City Planning Activity

Teacher:

Have the kids describe their perfect city. Have them write down what it would have.

Brainstorm, environmental science knowledge about cities

Bare minimum: what do cities HAVE to have

What are challenges for cities

What makes a good city

1. City Services & Infrastructure: Thinking About Necessities

• Explain to students that today they’re going to come up with some ideas for the perfect city. But before they do that they need to define the word “city.” Ask the students to think about how a city is different from a town or village. Which is bigger in area? In population? A town or village may have the same amount of space but it has fewer people living in that space than in a city. What are some buildings that might be found in a city but not in a town or village? Sports arena, large apartment buildings, colleges or universities, hospital, main subway terminal, train station, etc.

• Ask the students to think about what things in their city they use everyday? What do they need to survive? How does the city provide some of these services? What is absolutely necessary to make a city livable? Many of these things are part of the infrastructure and services that the city government provides or asks private companies to provide. In a town or villages these services are provided through the county government. Explain some of the basic services that cities typically provide: sanitation, water and drinkable water, schools, public transportation, gas, electricity, cable television and phone service (see table at end of lesson plan).

• Now using the information just discussed, ask students to think about what’s good or not so good about the city they live in. Ask students to think about their city (or nearest city). What are some of the positive things about living in it? What are some of the negative things about living in it? Divide students into small groups and have them list the positive and negative aspects of their city on the student worksheet

National Geography Standards addressed:1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface.4. The physical and human characteristics of places.9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surface.12. The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.14. How human actions modify the physical environment.15. How physical systems affect human systems.17. How to apply geography to interpret the past.

Urban Planning Project – Part 1Please write clearly and in pen! (10 points) Name:

1. What is the name of your city?

2. What is the geography around your city? Describe the environment. (Desert, forest, jungle). Is it near water? (Rivers, lakes, ocean). Are there islands? What is the topography like? (Mountains, hills, plains) What’s the weather like? (Must be realistic!)

3. What kind of primary sector activities would they do in and around your city?

4. What kind of secondary sector activities would they do in and around your city?

5. What kind of tertiary sector activities would they do in and around your city?

Required Economic Activities

- 1 Mall- Apartments- Suburb Neighborhood- 11 Restaurants/bars- Theaters- Fire department- Police department- City hall- 3 parks- Landfill / recycling center- Energy (coal powered, natural gas, solar, wind)- 4 schools- University- Low income housing- Office complex- Post office- Library- Jail- 3 Places of worship- Clean Water: water treatment plant- Roads/highways/bus/rail/subway- Port/Airport/train station- Hospital

Your Choice:

- Basic Industries:

o

o

o

- Non-Basic Industries:

o

o

o

Urban Planning Project – Part 2

You are a geographer with exceptional skills as an urban planner. You wish to be hired by a new town council of __________________________ which will be hiring urban planners. You will create a proposal to be present to the town council. They want a modern city that is environmentally friendly as well. Your city will have between 100,000 people in it. (This is a little bigger than Flagstaff.)

Your first task is to create a paper model of the city. Therefore you will need to create a town plan. The town council has given you the requirements to be included in your plan. Be sure to think through where you are planning to place each facility. You must use your skills as a geographer and knowledge of environmental science to make sure this is the best plan. The goal is to design the ideal city, one which is convenient for humans, preserves the environment and maintains a quality of life for both animals and humans.

Your city plan must be neat and in color. It needs to include a key. You should number buildings and identify what they are (or their type) on a separate paper. (20 points)

Urban Planning Project – Part 3After you have designed and colored your city design, answer these. Please write out an explanation for each of the following in complete sentences. Please type your response. With the exception of #1, each response should be multiple sentences. (21 Points)

1. Identify the basic and non-basic industries in your city.2. Explain the placement of one of your basic industries using the Least Cost Theory.3. Explain the placement of one of your consumer services using the Central Place Theory.4. Explain why you placed the following things in their location:

a. City Servicesb. Businessc. Recreation Facilitiesd. Housinge. Roads

5. How do you predict your city will grow and develop over the next 50 years? (Use your knowledge of demographics and migration patterns.)

6. How is your city design environmentally responsible?

THIS PAPER WILL NOT BE TURNED IN

Urban Planning Project – Part 4Select your top 5 favorite cities. For your top 3, write a three sentences explaining what you liked about each one.

TOP 5 CITIES:1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Explanation:

City 1:

City 2:

City 3:

Urban Planning Project Rubric Name:

Urban Planning Part 1 / 10Name /1Geography /3Primary /2Secondary /2Tertiary /2

Urban Planning Part 2Map /20

Geography /6Buildings /12Color /2Key /2

Response /21Typed /1#1 /2#2 /2#3 /2#4 /10#5 /2#6 /2

Urban Planning Part 3Voting /9

City 1 /3City 2 /3City 3 /3

TOTAL / 60