1. Unit 7
Cities & Urban Land Use

2. Need to Know
Phase 1

3. Borchet’s Urban Transportation Epochs
Def: The idea that a city’s size and character is heavily affected by the modes of transportation of any given era.
Horse & wagon epoch
Regional railroad epoch
National railroad epoch
Automobile & airplane epoch
Sig: We could use infrastructure planning to affect the city.

4. CBD (central business district)
The “downtown” where businesses (services) have out bid manufacturers and residents.
It costs more but business have access to a larger market and can benefit from agglomeration

5. Central-Place Theory (Christaller)
A theory that explains the number and size of settlements in an urban hierarchy based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas (hexagonal shapes)
Smaller towns will perform lower-order functions (bread) while large cities will perform higher-order functions (banking)

6. Edge City
Cities that popped up around the beltway to serve the suburbs (Initially just basic services but eventually manufacturing and office parks)
Often leads to lateral commuting (along the beltway) or even counter commuting (from the inner city)
Ex: Burbank & Century City

7. Galactic City
Refers to the sprawled out city where the majority of the people and the jobs lie in the periphery rather than the CBD. (Think Periphery Model)
It includes the urban, suburban & exurban areas

8. Market Area The area where the consumers of an enterprise are located.
Market areas for low-order goods will be small (low range), high-order markets will be large (large range).

9. Mega Cities
Very large cities often with primacy & centrality (though are not necessarily world cities). The term ofted refers to large LDC cities.
Bangkok, Cairo & Mexico City

10. Megalopolis
When large cities join together or overlap (AKA conurbation)
Ex: Northeast corridor (D.C. to Boston), Great Lakes (Chicago to Pittsburgh) & West Coast (San Francisco to San Diego)

11. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
It includes an urbanized area, its county and any adjacent counties with high interactivity (at least 50% of residents work in urban area)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana MSA

12. Primate City
Non rank-size rule country where the largest city is more than twice as large as the second-ranking city (e.g. France & Argentina)
It often occurs in small countries or those with a short history of urbanization, an export orientation/recent colonial connection or a recent border change.

13. Rank-Size Rule
The second largest city is ½ as large as the first and the third largest city is 1/3 as large as the first, and so on (e.g. the US).
These states do not have a primate city.

14. Suburbanization
The movement of people from the inner rings of the city to the less dense, more affluent outer rings.
It was encouraged by the highway system, which made it possible for commuting.

15. Sprawl
The tendency for American cities to grow outward (suburbs and exurbs)
Urban sprawl has led to the decline of arable land and auto traffic

16. Urban Hierarchy World Cities (NYC & London)
Command and Control Centers: regional centers, HQ of large TNCs (Boston & Phoenix)
Specialized Producer-Service Centers: city offers a more narrow array of services (e.g. Detroit’s auto)
Dependent Centers: relatively low skilled services & are dependent on the health of the world cities (Las Vegas, Buffalo & San Diego)

17. World City
Integrated into the world economy as the center of the flow of info & capital
First tier: NY, London & Tokyo
Second tier: LA, Brussels, Paris, Singapore & Sao Paulo, etc.
Third tier: Miami, San Francisco, Milan, Mumbai, Mexico City, etc.

18. Should Also Know
Phase 1

19. Boomburgs
Def: Suburban communities that have popped up rapidly over the past few decades.
Sig: They have the numbers to be ities among themselves but lack the core associated with large cities.

20. Centrality
When the political, economic & cultural functions of the city are disproportionate to their population
Ex. Bangkok makes up only 12% of the Thai population, but it makes up 75% of its manufacturing

21. Counterurbanization
Migration from large metropolitan areas to smaller metropolitan areas (safer, cheaper housing, better schools)
It often leads to more traffic & a declining tax base for the city)
More common in the core due to greater communication & transportation infrastructure (N.A. & Europe)

22. Entrepôt
A port city that serves as an intermediary or a hub for goods shipped between cities.
Singapore

23. Gravity Model
It is used to predict human movement (migration, commuting or shopping range)
A service will locate where there is a large number of people (high threshold) and a short distance to travel (range)

24. Hinterlands
Urban geography: The area outside of the city that a central place serves in terms of services (its market area). It’s the urban center’s zone of influence.
Agro geography: the outer rings of Von Thünen's model that produce for the city

25. Food Deserts
Def: regions within the cities that lack fresh produce and healthy foods (but have plenty of fast food outlets and processed foods).
Sig: Critics argue that food deserts lead to obesity and health problems among the urban poor

26. Greenfield Sites Def: Land that has yet to be developed.
Ex: The greenfields are at the periphery of the city so developing these sites leads to urban sprawl. Critics argue that new development should take place within the older core by “infilling” or developing on former industrial sites (brownfields).

27. Threshold & Range
1) Threshold -- the minimum market (number of people) needed to bring a firm or city selling goods and services into existence and to keep it in business 2) Range -- the average maximum distance people will travel to purchase goods and services * Used with Christaller’s central- place theory

28. Uptowns
Def: Residential areas of the city that are away from downtowns.
Ex: suburbs (though industry and commerce have moved to the suburbs over the past few decades too).

29. Urban Growth Rate The change in urbanization levels
The periphery is currently experiencing high urban growth rates, while the core’s growth has stabilized

30. Urbanization Increase in the number of people living in the cities
The periphery has the largest urban settlements (8 of top 10)
Increase in the percentage of people living in the cities
The core has the highest percentage of urban residence

31. Need to Know
Phase 2

32. Brownfields
Def: Vacant sites that were previously occupied by industry and consequently are polluted or not easily converted to commercial or residential uses.
Sig: These sites make it more difficult to develop the core through “infilling.”

33. Concentric zone model (Burgess)
CBD: business services
Zone of Transition: manufacturing & low cost housing
Zone of Independent Workers’ Homes: modest, working class housing
Zone of Better Residences: spacious middle class housing
Commuters’ Zone: spacious suburban housing
Developed for Chicago in the mid-1920s

34. Filtering
The process where a neighborhood’s value decreases, allowing lower income residence to move in and eventually out (invasion & succession).
Large, formerly expensive houses are subdivided and rented out. The houses are not kept up and eventually abandoned.

35. Gentrification
Reverse filtering where higher income people move into lower value neighborhoods (often by young professionals without kids).
The new money attracts shops & renewal (and displacement of low income residents).

36. Green Belts
Government mandated green outer ring of a city that cannot be developed to prevent urban sprawl.
Common in Europe (e.g. London)

37. Informal Sector
Economic activities that are not known about & taxed by the government. Provides a smaller tax base for infrastructure.
Common in the LDC

38. Infrastructure
Fundamental prerequisites for industry & trade (Transportation, communications, labor, financial, etc.)
Sig: colonial infrastructure focused on extraction and export of raw materials (est. dependency)

39. Latin American Urban Model
Spine: high-end offices connect CBD & the mall (zoos, parks, etc)
Elite sector surrounds the spine
Middle class sector surrounds the elite sector
Squatter settlements are in the periphery

40. Mixed-use Development
Def: Multi-story buildings that serve as residential and commercial spaces. Usually the street level floor is reserved for commerce while the floors above are residential.
Sig: This will allow for greater density and less urban sprawl.

41. Multiple Nuclei Model (Harris & Ullman)
Multiple nodes emerge that attract different types of people & services
A university node will attract coffee shops, pizzarias, & young people
AKA, urban realms model
1940s (Seattle)
The Multiple-Nuclei Model
Assumes more than one desired location for access. Rent gradients are higher around outlying office complexes, medical centers, and satellite city developments.
The Harris—Ullman model develops satellite centers around discrete centers encompassing five areas: (1) central business district,
(2) wholesale and light manufacturing near interurban transport facilities (3) heavy industrial district nearer city’s edge, (4) residential districts, and (5) outlying dormitory suburbs.
City’s evolve based on size and historical evolution of the city, resulting in separate land-use cells due to specialize requirements of particular activities, repulsion of some activities by others, different rent-paying ability of activities, and the tendency for some activities to group together to increase profits by cohesion.

42. New Urbanism
Attempt by urban planners to stop sprawl and return to urban-like living (AKA smart growth).
A community will include offices, shops & mixes residential communities. It encourages pedestrian traffic.

43. Peripheral model (Harris)
N.A. cities have sprawled out due to our desire for homeownership, safe neighborhoods & good schools. Nodes/edge cities emerge in the beltway.
- In addition to residential use, the periphery now provides jobs and services allowing suburban residents to commute laterally rather than the more traditional commute to the CBD. Cities have constructed beltways to facilitate this movement.

44. Sector Model (Hoyt)
Due to transportation or environmental factors, or by chance, different parts of the inner rings will develop unique qualities. As the city builds farther out, the peculiarities will remain.
Ex: Wealthier housing will be built as an extension of the already wealthy neighborhood, creating a sector that stretches from the original CBD to the outer ring

45. Sector Model (Hoyt)
1930s

46. Smart Growth
Def: Growth that focuses on greater density over urban sprawl. It includes mixed-use buildings & public transportation, etc..
Ex: Park La Brea & Playa Vista (higher density housing with walkable amenities (local restaurants, libraries, parks, etc).

47. Squatter Settlements
Outer rings of LDC cities made up of informal housing (often without sewage & electricity).
(AKA Favelas & Barriadas)

48. Urban Realm Model
The urban realm refers to the city that has outgrown its reliance on the CBD.
Urban Realms Model
Vance developed the urban realms model from his observation of the San Francisco Bay area and its sprawling metropolis.
This model includes independent suburban downtowns as their foci, and yet they are within the sphere of influence of the central city and its metropolitan CBD.
Each urban realm depends on four factors:
The overall size of the metropolitan region
The amount of economic activity in each urban realm
The topography and major land features, which help to identify each realm
The internal accessibility of each realm for daily economic functions and travel patterns.
An urban realm is likely to become self-sufficient if:
The size of the overall metropolis is large
There is a large amount of decentralized economic activity in the region
Topography barriers isolate the suburban region
Good internal accessibility for daily commercial and business travel exists (especially to airport)

49. Should also Know
Phase 2

50. Census data
Def: data collected from the census bureau every 10 years (and lesser studies in between).
Sig: They allow us to know who lives where and observe trends.

51. Commuter Zone
The outer ring or the suburbs. Land is cheaper (for the amount of space). It’s considered safer and the schools are seen as better (except for that well regarded urban school, Hamilton).
Residents must commute to downtown or laterally for jobs

52. Density Gradient
Cities density used to decay from the CBD (inner ring was the most dense, outer ring the least dense)
Today, most US cities are seeing an increase in density in the outer rings and a decrease in the inner rings.

53. Disamenity Zones Def: regions within the city where residents avoid.
Ex: railroad yards, factories, flood plains.

54. Female-Headed Household
Single mom with kids
Female-headed households are often in low income parts of the city (cannot afford the money & time to commute from the outer ring)

55. Field Studies
Def: Studies that use direct observation over quantitative aggregation.
Sig: Often these studies are more limited in scope but provide a richer understanding.

56. Filtering (filter process)
Def: The process of decline (in both quality of living and population numbers) of the inner rings of a city.
Ex: Large victorian style homes by USC that have been subdivided to multiple low income families or students. The homes are not kept up leading to vacancies. The blight spreads to nearby blocks.

57. In-filling
The attempt by urban planners to use up the low density places within the city rather than sprawling outward (convert abandoned factories into lofts)
An attempt to reverse the problems associated with urban sprawl

58. Gated Communities
Def: Residential neighborhoods enclosed by gates and guarded. They often entail strict living codes and are found in the outer rings of the city.
Sig: Critics say they further segregate the city.

59. Lateral Commuting
Moving along well established periphery (or commuter zone) rather than commuting to the CBD

60. Postindustrial city
Cities of the core that have moved away from manufacturing and towards the high-value service sector
Often associated with middle class, high levels of education & liberalism
Ex: San Francisco, Boston & Seattle

61. Redlining
The practice by banks of not investing in certain neighborhoods believed to be in decline (no home loans). The practice would promote decline.
Often the neighborhoods were majority black.

62. Urban Morphology (or Form)
Study of how cities are structured.
Latin American city (right)
Islamic City
European City
North American City: burgess, sector, multiple nuclei, peripheral, etc.

63. Zone in Transition
The ring next to the CBD. It has industrial and residential uses and is often in decline.
Inner ring of the concentric zone mode.

64. Zones of Abandonment (Blight)
Def: regions of the city that have declined so much (often through the filtering out process) that they have been thoroughly abandoned by owners and renters.
Sig: Taken over by squatters making it that much harder to redevelop.

65. Additional terms that you may want to look at.

66. Bid-Rent Theory
Land cost more at the center because it gives people/businesses access to services/markets.
So, services outbid manufacturers and residents in the center (CBD).
Low income people tend to live in/near the “zone of transition” where land is densely populated and close to the jobs.
Middle & high income people live farther out where land is cheaper & spacious, yet farther from jobs

67. Colonial City
Cities established by European states in their colonies (sometimes by building on top of an indigenous city, e.g. Mexico City)
Cities were designed to be administrative/military cities (Mexico City) or gateway/commercial cities (Sao Paulo)

68. Early City Urban hearths or original cities
Mesopotamia, Egypt, Northern China, Mesoamerica & Andean America

69. Economic Base
Basic Industries: export to consumers outside of the community (important because they bring in money & stimulate more non-basic jobs)
Non-basic Industries: they serve the community itself (e.g. supermarket); non-basic are also called “ubiquitous industries”

70. Gateway City A settlement which acts as a link between two areas.
Sao Paulo was a gateway city between Portugal & inner Brazil (in order to extract resources)

71. High-tech corridors Regions where high-tech firms have agglomerated
Ex: Silicon Valley, Bangalor, India

72. Medieval Cities
Cities during the Middle Ages (often surrounded by a wall)
Usually designed for religion/academics, military fortification or administrative centers

73. Street Patterns
East Coast: irregular, following the metes & bounds custom of England
Southwest: Spanish King mandated that all towns were to be built around a center square & church
Philadelphia: Penn created township-&-range style regular street patterns (used by most cities)
Post-WWII: developments adopted a meandering fake metes & bounds pattern (though still regular)

74. Urban Specialization
Cities often specialize in different sectors or functions (AKA, splintering urbanism) due to agglomeration
Ex: Boston & San Jose (computing); Las Vegas, Reno & Atlantic City (recreation); LA, NY, Chicago & San Francisco (business services)