Part I

WHAT IS A CITY?

Geography 1050

The Geography of Cities

In the ‘FertileCrescent’, the Valley of theTigris and Euphrates

in what is nowIraq

during the4th millennium BC

Cities have been ‘invented’ several times

In the Nile Valleyca. 3000 BC

In the Indus Valleyof Pakistanca 2500 BC

Other Places of Urban ‘Invention’

• The Yangtze Valley, ca 2000 BC

• The Americas: Inca ca 800 AD

Aztec ca 600 AD

Manchu Picchu., c. 2002. Evidence of urbanization here beginning at least 800 AD.

Roman Empire

Inca Empire

The morphology of citieshas changed dramatically

over the millennia,

AthensFourth Century

BC

Rome in the 2nd Century AD

Gustav Dore’s View of London 1878

Canary Wharf, Isle of Dogs, London

Timbouktou, Mali

Timbouktou, MaliA UNESCOWorld Heritage Site

Sankore Mosque/University

Djingareiber Mosque

Centre of learning by 965 AD

Multiple urban origins, similar functions

• Cities have always served more of less the same functions, providing sites of

– Defense

– Places of worship

– Education

– Fostering of culture

– Administration

– Shelter

– Production and Consumption

• Processes/Properties of the City (manual, p. 89) – Production

– Reproduction

– Proximity

– Capitalization

– Sense of Place

– Governance

Four Ways of DefiningThe City

1. Social - Demographic 2. Functional or Economic3. Legal or Administrative4. Statistical

Definition 1: Social - Demographic

• A city can is a human settlement A city can is a human settlement that is: that is: – Large Large – Densely populated Densely populated – Permanent Permanent – Socially heterogeneous, housing non Socially heterogeneous, housing non

agricultural specialists and a literate agricultural specialists and a literate eliteelite

(Louis Wirth, (Louis Wirth,

1938)1938)

The Importance of Density(Manual, p. 94)

How dense is dense?(persons/km2)

Downtown St. John’s 4,000

Chinatown, Toronto9,000

St. Jamestown, Toronto80,000

Mumbai43,000

Definition 2: Functional or Economic

The function of a city is to provide goods and services to its own people and (usually) to a surrounding population (local, regional, national or global) as well

Defining a city

2. Functional or Economic

• Only a small proportion of the population is engaged in primary activities such as fishing, farming or forestry

• Most of the population is engaged in ‘secondary’, ‘tertiary’ or ‘quaternary’ activities• Manufacturing• Trade (wholesale, retail)• Finance• Administration• Education• Religion

Definition 3: Legal or Administrative

A city usually has a legal existence, incorporated as a city or town under some appropriate legislation, and with a defined territory.

St. John’s was incorporated in 1888

St. John’s, 1859

• Prior to that it did not exist legally.

• But it did exist as a large, densely populated, permanent, socially heterogeneous settlement (Definition 1), and it performed urban economic functions (Definition 2) for the country.

St. John’s, 1859

Definition 4: Statistical

Statistical agencies like Statistical agencies like Statistics Statistics CanadaCanada make their own definitions of make their own definitions of cities.cities.

Usually the purpose is to define a Usually the purpose is to define a metropolitan area that approximates the metropolitan area that approximates the area thatarea that functions as a single functions as a single urban settlementurban settlement..

The The Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) isis the most common of these statistical areas. the most common of these statistical areas.

This map shows

the two cities of St.

John’s and Mount

Pearl, and ten of

the towns on the

Avalon Peninsula.

• The goal is to define a metropolitan area that approximates the area that functions as a single urban settlement – in Canada we attempt to delineate the area defined by the daily labourshed.

• The Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is the most common of these statistical areas.

Diagram of CMA

The Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) according to StatsCan

• The CMA is an area consisting of an urban core plus one or more adjacent municipalities situated around the core. To form a census metropolitan area, the urban core must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central urban area, as measured by commuting flows.

Census Subdivision-St. John’s CMA Pop. % change

St. John’s 100,646 1.5

Mount Pearl 24,671 -1.2

Conception Bay South 21,966 11.1

Paradise 12,584 31.1

Portugal Cove-St. Philips 6,575 12.1

Torbay 6,281 14.7

Logy Bay-Middle Cove-OuterCove 1,978 5.7

Pouch Cove 1,756 5.2

Flatrock 1,214 6.7

Bay Bulls 1,078 6.3

Witless Bay 1,070 1.3

Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove 915 -3.6

Bauline 379 4.1

Toronto 5,113,149

Montreal 3,635,571

Vancouver 2,116,581

Ottawa-Gatineau 1,130,761

Calgary 1,079,310,

Edmonton 1,034,945

Quebec 715,515

Winnipeg 694,668

Hamilton 692,911

London 457,720

Kitchener 451,235

St. Catharines-Niagara 390,317

Halifax 372,858

CMA Population

2006Rank 1-13

CMA’s 14 to 27

14 Oshawa* 330,594

15 Victoria 330,088

16 Windsor 323,342

17 Saskatoon 233,923

18 Regina 194,971

19 Sherbrooke 181,113

20 St. John’s 181,113 21 Barrie* 177,061

22 Kelowna* 162,276

23 Abbotsford 159,020

24 Greater Sudbury 158,258

25 Kingston 152,358

26 Saguenay 151,643

27 Trois Rivieres 151,529