UNIT VII: Urban Geo

Central places: service centers for local hinterlands Transportation centers: break-of-bulk functions Specialized-function cities: dominated by one activity 3 basic types of cities: metropolitan area metropolitan area: continuously built-up urban area suburbs suburbs: extensive commuters residential land use

primate city: one disproportionately larger city in a country (Ex: Paris, Mexico City, Lagos) rank-size rule: inverse relationship between size of a city & its urban rank - 2 nd largest city = ½ size of biggest

Economic Base Theory Basic Sector: businesses dependent upon sales outside the city Non-basic Sector: jobs dependent upon basic sector (grocery store, barber, drycleaners, restaurants) multiplier effect: increase in basic jobs increases non-basic jobs…

World cities: play a key role in the global economy (London, New York, Tokyo) – financial centers – most have large pops. Megacities: over 10 million – over ½ of 20 largest cities today are in developing world Problems: internal migration, slums, informal economies, poverty, crime, child labor, water, sewage

EXPLODING AGGLOMERATIONS 2004: World’s top 10 cities 1. Tokyo 33.9m 2. Mexico City22.1m 3. Seoul22.0m 4. New York21.7m 5. Sao Paulo19.9m 6. Mumbai19.2m 7. Delhi18.7m 8. Los Angeles17.6m 9. Osaka16.7m 10. Jakarta16.6m

Mexico City

Cuautepec- exurb of Mexico City

Walter Christaller’s Central Place Theory 1.nested hexagons show a hierarchal ranking of market areas hinterland: rural area outside urban areas

2. range of services: maximum distance consumers travel * luxury items: longer range 3. Threshold pop.: minimum # of consumers to support a business

Central Place Assumptions: 1.orderly hierarchy 2.places of the same size equally spaced 3.larger cities farther apart

Classic Urban Land Use Models: Concentric Zone Model Sector Model Multiple Nuclei Model

created by Ernest Burgess (1920s) urban land use as concentric rings “intensive” CBD in center… “extensive” suburbs on edge

Concentric Zone Weaknesses: too simple developed only for American cities assumes public transit highways/cars allowed increased mobility

Sector Model Hoyt Homer Hoyt (1939) stated land use patterns defined by “sectoral wedges” “transportation corridors” impacts land use better transport = more expensive land

Multiple Nuclei Model Harris & Ullman (1945) see cities as multi-nucleated w/ center & smaller satellite CBD’s on edge applies to newer, faster-growing cities (Miami, L.A.)

Inner City “Ghettoes” 1.became overcrowded, expensive, crime-ridden by 1940’s 2.“filtering”: expensive older houses subdivided for low- income families 3.“White Flight”: process of higher income whites moving out of city centers to suburbs 4.low-income public housing

Suburbanization “decentralization” of city centers popularity of automobile “sprawl”: residential neighborhoods away from CBD edge cities: suburbs with their own CBD greenbelts: open space for public use in suburbs

Public Policy & Suburbs 1.Gov’t policies: Highway Acts (1916, 1956) FHA 30-year mortgage (1934) GI Bill (1944) * post-WW II “BABY BOOM” = more families

Gentrificationc gentrification: the movement of middle class people into deteriorated areas of city centers – begins in rundown “hoods” – inner city cheaper than suburbs Urban “revitalization”/”renewal”: – “renewing” rotting downtown waterfronts

European Cities central cities wealthy live in city center higher poverty/crime/ethnic enclaves in suburbs Latin American Cities fastest urban growth in world central plaza wealthy live close to major blvd. near CBD Poor live in outskirts or “disamenity sector” (lack of facilities) – “in situ accretion”: transition to slums & squatters

African Cities N. Africa: Islamic architecture S. Africa: remnants of apartheid (blacks segregated in “townships”) Asian Cities: centered around ports open-air bazaar markets

Manila, Philippines Mumbai, India

Johannesbur g, South Africa Lagos, Nigeria