URBAN GEOGRAPHY Previously released FRQ’s from college board (with rubrics, samples, and explanations): ion/2004.html Created by David Silverman

Urbanization  Urbanization spread slowly and with many setbacks. Greece and Rome grew quickly, the dark ages were a tremendous setback to development. Western culture became stagnant and there were few intellectual/cultural advancements.  The feudal system during this time period discouraged urbanism, and confined most people to live as uneducated peasants and farmers.  These feudal cities lacked diversity, trade, culture, and served mostly as centers of military or religious power.

Renaissance Period  European culture was reborn.  Urban growth rose dramatically after the Hundred Years War, dozens of new towns emerged all over the countryside.  The Great European Cities that first emerged were Dublin, Madrid, Prague, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. They could finally compete with the Asia and the Americas. Colonial Period  Europe sent explorers all over in the name of “God and gold”  When Cortez was in Aztec (cap of Tenochtitlan), it was the richest and largest city on earth. Between Cortez’s trickery & his foreign diseases, he destroyed the city and smaller communities broke off. These colonial cities were also common in Native American cities that were controlled by Europe.  This is common in other places in the world with European colonial rule (Africa, South America)

Industrial Revolution  Industrial Revolution -started the growth of urban areas. A sudden boom in larger city populations.  Chicago is a great example of this rapid growth. In 1840 it was a small village but after becoming a timber, wheat, and beef hub for the midwest railroads- it was city of over 1 million by 1900 (just a mere 60 years later)  Great Migration- When thousands of African Americans moved from the southern states into Chicago in the beginning of the 20th century  People were fleeing racism and seeking the job industry growing in the north.

Types of Cities  Gateway cities-A city that is a port/gate-keeper or on the edge of a river entering a city.  Medieval cities- many of Europe’s great cities developed during the Medieval Period. Medieval cities are often densely packed with tall buildings, winding roads and an ornate churches. Many towns like this still exist (especially in Italy).  Islamic cities- owe their distinctive geographies to the teachings of the Muslim faith. Mosques are at the center of these cities with open air markets. Most people are on foot.  African and Asian cities- often widespread poverty, native culture, colonial dominance  Latin American cities- are generally more developed than the African/Asian cities. Most are set up like the spoke of a wheel-with the central business district in the middle of the city- and roads leading outwards into the residential sectors. (EX- Mexico City)

Culture and Urban Form Geographers, architects, historians, and planners have devised a variety of ways of categorizing dense populations. Beaux Arts- classical forms of planning with modern ideas (schools centered in Paris). A form that balanced old with new and included spacious parks, progression, freedom and national unity. City Beautiful Movement- important in the US and grew out of the Beax Arts, it was all about finding open spaces in the frenzy of a booming industrial movement (ex: Chicago) Modern Architecture- (20th century) more about efficiency and less about traditional or gothic design. Buildings became more stark and less decorative (Ex: Brasilia, Brazil and many American cities were mean to be futuristic looking) Postmodern Architecture- after some people rejected the sterile feeling of modern architecture, postmodern architecture became popular in the Americas, Europe, and Australia. It uses older styles and structure but with more color. This type of architecture is newer and has a more light, people-friendly feel. New Urbanism- this most current trend in architecture (started in the 1980’s) and was based on using the urban space in an eco friendly way. Focuses on sustainability, bike lanes, etc (Portland, OR is a great example of a progressive place that is highly environmentally conscious)

Urban Models Concentric Zone Model- cities that have a core in the middle (business district) and rings that move outward. Each ring represents a different type of development. 1. Center core- business district 2. Next- transition into residential 3. Next Layer- Working class 4. Next- Better residences 5. Final Ring- Commuters  Multiple-Nuclei Model-cities with a lack of a strong central core. If there are numerous ‘nodes’ instead, there can be various districts. EX- LA, with small pockets of high value land. Areas often use longstanding transportation routes to effect development (mountains, water, rivers, trains, highways)  The city is less symmetrical and more random.

Urban Populations  Ghettoization- The poor are left in the cities and the wealthy move out to the suburbs. Leaving mostly minorities in the city. AKA ‘White Flight’  Blockbusting- led to the White Flight in the 1900’s, real estate agents used fear to pressure riche white land owners into the thought that their neighborhoods were being ‘overtaken’ by blacks, Hispanics, or Jews. When the money/taxes leave the city, it can ruin a city, EX: Detroit. These cities don’t use their city as a central area anymore because they are run down, poor, and dangerous.  Urban Revitalization- construction of new shopping districts, entertainment venues, and cultural attractions. The revitalization is great (brings culture, people, money, safety, etc) The downside is this usually leads to gentrification  Gentrification when the poor people that have lived in a place for decades are pushed out as the result of an area getting popular with wealthy people (Brooklyn, Wynwood, etc)

Urban Sprawl  Urban Sprawl- suburb development over large areas (increased when the automobile arrived)  Urban sprawl created long commutes and increased segregation. When wealthy and poor areas are so far - they don’t share resources, schools, etc.  People who leave the inner city to move to the suburbs/rural areas are called exurbanites  Edge Cities- located on the outskirts, they are often different industries. With a city in the center and smaller towns along the outsides, the population can stay more entwined.  EX (Toronto)- Canadian and European cities are more sustainable, livable, efficient with transportation, commutes, etc. Cities like Portland and Denver are trying to adapt these models with much success.  Metropolitan areas (include the downtown city and the surrounding areas that are involved with the city’s economy) are included in the US Census Bureau’s definition of that city.

The 5 Epochs  The 5 Epochs- John R Borchert said that American cities have gone through 5 periods/epochs that shape the transportation, communication, & city development  i. sail wagon epoch ( )  ii. iron horse epoch ( )  iii. steel rail epoch ( )  iv. auto-air-amenity epoch ( )  v. satellite-electronic-jet-propulsion and high-technology (1970- now) Depending on when the city was developed, you could see the differences. NYC was created when transportation wasn’t easy. So the buildings are tall, very compact, and everyone on Manhattan was close. Whereas Chicago, is built around the railways. The ‘loop’ is still in place today and there are train lines that go out to the various suburbs. LA, built around the car industry, is very disjointed. You need a car to get everywhere. Public transportation is limited to buses and nobody really walks.

Urban Theories and Rules  Central Place Theory- provides the framework between cities and their surrounding communities based on people’s needs for goods and services. According to the central place theory, large cities serve as economic hubs while they create goods and services that aren’t always available in the surrounding areas.  EX- people in small towns need to visit a city to see large sports games, Broadway shows, visit museums/aquariums, etc.  The Hinterlands- smaller areas that surround the big city. Food, stores, shopping, and music isn’t as readily available in the hinterlands.  Rank-size Rule (proportion of small towns to large cities) is applied to regions and the world as a whole.  Rank-size rule says that there is a specific relationship between the relative abundance of settlements of different sizes, and that the smallest settlements should always be the most abundant.  It also says that the size of the town will determine it’s rank

TYPES OF CITIES  Primate City- when the country depends on one major city. EX- Seoul, South Korea.  Many primate cities are relics of their European colonial developments EX- US, New England.  Megalopolis- in many regions, towns and cities grew together and merged. When an entire area becomes urbanized.  Megacities- when a city has a population boom in growth (either due to migration or population growth.) This leads to a poor, unstable infrastructure, hunger, poverty, political problems, etc. Many are found in Africa, Asia, India. Crammed, tin communities of extreme poverty.  World Cities- opposite of Megacities, world cities are the center of economic, cultural, and political activity. World cities influencer other countries and have economic power.  EX- Tokyo, London, NYC. EX- Second tier world cities include Seats of Government- Moscow, Paris, Washington DC, and Brussels. They also include centers of popular culture- LA, Mumbai. And centers of industry- Mexico City, Sao Paulo.

Spatial Activities and Urban Planning  Urban planners study & predict peoples’ lifestyles and activities.  legibility- how well an individual could read a landscape depends both on the city’s physical structure as well as the individual’s orientation.  Image of the City (a book by Kevin Lynch) studied individuals’ perceptions of urban environments. Lynch broke the geographical contents of the cities into five main elements of landscape: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. 1. Paths- consist of channels of movement. Highways, sidewalks, transit lines, etc 2. Edges- mark the boundaries between two areas and come in the form of rivers, rail lines, walls, forest space, etc 3. Districts- areas that an individual can enter and leave within a city (they can be both mental and physical districts).  a. Physical Districts include business districts, industrial districts  b. Emotional Districts include ‘bad neighborhoods’ or ‘wealthy areas’ that have a more defined border in someone's mind than an actual physical boundary 4. Nodes- any focal points within the city (a junction of paths, visible structures) 5. Landmarks- any reference points within a city (historical- natural and manmade)

Urban Planning Continued… Action Spaces- comprised of all the parts of a city in which daily movements occur. In small towns, an individual’s action space could go across the entire down. In larger cities this is not likely, a person’s action space is more likely one small portion of the large city. Five Rules that apply to people’s daily spatial behavior. Planners use these as important insights when planning transportation, urban design, banks, sewage, electricity, 911 etc: i. People tend to make many short tips rather than long trips ii. People tend to worry little about distance when moving around very close to home, but when a long trip from home is required- distance is measured and heavily considered. iii. The longest trips tend to be work-related iv. Transportation limits spatial behaviors (access to car? license, etc) v. People are cautious and tend to avoid perceived hazards (whether or not they pose a real threat)

References  This powerpoint presentation was adapted using the information from the Barron’s AP Human Geography 5 th edition prep book.  Marsh, Meredith, Peter S Alagona, and Peter S Alagona. Barron's AP Human Geography. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, Print.