How and Why Places Vary

This lesson introduces the concept of place and explores how and why places differ in their economic, social, demographic and cultural characteristics. It forms the foundation for the Edexcel A-Level Geography Paper 2 (9GE0) Topic 4A: Regenerating Places, addressing the Enquiry Question: "How and why do places vary?"

Understanding place variation is essential before we can analyse why some places need regeneration and what form that regeneration should take. Places are not simply dots on a map — they are complex, layered environments shaped by economic processes, social structures, political decisions and individual lived experiences.

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Defining 'Place'

In geography, place is more than a location. It encompasses the physical environment, the human activities that occur there, the meanings people attach to it, and the way it is represented and perceived.

Concept	Definition	Example
Location	The position of a place on the Earth's surface (coordinates, address)	51.5074° N, 0.1278° W (London)
Locale	The physical setting in which social relations and interactions occur — the built and natural environment	A high street with shops, a park, a housing estate
Sense of place	The subjective, emotional and experiential meanings people attach to a place	A feeling of belonging in a childhood neighbourhood
Place identity	The distinctive character of a place, shaped by its history, culture, economy and people	Sheffield as "Steel City", Liverpool as a maritime and cultural hub

Geographers distinguish between different scales of place:

• Micro-scale: A street, a building, a park
• Meso-scale: A neighbourhood, a town centre, a rural parish
• Macro-scale: A city, a region, a nation

Exam Tip: When writing about place, always specify the scale you are discussing. Examiners reward candidates who show awareness that processes operating at different scales produce different outcomes. A neighbourhood within a prosperous city can still experience severe deprivation.

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Economic Activity Classification

One of the most fundamental ways places vary is in their economic structure — the types of work people do. Economic activity is classified into four sectors:

graph TD
    A[Economic Activity] --> B[Primary Sector]
    A --> C[Secondary Sector]
    A --> D[Tertiary Sector]
    A --> E[Quaternary Sector]
    B --> B1[Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry]
    C --> C1[Manufacturing, construction, processing]
    D --> D1[Services: retail, healthcare, education, finance]
    E --> E1[Knowledge economy: R&D, IT, consultancy, media]

Primary Sector

The primary sector involves the extraction of raw materials directly from the natural environment. This includes agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying.

• In the UK, the primary sector accounts for only around 0.6% of GDP and employs less than 1.5% of the workforce (ONS, 2023).
• However, in some rural areas, primary sector employment remains far higher. In parts of Highland Scotland, agriculture and forestry can account for 10–15% of local employment.
• Globally, many low-income countries (LICs) remain heavily dependent on primary sector activity. In Burundi, over 80% of the workforce is employed in agriculture.

Secondary Sector

The secondary sector involves the processing and manufacturing of raw materials into finished products. It also includes construction.

• The UK's secondary sector accounts for approximately 18% of GDP and 15% of employment.
• Historically, many UK places were defined by their manufacturing specialisms: Sheffield (steel and cutlery), Stoke-on-Trent (pottery), Manchester (cotton textiles), Birmingham (engineering and car manufacturing).
• Deindustrialisation since the 1970s has dramatically reduced secondary sector employment in these places, with profound social and economic consequences.

Tertiary Sector

The tertiary sector encompasses services — everything from retail, hospitality and healthcare to education, transport and financial services.

• The UK is a service-dominated economy: the tertiary sector accounts for approximately 80% of GDP and a similar proportion of employment.
• Service sector employment is highly concentrated in London and the South East, particularly high-value financial and professional services.
• Many former industrial towns have seen growth in low-paid service work (retail, care, hospitality) replacing better-paid manufacturing jobs — a process sometimes called the "hourglass economy".

Quaternary Sector

The quaternary sector involves knowledge-based activities: research and development (R&D), information technology, consultancy, biotechnology and the creative industries.

• This sector is growing rapidly but is highly concentrated geographically — clustered around university cities (Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh) and London.
• The quaternary sector offers the highest wages but requires high levels of education and skills, contributing to spatial inequality.

Exam Tip: Be prepared to explain how the Clark-Fisher model describes the shift from primary to secondary to tertiary/quaternary dominance as economies develop. Link this to specific UK places that have experienced these transitions.

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Employment Structures and How They Vary

Employment structure varies enormously between places within the UK. These variations reflect historical legacies, geographic advantages, government policy and demographic factors.

Place	Primary (%)	Secondary (%)	Tertiary (%)	Quaternary (%)	Key Features
City of London	<0.1	2	60	38	Global financial centre; highest wages in UK
Sheffield	0.5	14	72	13.5	Former steel city; transitioning to services and advanced manufacturing
Cornwall	5	12	76	7	Tourism, agriculture, fishing; lower wages; seasonal employment
Highland Scotland	12	10	68	10	Dispersed rural population; agriculture, forestry, tourism, energy
Sunderland	0.3	18	72	9.7	Former coal and shipbuilding; Nissan plant; lower-paid services

These differences in employment structure have direct implications for:

• Average incomes: Places dominated by quaternary and high-value tertiary employment (London, Cambridge) have significantly higher average incomes.
• Unemployment rates: Former industrial areas often have higher unemployment, particularly among older workers whose skills do not match new economic demands.
• Types of employment: The distinction between full-time, permanent, well-paid work and part-time, zero-hours, seasonal, low-paid work is crucial. Two places may have similar headline employment rates but vastly different quality of employment.

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Measuring Deprivation: The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is the official measure of relative deprivation for small areas (Lower-layer Super Output Areas, or LSOAs) in England. Each LSOA contains approximately 1,500 people. The most recent IMD was published in 2019 (with data updated periodically).

The IMD combines seven weighted domains:

Domain	Weight	What It Measures
Income deprivation	22.5%	Proportion of population experiencing income deprivation (benefits claimants, low income)
Employment deprivation	22.5%	Proportion of working-age population involuntarily excluded from the labour market
Education, skills & training	13.5%	Attainment and skills among children and working-age adults
Health deprivation & disability	13.5%	Risk of premature death, illness, disability
Crime	9.3%	Recorded crime rates (violence, burglary, theft, criminal damage)
Barriers to housing & services	9.3%	Physical and financial accessibility of housing and local services
Living environment	9.3%	Quality of indoor and outdoor environment (housing condition, air quality, road accidents)

Key IMD Findings

• The most deprived LSOAs in England are concentrated in post-industrial cities of the North, Midlands and coastal towns: Blackpool, Burnley, Middlesbrough, Knowsley (Merseyside), parts of inner-city Birmingham and Manchester.
• Blackpool contains five of the ten most deprived LSOAs in England — more than any other local authority.
• Deprivation is not exclusively urban: rural areas can also be deprived, though rural deprivation is often hidden by lower population densities and is characterised by poor access to services rather than low income alone.
• London presents a paradox: it contains both some of the wealthiest and some of the most deprived areas in England, often in close proximity (e.g. Kensington and North Kensington).

Exam Tip: The IMD is a powerful tool for analysing place variation, but always acknowledge its limitations. It measures relative deprivation (ranking areas against each other), not absolute poverty. It uses LSOA boundaries that may not align with how residents perceive their neighbourhood. And it is England-only — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own indices.

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Social Factors That Make Places Vary

Age Structure

The age profile of a place profoundly shapes its character, services and economic activity.

• Coastal retirement towns (e.g. Eastbourne, Bexhill, Llandudno) have disproportionately high proportions of over-65s, creating demand for healthcare, leisure and retirement services but lower demand for schools and employment.
• University cities (e.g. Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield) have large populations of 18–24 year olds, supporting a night-time economy, student housing market and cultural vibrancy.
• Suburban new-build estates tend to attract young families, driving demand for schools, childcare and family-oriented retail.

Ethnicity and Cultural Diversity

The ethnic composition of places varies enormously within the UK:

• London is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world: in the 2021 Census, 37% of London's population identified as white British, compared to 74% for England and Wales as a whole.
• Leicester is believed to be the first UK city where white British residents are a minority (approximately 43% in 2021).
• Rural areas tend to be far less ethnically diverse: in many rural LSOAs in Devon, Cumbria or rural Wales, over 95% of residents identify as white British.

Ethnic diversity influences place character through the food, shops, places of worship, festivals and cultural practices that different communities bring. The Curry Mile in Manchester's Rusholme or Brick Lane in London's Tower Hamlets are examples of how ethnic diversity shapes place identity.

Education and Skills

Educational attainment varies significantly between places and is closely correlated with deprivation:

• In Knowsley (Merseyside), only 21% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, compared to 56% in Wandsworth (London).
• Areas with low educational attainment tend to have lower average incomes, higher unemployment and poorer health outcomes.
• The presence of a university can transform a place's educational profile, but the benefits may not spread evenly — graduates often leave for employment in London or other major cities ("brain drain").

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Quality of Life Measures

Quality of life is a broader concept than economic prosperity alone. It encompasses health, wellbeing, environmental quality, safety, community cohesion and life satisfaction.

Quantitative Measures

Indicator	What It Measures	Data Source
Life expectancy	Average number of years a person can expect to live	ONS
Healthy life expectancy	Years of life lived in good health	ONS
GCSE attainment	Educational performance at age 16	Department for Education
Median household income	Middle value of household incomes	ONS
Crime rate	Recorded crimes per 1,000 population	Home Office
Air quality	Levels of NO₂, PM2.5 and other pollutants	DEFRA
Green space access	Proportion of population within 300m of green space	Natural England

The Health Divide

Health outcomes reveal stark place-based inequalities:

• Male life expectancy in Kensington and Chelsea (London) is 83.3 years. In Blackpool it is 74.4 years — a gap of nearly 9 years.
• Healthy life expectancy varies even more dramatically. In Richmond upon Thames, a male can expect 70 years in good health. In Manchester, the figure is 55 years — a gap of 15 years.
• These differences are linked to deprivation, lifestyle factors (smoking, diet, alcohol), access to healthcare, environmental quality and employment conditions.

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Lived Experience vs Perception

A critical distinction in the study of place is between lived experience (the reality of daily life for residents) and perception (how a place is viewed by outsiders or represented in media, statistics and official data).

Lived Experience

Lived experience refers to the day-to-day reality of inhabiting a place — the routines, social networks, sense of safety, quality of services, employment opportunities and emotional attachments that residents experience.

• A long-term resident of a council estate in Salford may experience a strong sense of community, mutual support and local pride — while outsiders perceive the area as deprived and dangerous.
• A farmer in the Lake District may experience isolation, poor broadband connectivity, limited healthcare access and economic uncertainty — while tourists perceive only beauty and tranquillity.

Perception and Representation

Perception is shaped by media representations, cultural products (film, literature, music), statistics and personal biases:

• Media portrayal: Areas like Moss Side (Manchester) or Tottenham (London) have been repeatedly associated with crime and riots in media coverage, creating negative perceptions that persist long after conditions have changed.
• Statistical representation: The IMD data may classify an area as "deprived" when many residents feel their quality of life is good.
• Cultural representation: Liverpool has been represented in contrasting ways — from negative stereotypes ("Scouse" stereotypes in 1980s media) to positive cultural celebration (Beatles heritage, European Capital of Culture 2008).

graph TD
    A[How a Place is Known] --> B[Lived Experience]
    A --> C[External Perception]
    B --> B1[Daily routines and interactions]
    B --> B2[Social networks and community]
    B --> B3[Emotional attachment and belonging]
    C --> C1[Media representations]
    C --> C2[Statistical data and indices]
    C --> C3[Cultural products: film, literature, music]
    C --> C4[Personal visits and word of mouth]

Exam Tip: Edexcel examiners reward candidates who discuss the gap between lived experience and external perception. Always ask: "Who is defining this place, and from what perspective?" This is a key evaluative point for 12-mark and 20-mark questions.

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Factors That Create Place Variation: A Summary

Place variation is the product of multiple interconnected factors operating at different scales:

Factor	How It Creates Variation	Example
Physical geography	Climate, relief, soils and natural resources shape economic potential	Cornwall's mild climate supports tourism; South Wales coalfields drove industrialisation
Historical legacy	Past industries, events and investments shape present character	Sheffield's steel heritage; Liverpool's maritime history
Economic structure	The mix of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary employment	London vs Burnley
Government policy	Investment decisions, planning policy, welfare provision	Enterprise Zones, infrastructure spending
Demographic change	Migration, ageing, urbanisation, counter-urbanisation	London's diversity; coastal retirement migration
Globalisation	International competition, FDI, cultural flows	Deindustrialisation caused by cheaper overseas production
Technology	Digital connectivity, automation, transport links	Cambridge tech cluster; rural broadband gaps
Culture and identity	Heritage, arts, community practices, traditions	Notting Hill Carnival; Durham Miners' Gala

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Key Terminology

Term	Definition
Place	A location with physical and human characteristics to which people attach meaning
Sense of place	The subjective feelings and perceptions associated with a place
IMD	Index of Multiple Deprivation — composite measure of relative deprivation for English LSOAs
LSOA	Lower-layer Super Output Area — a small geographic area used for statistical analysis (~1,500 people)
Deindustrialisation	The decline of manufacturing industry in an economy
Quaternary sector	Knowledge-based economic activities: R&D, IT, consultancy
Lived experience	The day-to-day reality of inhabiting a place, as understood by residents
Perception	How a place is understood or represented by outsiders or through media/data
Clark-Fisher model	Model describing the shift in employment structure from primary to tertiary as economies develop

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Summary

Places vary because of the complex interaction of physical geography, historical legacy, economic structure, demographic characteristics, government policy and cultural factors. Understanding this variation requires both quantitative data (IMD, employment statistics, health data) and qualitative understanding (lived experience, perception, representation). This dual perspective is fundamental to the study of regeneration — you cannot understand why regeneration is needed, or assess whether it succeeds, without understanding how places vary and how that variation is experienced and perceived by different groups.

Exam Tip: In essay questions, always link quantitative evidence (statistics, data) with qualitative understanding (how places are experienced and perceived). This shows the examiner you understand the complexity of place and avoids the trap of reducing places to numbers alone.