely to move to a wealthy city like Sydney or Melbourne, where the potential for a higher salary is greater.

35. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Income and employment • Mining activity in Western Australia and Queensland has driven an economic boom in those states, boosted by a high international demand for resources. • The need for skilled workers in certain remote locations encourages some people to move to these areas, with an expectation of attractive wages and reasonably secure employment.

36. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Crime and safety The crime rate • The crime rate contributes to our sense of safety, and can therefore have an impact on the perceived liveability of a place. • Generally speaking, Australian cities have an average level of crime compared to the rest of the world. • The crime rate of a place is also greatly influenced by the socio-economic conditions of its residents. • For example, some parts of Sydney have 10 times the crime rate of other areas of Sydney. • However, at times the crime rate can be higher in rural and remote areas in Australia compared to the urban areas.

39. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Crime and safety Safety • People’s perception of their personal and public safety is an important part of liveability. • Perception of safety is influenced by actual or perceived rates of injury or death, such as assault, motor vehicle accidents, damage to property or theft. • However, perception of crime can often be worse than the actual crime rate and that can be simply due to how a person feels in their environment. • Antisocial behaviour such as noisy neighbours, fighting, drunkenness, swearing or offensive behaviour can also make a person not feel safe.

40. Human factors that influence perceptions of liveability - Crime and safety Safety • Initiatives to increase a sense of wellbeing and safety in a place are therefore important. • For example, to increase pedestrian safety, public transport areas can have pedestrian crossings, excellent lighting and signage that clearly indicates in which direction traffic (whether it be road or pedestrian) should be moving. • In Australia, on a state and territory level, the Northern Territory is perceived as the least safe to travel on public transport and the Australian Capital Territory is perceived as the safest. • By this single criterion, you could assume the ACT is more liveable than NT; however, this would not be a fair assumption.

43. 4. Measuring the liveability of places • There are several ways that the perceived liveability of cities around the world is measured or ranked. • We will now look at a few methods, beginning with surveys.

44. 4. Measuring the liveability of places - Surveys • Australia has four cities included in the rankings of The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Liveability Survey. • The EIU’s 2011 to 2015 surveys placed Melbourne at the top of their lists for these five consecutive years.

45. 4. Measuring the liveability of places - Surveys • The EIU give cities a liveability score out of 100 with 100 being ‘ideal’ and 1 or 0 ‘intolerable’. • There are five categories that the EIU measure: stability (essentially crime and conflict), health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. • Each city is awarded a score out of 100 for each, which is then averaged for a final score of 100. • The cities are also ranked. • In the table on the following slides you can see the top 10 and the bottom 10 cities in the world according to the EIU.

48. 4. Measuring the liveability of places – the liveability index • Urbanisation, the gradual relocation of people into big towns and cities, is occurring in countries all over the world, and has taken on new momentum with the rapid growth of economies in Asia. • New patterns of urbanisation that are emerging tell us much about the future course of economic activity in the world, including the shifts in the global distribution of power and wealth. • The Global Cities Index (GCI) released in 2008, 2010 and 2012 is a liveability index that assessed these urbanisation trends against five key indicators: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement (according to the 2013 report of AT Kearney, a global management consulting firm). • The report also evaluated each city’s future political importance and influence in the surrounding region, based on urban connections or close alliances between cities.

49. 4. Measuring the liveability of places – the liveability index • This means that combined with its historical connections, sources of wealth, cultural beliefs and political leadership, a city’s geographical location can have influence over large areas or nations that are not always local. • These regions are worth considering for improving our understanding of this urban growth phenomenon.