Review Images #7:Urban Geography

What Is A City?A node in a circulation system of people,

resources, goods, services and ideas.

There is no set size for a city - definitions vary from country to country and state to state.

Hearths of Urbanization

Mesopotamia - 3500 BCE

Site and Situation Affect Whether Or Not Cities Grow and Prosper

• Situation: characteristics of the relative location of a city– Accessibility– Connectivity– Proximity to

resources

• Site: characteristics of the absolute location of a city– Landforms– Climate– Vegetation– Water supply– Soil quality– Minerals– Wildlife

Urban MorphologyThe layout of a city, its physical form

and structure

Early European industrial cities located near coal fields and ports.

The Urban Hierarchy

Rank-Size Rule (Also Called Zipf’s Law)

• Population of city is inversely proportional to its rank in the urban hierarchy.

• For example:Largest city = Population 12 million2nd largest = Population 6 million3rd largest = Population 4 million4th largest = Population 3 million

• Does not work in regions with primate cities

A leading city that is disproportionately larger than the other cities in the country.

London, UKMexico City, Mexico

Paris, France

Primate City

Central Place Theory

Christaller’s Central Place Theory

Threshold and Range

Functional ZonationThe division of the city into zones for certain functions

North American City ModelsBurgess Concentric Zones 1920s

Cities grow in rings radiating out from the Central Business District.

Bid Rent Curve

The closer you are to the CBD, the more expensive the land.

Hoyt Sector Model 1930s

Cities grow in wedges following transportation corridors.

Harris & Ullman’s Multiple Nuclei Model1940s

Cities grow and develop around clusters of economic activity.

Ex: university node, airport node

Vance’s Urban Realms Model 1946

Urban area is comprised of a series of independent suburban downtowns within a larger metropolitan area.

Harris’ Galactic City Model 1960’s

Inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by transportation nodes.

Edge City• Former suburbs that have become

self sufficient “mini cities” on the edge of major cities

• Minnesota examples: Bloomington, Plymouth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Roseville

• Characteristics– 5 million+ sq. ft. of office space– 600,000+ sq. ft. of retail space– More jobs than bedrooms– Perceived as one place– Not urban 30 years ago

Megacities: Population = 10+

Million

Megaregions of U.S.

What is Urbanization?

The growth of a central city and its suburbsThe “Nail House” in Chongqing, China

Global population now approximately 54% urban, 46% rural

Urban Areas With 1 Million + Inhabitants

Percent Urban Population

Developed world is most urbanized, but developing world is urbanizing at the fastest pace.

Urban Growth 2002-2015

World’s Largest Urban Agglomerations (Urban Areas)

European Cities

Green Belt Maphttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/greenpolitics/planning/9708387/Interactive-

map-Englands-green-belt.html

• More compact than U.S.• Some greenbelts (esp. UK)• Healthy CBDs• More mass transit, less car

focused• More mixed use zoning• Higher income housing

closer to CBD, lower income housing in suburbs (opposite of U.S.)

European Urban Social Structure Differs

Example: Higher income professionals are likely to live in the center of Paris, while factory workers tend to live in the suburbs, in contrast to the

pattern of many American cities.

Colonial Cities Have Vestiges of Their Past

Example: The main square in downtown Mexico City, the Zócalo, was laid out by the Spanish.

Cities Around the World Have Different Structures Based on

Their Unique Histories

See detailed explanations in text,

Kaplan Review Guide and on Models To

Know page.

Griffin-Ford Latin American City Model

deBlij’s African City Model

See detailed explanation in text,

Kaplan Review Guide and on Models To

Know page.

McGee’s Southeast Asian City Model

See detailed explanation in text,

Kaplan Review Guide and on Models To

Know page.

Middle Eastern City Model

Mosque is focus and bazaars

(marketplaces) are common in city

centers.

Urban SprawlUnrestricted, unplanned growth of housing, commercial development and roads over large areas of land.

Las Vegas, NV

New Urbanism or Smart Growth:Planned, Walkable, Mixed Residential-

Retail Communities

Liberty on the Lake, Stillwater, MN

U.N. estimates 1 billion people worldwide live in slums.

Disamenity SectorSlums, squatter settlements, favelas, etc.

Percent of Urban Population Living In Slums

Sub-standard housing, most lack electricity, water & sanitation, most lack secure tenure

Favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya

World City: Important Node in Global Economic System

World Cities

The World is Spiky

The World Is Spiky - It’s All About Connectivity

http://gecon.yale.edu/world_big.html

Spaces of Consumption

U.S. Sunbelt Cities Growing

New job opportunities, deindustrialization of Rust Belt, Baby Boomer retirees, immigration, high birth rates among new immigrants, etc.

Borchert’s Epochs

U.S. Urbanization Patterns Relate To Technological

Changes

Sail-Wagon Epoch 1790-1830• Wind and water power• Most urban places were ports or water

power sites• Major cities: New York, Boston,

Philadelphia - oriented towards European trade

• Water transportation critical• Overland travel slow

Iron Horse Epoch (1830-1870)• Steamboats and railroads diffuse

– Great Lakes and Mississippi River system key• Industrialization & coal mining boom• Coal powered steam engine revolutionizes overland

transport

Railroads 1870

Steel Rail Epoch (1870-1920)• Industrial Revolution diffuses, steel industry develops• Coal power generators allowed manufacturing to take

place away from water power sites• Coal & iron ore from Appalachia & Minnesota’s

Mesabi Range• Steel railroad tracks replace iron = heavier trains,

faster speeds, longer distances = lower transportation costs

• Continental U.S. stitched together by railroad network

Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-Present)

• Gasoline powered combustion engines• Trucks, automobiles & airplanes• Dense network of roads makes travel

easier• Suburbanization• Sun Belt development

Interstate Highway System