Unit 7: Urban Geography

City – a conglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and economics.

Urban: The buildup of the central city and the suburban realm – the city and the surrounding area connected to the city.

Urbanization Growth and diffusion of city landscapes and urban lifestyles

The Modern Process of Urbanization – a rural area can become urbanized quite quickly in the modern world Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen changed from a fishing village to a major metropolitan area in just 25 years. 25 years ago, all of this land was duck ponds and rice paddies. Shenzhen, China 1980s2005

Urban Populations Approximately 3 billion people (1/2 the world’s population lives in urban areas As of 2005 China, India, and the United States had the largest numbers of urban dwellers in the world

Top 10 Populated Cities in the World 1. Tokyo, Japan - 28,025, Mexico City, Mexico - 18,131, Mumbai, India - 18,042, Sáo Paulo, Brazil - 17, 711, New York City, USA - 16,626, Shanghai, China - 14,173, Lagos, Nigeria - 13,488, Los Angeles, USA - 13,129, Calcutta, India - 12,900, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 12,431,000

1. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)- geographic unit of area that includes a central city, surrounding counties that have commuters and people related to the central city; a MSA is an urban area with a population of at least 50,000 MSA for Austin, Texas MSA for Washington, D.C.

2. Micropolitan statistical area- an area of surrounding counties integrated into a central city with a population between 10,000-50,000

The First Urban Revolution

Agricultural Villages Before urbanization, people often clustered in agricultural villages – a relatively small, egalitarian village, where most of the population was involved in agriculture. About 10,000 years ago, people began living in agricultural villages

The First Urban Revolution Two components enable the formation of cities: 1.an agricultural surplus 2. social stratification (a leadership class)

Five Hearths of Urbanization In each of these hearths, an agricultural surplus and social stratification created the conditions necessary for cities to form and be maintained.

Five Hearths of Urbanization Mesopotamia, 3500 BCE Nile River Valley, 3200 BCE Indus River Valley, 2200 BCE Huang He and Wei River Valleys, 1500 BCE Mesoamerica, 200 BCE

Why Are These the Hearths of Urbanization? 1.Dependable water supply 2.Long growing seasons 3.Domesticated plants and animals 4.Plentiful amount of building materials 5.A system of writing and records

Diffusion of Urbanization The Greek Cities by 500 BCE, Greeks were highly urbanized. – Network of more than 500 cities and towns – On the mainland and on islands – Each city had an acropolis and an agora

Athens, Greece the acropolis the agora

Diffusion of Urbanization The Roman Cities a system of cities and small towns, linked together with hundreds of miles of roads and sea routes. – Sites of Roman cities were typically for trade – A Roman city’s Forum combined the acropolis and agora into one space. – Roman cities had extreme wealth and extreme poverty (between 1/3 and 2/3s of empire’s population was enslaved)

Roman Empire

Greeks and Romans built cities as centers of political and administrative control of conquered territories. These cities were planned and developed in a grid like pattern.

Some cities grew as centers of religious ceremony; China’s urban areas reflect holy sites and geometric patterns Ur (Mesopotamia) China’s Forbidden City

Preindustrial Cities These were cities that existed prior to the Industrial Revolution These cities served as trade centers and gateways to foreign lands and markets Colonial cities also emerged – Contained European imprint of wide boulevards, classical architecture, built to export raw materials – Urban Banana-an area that stretched from London to Tokyo in the 1500s before the rise of sea based trade and exploration; cities included London, Paris, Constantinople, Venice, Cairo, Nanking, Hanchow, and Osaka

The Second Urban Revolution

A large scale movement of people from rural areas to cities to work in manufacturing. Made possible by: 1. second agricultural revolution that improved food production and created a larger surplus 2.industrialization, which encouraged growth of cities near industrial resources

Industrialized regions of Europe, 1914

Industrial Cities… Their function was to make and distribute manufactured products (world cities in the early 1900s included Chicago, Manchester, and Barcelona) Shock Cities were a bi-product of industrialization. These were urban places experiencing infrastructural challenges related to massive and rapid growth/urbanization; early examples included Manchester and Chicago

Challenges to Industrialization 1.Growth of slums 2.Hazardous pollution 3.Deadly fires 4.Growth of the informal economy (prostitution) 5.Exploitation of children working in factories

Central Place Theory Walter Christaller developed a model to predict how and where central places in the urban hierarchy (hamlets, villages, towns, and cities) would be functionally and spatially distributed. Assumed: surface is flat with no physical barriers soil fertility is the same everywhere population and purchasing power are evenly distributed region has uniform transportation network from any given place, a good or service could be sold in all directions out to a certain distance

Four Ideas of the Theory Central Places- urban centers that provide services to their surrounding rural people (hinterland). Threshold- the minimum number of people needed to fuel a particular function’s existence in a central place. The more unique and special an economic function, the higher its threshold.

Examples of Thresholds The threshold of a doughnut shop is lower than the threshold of a neurosurgical center. 1.Doughnuts are eaten by a large # of people providing a large customer base, it has lower maintenance costs, and an educated work force is not necessary. 2.A neurological center has a smaller customer base because not everyone needs brain surgery, it higher maintenance costs due to state of the art equipment, and an educated work staff is highly desirable

Range of a good or service- the maximum distance a person is willing to travel to obtain the good or service. – Example: The range of the doughnut shop is much smaller than the range of the neurological brain surgery center because a person is not willing to go as far for a doughnut, but will travel much farther for lifesaving surgery. Spatial competition- central places compete with each other for customers

Hexagonal Hinterlands C = city T = town V = village H = hamlet

Urban Hierarchy 1.Hamlet- may only include a few dozen people and offer limited services. These are clustered around an urban center and may only consist of a general store or gas station. 2.Villages- larger than hamlets and offer more services. There may be stores specializing in the sale of food, clothing, furniture, etc…

3. Towns- may consist of 50 to a few thousand people. These are considered more urban with a defined boundary, but smaller than a city in terms of population and area. 4.Cities- large, densely populated areas that may include tens of thousands of people 5.Metropolis- include large cities and suburbs; must contain more than 50,000 people. 6.Megalopolis (conurbation)- where several metropolitan areas are linked together to form a huge urban area.

Central Place Theory The hinterland includes the small cities, towns, villages, and hamlets that surround the “big city”. People from the hinterland must travel to the “big city” to take advantage of amenities such as professional sports events, concerts, museums, diversity of stores, and restaurants. Geographers have noticed the following structure: – many hamlets – Some small towns – A few small cities *** But only one central city (big city)

Rank-Size Rule: in a model urban hierarchy, the population of the city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy. In a region, the nth-largest city’s population is 1/n the population of the region’s largest city. For example: largest city = 12 million 2 nd largest = 6 million 3 rd largest = 4 million 4 th largest = 3 million

Primate City The leading city of a country. The city is disproportionately larger than the rest of the cities in the country. For example: London, UK Mexico City, Mexico Paris, France *the rank-size rule does not work for a country with a primate city

World Cities/Global Cities Cities that function at the global scale, beyond the reach of the state borders, functioning as the service centers of the world economy.

World Cities/Global Cities… World cities are divided into – Alpha (most important to the global economy) Examples: New York, London, Tokyo – Beta Examples: San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City, Moscow – Gamma Examples: Dallas, Miami, Hamburg, Johannesburg

Megacity It has a high degree of centrality and primacy (primate); it exerts a high level of power in the country’s economy To be a megacity the population must exceed 10 million people Examples include Beijing, Cairo, Mexico City, and Jakarta

Urban Morphology The layout of a city, its physical form and structure. Berlin, Germany With wall (above) And without wall (right) What does the urban morphology of the city tell us about the city?

Functional Zonation The division of the city into certain regions (zones) for certain purposes (functions). Cairo, Egypt Central city (above) Housing projects (right) What does the functional zonation of the city tell us about the city?

Zones of the City Central business district (CBD) Central City (the CBD + older housing zones) Suburb (outlying, functionally uniform zone outside of the central city)

Borchert’s Model of Urban Evolution Sail-Wagon Epoch ( ), Iron Horse Epoch ( ), characterized by impact of steam engine technology, and development of steamboats and regional railroad networks. Steel Rail Epoch ( ), dominated by the development of long haul railroads and a national railroad network. Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920- ) *Epoch= stage, era, time period

Modeling the North American City Concentric zone model (Ernest Burgess) Sector model (Homer Hoyt) Multiple Nuclei Model (Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman)

Three Classical Models of Urban Structure

Burgess Concentric Zone Model Notes 1.The zone of transition is many times referred to as “skid row”. This area is constantly suffering from invasion and succession; investors will not spend money in this area due to the constant movement of ethnic groups in and out of the area. 2. The CBD has the highest real estate prices and competition for land.

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

Hoyt Sector Model Notes 1.Zones of growth are based on transportation routes and features such as roads, canals, railroads, etc… 2.It features a strong central business district similar to the concentric zone model. 3.Factories and industrial activities follow rail lines 4.Lower socioeconomic housing follows public transportation

Hoyt’s Sector Model

Multiple Nuclei Model 1.Does not focus around the CBD 2.Growth occurs around several focal points such as airports, universities, highway interchanges, and ports 3.The CBD is not as dominant in this model 4.Areas grow in chunks all at once

Harris and Ullman’s Multiple Nuclei Model

Urban Realms Model Each realm is a separate economic, social and political entity that is linked together to form a larger metro framework.

Urban Realms Notes… 1.This model was developed due to the increased importance of the automobile in the 1970s. 2.It grew out of the multiple nuclei model due to suburban areas gaining more independence from the CBD; suburban downtowns began to emerge creating edge cities.

Edge Cities Suburban downtowns, often located near key freeway intersections, often with: - office complexes - shopping centers - hotels - restaurants - entertainment facilities - sports complexes

Latin American City (Griffin- Ford model)

Latin American City Model Notes 1.Spain passed a law in 1573 that all colonial cities would be built with Greco-Roman designs which included: – Prominent, rectangular plazas – The plazas would contain cathedrals and government buildings Mexico City’s Plaza 1847 Present Day

2.A ring of commercial and residential areas formed close to the plaza 3.Squatter settlements (high levels of poverty) exist in the outer areas of the model 4.Periferico- zone of peripheral squatter settlements; area that contains rural to urban immigrants that build homes out of various types of material Ex: Favelas of Brazil

Disamenity sector – very poorest parts of the city eg. the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The African City (de Blij model)

Southeast Asian City (McGee model)

Making Cities in the Global Periphery and Semiperiphery - sharp contrast between rich and poor - Often lack zoning laws or enforcement of zoning laws

Negative Effects of Urbanization Redlining – financial institutions refusing to lend money in certain neighborhoods. Blockbusting – realtors purposefully sell a home at a low price to an African American and then solicit white residents to sell their homes at low prices, to generate “white flight.” Racial Steering- real estate agents would steer people to certain neighborhoods and not others based on their race. This is now illegal.

Central City Facelifts… Gentrification – individuals buy up and rehabilitate houses, raising the housing value in the neighborhood and changing the neighborhood. Commercialization – city governments transform a central city to attract residents and tourists. The newly commercialized downtowns often are a stark contrast to the rest of the central city.

Tear-downs – houses that new owners buy with the intention of tearing it down to build a much larger home. McMansions – large homes, often built to the outer limits of the lot. They are called McMansions because of their super size and their similar look. Hinsdale, Illinois (25% of houses have been torn down in last 20 years).

Urban Sprawl Unrestricted growth of housing, commercial developments, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. Henderson, Nevada

Results of Urban Sprawl 1.Central cities are left with a limited tax base 2.Inner cities are primarily occupied by a poorer population which limits the taxes that can be collected for schools and infrastructure 3.Restrictive covenants are laws prohibiting low-income housing (many suburbs have passed these type of laws) 4.Ghettoization is the growth of areas with concentrated poverty

New Urbanism (Livable City Movement) Development, urban revitalization, and suburban reforms that create walkable neighborhoods with a diversity of housing and jobs. – some are concerned over privatization of public spaces – some are concerned that they do nothing to bread down the social conditions that create social ills of the cities – some believe they work against urban sprawl