1. Urban Geography

2. Urban The built-up, non-rural area and its population
Includes recently developed suburbs
Better picture of a metro area than just the political city boundary

3. Urbanization’s Cost in China
Urban Geography
Urbanization’s Cost in China

4. Rank-Size Rule Urban hierarchy True in some regions 1/2 1/3 12 million
Largest city
12 million
2nd Largest
1/2
6 million
3rd Largest
1/3
4 million

5. Primate City In some regions…
A large and exceptionally influential city
The next largest city is much smaller and with much less influence
Often a result of… ta-da!... Colonialism!

6. Examples of Primate Cities
Mexico City, Mexico
Manila, Philippines
London
Paris

10. Central Place Theory Walter Christaller – 1920s
Explains the location patterns of urban areas
Similar to…???
Weber’s Least Cost Theory for manufacturing and industry
Von Thunen’s model of rural agricultural land use

11. Quick Draw!
Place a circle on your paper about the size of a quarter – the center of this circle is your neighborhood and the surrounding part in West Linn
Draw a medium-sized circle around “West Linn” – this is the economic area connected to West Linn, like Clackamas and Bridgeport
Draw three more medium circles further out and not connected to West Linn

12. Chritsaller’s Central Place Theory
Economic relationships between cities and their hinterlands (areas further away)
Christaller’s assumptions:
People will purchase goods from the closest place
When demand for a good is high, it will be offered in close proximity to the population

13. Chritsaller’s Central Place Theory
Areas of a central place are ranked by size:
Hamlet
Village
Town
City
Regional Capital

14. Chritsaller’s Central Place Theory
Low-order goods – things that are replenished frequently (like food)
Purchased often
Smaller businesses can survive selling low-order goods in smaller towns outside large city

15. Chritsaller’s Central Place Theory
High-order goods – specialized items bought less frequently (cars, furniture, fine jewelry)
Business often cannot survive in smaller towns
Must locate in a big city with more people to buy

16. Chritsaller’s Central Place Theory
Each of these central places are located at the point where equilateral triangles connect
Creates equidistant connections to high-order goods
Creates a system of centers of various sizes
Each center will supply particular types of goods

17. Central Place Theory
Threshold – the minimum number of people required to support a business
Range – the travel time it takes a consumer to reach the business

18. Central Place Theory: Implications
The larger the settlements are in size, the fewer in number they will be
there are many small villages, but few large cities.

19. Central Place Theory: Implications
The larger the settlements, the greater the distance between them
villages are usually found close together, while cities are spaced much further apart.

20. Central Place Theory: Implications
As a settlement increases in size, the range and number of its functions will increase

21. Central Place Theory: Implications
As a settlement increases in size, the number of higher-order services will also increase

22. Small cities, towns, villages
Urban Hierarchy
Big
Cities
High-order goods, large, few.
Mid-sized cities
Some high-order goods, fewer, further apart
Small cities, towns, villages
Low-order goods, small, a lot of them, close together

23. Central Place
A city or town that provides goods and services to the surrounding population
People travel to a central place for goods and services

24. Central Place Function
A good or service that a central place provides

25. Market Area The area of consumers for a particular good or service
people travel from a market area

26. Central Place Theory
Geographic model and location patterns of central places that sell goods and services to hexagonal-shaped market areas

27. Vocab Review Central Place Theory High-order and Low-order goods
Market area
Central place function
Threshold
Range

28. Farmer’s shopping preferences in southwest Iowa
Central Place Theory
Farmer’s shopping preferences in southwest Iowa
Write an explanation of why we see different patterns in these maps. Use the following terms in your answer:
Central place theory
Central place
Market area
Threshold
Range
High-order goods
Low-order goods
Food
Legal services
Hospitals

29. Central Place Theory: Is it obsolete?
Many new technologies since the 1920s
Interstate highway system
Internet
Changes in retail markets (big box stores)

30. Central Place Theory: Case Study
Sun Belt phenomenon
Millions of Americans have migrated south over the past 4o years
Apply Central Place Theory:
What would happen to some southern cities?

31. Know the Concepts

32. Why do cities and towns form where they do?
Resource node – close to resources
Transport node – at an intersection of lines of transportation
Gold

33. Types of cities Megacity or Supercity – very large city.
Megalopolis – Several large supercities that have merged to form a very large urban region.
World city (global city) – serve an important node in global economic system

34. Megalopolis Examples

35. Megalopolis Examples
“Blue Banana” – the economic core of the European Union

36. Types of cities
World city (global city) – serve an important node in global economic system
Alpha++ cities are vastly more integrated with the global economy than any other cities.
Alpha+ cities complement Alpha++ cities by linking them to major economic regions.

37. World Cities Al­pha++ New York City Al­pha+ Paris Singapore Shanghai
Cate­gory
Cities
Al­pha++
 London
 New York City
Al­pha+
 Hong Kong
 Paris
Singapore
 Shanghai
 Tokyo
 Beijing
 Sydney
 Dubai

38. Megacity Examples A total population of more than 10 million
Tokyo, Japan
Seoul, South Korea
Mumbai, India
New York
Los Angeles

39. Urban Sprawl Unrestricted growth of urban areas in many U.S. cities
Los Angeles

40. Urban Sprawl

41. Urban Sprawl
Phoenix

42. Las Vegas urbanization
U.S. Dept of Interior:
These progressive geo-referenced databases of urban land use change are developed by merging information from historic maps, census statistics, commerce records, remotely sensed data, and digital land use data.

43. Suburbanization in America
Movement to outer edges of cities
Has been going on since the end of WWII
Things that supported suburbanization:
Automobiles
40 hour work week
Baby boom after the war created a high demand for family housing
Federal home loans like the G.I. Bill

44. Urban Sprawl in America: The hungry monster
Key Statistics Of Urban Sprawl
 Between 1982 and 1997 America converted approximately 25 million acres (39,000 square miles) of rural land to developed land

45. Urban Sprawl in America: The hungry monster
Key Statistics Of Urban Sprawl
 Over a 20-year period ( ), the 100 largest Urbanized Areas in the United States sprawled an additional 14,545 square miles.
That’s more than 9 million acres of
natural habitats,
farmland
and other rural space
covered over by the asphalt, buildings and sub-divisions of suburbia.

46. Urban Sprawl Megalopolis of northeastern United States Conurbation
A region of several large cities, towns and suburbs merged to form one large urban area

47. Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
Conversion of agricultural land to residential

48. Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
Single-use zoning
Separate areas for residential, retail, industrial

49. Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
Low-density zoning
Houses with big lawns
One-story commercial buildings with spaces in between

50. Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
Automobile dependency
Little or no public transportation
Fewer sidewalks because people don’t walk to stores and other places

51. More Sprawl = More Cars

52. Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
Job sprawl
Businesses relocate to the suburbs because of more affordable low-density areas

53. Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
Types of development
Housing developments
Strip malls
Shopping malls
Fast food chains

54. Negative Impact of Urban Sprawl
Environmental impact
Because of…???

55. Negative Impact of Urban Sprawl
Human health impact
Because of…???

56. Negative Impact of Urban Sprawl
Decreased social capital
Because of…???

57. Negative Impact of Urban Sprawl
Spatial mismatch – economic inequality
Because of…???

58. Functional Zones Central City The purpose of a certain area of a city
Examples:
CBD (central business district)
Industrial Zone
Central City
The urban area that is not suburban

59. Models of North American Cities

60. Urban zones grow around the CBD
Concentric Zone Model
Burgess
Chicago in the 1920s
Urban zones grow around the CBD

61. Zones grow outward from the core
Sector Model
Hoyt
Zones grow outward from the core

62. As zones expand, the CBD loses its dominant position
Multiple Nuclei Model
Harris & Ullman
As zones expand, the CBD loses its dominant position
New centers develop

63. As zones expand, the CBD loses its dominant position
Multiple Nuclei Model
Harris & Ullman
As zones expand, the CBD loses its dominant position
New centers develop

64. Edge City
Large suburb outside the CBD that develops its own economic core
Large shopping center
Industrial/Business park
Office complexes
Hotels
Entertainment

65. Loose Definition of Edge City
Is perceived by the population as one place.
Has more jobs than bedrooms.
Was nothing like a "city" as recently as 30 years ago. Then it was just bedrooms, if not cow pastures.
“Bedroom Community” – Young suburb with mainly residential housing

66. Examples of Edge Cities

67. Examples of Edge Cities

68. Galactic City Model
Edge cities that are connected each other and the core by highways or freeways

69. How do cities respond to urban growth?

70. Case Study: Portland Urban growth boundary
Controls urban expansion onto farm and forestry land (sprawl)
Under Oregon law, each city or metropolitan area has an urban growth boundary that separates urban land from rural use.
The boundary controls urban expansion onto farm and forest lands.

71. Case Study: Portland Urban growth boundary Keeps urban core vital
Because of limited land for new developments, businesses are motivated to use current buildings instead of leaving them empty

72. Case Study: Portland Urban growth boundary
Helps businesses and local governments plan for infrastructure
Since cities and towns know that outlying farm lands cannot be developed, they can plan for roads and utilities more effectively within the core

73. Case Study: Portland Urban growth boundary
Encourages more efficient development and use of infrastructure
Instead of putting money and time into creating more and more roads leaving the core, local governments can put resources into making current roads and services more effective.

74. Case Study: Portland Urban growth boundary
Encourages long-term planning
Portland’s urban growth plan is defined through 2040.

75. Case Study: Portland Urban growth boundary
Benefits of Portland’s 2040 Growth Concept:
Promotes efficient land use by directing most development to existing urban centers
Promotes a balanced transportation system—biking, walking, public transit, and driving
Builds complete communities by providing shopping and jobs near where people live