Esanye Ogbe and Michelle Ramsahoye
CHAPTER 9: URBAN GEOGRAPHY
When and why did people start
living in cities?
 People first had to switch from hunting and
gathering to agriculture.
 Components of agricultural surplus and
social stratification had to enable the
formation of cities.
 Urban morphology- the study of the physical
form and structure of urban places
First Urban Revolution
 Mesopotamia- 3500 BCE.
 Nile River Valley- 3200 BCE.
 Indus River Valley- 2200 BCE.
 Huang He and Wei River Valleys- 1500 BCE.
 Mesoamerica- 200 BCE.
Greek vs. Roman Cities
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Greek Cities
Acropolis
Agora
Theatres
Mediterranean region
Main Cities: Sparta,
Athens
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Roman Cities
Extensive transportation
networks
Forum
Mediterranean Region,
interior Europe and
North Africa
Focused on site
Main City: Rome
Second Urban Revolution
 Marked by the Industrial Revolution of Great
Britain
 Improvements in agriculture: seed drill,
hybrid, improved breeding practices for
livestock
 Location of early industrial cities determined
by the proximity of a power source
Where are cities located and
why?
 Trade area: region adjacent to every town
and city within which its influence is
necessary
 Rank-size rule: population of a city will be
inversely proportional to its rank in the
hierarchy
Central Place Theory
 Developed by Walter
Christaller
 Predicts how and
where central places
would be functionally
and spatially
distributed
Central Places Today
 Sunbelt Phenomenon- movement of millions of
Americans from northern and northeastern States to the
South and Southwest
 CPT predicts that existing cities would increase
production of technological goods and thus, increase
economic reach to bypass others
 Reality: Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix became the Central
Cities. Charlotte , Tampa, San Antonio, and Tucson rose
to become secondary. Others participated less and
remained where they were in the hierarchy
How are city models organized
and how do they function?
 Central Business District (CBD)- The concentration of
business and commerce in the city’s downtown.
 Central city- the urban area that is not suburban, the
older city compared to the newer suburbs
 Suburb- outlying, functionally uniform part of an urban
area, and if often (but not always) adjacent to the central
city
 Suburbanization- process by which lands that were
previously outside of the urban environment become
urbanized
Ernest Burgess’s Concentric Zone
 Resulted from study of
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Chicago in the 1920s
Zone 1= CBD
Zone 2= Transition
Zone 3= Independent
workers’ homes
Zone 4=Better
residences
Zone 5= Commuters’
zone
Hector Hoyt Sector Model
 Focused on residential
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patterns based on the
wealthy
Core
Education
High-Rent Residential
Intermediate Residential
Low Rent Residential
Industrial
Transportation
Harris and Ullman’s Multiple
Nuclei Model
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Developed in the 1940s
Recognizes that the CBD is losing its
dominant position as the single
nucleus of the urban area
CBD
Wholesale, light manufacturing
Low-class residential
Middle-class residential
High-class residential
Heavy manufacturing
Outlying business district
Residential Suburb
Industrial suburb
Periphery & Semi Periphery model
 Number of cities in the
world can now be
counted in the
hundreds
 Difficult to model,
classify, or typify urban
centers
 Griffin Ford
 Sub-Saharan African
City
 Southeast Asian City
Griffin-Ford
 Latin American cities blend
traditional elements of
Latin American culture
with forces of globalization
to combine radial sectors
and concentric zones
 Quality of homes drops the
farther away from the CBD
Periferico: similar
conditions as the
disamenity but
characterized by
drug lords
fighting for
dominance.
Disamenity: poorest
part of the city;
disconnected from
regular services of the
city; usually
controlled by gang or
drug lords.
Mall: Highpriced
residences
CBD: primary
business,
employment and
entertainment
focus. Divided into a
market and a highrise sector.
Spine: offices,
shopping, high quality
housing (upper &
middle class),
restaurants, theatres,
and amenities.
Sub-Saharan African City
 The world’s fastest
growing cities
 Consists of three CBDs
 Ringed by satellite
townships called
squatter settlements
The Southeast Asian City
 No CBD
 Elements of CBD
present as separate
clusters surrounding
the old colonial port
zone
 Model of mixed-land
use
How do People Make Cites?
 Individual roles of people, governments,
corporations, developers, financial leaders,
and realtors
 Governments can pass or deny strict laws
that restrict urban development
 Powerful social and cultural preferences
shape the character of particular parts of the
city and influence who lives where
 New transportation enables the expansion of
cities
Suburbanization
 The process by which
lands that were
previously outside of
the urban environment
become urbanized, as
people and business
move to these spaces
from the city.
Suburbanization Cont.
 Transforms large areas of land from rural to
urban uses
 Affects the large number of people who can
afford to live in more expensive suburban
homes
 Creates distinct urban regions complete with
industrial, commercial, and educational
components
Edge Cities
 Often located near key
freeway intersections
 Develop usually around
shopping centers,
office complexes,
hotels, restaurants,
and entertainment
facilities
 Offer workplaces,
shopping, and leisure
activities
Tyson’s Corner Virginia
Cities in the Global Periphery
and Semi-periphery
 Shantytowns-unplanned
developments of crude
dwellings and shelters made
of mostly scrap wood, iron,
and pieces of cardboard
 Zoning Laws-laws that
ensure the use of space in
ways that the society would
deem culturally and
environmentally acceptable
Cities in the Global Core
 Cities can be made by remaking them,
reinventing neighborhoods, or changing layouts
to reflect goals and aesthetics
 Redlining-when financial institutions determine
which neighborhoods are and refuse loans to
those in the districts
 Blockbusting-when realtors solicit the white
residents of a neighborhood to sell their homes
under the guise that the neighborhood is going
downhill because a black person or family has
moved in
More Global Core Vocab…
 Commercialization-process of transforming
the central city into an area attractive to
residents and tourists
 Gentrification-when individuals buy up and
rehabilitate houses, raising the housing value
in the neighborhood and changing the
neighborhood itself
More Global Core Vocab…
 McMansions-new
houses that were made
when owners bought a
new home and tore it
down to build a much
larger home
 Called McMansions
because of their super
size and similar look
Urban Sprawl & New Urbanism
 Urban Sprawl-when urban
areas experience unrestricted
growth of housing,
commercial developments,
and roads over large
expanses of land with little
concern for urban planning
 New Urbanismdevelopment, urban
revitalization, and suburban
reforms that create walk able
neighborhoods with a
diversity of housing and jobs
Urban Sprawl Cities
Gated Communities
 Gated Communities-
fenced-in neighborhoods
with controlled access
gates for people and
automobiles
 Usually have security
cameras and security
forces that patrol the
community with the
objective of creating a
space of safety in an
uncertain urban world.
What Role do Cities Play in
Globalization?
 World Cities-cities that function at the global
scale, beyond the reach of the state borders,
functioning as the service centers of the
world economy.
 Primate City-the largest and most
economically influential city within the state,
with the next largest city in the state being
much smaller and less influential
World Cities
New York City, New York
London, England
World Cities Cont…
Tokyo, Japan
Sydney, Australia
World Cities Cont…
Milan, Italy
Singapore, Indonesia
Spaces of Consumption
 Areas of the city whose main purpose is to
encourage people to consume goods and
services; driven primarily by the global media
industry.
Team Listings for Review Game
(Urban Sprawlers)
 Nya
 Mike
 Marissa
 Kelsey
 Gabe*
(New Urbanizers)
 Scott
 Sierra*
 Greg
 Rimma
 Alex
 *=team leader
 Josh