Urban structure, urban history, city function, zone of transition Images copyright of Pearson Education, Inc., 2013

1. Wendy A. Mitteager
State University of New York, Oneonta
CITY
SPACES:
URBAN
STRUCTURE

2. Urban Structure - Key Terms
Land Use & Spatial
Patterns
• North American Cities
• European Cities
• Islamic Cities
• Unintended
Metropolises
• Mega Cities
• Dualism
• Infrastructure
Urban Land Use
Models
• Racial Segregation
• Smart Growth
• Urban Sprawl
• Gentrification
• Edge Cities

3. City• The term is a political
designation
• Refers to a municipal
entity that is governed
by some kind of
administrative
organization
• In Europe the largest
cities (especially capitals)
are often
• the foci of the state
• microcosms of their national
cultures

4. Urban Structure
Isotropic surface
• A hypothetical uniform
plane representing a
City & its Use Zones
• Accessibility of a
location is a function of
its utility, which
decreases steadily with
distance from the city
center.
• Utility decreases from
center but at different
rates for different land
users.
Figure 11.1 Accessibility, bid-rent, and urban structure
Bid-rents - Different users are
prepared to pay different
amounts for locations at various
distances from the City center.
Trade-off model
• Urban dwellers trade-off
between accessibility & living
space

5. North American City Structure
• Central business district
(CBD) – traditional city development based on
urban center with administrative functions
including government, banking, law, education,
& retail functions.
• Zone in transition – as city space evolves &
changes, previous zones of industrial use fall
into decay, may develop into new business
with different land use; mixture of growth,
change & decline.
Figure 11.2 Chicago's
“Globalized” Financial CBD
Historic 3rd Street
Central Business
District
Santa Monica, CA
1950’s to 2012

6. North American Cities
Figure 11.3 The ecological model of urban land use –
The “Chicago Model”
Zones of concentric land use in a model City.
Central business district (CBD) at center, location of
original agricultural farmers’ markets, livestock
transport & slaughter, rail yards for shipping nationally
& regionally. Manufacturing. Historic ethnic enclaves
with distinct cultural fabric in proximity to groups
experiencing discrimination due to race and ethnicity.
http://www.chicagohs.org/history/stockyard/stock6.html
Kids in the Dump yards of
Chicago
http://www.chicagohs.org/history/stockyard/sto
Worker Housing
Chicago Union Stockyards, Railroads
Manufacturing Zones

7. Urban Population & Congregation
• Congregation provides a means of cultural preservation. Allows
religious & cultural practices to be maintained & strengthens group identity
through daily involvement in routines & ways of life.
• Minority groups are population subgroups that are perceived as different
from the general population. Defining characteristics of minority groups can
be based on race, language, religion, nationality, caste, sexual orientation, or
lifestyle.
• Segregation – The combined result of congregation & discrimination, the
spatial separation of specific subgroups within a wider population.
• Enclaves are tendencies toward congregation & discrimination are long-
standing but dominated by internal cohesion.
• Ghettos long-standing products of discrimination than congregation.
• Colonies – result from shorter lasting congregation, discrimination or both.
Persistence depends on continuing arrival of new minority-group members.

8. Racial Segregation
Detroit
Long BeachNew York
Washington, D.C.
Figure 11.a,b,c,d
• Segregation –
The combined
result of
congregation &
discrimination, the
spatial separation
of specific
subgroups within
a wider
population.
• Development of
American Cities
reflect historical
trend of racial
segregation.

9. Spatial Organization
Figure 11.6 Decentralized multiple-nuclei model
Contemporary American urbanization; ever-
increasing metropolitan sprawl with outlying nodes
of residential & economic development
Ex: Los Angeles & southern California regions,
Northeastern Indiana – Chicago metropolitan region
Figure 11.5 Hoyt's model of urban structure:
Sector model
Hoyt observed dominant patterns of population
classes in as concentric & sectors of land use.
Wage earners live in proximity to manufacturing
The Central Business District containing
administrative functions & segregated low & higher
income residential areas.
Where
are
vistas
located?

10. Spatial Organization
Figure 11.7
Polycentric new metropolis
Non-concentric reality of American
Urban & suburban growth
Both multiple-nuclei & polycentric
Metropolitan urban regions merge into
“megalopolis” Gottman’s 1961
Conceptualization of the urbanized region
from Boston – New York – Baltimore –
Washington, DC & it’s role in industrial,
trade/shipping, financial, &
government activities.
Edge City –
Tysons Corner, Virginia**
Urban development with new
Business, commercial, retail, &
Upscale residential areas
Outside of more established cities.
Business Parks are ex. of outlying
Centers of economic innovation.
Also planned developments such as Irvine, CA

11. Spatial Organization
Figure 11.9 Gentrification in Philadelphia – Elite
economic class enjoys revitalization of older core
residences near the CBD & Downtown of American
cities. Controversial for displacing lower income
residents & neighborhoods.
Figure 11.8 Metroburban landscapes – merging of
urban centers with edge cities of residences, retail
centers, & business parks. Commute times are
extended but over time the regions merge into
interconnected metro-urban areas. Example is San
Diego from Mexico border north east and north
west is all developed commercially & residentially &
connected via freeway networks to Orange County
and to Los Angeles.

12. Smart Growth versus Sprawl
Figure 11.F Smart growth in Pasadena
Figure 11.E Transformation of California farmland to
suburban sprawl – Water comes from Colorado River
Water & from Water Table via municipal wells.
Pasadena was founded in 1900, part
of original Los Angeles landscape at
turn-of-century; not the same as
contemporary sprawl, not really a
good comparison, nation’s 1st freeway
led from downtown LA over pass LA
River into town against Mts. Pasadena
used to be connected to Pacific Ocean
via the Red Cars – trolley system
removed when automobiles became
popular.

13. Problems of North American Cities
• Central cities – inner-city cores experience decay, crime, poverty.
• Fiscal squeeze – Occurs when tax revenue goes down (businesses
leave area, homeowners move out) plus increasing demand for
money to improve & support urban infrastructure & city services.
• Detroit – entire industry leaves & city disintegrates
• Infrastructure – Bridges, roads,
• Sewers, electrical grids, public
• Transportation all has to be maintained
• Poverty- lower wage populations who
• need support to escape cycle of poverty.
• Neighborhood decay – lack of investment in maintenance of
properties - low income areas needs investment
• Redlining – racial/financial profiling of homebuyers – nice word for
economic Racism. Contributes to economic decline by undermining
neighborhood stability.
Figure 11.10 Decaying infrastructure, Minneapolis

14. Problems of North American Cities
Figure 11.11 Devastation of Poverty in the District of Columbia or DC
The Department of Housing and Urban Development oversees homes owned by the government, and ensures that
tenants and renters are treated fairly under the law. http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/Federal/Executive/HUD.shtml
• The mission of the Office of Housing is to:
Contribute to building and preserving healthy neighborhoods and communities
Maintain and expand homeownership, rental housing and healthcare opportunities
Stabilize credit markets in times of economic disruption
Operate with a high degree of public and fiscal accountability
Recognize and value its customers, staff, constituents and partners
http://defeatpovertydc.org/
Addresses Literacy – “as many as 37% of DC residents are functionally illiterate. “
Discrimination in Education, Employment & Housing: What
explains such significant racial disparities?
Historically, African Americans have faced many uphill challenges
that partly trace back to longstanding spatial segregation, social
and economic exclusion, and isolation. All, in turn, can
undermine employment and educational success especially in
neighborhoods served by failing public schools. Some disparities
in employment and income stem from underlying disparities in
education and even health. Then there's the outright
discrimination revealed in paired testing studies—equally
qualified potential home buyers or job seekers get treated
differently because of race or ethnicity. Clearly,
disadvantages in one area, such as education, can undermine
outcomes in others such as employment and earnings.

15. European Cities • City planning based on
• Centuries of History
• Beaux Arts style
• Modern movement
• Features
– Low skylines – Zoning
– Lively downtowns
– Neighborhood stability
– Based on historic Nationalism
– Municipal socialism
Figure 11.12 Vigevano, Italy

16. Urban History
• Urbanization
• Related concepts
• Primate city
• Metropolis
• CBD-
• Central Business District
• Finance, Govt. & Courts,
• Parks, Libraries, Museums
Sequent Occupance – ancient relics,
historical City planning of boulevards, &
modern architecture

17. Primate Cities• A country’s largest city
• Always disproportionately
larger than the second
largest urban center -- more
than twice the size
• Especially expressive of the
national culture
• Usually (but not always) the
capital
• Examples: Paris,
• London, Athens

18. Modern Urban Structure
Figure 11.16 La Ville Radieuse – Le Corbusier was a
Swiss-born architect who imagined the city of the “future”
criticized but also prophetic, take a look at his work: His
buildings are to the right:
https://www.google.com/search?q=la+ville+radieuse+le+corbusier&hl=en
&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lrpuUcy2D8jRyAGD64Fw&ved
=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=758
Chandigar, India - Le Corbusier’s Hand
Monument: The city of Chandigarh was the first
planned city in India post independence in 1947
City of Brasilia,
Brazil, capital
based on “La
Ville Radieuse”
designed by Le
Corbusier,
famous early 20th
century architect
& visionary.
Criticized for dis-
affecting
landscape,
presaged
modern Cities.

19. Figure 11.17 The Brazilian National Congress buildings, Brasilia
Latin American architecture –
representative of the “Frontier”
Architecture: Who's Oscar?
“Considering the easy nature of the Brazilians, it's almost
an enigma that such a country could foster an architect
like Oscar Niemeyer. He is the main architect behind
Brasilia, the artificial and mostly unbearable capital of
Brazil. Perhaps his greatest work is the Niterói
Contemporary Art Museum in Niterói, a short boatride just
across the Guanabara bay from Rio de Janeiro. Oscar
Niemeyer is almost 100 years old, and still going strong.
He is currently working on a statue to put down the US
blocade of Cuba.”

20. Spanish Colonial Architecture
Volcano overlooking Antigua, Guatemala
Grid street system with
Churches, govt. offices, stores, &
slaughter house at Center with
Central Plaza

21. Islamic Cities globally
• Basic principles
• Personal privacy and
virtue
• Communal well-being
• Inner essence of things
• Jami (principal
mosque)
• Kasbah (citadel)
Figure 11.18 Mosque in Pakistan
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/java
/travel-tips-and-articles/76171
“Religious architecture of Islam”
Seville, Spain (1167) - Almohad Mosque

22. Islamic Cities in Arid Regions
Figure 11.19 A suq, a covered bazaar, in Iran
Figure 11.20 Housing in Tunisia
Interior public spaces
addresses hot arid climates.

23. Landscapes of Wealth - Dubai, UnitedArab
Emirates
Figure 11.H Luxury development, Palm Jumeirah
Figure 11.G Dubai cityscape
Figure 11 Dubai real estate bust – do the buildings
remind you of Las Vegas?
• Over-building, speculation
without basis for profit
contributed to real estate crisis in
UAE during global economic
crisis of 2009.
• Large numbers of transnational
migrant workers from Turkey &
other middle Eastern nations
contributed to economy &
construction.

24. Cities of the Periphery
• “Unintended” metropolises
• Meaning no planning for
• Low Income Population
• Underemployment
• Dualism
• The informal economy
• Slums = Unaddressed Poverty
• Transport & infrastructure
problems
• Environmental degradation
Figure 11.23 Dualism in Rio de
Janeiro:
Upper middle class & wealthier
“official” residents of the City vs.
unofficial residents of the Favelas

25. Cities of the Periphery
Figure 11.26 Self-help as a solution to housing problems in ZambiaFigure 11.25 Informal economic activities in Bangkok,
Thailand
Figure 11.22 Recent explosive growth in Lagos, Nigeria due to
oil economy & Rural to Urban Migration.
Figure 11.24 Garbage picking in Bangkok, Thailand for Survival

26. Cities of the Periphery
Figure 11.28 Water-supply problems in India
Figure 11.27 Infrastructure problems in Columbia,
S. America
Philippines – Garbage is the business of very poor groups,
Shantytown fire in Philippines, people living in containers.

27. Future Geographies
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Megacities – Population
outstrips
Major Issues:
• Slum housing, environmental
degradation, & lack of infrastructure
for sewage treatment, unsafe water
supplies or none at all.
• Disease & health risks, especially to
children, lack of education &
healthcare.
• Economic competition for space & accessibility along with tendency toward
social & ethnic discrimination, congregation, & segregation are apparent in
World Cities.

28. End of Chapter 11