CHAPTER 9 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 a central city and the suburban realm – the city and the surrounding environs connected to the city  Distinctly non-rural and non-agricultural

Hearths of Urbanization Mesoamerica Nile Valley Mesopotamia Indus Valley Huang He River Valley

MESOPOTAMIA aka Fertile Crescent 3500 BCE Located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Ur, Sumer, and Babylon are main cities Palaces, writing systems Social-stratification (priest-kings) at top Not sanitary, disease widespread

NILE RIVER VALLEY 3200 BCE Centered around Egypt – Nile River Great architecture (pyramids, tombs, etc.) No walls around cities Pharaoh: god-king

HUANG HE & WEI RIVER VALLEYS 1500 BCE Central city with wall around it Temples and palaces within city 200 BCE Great Wall of China (40 years to build)

INDUS RIVER VALLEY 2200 BCE Located along the Indus River Main cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro Streets were organized, sanitation services, homes with 2 stories and courtyards Thick walls around cities Trade was most important economic venture

MESOAMERICA 200 BCE Priests, temples, and shrines God-kings Yucatan and Honduras (Maya)

GREEKS AND ROMANS Using your textbook, describe the main components of Ancient Greek and Roman cities.

AFTER GREECE & ROME What happened to urban growth after the fall of the Roman Empire? Discuss the diffusion or lack of diffusion throughout Europe (in regards to urbanization).

SITE & SITUATION (European Exploration) Situation = its relative location, its place in the region, and world around it Site = suitable location for settlements Interior cities (Paris) became less important than those that were located on the water (ocean trade routes) Key cities in Colonial Period  New York City  Lima (Peru)  Cape Town (South Africa)

Second Urban Revolution 1800s Industrialization draws thousands to the cities to partake in new jobs and opportunities Before 2 nd Urban Revolution, 2nd Agricultural Revolution took place (new agricultural technologies increased production) Some cities were textile based while others concentrated on iron manufacturing

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CITIES? Slums took over beautiful homes Factories pop-up everywhere Sanitation systems failed Water supplies often polluted Children worked 12 hour shifts Soot covered cities

URBAN HIERARCHY OF SETTLEMENTS Hamlet Village Town City Metropolitan Area – the city plus its built-up suburbs

MEGALOPOLIS Exists when multiple cities have grown together to create a single urban expanse with overlapping metropolitan areas. The Tokyo-Yokohama-Kawasaki region is the world’s largest Megalopolis. BOSWASH is another example.

RANK-SIZE RULE According to the rank-size rule, the population of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy (2 nd city will be ½ size of the 1st, 3 rd largest will be 1/3, 4 th = ¼ …etc.)

CENTRAL PLACE THEORY Christaller’s Central place theory describes the spatial patterns of urban and outlying areas based on the flow of goods and services. The central place theory states that the geographic principles of threshold and range are essential for the economic success of commercial establishments. According to central place theory, larger towns are farther apart than smaller towns are because their market areas are larger.

The Concentric Zone Model According to theory: that in an urban setting the farther a neighborhood is from the CBD, the greater its wealth is Based on 1920’s Chicago Zones  1 – CBD  2 – residential deterioration  3 - closely spaced, adequate homes (blue collar)  4 – middle class residences  5 – suburban ring

Hoyt’s Sector Model Late 1930’s Argued that growth alone created a pie shaped urban structure – similar development existed in a corridor (wedge shaped sectors) running from the center to the outer edge of the city

Multiple Nuclei Model 1940’s Harris and Ullman Argued that the CBD was losing its dominant position as the nucleus of the city as other centers evolved (new downtown, suburban downtown, etc.) Example: restaurants and shops opening around a university These new suburban areas became known as “edge cities” (shopping, restaurants, near interstates) Examples include Tyson’s Corners and Irvine

Urban Realms (Peripheral) Model Model for urban land use that most directly describes edge cities Describes the spatial components of the modern metropolis where each realm is a separate economic, political, and social entity that is linked together to form the metropolitan framework

Cities Around the World What are the characteristics of the following:  The Latin American City  The African City  The Southeast Asian City