Geography Chapter 1: Factors Affecting Location of Industries

Chapter 1: Factors Affecting Location of Manufacturing Industries

• Industry classification: Primary (extraction of raw materials), Secondary (manufacturing of raw materials into products), and Tertiary (providing services to people)
• Manufacturing: The process of turning raw materials into semi-finished or finished goods, involving input, output, and process
• Manufacturing Industries: Classified into Light Industry (e.g., clock and watch, electronics, textile) and Heavy Industry (e.g., shipbuilding, car-making, iron and steel)
• Terms:
  • Heavy Industry: uses heavy materials, produces heavy products
  • Light Industry: uses light materials, produces light products
  • Labour-Intensive: requires much labour
  • Capital-Intensive: requires much capital
  • Low-Technology: little investment in R&D, traditional ways of production
  • High-Technology: much investment in R&D, advanced technology used
  • Agglomeration: benefits of industries locating near each other
  • Industrial Inertia: tendency to stay in one location despite better alternatives

Human Factors Affecting Location of Industries

• Land: needs a lot of land for storage and production, low cost and large land reduce production costs
• Raw Materials: proximity to raw materials reduces production costs
• Power: consumes a lot of energy, inexpensive power supply reduces production costs
• Labour: some industries need professionals, abundant cheap labour reduces production costs
• Market: finished products are bulky, fragile, or perishable, weight of finished product > Raw Material -> Weight-gain industry
• Transport: transport cost increases with distance from market, efficient transport system -> low cost, factories prefer locating near railway/sea facilities
• Technology:
  • Transport Development: reduces transport costs, no need to locate near raw materials
  • Machinery: reduces demand for labour, increases efficiency for labour
  • New Technology in Food Preservation: reduces tendency to locate near urban centres, reduces land rental costs
  • Telecommunications on Internet: promotes faster flow of information, encourages globalisation
• Agglomeration: benefits of industries locating near each other, increases labour supply, reduces transport costs, and availability of supporting services and infrastructure
• Historical Factors: industrial inertia, too large and expensive to move
• Government Policies: tax benefits, low rent, better infrastructure, favourable population policy, less stringent pollution controls
• Human Desires: personal preference, non-economic goals

Chapter 4: Rise of IT - A New Mode of Production

• Definition of IT Industry: high-tech industry, produces computer and telecommunication-related products and services, involves a wide range of industries
• Characteristics of IT Industry: Research and Development-intensive, Capital-intensive, Short product life cycle
• Stages of IT Production:
  • Stage I: Inputs (capital, technology, high-tech equipment, skilled and unskilled labour, raw materials, power)
  • Stage II: Processes (R&D, design, manufacturing, assembly, packaging)
  • Stage III: Outputs (IT products)
  • Stage IV: Market
  • Stage V: Income
• Why is R&D Costly?: companies spend a lot on high-tech laboratories, high-tech equipment, professional labour, and it takes a long time to reach a technological breakthrough
• USA IT Industry:
  • Location: dispersed pattern, suburban areas of metropolis
  • Silicon Valley: located in the Southern part of San Francisco Bay, specialises in R&D, contributes to economic growth
• Factors favouring the growth of IT Industry in Silicon Valley:
  • Strong industry-university interactions
  • Labour: abundant supply of well-educated labour
  • Capital: abundant capital from venture capitalists
  • Economies of agglomeration: good reputation, reduce ads cost, well-developed infrastructure and transport, availability of ancillary services
  • Market: growing local and overseas market -> profit
  • Good living environment: low building height, low building density, large green areas, good air quality

Chapter 5: Impacts of Changing Industrial Location and Production Modes

• Impacts of Factories Moving In:
  • Urban and economic growth
  • Transfer of technology and knowledge
  • Labour exploitation: low wages, long working hours, child labour, no social security or labour unions
  • Air pollution: burning of fossil fuels, air pollutants, lower air quality, smog, acid rain
  • Water pollution: discharge of sewage and cooling water, toxic substances, harm to aquatic ecosystems
  • Solid waste: many products become outdated, generating solid waste, containing toxic substances
• Impacts of Factories Moving Out:
  • Urban decay: job opportunities decrease, many people are unemployed, economy declines, government revenue decreases, quality of infrastructure decreases
  • Changes in employment structure: factory workers become unemployed, some workers shift to work in the tertiary sector, employment structure changes
  • Less air pollution: air quality improves, acid rain occurs less severely and less often
  • More water pollution: toxic chemicals and heavy metals can accumulate in sediments in water bodies for years, threatening wildlife and human health

Chapter 6: Measures to Alleviate the Impacts of Industrial Relocation

• Socio-economic Aspect:

  • Retraining of labour: to increase competitiveness of unemployed workers, acquire new skills
  • Improve social security systems: to help the unemployed maintain a minimum standard of living

• Measures to alleviate impacts:

  • In old industrial areas: retraining of labour, improve social security systems
  • In new industrial areas: improve infrastructure, develop related services and industries, attract more professionals### Government Policies to Reduce Unemployment

• Increase government expenditure to provide training and retraining programs to enhance computer skills

• Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CCSA Scheme) and Unemployment Assistance Scheme provide financial support

• Continuing Education Fund: HKD 25,000 for individuals above 18 years old

Development of Alternative Industries

• Provides more job opportunities and diversifies the economy
• Examples: Tourism, hospitality, and retail industries that do not require high education background
• Limitations: Need training and must be accompanied by other measures

Improve Labour Rights through Legislation

• Prevents labour exploitation and sets minimum wage and maximum working hours
• Limitations: Legislation takes a long time to enact and employers may oppose laws to increased production costs

Better Government Planning

• Helps migrants adapt to the new environment
• Increases government expenditure, but takes a long time to work out a plan
• Provides better housing, transport, and social services

Environmental Aspect: Legislation Against Pollution

• Sets up laws to prosecute factories that exceed emission limits or discharge sewage illegally
• Limitation: Costly in time and money
• Examples: Monitoring chemicals used by factories and Carbon Tax

Environmental Aspect: Development of Green Industries

• Reduces waste production by consuming less resources
• Raises overall production efficiency
• Limitations: Increases government expenditure and manufacturing investments
• Examples: Renewable energy, recycling industries, and solar power

Environmental Aspect: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

• Focuses on product development, production, and post-production stages, including collection and recycling of old products
• Advantages: Uses less material, reduces energy use, makes products more durable, and saves money in waste management
• Limitation: Increases investments