Geography 417
California for Educators
Urban Geogaphy
Text
What is a city?
Trouble with defining cities
Hamlet, Village, Town, City, Conurbation, Megalopolis
Why do some places become cities?
Why cities?
A. Single-Factor and Multiple-Factor Models for the
Rise of Cities
Technical,
Religious, Political, Beer, Others
Poverty Point
B. Urban Hearth Areas
C. Diffusion of the
City from Hearth Areas
Edge Cities or Urban Realms
Term coined by
Joel Garreau to describe peripheral areas of the city where people now
increasingly work, play and live. Functionally similar to older center cities, but less dense and
planned around the automobile.
Problems? Most of them are linked to transportation.
Where are
their edge cities in LA?
Edge City Landscape (fig)
Edge City Landscape:
New York City
The Ecology of Urban Location
Where cities
are located are key indicators of their original purpose.
Each citys
original purpose is a product of its location and the possibilities afforded by
that location.
Site and Situation
Site refers to
a set of factors that deal with a locations advantages or disadvantages at
that place.
Situation
refers to a set of factors that deal with a locations advantages or
disadvantages relative to other places.
Singapore
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Location Typology: Defensive Sites (fig)
Mt. St. Michel and Paris (fig)
Trade-Route Sites
All trade
route cities are break-in-bulk sites
Most all big
cities in the world are at break in bulk points.
Trade-Route Sites
What city is
this?
Christhallers Central Place Theory
describes the
pattern of cities in space. It relies
upon the following notions:
Threshold-size of population
Range-distance for good
Hinterland-trade area
Order of a good and order of a place
Central Place Theory
Higher order goods
have a greater range, need smaller threshold
These facts
build urban hierarchies
Regional
metropolises are at the top of the hierarchy
Market
villages are at the bottom.
Requires an
all things held equal clause
Central Place Theory 1 (fig)
Central Place Theory 2 (fig)
Central Place Theory
with transportation routes (fig)
Satellite Image of Central Places
Satellite Image of Central Places
Urban Culture Regions
A. Social
Regions
Socioeconomic traits
Ethnographic traits
Census Tracts, Block Groups
Census Tracts, Berkeley
Neighborhoods
Small social region where people share values and
interact daily
May lead to a reduction in social
conflict.
Territoriality?
Social cohesion in face of diversity
Implication of permanence of residence
Derelict D.C.
The Burbs (fig)
Homelessness
Unknown number
of homeless
Three million?
Census debate
in congress
Multiple
problems of homelessness
Reagans
legacy
Shelters, LA
Homeless (fig)
Cultural Diffusion in the City
There are constantly
at work forces that work to collapse the city around the CBD and there are
others at work that tend to spread the city out.
What you see
in each city is a result of this contest.
Which side is
winning in California?
Centralization
Economic and Social Advantages
Accessibility
Transportation
routes
Agglomeration
(residence)
Historical
momentum
Prestige
Decentralization
Clearly the
most powerful of the forces since 1945
Many cities
have been hollowed out by the forces of decentralization, which are the same
forces driving forth suburbanization.
Investment capital moving from one to other.
Uneven
development
The Decentralized City (fig)
Socioeconomic Factors
Accessibility
is now greater in suburbs.
Agglomeration economies in suburbs.
Taking advantage of the diseconomies of scale and location of the inner
city.
Some Terms
Bedroom
Communities
White Flight
Lateral
Commuters
Spatial
Mismatch theory
Howd it happen?
Federal
Highway Acts 1916/1954
FHA
established in 1937
GI Bill 1944
FHA practices
Housing Act of
1937
Red Lining and
Restrictive Covenants
Other
government actions
The Costs of Decentralization
Massive loss of investment and inner city capital.
Sprawl
Checkerboard
vs. Gap Toothed
In filling
legislation
Sprawl (fig)
Gentrification
Counter action
to suburbanization
Often began by
alternative lifestyle crowd
Has had major
impact on some downtown areas and their residents
How does it
work?
Economics
Rent Gap
Theory
The downtown
areas become so devalued that investors now think these areas have a good risk
to return potential.
Overall shift
in the economic structure of the United States: Post-Modernity.
Demographics
The baby
boomers frequently delayed entry into parenthood, but felt unsure about moving
into the suburbs without children.
Status of historical areas difficult to erase.
Proximity to
new economy jobs in downtown area
Nightlife for those in courtship life cycle.
Politics and Taxes
Some cities
have actively encouraged gentrification through systems of tax breaks and other
development incentives in order to prop up flagging downtown economies.
Rainbow Neighborhoods
Gays,
Bisexuals and a variety of Bohemian types frequently led the charge into
gentrification.
Access to amenities catering to alternative lifestyles.
Defensive strategy.
Where else to
go?
Alt lifestyle (fig)
Cost of Gentrification
Tax boost
often small or non-existant
Displacement
of lower income residents
Ethnic
tensions
See Focus Box
Society Hill
figure
The Cultural Ecology of the City
A. The Urban
Ecosystem
B. The Urban
Geologic Environment
C. Urban
Weather and Climate
D. Urban
Hydrology
E. Urban
Vegetation
Urban Heat Island (fig)
Dust Dome-Cincinnati
Green Space-NYC
Cultural Integration and Models of the
City
A.
Concentric Zone Model
B.
Sector Model
C. Multiple
Nuclei Model
Chicago (fig)
Concentric Zone Model (fig)
What Zone?
Sector Model (fig)
Multiple Nuclei Model (fig)
Symbolic Cityscapes
There are lots
of symbolic, metaphorical meanings lodged in the landscape of the city.
Think of
skyscrapers, historic landscapes.
Landscapes act
upon us. They help maintain social
order.
How do these
meanings get created?
Meinigs Three Symbolic Landscapes:
New England Village
Main St. USA
California Suburb
New England Village (fig)
The New Urban Landscape
Shopping
Malls-an interior experience, that is made to appear exterior.
Location: on
the interstate near suburbs
Forms changing
over the years
Malls serve
multiple functions, including social ones.
The Mall (fig)
Office Parks
Out on the edge
of town, they have replaced some of the functions of the CBD
Cheaper, more accessible, convenient.
Horizontal, not vertical.
Park
Homogenous
High Tech
Corridors
Office Parks: Atlanta (fig)
Edge City Office Park (fig)
Gated Community
Master Planned Communities
The
totally-planned neighborhood
Social engineering?
Multiple
regulations
Scary as hell?
Festival Setting
Frequently
part of a gentrification or urban renewal effort
Surround
natural or historical amenities
Staging the
spectacular
Fake and consumptive
May stand next
to grinding poverty, but seemingly unaware of it.
Quincy Market-Festival Setting (fig)
Militarized Space
Consciously planned areas that are designed to separate the unsavory
elements of society from the nice people.
Gated downtown areas, removal of park benches, spikes for fire
hydrants, elevated walkways, etc.
Hyper segregation of class and race.
Reduction of
truly public spaces
Internet?
Dade, Co Library (fig)
Transportation Issues in the City
Cars
80% of commuters in LA county
ride alone.
Mass Transportation:
Trains
Bus
Zoning Issues
When is your property not your property?
Home based businesses
Natural Disasters
Other zoning issues.
Farm animals, porn shops, strip
clubs, day laborers, historic districts, etc.
Growth Issues
Do we need additional growth?
How do we attract new businesses?
Tax breaks? Other incentives?
Community Redevelopment Agencies
Business Investment Districts
Empowerment Zones
Brownfields
Stadiums and Arenas