1. Urban Geography What is a city?

2. How do we define a City?  Population, Economic Function, Political Organization, Urban Culture  Does population alone make up a city?  Does density have anything to do with it?

3. Population  United States definition= 2500  Japan’s definition= 30,000  What is the problem with population alone as a definition ?

4. Economic Function & Political Organization  An urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent self governing unit  Fixed boundaries, elected officials, taxes, ability to provided essential services

5. Urban Culture  Urban vs. Rural (city slickers vs. country rubes)  Are people in cities more cultured?  Mass media has blurred that line  Social differences: Large size Large size High density High density Social Heterogeneity Social Heterogeneity

6. Origins of the city  Since the earliest origins, cities have been centers of education, religion, commerce, record keeping, communication, and political power.  People moved to cities for employment, protection, and to be apart of civilization

7. City Landscape  Macro- symbolic nature of the city cathedrals, monuments, bridges, skyscrapers, parks, sport stadiums etc…  Micro- the nooks and crannies of the city. Street layout (grid and curved street patterns). Front porches, street signs, store fronts.

8. Urbanization  The process by which a city grows  The two dimensions of urbanization 1) Increase in the number of people living in the city 2) Increase in the percentage of people living in the city

9. Urbanization  1800 only 3% OF The World’s population lived in cities  London the only city over 1 million citizens  2000 almost half of the World’s population inhabit cities  400 cities with at least 1 million

10. MDCs vs. LDCs  More developed countries have a higher percentage of urban residents  Less developed countries have more of the larger Urban areas

11. Cities with 10 million

12. Central City  A city that is surrounded by suburbs  Central City and Suburbs is call urbanized area  60% of the United States live in an urbanized area

13. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)  The functional area of a City  MSA includes 1) A central city of at least 50,000 2) The county within which the city is located 3) Adjacent counties with high population density, and a large percentage of residents work in the central city

14. Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA)  Two adjacent MSAs with overlapping commuting patterns,1 million in population or more, and has separate component areas  CMSA Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Weld.

15. Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas (PMSA)  With in a CMSA an MSA that exceeds 1 million may be classified as a PMSA  Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson

16. Distribution of People within Urban Areas  Three models of urban Structure 1) Concentric Zone Model 2) Sector Model 3) Multiple Nuclei Model

17. Concentric Zone Model  Created by E.W. Burgess (1923)  City grows outward like the growth rings of a tree

18. Sector Model  Developed by Homer Hoyt (1939)  As a city grows in wedges out, certain areas are more attractive of different activities

19. Multiple Nuclei Model  C.D. Harris & E.L. Ullman (1945)  A city includes multiple structures in which activity revolves