November 19, The City and Citizenship

General Definitions  a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts ("Ancient Troy was a great city" )  an incorporated administrative district established by state charter ("the city raised the tax rate" ) November 19, 2015The City and Citizenship 2

Definitions by number of inhabitants  Davis: more than 100,000 inhabitants  Inhabitants of what?  Formal city limits (“city proper”)  What about “metropolitan areas”? (“urban agglomerations” “conurbations” “sprawl”)  262 cities in U.S. according to this 262 cities in U.S. according to this  Population density  Varies widely across the world and over time  E.g per sq km in Ankara, 22,658 in Mumbai  Varies within cities, metro areas, etc. November 19, 2015The City and Citizenship 3

Cities on a “scale” continuum  How big (or dense) must a settlement be to count as a “city?”  Hamlets v. Villages  “village” has specific legal meaning in U.S. (Illinois)  Town, City, County  Town, township, county (legal)  Town v. city (what is the difference?)  Metropolis  city and its satellites  Megalopolis  Really big metropolis?  sprawl November 19, 2015The City and Citizenship 4

Metropolitan Statistical Areas  Metropolitan Statistical Area  Used by Office and Management and Budget (similar to Census Bureau)  “at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. “  Examples Examples  Greater New York: 18.8 million  Greater Los Angeles: 12.9 million  Chicagoland: 9.5 million November 19, 2015The City and Citizenship 5

Comparing Chicago and Schaumburg  Chicago  2,896,016 inhabitants  591 square kilometers  4900 inhabitants/sq km  Schaumburg  75,386 inhabitants  49.5 square kilometers  1522 inhabitants/sq km  Is Schaumburg a “city”?  What about other places in Northwest suburbs? November 19, 2015The City and Citizenship 6

“Urbanization”  Defined by Davis (p. 19 in LeGates)  “the proportion of the total population concentrated in urban settlements, or else to a rise in this proportion”  Not synonymous with “urban growth”  i.e. growth in population of cities  “urban growth” is absolute, “urbanization” is relative  Issues  How many? Key index is “proportion of people living in places of 100,000 or more” (p. 19)  What are the “boundaries” of “urban places?”  “urban agglomerations” “urbanized areas”  should suburbs be included? How/when does this relate to process of urbanization?

Explaining “Urbanization”  Process/cycle  S-curve  Rapid, then slows  Different pace over time (early v. current)  Connected to economic development  Causes  Birth rates and mortality rates  Migration to cities from rural areas  Capital improvements in agriculture (declining farm population)

Recent Developments  Urbanization in less-developed countries  Birth and mortality rates comparable  Faster pace  Not enough migration to cities  Sprawl  Major issue is absolute population growth, including urban growth  Density of urbanized areas declining  “Polynucleated” cities in large urban areas, e.g. New York, Los Angeles (Chicago too?)

Mumford: The City as a Social Institution  City not just defined by numbers and space  “The city in its complete sense, then, is a geographical plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theater of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity” (p. 87)  Focus on “social drama”  Opportunities (!) for disharmony and conflict  Reintegration of self through participation in the whole  Physical organization, traffic flow, etc. must be subservient to social needs

Appropriate Scale  Determined by social relations  not transport, economics, etc.  Related to size, density, area  Affected by technology (cars, mass communication)  Growth not good per se (e.g. good for business and/or economic opportunity, p. 88)  Avoid “mere massing of population” (p. 89)  “Polynucleated city” November 19, 2015The City and Citizenship 11