Cities and Urban Land

Use

Urban Geography How cities function, their internal systems and

structures, and the external influences on them. 2 Ways of studying Urban Geography

Systems of cities: how cities influence the landscape around them, how they connect to one another, and how they are distributed nationally and globally

Internal cities: internal workings of cities, analysis of patterns of land use, racial and ethnic segregation, architecture, intra-city transportation, cycles of construction and development Uses census data, and narrative accounts

Urban Areas What’s an “urban” area?

Nucleated-clear core area(s), people that live their have non-agricultural jobs Central City

Usually surrounded by Suburbs-nucleated spaces that use much land for residences but are not self-sufficient

Modern cities and towns so close together they form an urbanized area that is continuously built up landscapes and buildings=Physical city

Metropolitan Area

Urban Hierarchy Clustered settlements range in size-arranged by

complexity of their centralizing functions Smallest to Largest Hamlet-small cluster of farms, and basic services Village-small cluster of homes, and more

specialized services Town-larger than village, has more specialized

services (bank, schools, library) has a hinterland (area dependent on the town)

City-larger population, functional specialization, larger hinterlands, greater centrality, Central Business Districts (CBD)

Megalopolis-multiple cities that have grown together-

Social Life of Urban Areas

Louis Wirth says 3 characteristics of cities that set it apart from rural areas Large Size- too many acquaintances to keep

track of everyone’s personal life Many people but don’t know most very well

High Density-people have highly specialized jobs, each person in city serves specific purpose-people compete for space (high cost of living), greater differences in rich and poor

Social heterogeneity-lots of diversity, freedom and independence not available in rural ares

Origin and Evolution

of Cities Ancient and Early River Civilizations:

Formative Era Nile, Mesopotamia, Indus River, China As populations grew, the need for decision

makers to distribute food came to be (urban elite)

Functions of Ancient Cities: Centers of power-government headquarters Religious centers-priests, temples, shrines Economic centers-markets, merchants, traders Educational centers-educators for the urban

elite

Urbanization around Mediterranean

City-states-self-governing communities plus the surrounding countryside Athens, Sparta, Thebes Rome-becomes an urban empire connected

by roadways and waterways

Urbanization in China

Han Dynasty (ruled during Roman Empire) will have largest city in world Chang’an and later Luoyang Located on rivers and near Silk Road trade

route Connected by roads, rivers, canals

Medieval cities Roman empire falls and cities take a hit in

Europe Venice and Genoa (because of sea trade)

remained strong Churches were center of Medieval European

cities

By 1000 AD the largest cities were in Asia Baghdad, Constantinople (Istanbul), Kyoto,

Chang’an, Hangchow. Not until 1800 did Europe have the most

populated city in the world-London

Pre-industrial Cities Pre-industrial cities were the centers for

culture (because industry had not moved in yet!) Primate cities-larger than other cities in the

area and representing a national culture Kyoto-primate city for old Japan, Paris, London However! One major difference is that religious

buildings dominated landscapes of cities in Middle East, Europe, the Americas but not Africa or East Asia

Trade routes and networks determined a cities success and growth-called mercantile city where trade was central to design

Industrial Cities Because of the Industrial Revolution-the

manufacturing city emerged-where factories attracted laborers from all over boosting major population growth in urban areas Transportation to and fro and within develops Problems will grow quickly but so will

solutions like government intervention and city planning and zoning

World Cities and Megacities

Manufacturing cities begin to decline as outsourcing and LDC’s are used for that type of labor

World Cities include: Largest regional cities: New York, Tokyo,

London Second Tier cities: Chicago, Los Angeles,

Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Sao Paolo, Singapore,

Third Tier cities: Bangkok, Bombay, Hong Kong, Manila, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg

Tiers of World Cities Based on centrality of these services-

Business-corporations, banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges, legal and accounting firms, airports, busy harbors, junction of rail and highway networks

Consumer-retail business, entertainment and cultural offerings (plays, concerts, restaurants, museums)

Public-government headquarters, ambassadors, lobbyists

Megacities Term created by UN in the 1970’s 25 total megacities=population over 10 million Some include:

Tokyo Mexico City Seoul New York City Sao Paulo Mumbai Delhi Shanghai Los Angeles Osaka

Functions of Cities Transportation centers-where major routes

converge (roads, railroads, sea traffic, air transport)

Special Function Cities-engaged in mining, manufacturing, or recreation

Provide goods and services for surrounding area from a central place

Economic Base of Cities

City workers provide services outside city- “export activities” money flows into city-basic sector of a cities economy.

Those who produce goods or services for residents of city-non-basic or service sector

Some geographers compare number of workers in service and basic sectors-called base ratio of a city

The Changing City Borchert’s 4 Stages in the Evolution of American cities: 1. Sail-Wagon Epoch(1790-1830)-technologies

determined job opportunities of people entering city 2. Iron Horse Epoch (1830-1870)-railroad technology

changed nature of trade and employment 3. Steel-Rail Epoch (1870-1920)-steel industry

transformed urban America and job opportunities of workers

4. Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-1960)- internal combustion engine came to dominate lifestyles, employment, and economic base of cities

Models of Urban Systems

2 theories of settlement geography-patterns of settlement on earth Rank-Size Rule-true for urbanized cities in the

US not in LDC’s or in regions with a dominate primate city-nth largest city will be 1/nth the size of the largest city-2nd largest city will be ½ the size of the first ranked city

.

Models of Urban Systems

Central Place Theory-cities are centers for distribution of goods and services for non-urban populations The landscape is divided into noncompeting market

areas—complementary regions where each area and its merchants have a monopoly

Market areas form a series of hexagons, no area is un-served, no two centers

Central place is at the center of each hexagon, supplies all goods and services to that area

Market area is determined by the number of goods and services

Some hexagons have smaller ones within it, hierarchy of central places

Internal Cities Analyze the internal land space of a city,

varying uses Use several factors to analyze

Accessiblity High cost of accessible space Transportation Societal and cultural needs

Models of Urban Land Use

Concentric Zone Model-Cites grow outward from a central area (CBD) in a series of concentric rings

Sector Model-variant of concentric zone theory, cities develop in sectors not rings from a (CBD)

Multiple-Nuclei Model-a city grows from multiple nodes, not just from a (CBD)

Patterns of class, age, gender, race,

and ethnicity Social area analysis-takes census data and

overall picture of how various peoples are distributed within an area (city)

Most Urban Land Models support the idea that people prefer to live near others with similar characteristics

Social Class, Age and Marital Status, Gender (feminization of poverty), Race and Ethnicity clustered into (ghettos) from historical segregation patterns in US