URBAN BASICS Urbanization and development: Historical

Perspective

Rajendra P Sharma

rpsharma@mailcity.com

An Academic Presentation to BdevS, Center for Development Studies

Kathmamndu University

2014

21st Century - the Urban Century

• 1900 only 13 cities had 1

million people

• 1999 about 362 cities

had 1 million

• By 2025 there will be

650 cities of 1 million or

more

• Sometime in 21st cent.

The world will become

mostly urban

• Western Europe, US &

Canada are 4/5 urban

• China and India are only

Urban Definitions

• Urban-The buildup of the central city and the suburban realm – the city and the surrounding environs connected to the city (a general term for towns, cities and suburban areas)

• City- a conglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and economics (nucleated settlement with many functions and a central business district)

• Town-small than a city-less complex

Urban Definitions 2

• Central City-main city around which suburbs have grown

• Urbanized area-continuously built up area with buildings & population density with no reference to political boundaries

• Metropolitan area-a large scale functional entity containing several urbanized areas that are integrated as an economic

Urban

Morphology

The layout of a city,

its physical form

and structure.

Berlin, Germany

With wall (above)

And without wall

(right)

Ancient Cities

• Hearth Between 7,000 & 5,000 b.p. agricultural societies became more complex with irrigation & larger scale farming

• Stratified societies developed with priests, merchants, administrators, soldiers and farmers

• Central authority or the state developed which led to the rise of ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece & the

Attributes of Cities

• Centers of political power

• Centers of industrial power

• Centers of technology

• A market place for goods

• Specialization in products and services

• Cultural and Artistic

pursuits

• Centers of education

and research

• Entertainment of all

types

• Sports teams, arenas

and parks

• Medical advances

Five hearth of Urbanization

• Mesopotamia, 3500 BCE

• Nile River Valley, 3200 BCE

• Indus River Valley, 2200 BCE

• Huang He and Wei River Valleys, 1500 BCE

• Mesoamerica, 200 BCE

Five Hearths of Urbanization

In each of these hearths, an agricultural surplus and social stratification created the conditions

necessary for cities to form and be maintained.

Function & Location

Earliest civilizations probably

developed with the need for

organization to create

irrigation and provide enough

food

Availability of water, good

farmland and defensible

sites helped certain towns

thrive

Positions on travel & trade

routes created urban growth.

Urban elites or decision

makers evolved.

Theocratic Centers

• God-kings or theocratic rulers developed in some ancient cities.

• Priests, temples and shrines took center stage in the Yucatan, Guatemala and Honduras.

• They also served as educational centers with teachers and philosophers

Harappa and

Mohenjo-Daro were

two of the first cities of

the Indus River Valley.

- intricately

planned

- houses equal

in size

- no palaces

- no monuments

Indus River Valley

The Earliest Civilization

Roman Urban

System

• The Romans

created the largest

urban system with

an excellent

transportation

system

• The Romans were

masters of

engineering

efficiency creating

aqueducts, sewers,

roads, bridges and

great public

Nimes, France

Roman Road constructionRoman Road

Urban Growth

• China-rapid growth in the Han Dynasty period-Xian became the Rome of East Asia.

• Timbuktu developed in West Africa in the 14th

cent. While Meroe on the upper Nile developed advanced metallurgy.

• Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital was the most advanced city in the world with 100,000 by the 16th cent.

Pre industrial

Europe• Paris, Amsterdam,

Antwerp, Lisbon, Naples and Venice revived and grew.

• By mid-15th cent. London had 80,000 and Paris had 120,000. By 19th

cent. London was 1 m. while Paris had only 670,000

Urban Environments

• By 17th cent.

Europe’s cities were:

– Slum ridden

– Unsanitary

– Fire traps

– Plagued by

frequent epidemics

– Crime ridden

– Places of social

dislocation

Primate Cities

• Gideon Sjoberg was also

the first to study the

primate city.

• A nation’s leading city in

size that serves as an

expression of national

culture.

– Not necessarily large

– Dominated by religious

and govt. buildings

– Spacious with wealth near

the center

– Less privileged near the

The Modern Western City

• Medieval city was bleak and grimy with narrow dangerous streets.

• Unpaved streets provided poor sanitation

• The tallest buildings were the Church & Castle

• Mercantile cities of the 16th & 17th cent. were nodes of regional, national and international trade

• Great cities like London, Amsterdam, Lisbon and

The Second Urban Revolution

A large scale movement of people to cities to work in manufacturing. Made possible by:

1. second agricultural revolution that improved food production and created a larger surplus

2. industrialization, which encouraged growth of cities near industrial resources

The Modern Western City

• Manufacturing city

first developed in

Britain, later Western

Europe and North

America.

• Rapidly growing factory

system with railroads

and tenement slums

• Sanitary systems, water

supplies and housing

were overwhelmed with

rapid growth and

The Modern Western City

• Modernization of American cities took place in late 19th

cent.

• Electric trolley and other forms of mass transportation transformed cities-transport systems became circumferential and radial.

• Suburbanization of the city became possible with 1920s revolution of the automobile

• Modern cities of North America are sprawling expanses of suburbs,

• Hinterland - a German

word that means land

behind the city

• Spacing of cities-large

cities lie farther apart-

smaller settlements are

closer to each other

• Industrial Revolution

began in Europe-arrived

in the US around 1870-in

only 50 yrs. US surpassed

Europe

• 25 million European

immigrants arrived in

Urbanization and Location

• 1800-despite Ind. Rev. Europe was still rural-by 1950 Europe was 50% urban-today 85% urban

• World today is 50% urban

• Agglomeration-clustering of industries for mutual benefit

• Specialization-certain industries dominate certain regions-

• Urban Planners look at:

– How cities are arranged

– What cities look like

– Transport & communications

– Why people move from place to place

within the city

• Hinterland: the surrounding service area of

a city that includes smaller villages and

hamlets

• Centrality: the economic power or draw of a

place compared to its competition

• Hamlet-small collection of houses-may have services.

• Village-several dozen services-stores, gas stations and so forth

• Town-larger than a village-higher level of specialization-banks, schools, libraries, specialized stores-furniture, appliances, hardware, etc.

• City-more functional specialization-larger hinterland, greater centrality, well defined CBD and suburbs

• Metropolis or Metropolitan area-urban area larger than a city

Site and Situation

Site

absolute location of

a city

a city’s static

location, often

chosen for trade,

defense, or

religion.

Situation

relative location of

a city

a city’s place in the

region and the

world around it.

• Paris-situational

advantage-grew

as the hinterland

prospered;

became

multifunctional-

religious,

cultural, political,

industrial center;

today a

megacity of 10

million; the next

largest city is

Lyon, France at

1/7th the size

• A primate city

Eiffel Tower

built for the

1889 World’s

Fair

Paris’s 450 parks and gardens cover over 7,400 acres-

almost 30% of the city-one of Europe’s greenest cities.

Shenzhen changed from a fishing village to a major metropolitan area in just

25 years. 25 years ago, all of this land was duck ponds and rice paddies.

Shenzhen, China

Modern Urbanization

Highest level of Urbanization-Western Europe, North America, Japan & Australia

70% & higher-Mexico, Cuba, France

Former Soviet Union-Russia-73%, Ukraine-70%, Transcaucasus-55%, Central Asia-28%

South America-cone of Argentina, Chile & Uruguay-highest urbanization-next Brazil & Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname & French Guiana lag behind.

Sub-Saharan Africa-some of the world’s lowest urbanization rates-Nigeria-16%, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi & Uganda are even lower. Tropical Africa-only a few nations that are 40% or higher-South Africa-57% due to mining and industry.

Southwest Asia-North Africa-great variety of

urbanization.

Much of Middle East, esp. Arabian Peninsula are

highly urbanized due to nucleation of the oil

industry.

Jordan an exception-no oil wealth-but urban due

to long tradition

Southern Arabia is oil poor and rural

Contrast-oil rich Libya is urban, oil poor

Afghanistan is rural

South Asia-low in urbanization, despite huge

cities like Mumbai and Calcutta

Most nations in South Asia are under 30% urban

India-26%

Pakistan-28%

Bangladesh-16%

Subsistence farming

dominates life here

Southeast Asia- Singapore is the only 100%

urban state

Brunei & Malaysia are the only other nations with

over 50% urban

Indonesia-31%

Myanmar-25%

Vietnam-20%

Thailand-19%

Subsistence farming

dominates life here

East Asia- Averages 36%

Only Japan, South Korea and

Taiwan are highly urbanized in

East Asia

China below-25%

Yet Shanghai & Beijing

Have 25 million between

Them, however most of

China’s 1.2 m. are rural

Great Cities

• North America-several megalopolitan regions: Boston -Washington, DC

– Chicago-Detroit-Pittsburgh

– San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego

– Montreal-Toronto-Windsor

– Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach

• Europe:

– London-20 m. in Metro area

– Germany-Ruhr, Rhine zone of Dusseldorf-Essen & Cologne

– Poland-Saxony & Silesia

– Also Moscow, St. Petersburg & Madrid-not yet

• Asia-Tokyo-Yokohama, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto

• Mega Cities:

• UN says by 2025 at least 15 cities will be over

20 million

– Many of the world’s most populous cities are found

in the poorest nations-Mexico City, Shanghai,

Calcutta, Mumbai & Cairo

– Close are Bangkok, Indonesia; Lima-Callao, Peru;

Saigon-Cholon, Vietnam

– Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Shanghai will have

over 30 million by 2025

Urban Problems

• Zoning laws are

lacking in many poor

countries

• Squatters occupy any

open space on the

outskirts of the city

• Sharp contrast between

fancy hotels of

downtown and slums

on outskirts

Urban Function

• Every city or town has an economic base.

• Basic sector-workers who produce goods for export or local consumption

• Non Basic sector or Service sector-workers who maintain the city, work in offices and provide services for others

• The number of Non basic sector workers is always greater than Basic sector workers-as cities increase in size the ratio increases

• Most large cities have a ratio of 1 to 2

• Multiplier Effect-if a business adds 50 manufacturing jobs-another 100 non-basic workers will be added to the work force

Central Place Theory• Central Places-hierarchy is based on population,

function & services.

• Economic reach-how functions & services attract

customers from areas beyond the urban limits.

• Centrality-the central position & ability to attract

customers to a village, town or city.

• Range of Sale-the distance people are willing to

travel to buy goods or services

Central Place Theory

• Christaller tried to determine the degree of centrality of various places.

• He created a model to show how central places in the urban hierarchy are spatially distributed.

• He assumed:

– No physical barriers

– Soil and surface of equal quality

– Even distribution of population

Hexagonal Hinterlands

C = city

T =

town

V =

village

H =

Functional Zonation

The division of the city into certain regions (zones) for certain purposes (functions).

Cairo, Egypt

Central city (above)

Housing projects (right)

Problems in Urbanization

200 years ago only 5% of world was urbanized

Today about 50% is urban

Germany, Spain & Belgium are over 90%

urban

World wide urban problems are:

pollution

poor sanitation

drugs and crime

congestion and noise

substandard housing & slums

Problems cont..

• With urban sprawl and

expanding suburbs-inner

city shrinks

• CBD is often reduced to

serving just the inner

metro area

• As basic sector jobs

leave-large cities have

shifted to service

industries

• Loss of tax base as

businesses, industries

and services leave

Urban Nepal : Then and Now

New Urbanism

• Development, urban revitalization, and

suburban reforms that create walkable

neighborhoods with a diversity of housing

and jobs.

• some are concerned over privatization of

public spaces

– some are concerned that they do nothing

to break down the social conditions that

create social ills of the cities

– some believe they work against urban

sprawl

Adopt and Execute appropriate

plan locally ..!

Thank you