deindustrialisation in rural area

deindustrialisation in rural area

1. costs (negetative)

   • many ugly buildings and disused quarries scar the landscape. for example, the extraction of coal in south wales left the area with many nasty heaps which were potentially dangerous.
   • rural communities have been broken up as people move to urban areas for work
   • there are jobs losses in the countryside. for example, many jobs were lost when the sand and gravel mines were closed in Berkshire
   • many old industries contaminated/ polluted the land. if the land is to be used again it would, therefore, have to be decontaminated (cleaned) before building begins. this can be very expensive.
     • for example:
       • cleaning up the 500,000 useable brownfields sites in the USA would cost an estimated $750 billion
       • it costs €5 million to clean up by-products (sulphric acid, ammonium sulphate, tar) from gas works in Hamburg, Germany

2. benefits (positive )

   • fewer factories means there's less air pollution, which could improve the health of the people in the area
   • old industrial buildings are turned into tourist attractions. for example, the Eden project in Cornwall redeveloped a disused china clay pit. this is a benefit because it directly provides jobs for 500 people
   • land is returned to farming. for example, bays leap farm near reading. this creates work and so can improve the quality of life in some rural areas
   • new wildlife habitats are created, which improves the local environment
   • brownfield sites can be used for housing and industrial growth. if the land is not too contaminated it can be cheaper than greenfield land as the infrastructure (roads, power supply is already in place). Penallta Colliery in Wales was converted into a new village.