Areas of Economic Activity 3

7/28/2019 Areas of Economic Activity 3

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Areas of Economic Activity 3

Industry


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Location of Traditional Industry

In the 19th century industry was usually sited

within the city centres.

However after the Industrial Revolution as the

number of industries increased and shops

started to compete for the land industry move

out into inner-city areas.


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The photograph above shows Glasgow just to the west of

the CBD in the late 19th Century. It clearly shows an

industrial city, with many tenement houses near to the

factories for the workers.


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Inner-city areas could provide the large quantity ofunskilled labour needed.

The land was cheaper.

The industries could locate along main lines ofcommunication like canals, road and rail.

Industries could maintain strong links with the citycentre.


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Changes to Industry

Many of the original advantages of living and working in inner

city soon became disadvantages. Many of the large factories built next to canals and railways

closed down. Some have been left empty and derelict while

others have been pulled down leaving large areas of

wasteland (brownfield sites).


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Today many industries tend to move to edge-of-city Greenfieldsites with:

1. good access for transporting and distributingtheir product (e.g. nearby motorways,waterways)

2. lots ofspace for expansion, car parking

3. a large market -- nearby city

4. cheap land

5. less congestion, as in inner city

6. nearby housing for workforce

7. more attractive, quieter and healthier


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Footloose Industry

Many of these industries are said to be footloose becausethey are not tied to raw materials, and have a relativelyfree choice of location.

Modern replacement industries, many of which are high-

tech and electronics related, employ fewer people and areoften located well away from the traditional manufacturingareas.

High-tech industries, needing a highly qualified workforce,may appear footloose, but in practice they tend to locateclose to universities, research establishments, andmotorways.

Examples of footloose industries: 1) Software engineering2) Nanotechnology 3) Pharmaceutical industry 4) Micro-electronics 5) Research institutions


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Business and Science Parks

Many businesses tend to gather together in businessand science parks, in order to work together, shareideas and R&D. (Usually over 70% of the land inbusiness parks is left under grass and trees orconverted into ornamental gardens and lakes).

By locating near to each other, high-tech firms have theadvantage of being able to exchange ideas andinformation with neighbouring companies, sharingmaintenance and support services, sharing basic

amenities such as connecting roads, and building up apool of highly skilled, increasingly female labour.


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Inner-city Revival

They also build in inner-cities (Brownfield sites),and places where lots of people are unemployed- if the government provides subsidies, taxincentives, etc.

Attempts to regenerate industry in inner-cityareas have been done through initiatives such as

- Enterprise Zones and

- Urban Development Corporations

- Urban redevelopment in old industrial areas- Planned industrial estates near ports and major

transport terminuses.


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Documents

Areas of Economic Activity 3