Sierra Leone UNIT 6

1. Provide an original definition of the word city.

A city is a place with buildings and a large population where transportation is available and is a
center of business.

2. Describe Borchert's Epoch Theory and explain which level the most populated city in
Sierra Leone is located.
Borchert’s Epoch Theory describes urban growth based on transportation technology. The level
Freetown is kind of complicated because they do have cars and roads and airports but the
infrastructure is terrible. Very less of the roads are even paved.

3. How has transportation played a role in the development of Sierra Leone’s most
populated city?
Transportation has played a role in the development of Sierra Leone’s most populated city.
Railways, highways, waterways, airports and even walking are all uses of transportation in
Sierra Leone.

4. Does Sierra Leone have a world city? If so, how has it helped to bring them into a
globalized world? If not what world city has impacted your country?
Sierra Leone does not have a world city.

5. List Sierra Leone's five most populated cities and explain if they fall under rank size rule
or if Sierra Leone has a primate city.
Freetown (802,639), Bo (174,354), Kenema (143,137), Koidu (88,000), Makeni (87,679). Sierra
Leone has a primate city, which is Freetown because the population of Freetown is 8 times
bigger that Bo, the second most populated city.

6. List and explain the city, town, village and hamlet of Sierra Leone’s most populated city
(provide a map to illustrate Christaller's Theory).
7. Explain the process of the gravity model using your three most populated cities.
The gravity model states that places that are larger and closer together will have a greater
interaction than places that are smaller and farther away from each other. Freetown and Bo are
closer together than Freetown and Kenema, but Bo and Kenema are closer together.

8. Find a map of your most populated city, describe and illustrate on the map the zones and
model of which best represents your city.

I think that the Mcgee model best represents Sierra Leone because Freetown is a port city, but
Sierra Leone is located in Sub-Saharan Africa, so I made a map of both.

9. Describe the infrastructure of Sierra Leone's most populated city using public
transportation, airports, roads, Communication System, water and sewer (GIS can help
you)
Sierra Leone’s development is held back by poor infrastructure. Roads are often non-existent or
in poor condition. Potholes and cracks in the road are a common sight, if roads are even paved
in the first place. More often, dirt roads are the common feature of the rural transportation
network. Broken or lack of bridges and low investments are major constraints.

10. What sustainable actions has your city taken? Provide examples to support your thinking
(mixed use commercial, greenspace, etc)
Sierra Leone has launched a nationwide campaign to promote the Sustainable Development
Goals. The SDG’s are a set of 17 development goals that should be achieved by 2030.

11. What government restrictions and urban challenges does Freetown face?
The Government of Sierra Leone develops laws and regulations at the national level, but the
public and business community at large have few opportunities to provide input into proposed
laws and regulations. Inadequate supervisory oversight of financial institutions, weak
regulations, and corruption have made Sierra Leone vulnerable to money laundering. Labor
 issues are governed by the Employers and Employees Act 1960, the Regulation of Wages and
Industrial Relations Act 1971, and regulations adopted by the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry
of Health and Sanitation.

12. How have the economic and social problems of your most populated city help grow or
hurt the urban community?
Sierra Leone’s economic freedom score is 47.5, making its economy the 167th freest in the
2019 Index. Its overall score has decreased by 4.3 points. Growth is also hampered by a
restrictive regulatory environment, inadequate infrastructure, and weak enforcement of
contracts.

13. Define gentrification. Are there areas where gentrification is occurring within Freetown?
List and explain.
Gentrification is when old, inner-city housing is purchased at low prices and renovated by
investors or by new residents with higher incomes. There are no areas where gentrification
occurs in Freetown.

14. Explain the status of urban sprawl based on Sierra Leone's most populated city
Freetown has experienced vast land-cover changes over the past three decades. This is
attributable to the population increase in Freetown and the high economic growth and
infrastructural development recorded countrywide after the civil war. In view of the rapid
land-cover change and its associated environmental impacts, this study recommends the
enactment of policies that would strike a balance between urbanization and environmental
sustainability in Freetown.

THREE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1. How does the infrastructure of Sierra Leone affect urban sprawl?
2. How does transportation help Sierra Leone develop?
3. Does Sierra Leone have a primate city?

1. If the infrastructure improves, then urban sprawl will increase.

2. Transportation will help people get around more efficiently in Sierra Leone which
will contribute to the development of new roads.
3. Yes, the primate city of Sierra Leone is Freetown.

UNIT SUMMARY
This unit is about how cities and suburbs are constantly changing. This unit talks about how
cities are laid out, how they work, and how large they are. We learned about lots of models that
show the distribution and size of cities. They help us identify patterns that help explain why
cities grow to different sizes and how people stay connected.
 Works Cited

“Transport in Sierra Leone.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Dec. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Sierra_Leone.

Biggest Cities Sierra Leone​, www.geonames.org/SL/largest-cities-in-sierra-leone.html.

“Transport in Sierra Leone.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Dec. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Sierra_Leone.
Works Cited

Sierra Leone Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection - UT Library Online,​

legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sierra_leone.html.

“Chapter 8 Sierra Leone: The Revolutionary United Front.” ​PRISM | National Defense

University,​ 24 May 2016,

cco.ndu.edu/News/Article/780201/chapter-8-sierra-leone-the-revolutionary-united-front/.

“The Marketing Principle of Central Place Theory.” ​The Marketing Principle of Central Place

Theory | GEOG 597i: Critical Geospatial Thinking and Applications,​

www.e-education.psu.edu/geog597i_02/node/681.

“Sierra Leone - United States Department of State.” ​U.S. Department of State,​ U.S. Department

of State, www.state.gov/reports/2018-investment-climate-statements/sierra-leone/.

Stephens, Julianna. “Models of the City: Urban Morphology - Ppt Video Online Download.”

SlidePlayer​, 10 July 2017, slideplayer.com/slide/6826301/.

ThingLink. “Sub-Saharan African City Model by Ali S, Megan C, Rose A by A Happy ThingLink

User.” ​ThingLink​, www.thinglink.com/scene/741721953085161472.

“Transport in Sierra Leone.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Dec. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Sierra_Leone.