Unit VII: Urbanization

Urbanization’s History

Urban (city limits) + suburbs tied to central

business district= Metropolitan Statistical

Area

% people living in urban settings: 1800: 3%1850: 6%1900: 14%1950: 25%2000: 47%2015: ?

Review Urban Hierarchy• Hamlet (could be just 8 homes!)• Village• Town• Specialized Cities• Mega-Cities• World City

• London, Tokyo, NYC (1st tier)

• Central Place Theory• Central Place Theory (CPT) is an attempt to explain the spatial arrangement, size, and number of settlements. (1933 [German] geographer Walter Christaller- studied the settlement patterns in southern Germany)

• 1st Agricultural Rev. (Neolithic Rev.) • First cities social stratification• Dev. of secondary/tertiary sector

activities

Industrial Period

• 19th Century – HUGE growth of cities due to (review):

• Indus Rev. and capitalism• 2nd Agricultural Revolution• Demographic transition

Late 20th/ 21st Century Urban Trends• Urban Banana: Crescent-shaped zone of early urbanization extending across

Eurasia from England to Japan (If you include eastern USA it should be called “urban snake!”)

Late 20th-21st Century • Increase in service jobs + higher standard of living/affordable cars +

Interstate Highway System = commuting development of suburbs• Suburbanization - 50 percent of Americans live in suburbs• Diversified economic base for each city• “Edge cities” develop (no need for CBD travel)

Suburbs evolved from “sub” “urbs” to freestanding, self-sufficient entities.Joel Garreau – Edge Cities

Late 20th/ 21st Century Urban Trends• Problems with new trends?

• Urban sprawl• Increasing mobility decreases sense of community & increases

pollution• Traffic Congestion/Rush hour problems telecommuting• Degradation of wildlife habitat• Semi-periphery/periphery urbanizing too rapidly (development can’t

keep up) “squatter settlements”

http://www.treehugger.com/urban-sprawl-america.jpg

www.cartoonstock.com/directory/u/urban_sprawl.asp

onlinegeography.wikispaces.com/S+-+Urban+Sprawl

John Borchert - 1967Recognized four epochs in the evolution of the American metropolis based on the impact of transportation & communication:

•    1) Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830) – associated with low technology•    2) Iron Horse Epoch (1830-70); steam-powered locomotive & spreading rails•    3) Steel-Rail Epoch (1870-1920); full impact of Ind. Rev. (steel), hinterlands expand•    4) Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-70); gas-powered internal combustion engine•    High Technology Epoch (1970-today ); expansion of service & information industries (not part of Borchert’s model)

U.S. Urban Growth Stages

Urban areas in LDC v. MDC• 8/10 largest cities in LDC & growing (NYC and Tokyo only ones in MDC)• Core are very urban 70-80% also Latin America & Russia (L.A. more urban

than E. Europe)• Fastest growing megacities are in South and East Asia• Africa lowest % urban BUT fastest urban growth• 300+ cities w/ 1 million+ people

Percent Urban by Region

Fig. 13-2b: Over 70% of people in MDCs live in urban areas. Although under half of the people in most of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are urban, Latin America and the Middle East have urban percentages comparable to MDCs.

Specialized cities• One/two industries/services

dominate = “Functional Specialization”• ex: Old-time Chicago (beef, wheat,

timber…) today Laurent, South Dakota• ex: Dalton Ga. = carpet manufacturing• ex: Lost Wages… Las Vegas, NV.

• Why do modern cities want a diversified economic base?

• Fact: As cities grow Functional Specialization decreases.

World Cities

• Control centers for major decision-making/economic interests• Economics (NY, London,

Tokyo)

• Political: (D.C., Brussels = EU, NYC = UN)

• Fashion (Milan)

Here's the world city hierarchy within the US:

Rank-Size Rule

Rank-Size Rule: n th-largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement. In other words, 2nd largest is 1/2 the size of largest. Works best in most developed countries that have full distribution of services.

Rank Size Rule

• Notes the relationship between the ranks of cities and their populations.

• Top Cities in Canada1.  Toronto 5,741,4002.  Montreal 3,859,3003.  Vancouver 2,391,3004.  Calgary 1,242,6005.  Ottawa 1,239,100

Rank Size RuleExample:1. Largest City 1,000,0002. 2nd largest City 500,0003. 3rd Largest City 333,3334. 4th Largest City 250,0005. 5th Largest City ?

Rank Size RuleExample:1. Largest City 1,000,000 (1/1)2. 2nd largest City 500,000 (1/2)3. 3rd Largest City 333,333 (1/3)4. 4th Largest City 250,000 (1/4)5. 5th Largest City 200,000 (1/5)

Primate CitiesA country's leading city is always disproportionately large and exceptionally expressive of national capacity and feeling. The primate city is commonly at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant.

 - Mark Jefferson, 1939

Largest City Population Second-largest City Population

Paris 9 million Marseille 2 millionLondon 9 million Birmingham 2 million

What advantages do primate cities have?

• Hugely influential • Culturally• Politically• Economically

• Huge number of economic activities• Agglomeration of industries• Pull factors for migrants

Primate City Rule• #1 city is MORE THAN 2x pop. of #2 city

• Core: UK and France • Periphery: Nigeria, Argentina, Mexico

• Problems w/ countries w/ primate city • No uniform development• People have access to goods/services t/o country??

• Solution Forward capital – moving the capital to achieve a certain goal

• Abuja, Nigeria• Brasilia, Brazil

Achieve more even development of the country

4 More Dumb Models That Hurt Your Head:Models of Urban Structure

1. “Concentric Zone Model”• Burgess’s rings expand outward. Model of segregation?

• 1st Ring: Nonresidential (Businesses locate)• 2nd Ring: Factories/Industry/Poor Housing• 3rd, 4th and 5th: see below • Rings are diff. due to land values

2. Sector Model - Hoyt

“Sector Model”• Hoyt’s “expanding pizza” metaphor• CBD w/ spokes

• Each has diff. levels of dev./housing• Each centered around mode of

infrastructure • Ex: Atlanta

• Pizza slices expand w/ the infrastructure

• “Other side of the tracks”• Very similar to Burgess in sense of

representing Chicago. Was Burgess student.

3. Multiple Nuclei Model – Harris & Ullman

• Lacks ONE strong core/CBD – has MULTIPLE nodes

• CBD losing its grasp over the whole city

• Ex: L.A.• Areas w/ incompatible land

NOT close together (e.g. housing & heavy industry

• Driving Era Model

4. Urban Realms – Hartshorn (GA State) and Muller

• Problems w/ other models: People increasingly NOT working in CBD

• Multiple metropolitan areas interact – each area functions separately in some ways

• Outer cities became more self-sufficient (what do we call these cities?)

• Duplicate certain functions of central city

• Regional shopping centers become CBD’s of the outer nuclei

• Business/Industrial parks locating outside the central city

Problems In Urban Areas• Racist Strategies to keep minorities out of

certain areas • Redlining = (Banking) • Blockbusting (Real Estate brokers and agents)• Racial Steering (Real Estate brokers and agents)

Redlining

• A discriminatory real estate practice in North America in which members of minority groups are prevented from obtaining money to purchase homes or property in predominantly white neighborhoods.

• The practice derived its name from the red lines depicted on cadastral maps used by real estate agents and developers.

• Banks draw red lines on maps around areas they refuse to lend $$$ to • Fear: minorities will move into a "nice"

neighborhood property values will go down

• Ghettoization resulted• Today, redlining is officially illegal

Description of Ghettoizationand White Flight• Most “1st Grade" neighborhoods have fallen a grade or two

• Home buyers want NEW homes migrate to newer suburbs further from CBD

• Process repeats itself, decay in center grows even deeper

Blockbusting• Offering an African-American a

house in a white neighborhood at low price

• White owners told their neighborhood was about to "tip" – become minority-dominated

• Agent represents sellers• Result = “White-flight” to the

suburbs

Racial Steering• Steering prospective

homebuyers to neighborhoods b/c of similar ethnicity

• Sometimes good-intentioned

• Done covertly justified by showing people houses in a particular school district

Racial Steering, Blockbusting, and Redlining

•All Three …

• Result in segregation and ghettoization

• Are illegal & result in criminal and civil punishments

Gentrification• Middle class moves into inner city &

fixes up housing• Why?

• City life• Cities are heterogeneous• Cheaper houses• Unique architecture• Proximity to jobs NO COMMUTE

• Attracts mostly single people, gays/lesbians, & DINKS

• Harlem, NYC, Baltimore, DC

Suburban Areas• Peripheral Model

• Urban area =• Inner CBD • Suburbs (diff. income levels) surround CBD (these suburbs turn

into…???(Boomburbs, exurbs…)• Offices, malls, etc. mixed in to service people• All tied together by “beltways” (I285, 575)

• Density gradient (pop density) decreases as distance from CBD increases

• Benefits from suburban life?• Less crime• Better education• More individual space yard, garage, large house• Less traffic

• Problems?• Urban sprawl• Creates segregation (Zoning laws)

Urban sprawl

• Metropolitan Atlanta extends west to Alabama Almost to Tennessee

How can a local gov stop urban sprawl?• Greenbelt

• Area around a city that is restricted from housing must remain open space

• Prevents cities from merging into one another• Restricts countryside from overdevelopment• Encourages gentrification (housing prices go up though)

• Green Space • Designated areas where trees, parks built to prevent more

businesses/housing from locating there• Zoning Laws/Ordinances

• Prevents mixing of land uses – no “adult stores” next to schools

• Criticism and Unintended Consequences• What happens to land values?

Urban Styles around the World• American v. European cities

• USA rich live in suburbs• European wealthy in CBD w/ rural country homes • Poor Europeans live in “high density” suburbs near the

city• Europe has high rise subsidized housing concentrations

of poor people create MAJOR problems (no-go zone in Paris)

• Poor Americans live in city in low density, spread out gov. housing

• Only 2% of USA in gov’t housing; Most of Europe = 30% • USA’s subsidized housing is more dispersed, less and less

funded over time

Peripheral Urban Areas• Most put poor on edges of cities & rich in CBD • Latin American = CBD w/ wheel-like spokes• Often a grid-like org. due to Spanish w/ central plaza• Squatter settlements (favelas, barrio…) on cities’ edges start as illegal

temporary squatters = “disamenity sectors” • If it was your decision: legalize/forcibly remove the squatters???

Latin American Cities – Griffin-Ford Model

Squatter Settlements (favelas, barrio…)

See a trend?

Show intro to Incredible Hulk and extended scene from Slumdog Millionaire…

Islamic Cities• Walled w/ mosque & open-air market in center• Lots of courtyards & high walls• Quarters reserved for Christians and Jews• Middle East = oil companies lead to

nucleation/agglomeration

Why such high walls w/o windows?

LAST HUMAN GEOGRAPHY SLIDE EVER… TEAR