URBAN GEOGRAPHY Chapter 9
When and Why Did People Start Living in Cities? City: A conglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and economics Urban: The buildup of the city and surrounding environs connected to the city (central city and suburbs) Urbanization: Movement of people from rural to urban areas can happen very quickly in the modern world
Urban Population
Origins of Urbanization Agricultural villages Began about 10,000 years ago Relatively small, egalitarian villages, where most of the population was involved in agriculture The first urban revolution: Enabling components 1. An agricultural surplus 2. Social stratification (leadership class)
Hearths of Urbanization
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
Indus River Valley Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro Intricately planned Houses equal in size No palaces No monuments
Huang He and Wei River Valleys Purposefully planned cities Centered on a north-south axis Inner wall built around center Temples and palaces for the leadership class Terracotta warriors guarding the tomb of the Chinese Emperor Qin Xi Huang
Mesoamerica Mayan and Aztec cities: Theocratic centers where rulers were deemed to have divine authority and were god-kings
Diffusion of Urbanization Greek cities (by 500 BCE) Greeks highly urbanized Network of more than 500 cities and towns on the mainland and on islands Acropolis (buildings on a height of land) and an agora (open public space) in each city Roman cities A system of cities and small towns, linked together by hundreds of miles of roads and sea routes Sites of Roman cities typically for trade Forum a combination of the acropolis and agora into one space Extreme wealth and extreme poverty
Roman Empire
Urban Growth after Greece and Rome Europe Middle Ages (500 1300) Little urban growth, even decline Asia Centers along the Silk Road Urban growth in Korea, Japan West Africa The Americas
Cities in the Age of Exploration Early Eurasian centers Crescent-shaped zone from England to Japan Most cities sited in continental interiors Maritime exploration Change in situation to favor coastal locations Continued importance under colonialism Wealth for mercantile cities of Europe European model for cities in colonies
The Second Urban Revolution A large-scale movement of people 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 Favored places Had undergone the second agricultural revolution Possessed industrial resources Possessed capital from mercantilism and colonialism
Industrialization in Europe
Where Are Cities Located, and Why? Site Absolute location Static location, often chosen for trade, defense, or religion Situation Relative location A city s place in the region and the world around it Trade area: An adjacent region within which a city s influence is dominant
Trade Areas
Rank-Size Rule Characteristic of a model urban hierarchy The population of the city or town is inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy 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, disproportionately larger than the rest of the cities
Central Place Theory Developed by Walter Christaller Predicts how and where central places in the urban hierarchy (hamlets, villages, towns, and cities) are functionally and spatially distributed Assumes that 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
Hexagonal Hinterlands C = city T = town V = village H = hamlet
How Are Cities Organized, and How Do They Function? Urban morphology: The layout of a city, its physical form and structure Functional zonation: The division of the city into certain regions (zones) for certain functions (purposes)
Zones 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) Modeling the North American city Concentric zone model (Ernest Burgess) Sector model (Homer Hoyt) Multiple-nuclei model (Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman)
Classical Models of Urban Structure
Suburban downtowns, often located near key freeway intersections, including Office complexes Shopping centers Hotels Restaurants Entertainment facilities Sports complexes Edge Cities
Each realm a separate economic, social, and political entity that is linked together to form a larger metropolitan framework Urban Realms Model
Cities of the Periphery and Semi- Periphery: Latin America Griffin-Ford model Blend of Latin American traditions with globalization Disamenity sectors Not connected to city services May be controlled by gangs and drug lords Industrial park Gentrification area
Cities of the Periphery and Semi- Periphery: Subsaharan Africa De Blij model Low levels of urbanization but rapid growth rates European colonial imprint
Cities of the Periphery and Semi- McGee model Periphery: Southeast Asia Colonial port and surrounding commercial zone as focal point
How Do People Make Cities? Role of powerful social and cultural forces Periphery and semi-periphery Sharp contrast between rich and poor Often lack zoning laws or enforcement of zoning laws Luanda, Angola Tokyo, Japan
Making Cities in the Global Core Redlining: Financial institutions refusing to lend money in certain neighborhoods Blockbusting : Realtors purposefully selling a home at a low price to an African American and then soliciting white residents to sell their homes at low prices, to generate white flight
Making Cities in the Global Core Gentrification: Individuals buying and rehabilitating houses, raising the housing value in the neighborhood Commercialization: City government transforming a central city to attract residents and tourists, often in stark contrast to the rest of the central city Tear-downs: Houses that new owners buy with the intention of tearing them down to build much larger homes McMansions: Large homes, often built to the outer limits of the lot
Unrestricted growth of housing, commercial developments, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning Urban Sprawl
New Urbanism Development, urban revitalization, and suburban reforms that create walkable neighborhoods with a diversity of housing and jobs Concerns Privatization of public spaces Failure to address conditions that create social ills of cities Countering urban sprawl
Gated Communities Neighborhoods with controlled gate (access) for people and vehicles Private security Rapid diffusion to Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America Security for wealthy in poor countries Use for low-income communities in core countries
Ethnic Neighborhoods European cities: Neighborhoods of migrants Cities of the periphery and semi-periphery
What Role Do Cities Play in Globalization? Function of world cities beyond state boundaries World cities as nodes in globalization Primate cities with concentration of development, interconnectedness Primate cities in former colonies
World Cities