Urban Geography Notes
Site is the __________________________________________
Situation is another name for ____________________ location – the location of a city with
respect to other geographic features, regions, resources, and transport routes.
Examples of Site
Harbor sites:
Confluence sites:
Island sites:
Hilltop sites:
Fall line sites:
Sites where rivers narrows:
Oasis sites:
Examples of Situation
Baghdad:
Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Istanbul:
Xi’an, China
Mecca and Varanasi
Timbuktu, Mali
Cape Town, South Africa
Singapore
Omaha, Nebraska
Novosibirsk, Russia
Sacramento, California
Vladivostok, Russia
Functions of Cities
1. Security, defense
2. Religious centers
3. Trade centers
4. Government administration
5. Manufacturing centers
6. Service centers
How Functions Change
1. Rio de Janeiro – Move of Brazil’s capital city from _________________ to ________________
2. Pittsburgh – Early function connected to ___________________ , then became
_____________________________________________ center, later shifted to diverse services.
3. New York City – Changes in trade patterns, trade from Great Lakes via
_____________________________________ , worldwide trade and financial center.
4. Mining Towns - ________________ towns - ________________________ depletion.
Influence of Urban Areas
1. Nation Building - _____________________
2. Transportation/Communication
Hubs
3. Magnets for Migration
4. Seed beds for new ___________
5. Universities
6. Corporate _____________________
7. Media centers
Problems
1. Transportation problems
2. Rich and poor neighborhoods exist in different areas isolated from one another
3. Providing essential services
4. Air, water, and noise ________________________
5. Sprawl results in conversion of agricultural land to ________________________
6. Rapid immigration results in _____________________________
7. In developing countries major cities are more connected to regions outside the
country than to regions inside the country