Transcript HG-9 - A Virtual Field Trip of Physical Geography in Ventura County

Chapter 9:
Urban Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
When and Why People Started
Living in Cities
• Urban: the human created built-up city space.
• Includes the central city, suburbs, and surrounding
environs connected to the city (ex. Roadways).
• Is distinctively non-rural, non-agricultural, nonopen space.
• Higher human population and increased density.
• A city is an agglomeration of people and
buildings clustered together to serve as a
center of politics, culture, and economics.
Concept caching:
Kansas City, MO
First Urban Revolution:
• The Fertile Crescent, in SW Asia (Middle East).
• Agricultural surplus and social stratification
enabled cities to stabilize and grow.
• The leadership class, or urban elite – A small group of decision makers who gained power by
controlling the resources.
– Monarchs, religious leaders, and warlords.
The Six Hearths of Urbanization
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Mesopotamia, 3500 B.C.E. (SW Asia)
Nile River Valley, 3200 B.C.E. (North Africa)
Indus River Valley, 2200 B.C.E. (South Asia)
Huang He Valley, 1500 B.C.E. (East Asia)
Mesoamerica, 1100 B.C.E. (Middle America)
Peru, 900 B.C.E. (W South America)
The Six Hearths of Urbanization
The Role of the Ancient City in Society
• Served as economic nodes and chief
marketplaces.
• Were the anchors of culture and society,
the focal points of power, authority, and
change.
Diffusion of Urbanization
• Populations in Mesopotamia grew with
the steady food supply and a sedentary
lifestyle.
• People migrated away from the hearth,
diffusing their knowledge of agriculture
and urbanization.
Greek and Roman Cities
• Greece, a secondary hearth of urbanization,
because the Greek city form/function diffused
around the world through European colonialism.
• Every city had its acropolis, on which the people
built the most impressive structures.
• Agora (market) became the focus of commercial
activity. LARGE!
• Urbanization diffused from Greece to the Roman
Empire (Mediterranean shores, interior Europe
and North Africa).
•
•
Site of a city = its absolute location.
– chosen for advantages in trade/defense/religion.
Situation of a city is based on its role in the larger,
surrounding context
– A city’s situation changes with times.
– Example: Rome becoming the center of the Roman
Catholic Church.
Field Note
“There can be few spaces of greater
significance to the development of
Western civilization than the Roman
Forum. This was the nerve center of a
vast empire that transformed the face
of western Europe, Southwest Asia,
and North Africa. It was also the
place where the decisions were made
that carried forward Greek ideas
about governance, art, urban design,
and technology. The very organization
of space found in the Roman Forum
is still with us: rectilinear street
patterns; distinct buildings for
legislative, executive, and judicial
functions; and public spaces adorned
with statues and fountains.”
A Second Urban Revolution
• Industrialization: Western Europe (1800s)
allowed for larger urban centers and
populations as factory jobs became
available.
– Second Agricultural Revolution – more food.
– Capital from mercantilism/colonialism and
nearby coal energy sources.
Chaotic Industrial City
• Unregulated activities, poor living
conditions, and heavy pollution.
• Example: Coal ash and health
issues.
• No rights for laborers.
Changes in
European/Russian
Cities
• In mid-1800s, Karl Marx
and Frederick Engels
encouraged “workers of
the world” to unite.
• Conditions in European
manufacturing cities
gradually improved.
• During the second half of
the 20th century, the
nature of manufacturing
changed, as did its
location and worker rights.
Where Cities Are Located and Why
• Urban geographies main components:
population, trade area, and distance.
– Trade dominates decision making.
Concept Caching:
Mount Vesuvius
Central place theory ideals for city location:
1. Surface of region would be flat and have no physical
barriers.
2. Soil fertility would be the same everywhere.
3. Population and purchasing power would be evenly
distributed.
4. The region would have a uniform transportation network
to permit direct travel from each settlement to the other.
5. From any given place, a good or service could be sold in
all directions out to a certain distance.
• TODAY - new factors, forces, and
conditions make theory less relevant
in modern times.
– Example: The Sun Belt phenomenon
• Movement of millions of Americans
from North and Northeastern states
to the South and Southwest.
Guest Field Note:
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
“Many trade areas in the United
States are named, and their
names typically coincide with
the vernacular region, the region
people perceive themselves as
living in. In promoting a trade
area, companies often adopt,
name, or shape the name of the
vernacular region. In Oklahoma,
the label Green Country refers
to the northeastern quarter of
the state, the trade area served
by Tulsa.”
Credit: Brad Bays, Oklahoma State
University
City Organization and Function
Models of the City
• Functional zonation: the division of the city
into certain regions (zones) for certain
purposes (functions).
• Globalization has created common cultural
landscapes in the financial districts of many
world cities.
• Regional city models help us understand the
processes that forged cities in the first place
and understand the impact of modern
linkages and influences now changing cities.
• USA’s Sector and Multiple Nuclei Models
Classical Models of Urban Structure
A North American City
Tysons Corner, Virginia. In the suburbs of Washington, D.C.,
on Interstate 495 (the Beltway), Tysons Corner has developed as
a major edge city, with offices, retail, and commercial services.
Modeling Global Periphery Cities
Primate cities in developing
countries are megacities.
• Large population, vast
territorial extent, rapid inmigration, and a strained,
inadequate infrastructure.
Concept Caching:
Mumbai, India
© Harm de Blij
Major Global City Models
How People Share Cities
Zoning laws: Decision-makers define areas of the city
and designate the kinds of development allowed in
each zone (environmental planning).
Lomé, Togo. The city’s landscape
reflects a clear dichotomy between the
“haves” and “have-nots.”
Tokyo, Japan. The city’s landscape
reflects the presence of a large middle
class in a densely populated city.
Urban Sprawl and New Urbanism
• Urban sprawl: unrestricted growth of housing,
commercial developments, and roads over large
expanses of land, with little concern for urban
planning.
New urbanism: development, urban
revitalization, and suburban reforms that
create walkable neighborhoods with a
diversity of housing and jobs.
From Colonial to Global CBD
• Globalization has changed former colonial port
cities (ex. Mumbai, India).
– A new spatially demarcated foreign presence.
– A new “global CBD” at the heart of the original city (housing
mostly foreign corporations and multinational companies linked
mainly to the global economy).
Pros and Cons?
Role Cities Play in Globalization
• World cities function at the global scale, beyond
the reach of state borders, functioning as the
service centers of the world economy.
– Some countries such as the United States and Germany
have two or more world cities within their state borders.
– USA Example: New York City and Los Angeles City.
Cities as Spaces of Consumption
• Media corporations are helping transform
urban centers into major entertainment
districts where items are consumed.
• Wants, NOT needs.
Thinking through the challenges to the state
presented in Chapter 8, predict whether and
under what circumstances world cities could
replace states as the basic and most powerful
form of political organization in the world.
Homework
Read textbook ch.9
Homework: Choose one “Thinking
Geographically” topic in Ch.9 textbook
and answer (1 page).
OR
Choose a global city to research and
summarize findings. List basic location,
demographics, economy, and urban
structure data. Ideally choose a city of
interest from outside the USA.