Contemporary Urban IssuesAP Human GeographyCities and Urban Land Use Unit

For today, 04/22•Pick up a table from the table

•Unit Exam is next Thursday, 4/30

•Get it? The heart of the city

Inner City Problems Table

• In pairs: research, discuss, and complete the COLUMN ON THE LEFT (“Individual and Group Research”)

• Chapter 13, key issue 3 will be extremely helpful in finding the information

• Be sure to include any bold faced words that appear

Physical Problems of Inner Cities: Deterioration

• Filtering: the process of dividing up a large home into small apartments for low income families

• Filtering leads to deterioration:

(1.) Landlords stop maintaining

houses

(2.) Buildings deteriorate and

grow unfit for occupancy

(3.) Owners abandon the property

which lead to zones of

abandonment and uneven dvlp

Camden, NJ

Physical Problems of Inner Cities: Deterioration

• Redlining: drawing lines on a map to identify areas in which they will refuse to loan money

• Redlining leads to deterioration: (1.) Families who try to fix up homes in the area have difficulty borrowing money

Camden, NJDetroit, MI

Physical Problems of Inner Cities: Deterioration

• Urban Renewal: blighted neighborhood are acquired and demolished - residents are relocated, often to public housing

• Public housing leads to deterioration:

(1.) Funds given are reduced (30%)

(2.) Become unsatisfactory living quarters

Camden, NJ

New Orleans, LA

Social Problems of Inner Cities: Underclass

• Cycle of economic and social problems that creates a culture of poverty

• Poverty characteristics of u-class:

(1.) Homelessness (1 million

each night in U.S.)

(2.) High crime rates due to

drugs, gangs, and hs dropout

(3.) Ethnic segregation

(minority-majority

neighborhoods)

(4.) Single parent households

(80 – 90% in U.S.)

Camden, NJ

New Orleans, LA

Ethnic Segregation of

Houston

Economic Problems of Inner Cities

• Lack of investment by business owners

• Gentrification can create an inability of some owners to pay for their home due to increased taxes

• Joblessness due to:

(1.) Deindustrialization

(2.) Suburbanization

(3.) Lack of job skills

Camden, NJ

New Orleans, LA

(1.) Lowest-value homes are becoming more clustered in certain parts (2.) Higher-value homes are increasingly being built in the suburbs(3.) The inner city remains an area of low-value homes

In pairs or groups of 3

• Discuss these three topics:

(1.) Suburbanization process – how and why do suburbs exist?

(2.) Suburban sprawl – what is it and why does it exist?

(3.) Problems of suburban sprawl – what are they?