UNIT VII

Key Question:

 Before urbanization, people often clustered in agricultural villages – a relatively small, egalitarian village, where most of the population was involved in agriculture. About 10,000 years ago, people began living in agricultural villages

Two components enable the formation of cities: 1.an agricultural surplus 2. social stratification (a leadership class)

In each of these hearths, an agricultural surplus and social stratification created the conditions necessary for cities to form and be maintained.

 Mesopotamia (between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers) in modern Iraq  Nile River Valley in modern Egypt  Indus River Valley in modern Pakistan  Huang He River Valley in modern China  Mesoamerica (Mexico and Peru)

Pre-Industrial Cities  Agricultural surpluses  Increasing population densities  Defense needs  Religious reasons (theocratic rule)  Trade requirements

 Serve as administrative, religious, trade, or gateway cities

The Greek Cities (500 BCE) highly urbanized.  Network of more than 500 cities and towns  On the mainland and on islands  Each city had an acropolis (high point) and an agora (gathering place)

The Roman Cities (338 BCE) a system of cities and small towns, linked together with hundreds of miles of roads and sea routes; typically for trade

 Trade route from Central Asia to Europe (connected the East to the West)

Urban-Industrial Revolution A large scale movement of people to cities to work in manufacturing. Made possible by: Second Agricultural Revolution that improved food production (less farm workers needed=find job in the city AND more food= increasing population)

 Started in England  Created steady rural-to-urban migration  1800= 24% urban and 1999= 99% urban

Industrialized regions of Europe, 1914

 Make and distribute manufactured products

During the second half of the 20 th century… What was once thriving industrial districts, are now abandoned factories known as RUST BELTS Duisburg, Germany Detroit, Michigan Packer Motor Car Company

 New jobs MUST be developed in the next economic sector (customer service, professional services, management)

Mercantilism: economic theory that fueled European expansion and imperialism Mercantile Era ( s) CITIES GREW with merchant families, who built ornate mansions, patronized the arts, participated in city governments, and supported the reconstruction of city centers. Genoa, Italy

Key Question:

 City – a conglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and economics.  Central Place  Hinterland  Functional complexity

 Central City includes the Central Business District (CBD)  Suburbs (surround central city)  Urbanized Area (central city and built-up area/suburbs)  Metropolitan Area (county and adjacent counties with high pop density and large % of residents working in central city’s county)  Megalopolis (Boswash corridor)

 Levels of Urbanization: % of people in urban area; highest in industrialized countries  Rate of Urbanization: % of increase in the urban population; highest in less developed countries

Levels of Urbanization

In today’s world… Rate of Urbanization a rural area can become urbanized quite quickly in the modern world Shenzhen, China

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

 Cities are linked to other cities and towns in an interconnected system  Cities can be ranked based on their size and their functional complexity  Interconnection among cities tends to be vertical  The sphere of influence of any given city or town is generally proportional to its size

 PRIMACY  RANK/SIZE RULE

 Single city that is more than twice the size, disproportionately larger, than the rest of the cities in the country For example: London, UK Mexico City, Mexico Paris, France  Violation of the rank/size rule

Rank-Size Rule: in a model urban hierarchy, the population of the city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy. (DIVIDE RANK INTO SIZE OF LARGEST CITY; WILL PREDICT CITY POPULATION) For example: largest city = 12 million 2 nd largest = 6 million 3 rd largest = 4 million 4 th largest = 3 million US in close to following this model Newly urbanized LDCs NOT a good example of this model

FACTOR THAT ENCOURAGE FEWER, LARGER CITIES:  Economies that include agglomeration (related businesses clustered together)  Positive location advantages (a lot of pull)

Things that are a problem in big cities, but not as BIG of a problem in small cities….  Congestion  Pollution  Crime  High rents and urban land costs  High intra-urban transportation costs

VIRTUALLY ALL URBAN SETTLEMENTS FALL INTO ONE OF THREE CATAGORIES…  Transportation center  Special function centers (i.e. education, administration)  Central place  Serve as centers for distribution of economic goods and services to surrounding populations