Edexcel GCSE Geography B (1GB0) · Geographical Investigations: UK Challenges
Mini-Lesson
Investigations: UK Challenges
This mini-lesson covers the UK's evolving human & physical landscape and its challenges: how the UK's economy and population have changed, the rural–urban continuum, the UK's growing resource consumption (water and energy), and the challenges these bring.
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go (multiple-choice, numeric, short-answer and games) and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start.
Evolving human landscape
The UK's changing economy
The UK's economy has shifted from making things to providing services:
Deindustrialisation — the decline of manufacturing (mining, steel, shipbuilding) since the 1970s, causing job losses in old industrial areas.
Rise of services & the quaternary sector — growth of finance, retail, IT and research (e.g. London, tech in Cambridge).
Globalisation — TNCs and cheaper labour abroad moved manufacturing overseas.
Key idea: the UK's workforce has moved from the secondary (manufacturing) sector into the tertiary (services) and quaternary (knowledge) sectors.
Evolving human landscape
The rural–urban continuum
The UK's population is unevenly spread, along a rural–urban continuum from remote countryside to dense city:
Growing city regions (the "core", e.g. London and the South-East) attract people and investment.
Remote rural areas (the "periphery", e.g. parts of Scotland and Wales) can face depopulation, an ageing population and fewer services.
Counter-urbanisation — some people move out of cities to commuter villages and the countryside.
Quick check
Understanding the change
?What is deindustrialisation?
Resource consumption
The UK's water: supply and demand
The UK's demand for water keeps rising (bigger population, more appliances), but supply is uneven:
The wet north and west have plenty of rainfall — a water surplus.
The drier, crowded south and east (where most people live) can face a water deficit and even drought.
Water transfer schemes move water from surplus to deficit areas (e.g. via reservoirs and pipelines).
The mismatch: the UK's water is in the wrong place — most rain falls in the north-west, but most people (and demand) are in the south-east.
Match it
Match the term to its meaning
Tap a term on the left, then tap its correct description on the right.
Resource consumption
The UK's changing energy mix
The UK's energy mix is changing as it tackles climate change and declining North Sea supplies:
Falling use of coal (now almost phased out) and declining North Sea oil & gas.
Rising use of renewables — especially wind (onshore and offshore), plus solar and biomass.
Ongoing debate over nuclear power (low-carbon but costly and produces waste) and importing energy.
The challenge: the UK must keep the lights on and cut carbon at the same time — balancing cost, security of supply and the environment.
Sort it
Renewable or non-renewable?
Tap the correct type for each energy source.
Number check
Working out a percentage
🔢A power grid supplies 200 units of electricity, of which 50 units come from renewables. What percentage is renewable?
%
Percentage = (renewable ÷ total) × 100.
UK challenges
The UK's challenges — and responses
These changes leave the UK facing linked challenges:
Regional inequality — the "north–south divide" in wealth and opportunity.
Housing pressure and demand for building on greenfield/brownfield land.
Meeting rising resource demand sustainably — saving water, and cutting carbon while keeping energy secure.
Responses include water metering and efficiency, renewable energy, brownfield redevelopment, and regeneration schemes to rebalance the economy.
Explain it
Your turn — managing resources
✎Explain one way the UK can meet rising demand for water or energy more sustainably, and give its benefit.
Model answer (example)
The UK can build more offshore wind farms to generate low-carbon electricity.
This replaces fossil fuels, cutting CO₂ emissions and helping the UK meet its climate targets.
The benefit is a more secure, cleaner energy supply for the future (an alternative answer could be water metering to reduce demand).
Quick check
The UK's water mismatch
?Why does south-east England risk a water deficit, even though the UK is often rainy?