Gentrification or Revitalization
• The rehabilitation of deteriorated, sometimes abandoned
inner city housing and industrial buildings.
• Inner city gentrification attracts childless urbanites and
singles who desire the cultural & recreational amenities walking distance to restaurants, museums, theaters, etc.
• DINKS, SINKS and retired “Baby Boomers” are drawn
back to the city by revitalization.
• Urban Policy-city governments encourage
redevelopment by passing laws that encourage the
redevelopment of blighted inner city areas-tax incentives
and rezoning and the condemning of blighted regions.
• Commercialization of Downtown-waterfront themesMiami, NYC, Baltimore, Themed structures-Renaissance
Center in Gary, Ind., Detroit, Mich. Chicago’s Navy Pier
Gentrification or Revitalization
• Economic policy-tax
incentives (TIFS) encourage
the redevelopment of inner
cities where land is cheaper
than the expensive suburbs.
• Sense of place-many “baby
boomers” as well as
“Yuppies” are drawn to the
historic landmarks and
amenities of the city such as
markets, museums and
galleries ( e.g. Millennium
Park, Navy Pier etc.
Chicago’s Navy Pier
Urban decay in
Washington,
D.C.
Uptown neighborhood
in Chicago-abandoned
apartment buildings;
an area that is primed
for gentrification
Tear-downs – houses that new owners buy with the intention
of tearing it down to build a much larger home.
McMansions – large homes, often built to the outer limits of
the lot. They are called McMansions because of their super
size and their similar look.
Hinsdale, Illinois (25% of houses have been torn down in last 20 years).
The Suburban City
• Post WW II rapid
transformation of rural areas
adjacent to cities into suburbs
• New automobiles & highways
as well as govt. policy, Federal
Highway Program, GI Bill and
Loan Guarantees for housing
• Demand for larger more
expensive suburban homes by
the returning GIs
• 1970=37% suburban by 1990
46% suburban & 31% inner
city with 23% rural
Edge Cities
Suburban downtowns,
often located near key
freeway intersections,
often with:
- office complexes
- shopping centers
- hotels
- restaurants
- entertainment
facilities
- sports complexes
New Urbanism
• Development, urban revitalization, and suburban
reforms that create walkable neighborhoods with
a diversity of housing and jobs.
• some are concerned over privatization of public
spaces
– some are concerned that they do nothing to
break down the social conditions that create
social ills of the cities
– some believe they work against urban sprawl
• America’s population is
decentralizing faster that at any
time in history
• Orlando grew 5 fold in 3 decades
• Average home size grew by 63%
over last 3 decades
• 28% of suburban dwellers are
ethnic minorities
• 10 days a year-the average amount
of time Americans spend
commuting to work
• Living in sprawling suburbs can
add 61 lbs to your weight-due to
driving & no exercise
Gated Communities
Who are gated communities for?
How do the goals/purposes of gated communities differ
across the world?
Spaces of Consumption
The transformation of the city into an entertainment district,
where major corporations encourage the consumption of
their goods and services. For example: Berlin, Germany &
New York City
The Canadian City
• Less dispersed with higher
pop. densities than US
cities
• More multi-family
dwellings and less disparity
in wealth
• Suburbs not as large or as
affluent as in the US
• Central city has more
middle and higher income
pop. & stronger tax base
• Better services & public
transportation systems
The European City
• Western European cities are more compact than Canadian
cities
• Same size in pop. As US cities, but smaller in land area
• European govt. are proactive in maintaining healthy CBDs
• No sprawl-suburbs are too far out to compete with CBD
• Greenbelts preserve the central city from close suburban
development
• Very high fuel costs discourage suburban development
• Central cities are clogged with cars, but mass transit, bikes,
and walking are relied on for transportation
• Zoning rules are strictly enforced and highway and beltway
construction lags.
The European City
• London-6.4 m., Paris 10.2
m., Rome, Berlin, Madrid
and Athens are megacities
by world standards
• These are historic cities
not impacted by the
Industrial Revolution
• British Midlands &
German Ruhr valley cities
are very different-smaller
& heavily industrializeddestroyed in WWII
• Paris, Athens and Lisbon
are Primate cities
The European City-Greenbelts
• London’s Central
city is the same size
it was in 1960
• Greenbelts were est.
to counteract ill
effects of Ind. Rev.
• Open countryside
over 20 miles wide
has scattered towns,
but no extensive
suburban areas
• Many urban parks
maintain a green
areas within the city
During the second half of
the 20th century…
Nature of manufacturing
changed and locations
changed, too. Many
factories have been
abandoned, creating “rust
belts” out of once-thriving
industrial districts.
Duisburg, Germany
The Eastern European City
• Eastern European &
Russian cities were turned
into microdistricts by
communist planning
• Old primate and historical
cities were ignored
• Huge dominant square &
wide radiating avenues
fronted by huge apartment
complexes with factories,
schools, shops & so on.
• No need for CBD, mass
commuting or suburbs
The Eastern European City
• Large 7 to 11 story
complexes were rapidly
built of shoddy material
with no decoration-ugly
and depressing
• Moscow’s growing pop.
(11 m.) lives in
microdistricts that radiate
out from Red Square.
• St. Petersburg was rebuilt
in the ugly socialist style
after heavy damage in
World War II
Modeling the Cities of the Global Periphery
and Semiperiphery
• Latin American City
(Griffin-Ford model)
• African City (de Blij model)
• Southeast Asian City (McGee model)
Making Cities in the Global Periphery and
Semiperiphery
- sharp contrast
between rich and
poor
- Often lack
zoning laws or
enforcement of
zoning laws
The Ibero-American City
• Latin American cities are
growing rapidly-1950=
41% urban, 1997 74%
urban
• CBD dominates the
center with 2 main
divisions-traditional
market and modern high
rises
• A commercial spine and
axis of business is
surrounded by elite
residential housing
Griffin-Ford model
The Ibero-American City
• The spine is an extension
of the CBD with offices,
shops, high class housing,
restaurants, theaters, &
parks
• Zone of Maturity-Middle
class housing 2nd best
• Zone of In Situ
Accretion-high pop.
Density of modest housing
• Periphery-Periferico-high
density shanty towns of
extreme poverty and no
services (favelas)
The African City
• African cities often have 3
CBDs=Colonial,
Traditional and Periodic
Market Zone
• Sub-Saharan Africa is the
least urbanized area of the
world, but the most rapidly
urbanizing
• No large cities to match
Cairo-Kinshasa, Nairobi,
Harare, Dakar, Abidjan
were established by
Europeans
de Blij model
The African City
• No large cities to match Cairo-Kinshasa, Nairobi, Harare,
Dakar, Abidjan were established by Europeans
• South African cities-Johannesburg, Cape Town & Durbin
are western cities with elements of European and American
models-high rise CBDs and sprawling suburbs
The Southeast Asian City
• SE Asia-rapid growth of
population & cities-195015% urban, 1990s-29%
urban
• Most growth in coastal
cities like Ho Chi Minh
City (Saigon)
• Old colonial port zone
surrounds the commercial
district
• Unlike Western cities-no
formal business zone, but
separate clusters
McGee model
Ethnic Neighborhoods
European City
– eg. Muslim neighborhoods in Paris
Cities of the Periphery and Semiperiphery
– eg. Mumbai, India
Mumbai, India