O-LevelGeographyPopulation and settlement2217/11 · May/June 2011 · Q225 Marks

Section A Answer one question from this section. (a) Study Fig. 2, which shows information about three different shops in a city in an MEDC. [Figure 2.0]

(a)(i)Identify the shop which is likely to have the smallest sphere of influence.[1]
(a)(ii)Compare the frequency of visits to the large supermarket with the frequency of visits to the department store.[2]
(a)(iii)Suggest reasons for the difference in the frequency of visits to the three shops.[3]
(a)(iv)Explain why new retail outlets, like the supermarket in Fig. 2, are located in the rural-urban fringe.[4]
(b)(i)(b) Study Fig. 3, which shows information about the population and number of shops in towns in an MEDC. What relationship exists between the population of towns and the number of shops? Use data from Fig. 3 in your answer.[3]
(b)(ii)In what other ways will the shops and shopping areas in town X differ from those in town Y?[5]
(c)Describe the hierarchy of settlements in a named country or area which you have studied. Country or area ............................................[7]

This question uses a diagram from the original paper, which isn't shown here. Open the full paper from the past papers archive to see it.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

[1] (a) (i) General store/B;
[1] (ii) Ideas such as: People visit supermarket more frequently than department store; Reserve 1.
[1] e.g. over half visit supermarket weekly but almost three quarters visit department store monthly or less;
[1] may also quote figures; etc.
[1] (iii) Ideas such as: people buy low cost items from general store more frequently;
[1] people will use higher order services less frequently/low order more frequently;
[1] people do not need to buy specialist goods (or example) as often as they buy food items;
[1] people will use general store more frequently as they are likely to live close by etc.
[1] (iv) Ideas such as: plenty of space in rural-urban fringe/large amount of open space/room for expansion;
[1] cost of land is low/high cost of land in CBD;
[1] proximity to urban area for large numbers of customers/residents;
[1] and customers can access it from surrounding settlements;
[1] good road connections/easy access;
[1] away from congested area in CBD /less traffic congestion;
[1] greenfield site easier to build on; etc.
[1] (b) (i) Towns with more population have more shops; Reserve 1
[1] e.g. town of 20000 population has 150 shops but town of 250000 has 1800 shops/or two contrasting numbers; however the relationship is not exact/or figures to illustrate anomaly/not perfect correlation;
[1] (ii) Ideas such as: some shops will be bigger in Y;
[1] In Y there will be higher order shops;
[1] selling more specialist items;
[1] there will be more choice of shops selling the same items/comparison goods;
[1] large towns will be more likely to have shops in pedestrianised area/precinct in CBD;
[1] and have out of town retail park/shopping malls;
[1] shops in Y will have larger sphere of influence;
[1] wider variety in Y (shops or goods sold)/more big names/chain stores; etc.
[1-3] (c) Level 1 (1–3 marks) Statements including limited detail describing hierarchy of settlements. (e.g. lots of small settlements than big ones, one big city)
[4-6] Level 2 (4–6 marks) Uses named example. More developed statements describing hierarchy of settlements. (e.g. More small villages than large cities, one big city which is the capital, several large cities within each part of the country etc.) (NB Max 5 if no named example)
[7] Level 3 (7 marks) Uses named example (e.g. UK). More developed statements describing hierarchy of settlements, including some place specific reference. (e.g. More small villages, especially in rural areas like Norfolk, than large cities; one large city, London, which is the capital; several large cities within each part of the country e.g. Norwich, Birmingham, Liverpool etc.)