WHAT CITIES DO AND WHY THEY EXIST.

“Cities are the most important human made feature on the Earth’s surface.” Urbanization has been the major trend in the 20th century.

The development of agriculture some 10,000 years ago made cities possible.

With a surplus of food, not all people had to be concerned about growing food. This allowed “specialization of labor.” Different people could produce different products and trade.

People could produce shoes, clothes, swords, etc… and barter for food and other products.

CITIES EXIST BECAUSE THEY ARE P.I.G.S.

PORTSINDUSTRIAL CENTERS

GOVERNMENT CENTERS

SERVICES

New York City London

Mexico City Houston

Cities must “do something” to exist.

CITIES

Cities must “do something” to exist. They have to have a reason to exist.

Many cities exist because they are P.I.G.S.

Ports

Cities exist because they are P.I.G.S.

All cities have industrial centers.

Cities are P.I.G.S.

Government Centers

Cities are P.I.G.S.

Service Centers

Cities must have a reason to exist. What happens when the mines are exhausted?

Central Place: provides goods and services to the surrounding areas (hinterlands.)

Chicago is a S.I.P. center. It sits on Lake Michigan, Chicago River, and a vast system of rail lines. It is a central place for the midwest.

Amarillo serves as a “central place” for the small towns and farms in the Panhandle (hinterlands.) How about Houston?

Wheat farms

Cadillac Ranch on I-40.

A central place provides goods and services for a region.

Cites can exist because they are transportation centers.

Technology can change the mode of transpiration.

A metropolitan area is made up of a central business district and rings that include small surrounding cities (exurbs-Hempstead), built up areas around a central city (suburbs –Cy Fair), and the central city (inside loop 610.)

Suburbs

Cy Fair

Exurbs

Galveston

CBD

Houston Metropolitan Area

Cites are also “break of bulk” centers.

This means goods are moved from one mode of transportation to another. Ships to trucks, trains or trains to trucks. These goods are then shipped out to stores and end users.

Houston grew into a major city because it is a transportation center

Rail, two air ports, the ship channel and interstate highways.

Of course Houston’s growth is also tied to…

The energy capital of the world (oil!)

Which American city grew into a great city because of the automobile industry?

Detroit

Cities exist for special purposes, like……….?

This special purpose city is the entertainment capital of Texas.

Centers for special activities may be the seat of government (county, state, or national.

They may also exist because they are the central place of a religion

If the functions of a city or town increase in number of importance, it will grow in population.

If a city decreases in importance, its population will decline

Timbuktu, Mali, West Africa

Around 50% of the world’s population now lives in cities (much higher in the developed world.)