Chapter 1: The Study of Urban Geography

The Study of Urban Geography Concerned with Local Variability in a General Context –Want to know the distinctiveness of individual places and regularities within and between cities

How did these Distinctive identities evolve? Are there significant patterns/regularies in the spatial arrangement of towns and cities across a country or region in the world? Are there regularities in the spatial organization of land use within cities or neighborhoods, for example? Why and how do people choose to live where they live? Who can manipulate the spatial organization of a city?

Space – not just a medium, it is factor that influences patterns of urban development Territoriality – Important to geography since it shapes individual and group behavior that create distinct spatial settings Distance – affects the behavior of both producers and consumers/influences patterns of social and ecnomic interaction Place – The distinctiveness of a particular metropolitan area

Approaches to Urban Geography s The Regional Cultural Tradition 1950s-1960s Analytical Urban Geography or Spatial Analysis Approach 1970s-Behavioral Urban Studies 1970s – Humanistic Approach 1970s-1980s Structuralist Approach 1970s-1980s Feminist Approach Structure-Agency Approach

Approaches to Urban Geography 1900 Poststructural and Postmodern Urbanism (came out of architecture and French Deconstructionist School.) 1995-Current Transnational Urbanism