settlement patterns/ urban geography

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SETTLEMENT

PATTERNS/

URBAN GEOGRAPHY

SUBJECT OVERVIEW

Defining Urbanism

SETTLEMENTS

ORIGINS OF SETTLEMENTS

TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS

CITY HISTORY

URBAN PATTERNS

What is Urbanism?

Depends on time and culture:

 The size of the stationary population is part of the picture… but it varies according to the historical context and location

 The size of a city varies geographically;

Portugal=10,000, Ethiopia=2,000, Norway=200

 Therefore, urbanism usually is qualified by a population considered large for its time and place

What makes a City a City?

Population alone does not make a city; a stadium may hold many people, but is it a city?

There must also be government of some kind.

There must also be definable boundaries ; even if they change over time.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) used to calculate a city’s boundaries: a city center and its immediately interacting counties

What makes a City a City…

The economy is another layer in classifying it as rural or urban… economic diversity

A cultural layer also plays a role in defining a place’s degree of urbanity or “cityness”… cultural diversity

So, a clear definition of urban or city more of a process of comparison than a sentence or two… it depends!

Hearths of Urbanization

Where did cities and urbanism, or urban life begin?

 The earliest cities were born around 3500 BCE spawned from agricultural villages:

Mesopotamia

Indus River region

Nile Valley

Huang He River valle

Mexico

Peru

Settlement

Settlement - a permanent collection of buildings and inhabitants

GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE OF

SETTLEMENTS

Geographers are interested in the patterns of settlements and the interrelationship of settlements

How do the patterns of settlements explain human culture?

ORIGINS OF SETTLEMENTS

Religious - graves, churches, temples

Cultural - schools, libraries

Political/Military - leader’s house, walls

Economic - stores, food

TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS

Rural Settlements - agriculture as the predominant occupation.

Urban settlements - principal industries are secondary and tertiary.

RURAL SETTLEMENTS

Clustered rural settlements -grouped settlements in rural areas to minimize travel

RURAL SETTLEMENTS

Dispersed rural Settlements - isolated farms with enclosed continuous fields

RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE

EASTERN U.S.

New England - clustered villages of the colonists

Mid Atlantic - dispersed isolated farms of the Dutch, Swedes, Irish and

Germans

South - plantations (mansions surrounded by plantation services)

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN

SETTLEMENTS

Prior to modern times most settlements were rural

First Urban Settlement

 UR (modern day of Iraq)

Other Early Cities

 Mycenae,Troy, & Isle of Crete in Greece

 Settlements along the world’s great rivers

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN

SETTLEMENTS

Athens - first city over 100,000

 by the 5th century BC over 300,000

Rome - center of an empire 200 BC-400 AD

 “all roads lead to Rome”

 Paris, London, Vienna - all old Roman sites

Mid-Evil Europe - after the fall of Rome

 urbanization decreased

 patterns of castles, walls & narrow streets

 compact space surrounded by walls

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN

SETTLEMENTS

Renaissance-Baroque Cities

 Renaissance 15-16th centuries

 Baroque 16-18th centuries

 development of wide avenues & monuments

 Paris & London rebuilt, Washington D.C.

Industrial City

 19th century to present

 city designed around industry and transportation

 most modern cities

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN

SETTLEMENTS

Megalopolis -

 conurbation of a number of cities blended together without separation

 “The Blob” Lewis Mumford

 SMSA- Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area

 40% of the world’s population lives in urban areas

URBAN SMSA’s

First city with 1 million - London in 1810

Over 1 million - 180+ cities

Over 10 million - LA, Buenos Aires, London,

Bombay, Jakarta, Mexico City, New York City,

Osaka, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo,

Seoul

Over 30 million - Tokyo

DEFINITION OF THE CITY

Physical Definition of the City - Nonrural settlement that is, built up , economically functional, has a local government, and a legal boundary .

Environmental Definition of the City

 urban dust domes

(defined by pollution)

 heat island

(defined by increased temperatures)

GROWTH OF THE CITY

Skyscrapers - using vertical space

 intensive use of land

► shops at street level

 professional offices at higher levels

Outward Expansion

 advent of the automobile & transportation routes

 decline of public transport

OUTWARD EXPANSION (con’t)

Squatter Settlements - illegally erected shacks, cardboard structures and tents, due to rapid growth in cities of developing countries

De-urbanization of the City

 suburbanism cities legally independent

 cluster cities

 rural areas- preferable to urban lifestyle

 telecommuting - economic activity from a distance

Sao Paulo squatter settlement

DISTRIBUTION OF CITIES

Physical Restraints

 Manufacturing - North & East

 Retail Cities serving farmers - Mid West

 Resorts & Retirement - Southwest

Economic Functions

 site & situation factors

 International Trade - Port Cities

 Entertainment Centers - Las Vegas

DISTRIBUTION OF CITIES

International Distribution

 Developed countries have a higher population living in urban areas

Two thirds live in urban areas

 Developing countries have the greatest increases in the number of large urban settlements

One quarter live in urban areas

Most of the largest cities are in the developing regions

URBAN PATTERNS

URBAN PATTERNS

City Center

 best known area, most visually distinctive

San Francisco, London

 original site of settlement

Central Business District

 retail & office space

 assessable

 often a focal point with skyscrapers

 specialized stores for the office workers

URBAN PATTERNS

Zones in Transition

 mixed use with light industry

 transition from business to residential

 older neighborhoods (slums)

► home to ethnic groups not culturally integrated

► ghettos vs. ethnic neighborhood

Suburbs

 residential

 nodes of retail services

CENTRAL PLACE THEORY

Threshold - number of people to support

Range - distance people will travel for service

SUBJECT REVIEW

SETTLEMENTS

ORIGINS OF SETTLEMENTS

TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS

CITY HISTORY

URBAN PATTERNS

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