Urban Historical Geography (Geo 2HD3)

Transcription

1 Urban Historical Geography (Geo 2HD3) Related web sites: A web course at University of Guelph Resources on cities COURSE OUTLINE Term 1 Instructor: Richard Harris, Office: BSB-334, Ext Teaching Assistants: Michael Mercier, Office: BSB-338, Ext This course offers students an historical and geographical view of the city as we know it today. The first section examines the nature, origins and significance of the city. The second traces the emergence of the modern industrial city up to the mid-nineteenth century. The third examines in detail the changing nature and geography of the North American city since that time. LECTURES The course will usually consist of two one-hour lectures a week, plus a one-hour tutorial. The following lecture topics are grouped approximately by the dates on which they will be presented. The readings that are indicated in parenthesis will be available in a coursepack from the bookstore. Date Topics SECTION 1: Introduction Sept.9 Sept.14 Introduction: Outline of the course A historical-geographical view of cities. [Lowenthal; Harris and Lewis] SECTION 2: The Nature, Growth and Significance of Cities Sept.16 Sept.21 Sept.23 Sept.28 Sept.30 Settlements: urban and rural differences [Orok] Causes of urbanization: environment and technology [Bairoch, chapter 1; Borchert] Causes of urbanization: social structure [Gordon] Significance of urbanization I: A way of life? [Wirth] Significance of urbanization II: Good or bad? [Bairoch, chapters 14 and 21; Ponting] SECTION 3: The Rise of the Modern Industrial City Oct.5 Oct.7 Oct.12 The medieval city TEST. In class: 45 minutes. The rise of the industrial capitalist city: Nordlingen (Germany) and Coventry (England) [Friedrichs]

2 Oct.14 Oct.19 Test returned. The 'feudal' industrial city: New Lanark (Scotland) and Pullman (US) SECTION 4: The Modern Industrial City in North America Oct.21 Oct.26 Oct.28 Nov.2 Nov.4 and Nov.9 Nov.11 Nov.16 Nov.18 Nov.23 Nov.25 Nov.30 Dec.2 Urban work I: types of work Urban work II: changes, trends, division of labour [Cowan; Hayden] The urban land market I : A simplified model The urban land market II : Reality Land development and urban politics [Lemon; Cervero; Harris and Lewis: sections on "Land Development Housebuilding, AND ALSO "Political Fragmentation"] Patterns of land use: manufacturing [Harris and Lewis, section on "manufacturing"] Patterns of land use: offices [Harris and Lewis, section on "offices and retailing"] TEST. In class: 45 minutes. Mortality in the urban environment [Bairoch, ch.14] The journey to work [Harris and Lewis, section on "jobs, transportation and the journey to work"] Housing and patterns of residence [Burgess; Harris; Harris & Lewis, section on "residential patterns] Overview of changing urban patterns Review. REQUIRED READINGS: The required readings are contained in a course pack that may be purchased in the bookstore. EVALUATION: Students will be evaluated through a combination of term work and examinations, as follows: Tutorials : 10% Most weeks Test #1 (in class) : 15% Oct.7 First assignment : 15% due Oct.14 Second assignment : 20% due Nov.11 Test #2 (in class) : 15% Nov.16 Final exam : 25% Exam period Term work that is handed in late will be penalised at the rate of 5% a day unless accompanied by a doctor's note. Students with disabilities may receive assistance. Please contact the Centre for Student Development (Hamilton Hall 409). All students are reminded of the seriousness of academic dishonesty, particularly that of plagiarism. The Senate Policy on Academic Ethics applies and all students are responsible for adhering to its requirements.

3 ASSIGNMENT #1. A BOOK SUMMARY Due date: Oct.14 Length: 1000 words For this assignment you are asked to read and summarise a book that deals with some aspect of the history of cities. Selection of Book You are encouraged to select a book from the attached list. All of these books should be in Mills Library, although they are not on reserve for this course and one or two may be checked out. If you wish to summarise a book that is not on the list then you should first obtain permission from the instructor. A book that is an edited collection of articles, or that is exclusively contemporay in focus, will not be acceptable. You should submit a ranked list of three books to the teaching assistant in the second tutorial (Sept.23). By the morning of Sept.27 you can find out which book you have been assigned by checking the list posted outside the instructor's office (BSB 334). The Book Summary You should summarise the book as accurately and fairly as possible, without making any judgements. Your summary should indicate what the book is about (its scope and purpose), its argument, the sources that the author has used (including whether they are mostly primary or secondary in character), and its structure (whether chronological, geographical, topical, or other). TIP: Try to summarise the main points very briefly, in a sentence or two, and then construct your summary around them. Due date: Nov.11 Length: 1200 words ASSIGNMENT #2: A BOOK REVIEW For this assignment you are asked to write a review of the book that you summarised for the first assignment. This review should incorporate a revised abbreviated summary as well as a critical assessment. Abbreviated summary (c.600 words). For the book review you should revise and shorten the summary that you wrote for the first assignment. These revisions should take account of any critical comments or suggestions on the marked summary, and should be no longer than about 600 words. Critical assessment (c.600) Your assessment of the book should comment on whether the evidence supports the author's argument or conclusions; whether the book is clearly-written and wellorganised; and whether it makes an original and/or significant contribution to knowledge. You may include brief quotations from the book. These should be

4 referenced simply by including the page reference in parentheses, thus (35). This assessment should make use of at least five published reviews of the book. These reviews may be quoted and should be referenced, using any common referencing style. You may use these reviews to develop your own ideas, and you may agree or disagree with any of them. In cases where you are simply agreeing with what another reviewer has said you should make this clear by providing an appropriate citation. Photopies of the published reviews must be included as an appendix. You will be instructed in how to locate published book reviews, using sources such as the Book Review Digest and the various Citation Indexes. You should be sure to locate the original reviews, however, and not to rely on the Digest alone. TIP: For suggestions about how to write a book review, and also for guidelines regarding common referencing styles, see Margot Northey and David B. Knight, Making Sense in Geography and Environmental Studies. (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1993). For suggestions about how to locate book reviews see the same author's Making Sense in the Humanities (1990), chapter 4. READINGS The following are listed in the order that they will be relevant to lectures. The sections into which this reading list is divided correspond to the main sections of the course. Introduction: Present Views of the Urban Past. David Lowenthal "What makes the past matter?" in Ben Farmer and Hentie Louw, eds. Companion to Contemporary Architectural Thought. London: Routldege. pp A concise summary of the various reasons why people are interested in the past, with an urban/architectural emphasis. Richard Harris and Robert Lewis How the Past Matters. North American Cities in the Twentieth Century. Journal of Urban Affairs 20,2: An argument about why and how we might look at the urban past, using Toronto as one example. I. THE NATURE, GROWTH AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CITY The Nature and Origin of cities Bruce Orok "Defining Toronto," Canadian Social Trends. Summer 1993: Some of the practical ways in which a modern city like Toronto may be defined. Paul Bairoch "The Birth of Urbanism and Economy," in Cities and Economic Development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapter 1. A discussion of city

5 origins. James Borchert "American Metropolitan Evolution" The Geographical Review 57: A 'technological' interpretation of modern urban growth in the US. David Gordon "Capitalist Development and the History of American Cities" In William K.Tabb and Larry Sawers (eds) Marxism and the Metropolis New York: Oxford University Press. Gordon is a critic of the technological viewpoint. Significance of Cities Paul Bairoch "Urbanization and Economic Development in Countries Affected by the Industrial Revolution," in Cities and Economic Development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapter 21. A discussion of the economic impact of urbanization, including the effects on innovation. Paul Bairoch "Urban Demography in Developed Countries from the Eighteenth Century to the Twentieth Century," in Cities and Economic Development, Chapter 14. An overview of the effects of industrial urbanization on public health. Clive Ponting "Destruction and Survival," in A Green History of the World. New York: Penguin. Chapter 5. The environmental impact of early cities. Louis Wirth "Urbanism as a Way of Life" selections reprinted with an introduction in Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds. The City Reader, London: Routledge, 1996, pp The classic essay on the culture of the city. II. THE RISE OF THE INDUSTRIAL CITY Henri Pirenne "City Origins" and "Cities and European Civilization" [from Medieval Cities], reprinted with an introduction in Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds. The City Reader. London: Routldege, 1996, pp The classic argument that a medieval urban revival depended upon the growth of long distance trade. Carl Friedrichs "Capitalism, Mobility and Class Formation in the Early Modern German City" Past and Present 69: A case study of how a city and an industry that was engaged in long distance trade slowly transformed itself, establishing conditions for the emergence of industrial capitalism. III. THE INDUSTRIAL CITY IN NORTH AMERICA Work Ruth Cowan More Work for Mother. The ironies of household technology from the open hearth to the microwave. New York: Basic Books. Chapter 4: "Twentieth

6 Century Changes in Household Technology". A controversial view of work in the home. Dolores Hayden "What would a non-sexist city be like?", reprinted with an introduction in Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds. The City Reader, London: Routledge, 1996, pp A feminist interpretation of the structure of the North American city. Land Development and Local Government James Lemon "Toronto" Cities 8,4 (1991): Argues that Toronto is an exemplary North American city. Robert Cervero "Sustainable New Towns. Stockholm's rail-served satellites." Cities 12,1: Outlines Stockholm's postwar achievement and implicitly puts Toronto in European context. Patterns of Urban Land Use Richard Harris and Robert Lewis The Geography of North American Cities A Reinterpretation. Journal of Urban History (forthcoming). An overview, organised thematically. Ernest W.Burgess "The Growth of the City", reprinted with an introduction in Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds. The City Reader, London: Routledge, 1996, pp The classic essay on the social geography of the North American city in the twentieth century, using Chicago as a case study. Richard Harris "Chicago's Other Suburbs." The Geographical Review 84,4: A different view of Chicago's suburbs TUTORIALS All students are expected to attend, and contribute to, a weekly one-hour tutorial. Ten percent of your overall course grade will be determined by your attendance and participation in these tutorial sessions. You must come to class prepared and ready to discuss the weekly readings. Topic Sept.16 Introductions and housekeeping. First assignment handed out. Sept.23 DISCUSSION TOPIC: Why should we be interested in the history of cities? What can the form and function of cities in the past tell us about cities today?

7 [Lowenthal; Harris and Lewis; Hayden 1995]. Sept.30 DISCUSSION TOPIC: What are the causes of urbanisation? What has been the role of technology in urban development. [Borchert; Gordon] How do Borchert, and Gordon explain urbanisation? Which do you find more convincing, and why? Oct.7 ===== NO TUTORIAL FOR ONE WEEK ==================== Oct.14 First assignment due; second assignment discussed. Oct.21 Library tour (exact location t.b.a.) Oct.28 DISCUSSION TOPIC: Urban work. Is housework 'work'? How has it changed since (about) 1500? Do you agree with Ruth Cowan about recent trends in housework? [Cowan] Do you agree with Dolores Hayden's ideas about how and why cities should be redesigned? [Hayden 1980] Nov.4 DISCUSSION TOPIC: Urban Planning. Should Toronto have followed Stockholm's planning example after WWII? Why did this not happen? [Lemon; Cervero] Nov.11 DISCUSSION TOPIC: Were Toronto and Chicago similar in 1920? Did their geography fit the Burgess model? Why? Nov.18 ======== NO TUTORIAL FOR ONE WEEK ==================== Nov.25 Second assignment returned. Review. Copyright 1999 Richard Harris. All rights reserved. Permission to copy and use under "fair use" in education is granted, provided proper credit is given. Citation: Richard Harris. Syllabus. Urban Historical Geography. Ontario, Canada: University of Guelph, H-Urban Teaching Center, H-Net. July, URL: