Land use change and fieldwork investigation: VCE Geography
“The characteristics, causes and impacts of land use change in a selected area, and the fieldwork techniques used to investigate it”
Land use change is a shift in the human purpose of land, such as farmland becoming housing on a city fringe. It is driven by population growth, economics, technology and government policy, and brings impacts on environment, economy and community. Geographers investigate it through fieldwork using primary techniques like land use mapping, surveys and observation alongside secondary data.
What this dot point is asking
VCAA wants you to describe and explain land use change in a chosen area, evaluate its impacts, and understand the fieldwork techniques used to collect data about it. This area of study is assessed through a fieldwork report, so the methods matter as much as the content.
Land use versus land cover
Land use is the human purpose applied to land, such as residential, agricultural, industrial, commercial, recreational or conservation. Land cover is the physical material on the surface. Land use change therefore means people deciding to use a piece of land differently, often changing its cover in the process, as when grassland used for grazing is built over with houses.
Causes of land use change
- Population growth increases demand for housing, services and infrastructure, pushing cities outward.
- Economic forces make some uses more profitable, so land shifts to its highest-value use, for example farmland sold for housing because residential land is worth far more.
- Technology enables new uses, such as large warehouses near freeways for online retail logistics.
- Government policy through zoning, growth boundaries and planning decisions directs where change can occur.
Case study: Melbourne's urban fringe
Melbourne is one of Australia's fastest-growing cities, and its growth corridors in the outer north, west and south-east (such as around Wyndham, Melton, Casey and Whittlesea) show clear land use change. Market gardens, grazing land and grassland are being converted into housing estates, schools, shops and roads. The Urban Growth Boundary set by the Victorian Government regulates where this expansion can happen, but strong population growth keeps pushing development onto former farmland.
Greater Melbourne's population is projected to grow toward around eight million people by the 2050s, and much of that growth is housed on the urban fringe, converting agricultural and grassland land cover into residential and commercial land use at the city's edge.
Impacts of land use change
Environmentally, converting farmland and grassland to housing removes vegetation and habitat (including endangered native grasslands around Melbourne), increases hard surfaces that worsen runoff, and adds traffic emissions. Economically, change creates construction jobs and housing supply but removes productive farmland close to the city. Socially, new suburbs provide homes but can lack services, transport and employment, leaving residents with long commutes.
Fieldwork techniques
To investigate land use change, geographers combine primary and secondary data:
- Land use mapping records the use of each block, often comparing a current map with an older one to show change over time.
- Field sketches and annotated photographs capture and label what the landscape looks like.
- Surveys and questionnaires gather residents' views on the change and its effects.
- Observation and counts, such as traffic or pedestrian counts, quantify activity.
- Secondary sources such as census data, satellite imagery and planning documents provide context and historical comparison.
Question: Identify one fieldwork technique you could use to investigate land use change on Melbourne's fringe, and explain why it is suitable.
Strong answer: One suitable technique is land use mapping, where I record the current use of each parcel of land in a transect across a growth corridor such as Wyndham and compare it with a land use map or aerial photograph from ten years earlier. This is suitable because it produces primary spatial data that directly shows the conversion of agricultural and grassland land use into residential land use, and the before-and-after comparison measures the extent and pattern of change rather than just describing it, which is what the fieldwork report requires.
A common error in the fieldwork report is describing the area without analysing the change or its causes. Examiners want you to use your collected data to explain why the land use changed and to evaluate its impacts, not just list what is there. Failing to reference your own primary fieldwork data, and relying only on secondary sources, also loses marks because the task assesses your fieldwork.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of VCAA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
2022 VCAA-style12 marksName the location of your selected area of fieldwork. a. How is the land use change at your selected area of fieldwork related to your research question? (3 marks) b. Outline the time sequence of land use change that has recently occurred, is underway or is planned to occur at your selected area of fieldwork (2 marks) c. Evaluate how either a combination of primary data sources or a combination of secondary data sources helped answer the research question referred to in part a (7 marks).Show worked answer →
Name a precise fieldwork location, for example Melbourne's urban growth fringe at Wyndham.
Part a (3 marks): link the land use change to a clear research question, for example "How has rural land been converted to residential use, and what are the impacts?" The change (farmland to housing estates) is the subject the question investigates.
Part b (2 marks): outline the time sequence in order, for example broadacre farming until the 2000s, then subdivision and estate construction underway now, with further development planned under the urban growth boundary.
Part c (7 marks): evaluate a combination of either primary or secondary data. For primary data, discuss field sketches, land use mapping and photographs taken on site: strengths are that they are current, specific and directly observed; limitations are that they capture only a single point in time and a small area. A high-band answer judges that combining several primary sources (mapping plus photos plus surveys) gives a fuller, more reliable picture than any one alone, directly answering the research question.
Markers reward a located study, a genuine research question and a balanced evaluation with a judgement.
2023 VCAA-style10 marksa. Describe a geospatial technology used for your fieldwork investigation that assisted in answering your research question (5 marks). b. Evaluate how land use change, or predicted change, has impacted, or is likely to impact, the region surrounding your fieldwork area (5 marks).Show worked answer →
Part a (5 marks): name and describe one geospatial technology and explain how it helped answer the research question. For a fieldwork study on Melbourne's fringe: "I used Google Earth and GIS aerial imagery. By comparing dated satellite images, I could measure how much farmland had been converted to housing between two years, and GIS let me overlay zoning data. This directly answered my research question about the rate and pattern of residential expansion, providing spatial evidence I could not gather on foot."
Part b (5 marks): evaluate the impact of the land use change on the surrounding region, weighing positive and negative effects and reaching a judgement. "The conversion of farmland to housing has increased local services, jobs and housing supply, benefiting the region economically. However, it has also caused loss of productive agricultural land, increased traffic congestion, pressure on infrastructure and loss of habitat at the fringe. On balance the impact on the surrounding region is significant and largely negative environmentally, even where it is positive economically."
Markers reward a named technology clearly linked to the research question, and a balanced, located evaluation.
2025 VCAA-style8 marksName the location of your selected area of fieldwork. a. Outline the land use change that has recently occurred, is underway or is planned for the near future at your fieldwork location (2 marks). b. Identify and explain how two geographic characteristics have impacted, or are likely to impact, the land use change at your fieldwork location (6 marks).Show worked answer →
Name a precise fieldwork location, for example Melbourne's urban growth fringe at Wyndham.
Part a (2 marks): outline the change concisely, for example "Broadacre farmland is being subdivided and built over with new residential estates as the urban growth boundary moves outward."
Part b (6 marks): identify two geographic characteristics and explain how each has influenced the change, roughly 3 marks each. "First, flat, well-drained land makes the area cheap and easy to build on, attracting developers and accelerating the change from farming to housing. Second, proximity to transport corridors such as the freeway and rail line makes the area accessible to the Melbourne CBD, increasing demand for housing there and driving further subdivision."
Other valid characteristics include soil type, water availability, distance from the city, or existing infrastructure. Markers reward two genuine characteristics, each with a clear explanation of how it shapes the land use change at the named location.