Urban Issues and ChallengesMemory Aid

Memory Aid: TRAFFIC

Part of Urban Sustainability and MegacitiesGCSE Geography

This memory aid covers Memory Aid: TRAFFIC within Urban Sustainability and Megacities for GCSE Geography. Revise Urban Sustainability and Megacities in Urban Issues and Challenges for GCSE Geography with 15 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 11 of 14 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.

Topic position

Section 11 of 14

Practice

15 questions

Recall

20 flashcards

🧠 Memory Aid: TRAFFIC

Use the acronym TRAFFIC to remember the key challenges facing megacities. Each letter gives you a topic to write about in an exam answer:

  • T — Traffic congestion (Mumbai: 10 km/h; Dhaka: 7 km/h — costs Bangladesh 3% of GDP annually)
  • R — Resources under strain (water, electricity, food systems overwhelmed by rapid growth)
  • A — Air pollution (Mumbai PM2.5 levels 5× WHO limit; 7 million deaths/year globally from urban air pollution)
  • F — Flooding and environmental risk (Dhaka: 70% below 6m sea level; Mumbai 2005: 944mm in 24 hours)
  • F — Finances and informal economy (60% of LIC urban workers in informal economy without legal protections)
  • I — Informal settlements / Infrastructure gap (1 billion people in informal settlements globally; infrastructure always lags population)
  • C — Congestion of services (schools, hospitals, waste collection overwhelmed — Dhaka generates 35,000 tonnes waste/day)
  • For case study data, use this quick memory frame:

  • Mumbai numbers to know: 21.4m population | 6.6% of India's GDP | Dharavi: 1m people in 2.4km² | £1bn Dharavi economy | 15,000 factories | 10 km/h traffic | 944mm rain July 2005 | Metro Line 3: 33.5km
  • Dhaka numbers to know: 22.5m population | 300,000 new arrivals/year | 40% in bastis | 7 km/h traffic | 35,000 tonnes waste/day | Rana Plaza 2013: 1,134 dead | BRAC: 100m people reached
  • Global facts: 37 megacities in 2024 | 90% of growth in LICs/NEEs | 1 billion in informal settlements | 2050: Africa's urban population triples
  • Keep building this topic

    Read this section alongside the surrounding pages in Urban Sustainability and Megacities. That gives you the full topic sequence instead of a single isolated revision point.

    Practice Questions for Urban Sustainability and Megacities

    What is the minimum population required for a city to be classified as a megacity?

    • A. 1 million people
    • B. 5 million people
    • C. 10 million people
    • D. 20 million people
    1 markfoundation

    Describe two features of a sustainable city.

    2 marksstandard

    Quick Recall Flashcards

    What does urban sustainability mean?
    Improving city life without creating bigger future social, economic or environmental problems.
    What three dimensions of sustainability should students remember?
    Social, economic and environmental.

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