What is industrial transfer?
When a factory or a whole industry leaves one region and sets up in another, we call it industrial transfer (also industrial relocation). It usually moves from a rich, crowded area toward a region with more room and lower cost. It can happen inside one country (coast to inland) or across countries.
Why is it a topic in geography? Because it changes where people work, where towns grow and how a region earns.
Causes: push factors and pull factors
Push factors (in the old region): land is dear, wages are high, there is no room to grow, rules on smoke and waste are strict, and workers are hard to find.
Pull factors (in the new region): cheap land and labour, new roads, rail and power, tax breaks from the state, a nearby market, and sometimes raw materials.
The move happens when the gain is bigger than the cost of moving. Transport links are the key that opens the door: without them, even cheap land stays empty.
Impacts on the region that gives
The old region loses some factory jobs, but it gets relief too: less crowding and smoke. It can upgrade to research, design, finance and other services. Risk: if it does not train workers for new jobs, some people may lose work (hollowing out).
Impacts on the region that receives
The new region gains jobs, income, skills, roads and new towns. Farmers can find factory work and shops grow around the plants. Problems: more pollution, pressure on water and land, and a gap between workers and local people if benefits are shared unevenly. Good planning (clean technology, training, fair pay) makes the gain last.
Try it
In step 6 of the 3D, set the cost gap to 0. How many factories move? Now raise the gap and transport to the top. What changes? At home: ask an adult which factories or offices near you moved from another city, and why.
Key formulas and definitions
- Industrial transfer = industries moving from one region to another
- Push factors: dear land, high pay, no space, strict rules
- Pull factors: cheap land and labour, transport, state help, market
- Moves when gain from the move > cost of moving
Worked examples
1. Name two push factors and two pull factors.
Push: high land cost, high wages. Pull: cheap labour, new rail and roads.
2. A coastal plant pays 4 units for land, an inland plant 2 units. Moving costs 3 units once. After how many years of saving 2 units a year does the move pay off?
Saving per year = 4 - 2 = 2 units. Cost 3 units. 3 / 2 = 1.5, so after 2 years it pays off.
3. Why can a region with cheap land still fail to attract factories?
If there are no roads, power or trained workers, the cost of running a factory stays high. Transport and services are needed.
4. Give one gain and one risk for the inland region.
Gain: new jobs and income. Risk: pollution or water stress.
Common mistakes
- Thinking factories move only because of cheap labour. Transport, markets and rules matter too.
- Thinking the old region only loses. It can grow in services and become cleaner.
- Mixing push and pull. Push is at the place you leave; pull is at the place you go to.
- Thinking the move is always good for the new region. Pollution and unfair sharing can harm it.