1. Introduction
to Urban
Geography

2. City – a conglomeration of people and buildings clustered
together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and
economics.
Urban-The buildup of the central city and the suburban
realm – the city and the surrounding environs connected to
the city.

3. 20th 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
3/10 urban

4. Urban Definitions
• Urban-a general term for
towns, cities and suburban
areas
• City-nucleated settlement
with many functions and a
central business district
• Town-small than a city-
less complex
• Suburb-subsidiary area
that is exclusively
residential, commercial or
industrial-not self
sufficient.

5. Urban Morphology
The layout of a city, its
physical form and
structure.
Berlin, Germany
With wall (above)
And without wall
(right)

6. Ancient Cities
• 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
Roman Empire.

7. Urban Definitions
• 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 whole

8. Attributes of Cities
• Centers of political
power
• Centers of industrial
power
• Centers of technology
• A market place for
goods
• Specialization in
products and services
• Services of all types
• Medical advances
• Cultural and Artistic
pursuits
• Centers of education
and research
• Entertainment of all
types
• Sports teams, arenas
and parks
• An anchor of society

9. Five Hearths 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

10. 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.

11. 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.
• Writing made the codification of
laws and record keeping possible.

13. Maya and Aztec America

14. 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
when the Maya Indians
developed the great cities
of Tikal, Chichen-Itza,
Uxmal and Copan.
• They also served as
educational centers with
teachers and philosophers

15. 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

17. Diffusion to Greece
• Knossos emerged as the
leading city of the
Minoan Civilization
about 3,500 yrs. ago.
• Greece emerged as one of
the most highly urbanized
areas on earth with over
500 cities and towns by
500 BC
• Athens was the largest
city in the world with
250,000.

18. • Each Greek city had an
acropolis (high city) for
defense.
• The most famous is the
acropolis of Athens
(447BC)
• Below the acropolis was
the agora or market place
• Theaters, shops and stores
of all kinds were
available.
• Despite the modern
features-sanitation was
still primitive

19. Athens, Greece
above the acropolis
below-the agora

21. 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 buildings
like arenas and baths.

25. • Roman cities had great
contrast-great villas &
spacious avenues,
aqueducts, baths and
sewers, yet also –
• Wretchedly poor housing
in 4-5 story over-crowded
tenements, dirty, noisy,
crime-ridden streets and a
population composed of
½ slaves.
• With the collapse of the
empire the city of 1 ½ m.
shrunk to less than 50,000

26. Urban Growth Elsewhere
• 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.

27. Huang He and Wei River Valleys
The Chinese purposefully
planned their cities.
- centered on a
vertical structure
- inner wall built
around center
- temples and
palaces for the
leadership class
Terracotta Warriors guarding
the tomb of the Chinese
Emperor Qin Xi Huang

28. Pre industrial Europe
• Muslim invasion of Europe
and later the Crusades
opened up trade and
contact between Europe
and the Far East and Near
East
• 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

29. Urban Environments
• By 17th cent.
Europe’s cities were:
– Slum ridden
– Unsanitary
– Fire traps
– Plagued by frequent
epidemics
– Crime ridden
– Places of social
dislocation

30. Models of Urban Places
• Gideon Sjoberg explained
the stages of urban
development in The
Preindustrial City: Past
and Present (1960)
• Sjoberg said that all cities
were a product of their
societies and went through
stages:
– Folk-preliterate
– Feudal
– Preindustrial
– Urban-industrial

31. 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 edge
or outside wall

32. • Not all pre industrial primate cities
were the same-Muslim cities were
dominated by the great mosque
and had less variation in
surrounding housing.
• Commerce and crafts were
focused in the bazaar which has
no western equivalent

33. 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
Copenhagen grew with the wealth
of colonies.

34. 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

35. 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 pollution.

36. 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, shopping malls and
business parks

37. • 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
America-many in
manufacturing centers

38. John Borchert’s “American Metropolitan
Evolution”-4 Stage model of evolution
• First Stage-Sail-
Wagon Epoch
(1790-1830)
slow, primitive
overland and waterway
transport-Boston, New
York and Philadelphia
were major cities
oriented to European
trade.

39. John Borchert’s “American Metropolitan
Evolution-4 Stage model of evolution
• Second Stage-Iron Horse
Epoch (1830-1870)
Diffusion of steam-powered
railroads-coal mining-boomed,
tracks laid coast to coast-
manufacturing spread outward
from New England hearth-by
1850 New York was primate
city with Pittsburgh, Detroit &
Chicago growing rapidly

40. • Third Stage-Steel-Rail
Epoch (1870-1920)
coincided with the Industrial
Revolution
Steel industry in Chicago,
Detroit & Pittsburgh
Coal & iron ore supply areas-
northern Appalachia and Lake
Superior (Mesabi)
Agglomeration in raw
materials and market location
due to railroad. Steel replaced
iron rails-safer-more powerful
locomotives-larger freight
cars & even refrigerated cars
added.

41. • Fourth Stage-Auto-Air-
Amenity Epoch (1920-
1970)
Gasoline-powered internal
combustion engines-truck
based regional and
metropolitan distribution of
goods; increased automation
of blue-collar jobs; shift to
white-collar jobs; highways,
expressways and jet aircraft
made travel faster &
cheaper; amenities of
suburbs, Sunbelt;
New activities responded
less to cost-distance factors

42. • Fifth Stage?- (1970-
Now)
decline of Rust belt
continues;
high tech. will stimulate
an even greater dispersal
of city populations;
telecommuting, working
from home, globalization
and outsourcing change
the way we work

43. 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-
Manchester textiles,
Pittsburgh, Pa. steel

44. • Urban Geographers 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

45. • 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
• Megalopolis-when large metropolises coalesce into
a megacity, e.g. Boston to New York

46. 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.

47. • 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

48. Eiffel Tower
built for the
1889 World’s
Fair

49. Anchored by the Bois de Boulogne in the west and the Bois de
Vincennes in the east, Paris’s 450 parks and gardens cover over
7,400 acres-almost 30% of the city-one of Europe’s greenest cities.

50. • Chicago-
situational
advantage-Great
Lakes &
Mississippi water
complex junction;
west end of the
industrial core;
next to vast, rich
farmland;
location of rail,
road, water (St.
Lawrence Seaway
1959) & air route
junction; major
natural resource
hinterland

51. • Guangdong
Province-southern
China; city of
Shenzen-3 million,
30 yrs ago only
20,000
• Urban situation-
proximity to Hong
Kong & status as
Special Economic
Zone
• Its relative location
has enabled it to
benefit from trade &
commerce

52. 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

53. • Homes being constructed in King Dragon Villa complex in Lishui-this
midsize town is a prime example rapid urban growth in China

55. • Situations can deteriorate:
• Cities of Northeast
Manufacturing (Rustbelt)
in decline
• Brugge, Belgium-declined
in size after river silted up.
• Berlin, Germany destroyed
in WWII and divided
during the Cold War
• Many rural towns were
bypassed by expressways-
withered and died.
• As cars replaced horse &
buggy, many rural
hamlets, & villages
declined

56. • Urban site-the physical
qualities of the place-
plain, valley, plateau,
island, etc.
• Singapore-ideal location
on an island-an
“Economic Tiger”
• Bangkok, Thailand-
capital on delta of Chao
Phraya river-subsidence
& air pollution
• Mexico City-2nd largest
city-basin, flanked by
mts. Subsidence,
earthquakes, rapid
growth and pollution.

57. 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.

60. Modern Urbanization
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

61. Modern Urbanization
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

62. Modern Urbanization
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

63. Modern Urbanization
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

64. 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 multi
cities, but growing

67. Great Cities
• 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, Thailand; Lima-Callao, Peru;
Saigon-Cholon, Vietnam
– Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Shanghai will have over 30
million by 2025

69. 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
• Cairo for example-paved
streets give way to dusty
alleys, tenements, traffic,
garbage & 12.5 m. people
bursting at the seams

70. Shanty town of Belem, Brazil

71. • Many cities in
developing nations are
growing at a rapid rate
with many new arrivals
each day.
• Unofficial suburbs such
as this favela of Rio de
Janeiro are poor and
often lack basic
services. (Disamenity
sector)
• Clinging to a hillside,
this neighborhood often
suffers fatal landslides
during heavy rains.

73. Rank-Size Rule
• The larger the city-the fewer there are-
• Model indicates that the population of a city or town in
inversely proportional (the fraction) to its rank in the
hierarchy
• If largest city is 12 million then 2nd largest is 6 m. (1/2) 3rd
largest is 4 m. (1/3) 4th largest is 3 m. or (1/4) 10th largest
is 1.2 million
Rank-Size Rule does
Not apply to
primate
Cities such as Paris,
Mexico City and so
forth

74. 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 (basic), another 100 service (non-basic) workers
will be added to the work force

75. Functional Specialization
• A dominant service or industry was found in many
cities during the Industrial Revolution.
• Chauncy Harris wrote “A Functional Classification of
Cities in the United States” in 1943-in it he described
the concentration of manufacturing cities in the
Northeast with functional specialization and the wide
diversity of western cities with no dominant function
• e.g. Detroit-automobiles, Pittsburgh-steel
• Las Vegas and Atlantic City gambling
• Leadville, Colorado-mining
• Vero Beach, Florida-resorts
• Trend today is toward diversity-especially in the
Rustbelt.

76. 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

77. 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
– Uniform transportation
system

78. Hexagonal Hinterlands
C = city
T = town
V = village
H = hamlet

79. Hexagonal Hinterlands
• Christaller’s urban model
showed that each central
place had a
complementary
hinterland.
• The hexagonal model
solves the overlap
problem that circles would
have.
• Nesting arrangement-
region within a region-
each larger
complementary region is
centered on a higher order
urban place

80. Central Business District
• Downtown-the core of the
city with high-rise
skyscrapers, heavy traffic,
production, education,
services etc.
• The CBD is the urban
area of commercial &
industrial zones within a
ring of residential areas.
• Suburb-an outlying
residential area of the
urban region that is most
pronounced in the US

81. Bid Rent
• The price paid to rent or purchase urban land is a
reflection of its utility or usefulness.
• Utility is a product of accessibility to customers &
workers or for residents to jobs and amenities.

82. Modeling the North American City
• Concentric zone model (Ernest Burgess)
• Sector model (Homer Hoyt)
• Multiple Nuclei Model
(Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman)

83. Classic Models of Urban Structure
• Ernest Burgess-1925
Concentric Zone Model
based on studies of
Chicago.
• CBD-financial, retail,
theater, museums etc.
• Transition to residential
with deterioration-some
light industry
• Blue collar labor housing
• Middle class residential
• Suburban ring

84. Functional
Zonation
The division of the
city into certain
regions (zones) for
certain purposes
(functions).
Cairo, Egypt
Central city (above)
Housing projects (right)

85. Classic Models of Urban Structure
• Homer Hoyt-1939
Sector Model based on
studies of 142 US cities.
• Pie-shaped wedges
created by Hoyt
compensated for the
drawbacks of the Ring
Model
• Low Rent areas & High
Rent areas could extend
to the outer edge
• Transportation and
industrial zones
accounted for the sectors

86. • Chauncy Harris & Edward Ullman Multiple Nuclei
Sector Model 1945 showed that CBD is not the sole force
in creating land-use patterns.
• They said that Concentric Rings & Pie-shaped models had
drawbacks as CBDs were losing dominance
• Subsidiary and competing CBDs developed (Edge Cities)
• Suburbanization accelerated the change with shopping malls
and mass transit

88. Post WWII-rapid expansion of
cities and suburbs led to Edge
Cities with their own CBD

89. Why Do Inner Cities Still Attract People?
Recreational facilities
Orchestras, theaters and venues for popular music
concerts
Museums and art galleries
Sport teams and sporting arenas
Banks and high finance institutions
Universities and research facilities
Specialized research hospitals and medical
specialists
Shopping and specialized stores

90. Making Cities in the Global Core
• Redlining – financial institutions refusing to
lend money in certain neighborhoods.
• Blockbusting – realtors purposefully sell a
home at a low price to an African American
and then solicit white residents to sell their
homes at low prices, to generate “white
flight.”

91. Problems in Urban America
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

92. Problems in Urban America
• 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 decay results

93. Problems in Urban America
• New York City a good
example:
– 3 million people plus uncounted
illegals crowd into 75 to 100
year old apartment buildings
– Many buildings are worn out,
rat & roach infested with high
crime rates, vandalism and
cases of spouse & child abuse
• Yet despite the problems there
is a sense of community that
may be lost if the
neighborhood is torn down

94. • Deglomeration-as globalization and improved
communication and transportation have developed-many
businesses leave the high costs of downtown since it is no
longer an advantage to cluster with other similar
businesses-the results are rustbelt cities with urban decay,
loss of tax revenue and abandoned property

95. • Gentrification – individuals buy up and
rehabilitate houses, raising the housing value
in the neighborhood and changing the
neighborhood.
• Commercialization – city governments
transform a central city to attract residents and
tourists. The newly commercialized
downtowns often are a stark contrast to the rest
of the central city.
Making Cities in the Global Core

96. Gentrification or Revitalization
• The rehabilitation of deteriorated, sometimes abandoned
inner city housing and industrial buildings.
• Inner city gentrification attracts childless urbanites and
singles who desire the cultural & recreational amenities -
walking distance to restaurants, museums, theaters, etc.
• DINKS, SINKS and retired “Baby Boomers” are drawn
back to the city by revitalization.
• Urban Policy-city governments encourage
redevelopment by passing laws that encourage the
redevelopment of blighted inner city areas-tax incentives
and rezoning and the condemning of blighted regions.
• Commercialization of Downtown-waterfront themes-
Miami, NYC, Baltimore, Themed structures-Renaissance
Center in Gary, Ind., Detroit, Mich. Chicago’s Navy Pier

97. Gentrification or Revitalization
• Economic policy-tax
incentives (TIFS) encourage
the redevelopment of inner
cities where land is cheaper
than the expensive suburbs.
• Sense of place-many “baby
boomers” as well as
“Yuppies” are drawn to the
historic landmarks and
amenities of the city such as
markets, museums and
galleries ( e.g. Millennium
Park, Navy Pier etc.
Chicago’s Navy Pier

98. Urban decay in
Washington,
D.C.
Uptown neighborhood
in Chicago-abandoned
apartment buildings;
an area that is primed
for gentrification

100. Tear-downs – houses that new owners buy with the intention
of tearing it down to build a much larger home.
McMansions – large homes, often built to the outer limits of
the lot. They are called McMansions because of their super
size and their similar look.
Hinsdale, Illinois (25% of houses have been torn down in last 20 years).

101. McMansions in
the H-F District
• A teardown in
Flossmoor
finished in 2007

102. Urban Sprawl
Unrestricted growth of housing, commercial developments,
and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for
urban planning.
Henderson,
Nevada

103. The Suburban City
• Post WW II rapid
transformation of rural areas
adjacent to cities into suburbs
• New automobiles & highways
as well as govt. policy, Federal
Highway Program, GI Bill and
Loan Guarantees for housing
• Demand for larger more
expensive suburban homes by
the returning GIs
• 1970=37% suburban by 1990
46% suburban & 31% inner
city with 23% rural

105. Suburban downtowns,
often located near key
freeway intersections,
often with:
- office complexes
- shopping centers
- hotels
- restaurants
- entertainment
facilities
- sports complexes
Edge Cities

106. 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

107. Celebration,
Florida

108. • America’s population is
decentralizing faster that at any
time in history
• Orlando grew 5 fold in 3 decades
• Average home size grew by 63%
over last 3 decades
• 28% of suburban dwellers are
ethnic minorities
• 10 days a year-the average amount
of time Americans spend
commuting to work
• Living in sprawling suburbs can
add 61 lbs to your weight-due to
driving & no exercise

109. Gated Communities
Who are gated communities for?
How do the goals/purposes of gated communities differ
across the world?

110. Spaces of Consumption
The transformation of the city into an entertainment district,
where major corporations encourage the consumption of
their goods and services. For example: Berlin, Germany &
New York City

111. The Canadian City
• Less dispersed with higher
pop. densities than US
cities
• More multi-family
dwellings and less disparity
in wealth
• Suburbs not as large or as
affluent as in the US
• Central city has more
middle and higher income
pop. & stronger tax base
• Better services & public
transportation systems

112. Calgary,
Alberta
skyline
Toronto-
Canada’s
largest city

113. The European City
• Western European cities are more compact than Canadian
cities
• Same size in pop. As US cities, but smaller in land area
• European govt. are proactive in maintaining healthy CBDs
• No-sprawl-suburbs are too far out to compete with CBD
• Greenbelts preserve the central city from close suburban
development
• Very high fuel costs discourage suburban development
• Central cities are clogged with cars, but mass transit, bikes,
and walking are relied on for transportation
• Zoning rules are strictly enforced and highway and beltway
construction lags.

114. The European City
• London-6.4 m., Paris 10.2
m., Rome, Berlin, Madrid
and Athens are megacities
by world standards
• These are historic cities
not impacted by the
Industrial Revolution
• British Midlands &
German Ruhr valley cities
are very different-smaller
& heavily industrialized-
destroyed in WWII
• Paris, Athens and Lisbon
are Primate cities

115. The European City-Greenbelts
• London’s Central
city is the same size
it was in 1960
• Greenbelts were est.
to counteract ill
effects of Ind. Rev.
• Open countryside
over 20 miles wide
has scattered towns,
but no extensive
suburban areas
• Many urban parks
maintain a green
areas within the city

116. During the second half of
the 20th century…
Nature of manufacturing
changed and locations
changed, too. Many
factories have been
abandoned, creating “rust
belts” out of once-thriving
industrial districts.
Duisburg, Germany

118. The Eastern European City
• Eastern European &
Russian cities were turned
into microdistricts by
communist planning
• Old primate and historical
cities were ignored
• Huge dominant square &
wide radiating avenues
fronted by huge apartment
complexes with factories,
schools, shops & so on.
• No need for CBD, mass
commuting or suburbs

119. The Eastern European City
• Large 7 to 11 story
complexes were rapidly
built of shoddy material
with no decoration-ugly
and depressing
• Moscow’s growing pop.
(11 m.) lives in
microdistricts that radiate
out from Red Square.
• St. Petersburg was rebuilt
in the ugly socialist style
after heavy damage in
World War II

120. The Eastern European City

121. Modeling the Cities of the Global Periphery
and Semiperiphery
• Latin American City
(Griffin-Ford model)
• African City (de Blij model)
• Southeast Asian City (McGee model)

122. Making Cities in the Global Periphery and
Semiperiphery
- sharp contrast
between rich and
poor
- Often lack
zoning laws or
enforcement of
zoning laws

123. The Ibero-American City
• Latin American cities are
growing rapidly-1950=
41% urban, 1997 74%
urban
• CBD dominates the
center with 2 main
divisions-traditional
market and modern high
rises
• A commercial spine and
axis of business is
surrounded by elite
residential housing
Griffin-Ford model

124. The Ibero-American City
• The spine is an extension
of the CBD with offices,
shops, high class housing,
restaurants, theaters, &
parks
• Zone of Maturity-Middle
class housing 2nd best
• Zone of In Situ
Accretion-high pop.
Density of modest housing
• Periphery-Periferico-high
density shanty towns of
extreme poverty and no
services (favelas)

125. The African City
• African cities often have 3
CBDs=Colonial,
Traditional and Periodic
Market Zone
• Sub-Saharan Africa is the
least urbanized area of the
world, but the most rapidly
urbanizing
• No large cities to match
Cairo-Kinshasa, Nairobi,
Harare, Dakar, Abidjan
were established by
Europeans
de Blij model

126. The African City
• No large cities to match Cairo-Kinshasa, Nairobi, Harare,
Dakar, Abidjan were established by Europeans
• South African cities-Johannesburg, Cape Town & Durbin
are western cities with elements of European and American
models-high rise CBDs and sprawling suburbs

127. The Southeast Asian City
• SE Asia-rapid growth of
population & cities-1950-
15% urban, 1990s-29%
urban
• Most growth in coastal
cities like Ho Chi Minh
City (Saigon)
• Old colonial port zone
surrounds the commercial
district
• Unlike Western cities-no
formal business zone, but
separate clusters McGee model

128. The Southeast Asian City

129. Ethnic Neighborhoods
European City
– eg. Muslim neighborhoods in Paris
Cities of the Periphery and Semiperiphery
– eg. Mumbai, India

130. Mumbai, India

131. The End