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This chapter explores urban patterns and settlements, including the growth of megacities worldwide, the different models of urban structure, the concept of CBD, and the differences between U.S. and European cities. It also discusses the unique characteristics of Latin American and African cities, as well as the challenges of inner-city problems, urbanization in foreign countries, and the concept of primate cities.
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An Introduction to Human Geography The Cultural Landscape, 9e James M. Rubenstein Chapter 13 Urban Patterns Geog 1050 Victoria Alapo, Instructor
Urban Settlements • Urbanization Worldwide • Increasing urban percentage & populations • Megacities: cities of 10 million or more people (World Bank) • City-States: a city that is also a country. E.g. Singapore, Vatican City, and many old kingdoms of the world.
Urban Settlements • Urbanization in U.S. • United States: Define Megalopolis (see next slide). The Boston–Washington corridor contains about one-quarter (25%) of U.S. population on 2% of U.S. land area!
Most Concentrated Area for U.S. Cities: Megalopolis The Boston–Washington corridor contains about one-quarter of U.S. population – on 2% of U.S. land area! This area is called Megalopolis.
Large Cities Cities with 2 million or more people. Many qualifying cities are NOT shown.
Note that of the 50 largest cities in the world, 5 of them are in Africa.
Urban Structure • 4 models of urban structure (Mostly North American) • Concentric zone model • Sector model • Multiple nuclei model • Peripheral model • Define & describe CBD: Central Business District i.e. downtown. Unique characteristics.
Concentric Zone Model In the concentric zone model, a city grows in a series of rings surrounding the CBD.
Sector Model In the sector model, a city grows in a series of wedges or corridors extending out from the CBD.
Multiple Nuclei Model The multiple nuclei model views a city as a collection of individual centers, around which different people and activities cluster.
Peripheral Model of Urban Areas The central city is surrounded by a ring road, around which are suburban areas and edge cities, shopping malls, office parks, industrial areas, and service complexes.
Differences Between U.S. and European Cities Top professionals in Glasgow, Scotland, are more likely to live near the center of the city, in contrast to most U.S. cities, where the wealthy mostly live in suburbs.
Suburban Development in the U.S. and U.K. New housing in the U.K. is likely to be in planned new towns (in a compact manner). I also noticed this while flying over Canada. On the other hand, growth in the U.S. occurs in discontinuous developments. See photo and caption on pg 455.
Latin American City Model In many Latin American cities, the wealthy live in the inner city and in a sector extending along a commercial spine, while the poor live on the outskirts of the city (or “suburbs”). The Latin American model is in direct contrast to the U.S., where the poor tend to live close to downtown, and the wealthy live in the suburbs.
There were many Pre-Colonial Cities in Africa, many of which STILL do exist as the modern cities of today. This photo shows the ruins of the Great Zimbabwe, which existed prior to the colonial period. Some pre-colonial cities that still exist today include Ibadan, Kano, etc (Nigeria); Timbuktu (Mali); Kumasi (Ghana), and so on.
The “Dual City” Phenomenon • Most African cities tend to be “dual cities”. This is mainly as a result of the presence of a traditional city center and colonial/modern (Western) city center in existence within the same city. • So, most large cities in Africa tend to have “two downtowns” – the Traditional and Modern. • This phenomenon was first recognized by Professor Mabogunje (1968), at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Fès (Fez), Morocco This pre-colonial old city in North Africa has narrow winding streets and dense population. The French laid out a new district to the west with a geometric street pattern (thus showing a “dual city” pattern).
The following few slides contain photographs of some of today’s African cities (unfortunately usually not seen in popular media). This photo shows a section of Nairobi, Kenya.
Top: Windhoek, Namibia Bottom: Nairobi, Kenya
Asian: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam In Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the French demolished the previous city and replaced it with a colonial design with boulevards and public squares.
Inner Cities • Inner-city problems: • Deterioration of property due to “white flight”. For definition of white flight, please see pg 228 of text. • Culture of poverty • Underclass; homeless, see pg 449. • Urban renewal programs and public housing have solved some problems, but not all. Gentrification is when wealthy & middle class people move back into downtown. Any examples in Omaha?
Problems of Urbanization • Problems in foreign countries • Primate Cities: a large city 2ce as large as the next largest city, usually with a large proportion of the national city population, e.g. Mexico City, Lagos (Nigeria), Bangkok (Thailand), Paris (France), London (England), etc. • Cities usually become ‘primate’ (large) because too much attention is given to that particular city at the expense of others. Therefore it grows at the expense of other towns, and ends up drawing more immigrants from the countryside who are looking for work. This then leads to problems shown on next slide, especially in developing countries.
The problems of urbanization include urban primacy, housing, sanitation, traffic, unemployment, inadequate services, etc. Problems in this city (Lagos) are similar to those you will find in South America or Asia. See video.
Public Transport in Brussels In your textbook, this figure of Brussels (Belgium) illustrates the integration of heavy rail and light rail in public transport, which might reduce the need for driving individual cars. New York City is trying to work in that direction too.
Problems of Suburbs (and Some Solutions) • Local government fragmentation • Numerous small independent local governments e.g. Elkhorn (before annexation), are a problem for U.S. urban planning. No-one wants to plan in a coordinated fashion (unless they’re annexed). • Solutions: • To ease this burden on planning, many cities in the U.S. are consolidating into one large Metropolitanarea, e.g. Lexington & Louisville, in Kentucky both have “metro areas” consisting of numerous former small towns that are no longer independent. • Smart Growth: legislation to limit suburban sprawl and to preserve farmland.
