The capitalist city

1. The capitalist city • Underlying changes occurring during the Renaissance and baroque periods • Socioeconomic transformation reshaped Western Europe • Drastic changes in class structure, economic systems, political allegiances, cultural patterns, and human geographies • Changes occurred from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century • Introduction of commercialized and specialized agriculture • Enclosure of individual land units

2. The capitalist city • Perhaps of greatest significance is how capitalist mind set introduced notion of urban land as a source of income • Proximity to city, center and most pedestrian traffic added economic value to land • Areas close to river or harbor or along major thoroughfares in and out of city also increased in land value • Fundamental change in value led to gradual disintegration of medieval urban pattern

3. The capitalist city • The city center consisted of buildings devoted to business enterprises • A downtown defined by economic activity emerged • With industrialization would eventually expands and subdivide into specialized districts • A new upper class emerged • Status based on accumulation of economic wealth • Made money buying and selling urban land • Used urban land as a basis for expressing their wealth • Sought newer land on edge of city for their residential enclaves

4. The capitalist city • One of finest wealthy class enclaves was London’s Covent Garden Piazza • Designed by Inigo Jones in the early 1630s • Square was lined with townhouses edged in arcades • Presence of nobility lent an aristocratic aura to the area • Economic success of this enclave led to many imitations • These upper-class squares were transplanted to America throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

6. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Up to the Industrial Revolution, urbanization rates in Western countries were low • In 1600, urban dwellers made up only 2 percent in Germany, France, and England • At the same time 13 percent of the Netherlands and Italy were urban

7. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • As millions of people migrated to cities urbanization rates skyrocketed in the last 200 years • By 1800 England was 20 percent urban, and became the first urban society around 1870 • By the 1890 census 60 percent of England’s people lived in cities

8. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • As millions of people migrated to cities urbanization rates skyrocketed in the last 200 years • By 1800 England was 20 percent urban, and became the first urban society around 1870 • By the 1890 census 60 percent of England’s people lived in cities • The United States was 3 percent urban in 1800 • In 1900 it was 40 percent • In 1920 it became an urban country with 51 percent • Today, about 75 percent of the population lives in towns and cities

9. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Class • Laissez-faire industrialism did little for the working classes • There was distribution of such utilities as gas and water • No living improvements beyond that of the seventeenth century were made • In slum dwelling, direct sunlight was seldom available • Open spaces were nonexistent

11. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Class • In Liverpool, England, one-sixth of the people lived in “underground cellars” • In Manchester, England, only one toilet for every 212 people was available • Running water was usually available only on the ground floor • Disease was pervasive, and mortality rates ran high • In 1893 life expectancy of a male worker was 28 years, his country cousin might live until age 52 • In 1880, the death rate in New York City was 26 per thousand, in rural areas it was half that • Infant mortality rate rose from 189 in 1850 to 240 in 1870 • Legislation correcting such ills came in the latter part of the century

12. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Class • American industrial cities relied on a diverse labor force • Many in the labor force came from Europe • After the Civil War, many former slaves migrated north to find jobs • In the South, former slaves moved into the industrializing cities • In both South and North, African-Americans lived in segregated neighborhoods • Forced by discrimination and often by law to keep their distance from white neighborhoods • For the most part services to these neighborhoods were minimal

13. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Race • Some results of a recent study of black Richmond, Virginia, after the Civil War • Residents used public rituals in streets and buildings to carve their own civic representations, as well as challenge dominant white order • Black militias marched through streets on holidays certified by the black community as their own political calendar

14. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Race • Some results of a recent study of black Richmond, Virginia, after the Civil War • January 1, George Washington’s birthday, April 3 emancipation day, and July 4 • Whites did not take kindly to this as they watched blacks occupy Capital Square, formerly reserved for white citizens • Churches, schools, and beauty shops served as community centers and public statements of an African-American identity

15. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Gender • Industrialization led to creation of separate spheres • Feminine sphere centered on the home and domestic duties • Male spheres dominated the public spaces and duties • Also created the need for mass consumption to keep factories running profitably • With men as producers, the duties of consumption fell to the women

16. Class, race, and gender in the industrial city • Gender • Location logic of the urban land market meant retailers were located in the central parts of the city • Established what some have referred to as a feminized downtown • Retailers created spaces considered appropriately “feminine” • Interior spaces were well-arranged and orderly • Exterior architectural design was heavily ornamented, and streets were paved and well-lit • Today, many of these places have been replaced by shopping malls

18. Megalopolis • Movement away from the central city quickened in the last decades of the nineteenth century • Since World War II, new forms of transportation and communication have led to the decentralization of many urban functions • One metropolitan area blends into another, until supercities are created that stretch for hundreds of miles • Supercity of “Boswash” on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States that stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C. • Geographer Jean Gottmann coined the term megalopolis to describe it • The term is now used worldwide to describe giant metropolitan regions

19. Megalopolis • Characteristics of Megalopolis • High population density covering hundreds of square miles • Concentrations of numerous older cities • Transportation links — freeways, railroads, air routes, and rapid transit • Very high proportion of the nation’s wealth, commerce, and political power

20. Megalopolis • Common problems found in megalopolis • Congestion and overcrowding • High land prices • Financial insolvency and deteriorating inner cores • Poor and disenfranchised population in contrast to the affluent in the suburbs • Air and water pollution • Political fragmentation caused by the many smaller towns and counties

21. Megalopolis • Common problems found in megalopolis • Congestion and overcrowding • High land prices • Financial insolvency and deteriorating inner cores • Poor and disenfranchised population in contrast to the affluent in the suburbs • Air and water pollution • Political fragmentation caused by the many smaller towns and counties • Problems are difficult to solve because they are regionwide even crossing state borders

22. Edge cities • Many so-called sleeping suburbs of the post-World War II era have been transformed into urban centers with their own retail, financial, and entertainment districts • Most Americans now live, work, play, worship, and study in this type of settlement • Suburbs do not offer all the services or work places found in the edge city • The commuter who used to live in a suburb and work in the inner city has been replaced by the commuter who lives and works in an edge city

24. Edge cities • Many scholars are wary of calling these new nodes cities because they do not resemble our nineteenth century version of a city • Edge cities contain all the functions of old downtowns, but are spread out and less dense • Interstate highways and truck transportation made it possible for industries to locate outside the downtown • Computer and communication technologies have allowed companies to move their headquarters away from downtowns

25. Edge cities • Edge cities present problems for today’s planners • Traffic congestion and planning for mass transit • Environmental concerns as spreading urban areas consume more land • Is it possible to provide mass transit in a system with no center?

26. The urban landscapes of the developing world • Most of the world’s population lives in the developing world • Here we see the greatest potential for dramatic change in urban patterns • High natural population growth • Enormous rates of migration from rural to urban

27. The urban landscapes of the developing world • Recent city growth has been staggering • In 1950 they had only 4 of the 15 largest cities in the world • Latest census shows they have approximately half of the largest 20 cities • With this growth has come serious economic, political, and social problems • It is difficult to generalize about cities of the developing world

28. The indigenous city • Developed without contact with Western colonial influences • Many evolved long before there were cities in northern Europe • Precolonial indigenous cities in the New World are restricted to Mexico, Central America, and the Andean highlands • Cities in Africa • Cities associated with the Yoruba civilization in present-day Nigeria • Along the Nile River Valley • Band of Islamic empires in the north, and small cities in eastern highlands

29. The indigenous city • Asia has the largest number of precolonial indigenous cities — from the Middle East, across present-day Pakistan and India, to China and Japan • Basic form of many cities is derived from the cosmomagical • Many cities in Mexico, Central America, China, Japan, Egypt, and India were laid out according to religious principles

30. Indigenous City: Jerusalem, Israel

31. Indigenous City: Jerusalem, Israel • Old, walled Jerusalem had Arab, Armenian, Christian, and Greek Quarters. In this Arab Quarter, passageways are narrow with stepped slopes. In earlier times streets could be gated shut. • Few openings and high windows ensure privacy in this Muslim area. Note the pipes and wires of the modern era superimposed on the ancient walls.

32. The indigenous city • Beijing kept its basic cosmomagical landscape until the early twentieth century • Deviations from the strict pattern arose to accommodate everyday functions of business and culture • Small alleyways and houses were built in irregular patterns not in accord with sacred principles • Until the abdication of the last emperor in 1912, the city was generally maintained as the celestial capital • In 1959, the Socialist government chose to build its symbolic center, Tiananmen Square, on the site of the sacred axis mundi of Imperial Beijing

33. The indigenous city • Indigenous cities of the Islamic world • In the city center is the primary mosque, representing the religious core • Near the mosque is the bazaar, or market place • Homes of the elite, government or municipal buildings surround the core • Moving from the core, areas of decreasing wealth and social status are found • The city is further divided in occupational districts much like that of the medieval city — decreasing in prestige nearer the city edge

34. The indigenous city • Indigenous cities of the Islamic world • Ethnic groups dominate certain areas or formalized “quarters” • Cities commonly reserved one quarter for Jews, another for Christians • Have a very irregular Street plan, with narrow, winding streets • Uneven building pattern, and few open spaces • Residences are usually humble, in keeping with religious dictates

35. The indigenous city • Indigenous cities of the Islamic world • Housing arrangements often structured around segregation of the sexes • Dictated by religion • Two sectors organized around separate courtyards • Female half more private, therefore at rear of house • More public male half near entrance • When men are gone, whole house become women’s domain

37. The colonial city • Administrative, commercial, and often military outpost for an external power • Many established to economically or militarily subdue local people • When built near indigenous cities, Europeans would either weld their city onto the existing settlement or, in a few extreme cases, build a whole new city • Seen as guardians of the home • Considered more moral and spiritual than men • Imperative women should move to colonies to civilize and bring order to “backward” lands • In South Africa, for example, women could fill their patriotic and feminine duties • Bring visual evidence of women enlightening those who needed it

38. Colonial City: Salvador, Brazil

39. Colonial City: Salvador, Brazil • Salvador, established by the Portuguese in 1549 to deter French and Dutch encroachment, was Brazil’s capital until 1763. The city grew as a center of sugar production, trade, and religion. Eventually, the original core, with its narrow, winding streets and slave market on the acropolis became linked with port functions on the shore below.

40. Colonial City: Salvador, Brazil • European architectural styles here date from the 17th through the 20th century. At the left of the Ciudad Alta is the Palacio Rio Branco, now housing tourism offices. At the right of the Ciudad Baixa is one of Salvador’s dozens of Roman Catholic churches.

41. The colonial city • Overseas emigration would provide an alternative source of scarce work opportunities for women • Between 1862 and 1914, more than 20,000 women emigrated to British colonies • Presence of women in the colonies was fraught with difficulties • It was thought women needed protection from physical danger • Dangers were considered more threatening than those in London because they were “foreign” • Specific spaces were set up to keep them from direct contact with foreign danger • Lived in the newly built colonial cities • Hill stations — fairly small residential compounds in the hills of India

42. The colonial city • Separating women from native peoples did not work • They could not civilize from a distance • Indian servants often lived within or close to British • Indian soldiers were stationed nearby • Women performed missionary and benevolent work in the Indian city • Indian servants, cooks, and gardeners were present in hill stations • Housing designed in an open fashion to let in cool breezes; also allowed native people to view private parts of the house

43. The colonial city • Separating women from native peoples did not work • They could not civilize from a distance • Indian servants often lived within or close to British • Indian soldiers were stationed nearby • Women performed missionary and benevolent work in the Indian city • Indian servants, cooks, and gardeners were present in hill stations • Housing designed in an open fashion to let in cool breezes; also allowed native people to view private parts of the house

45. The emerging city • With the end of colonialism and movement toward political and economic independence, developing countries entered a period of rapid change • Cities have often been a focal point of this change • Millions have migrated to cities in search of a better life • Economic activities have often changed their orientation from external to local markets • Cities have been centers of political and social unrest

46. The emerging city • Because the emerging city model is a fluid one, results cannot be predicted accurately • Some think cities in developing countries will undergo the same changes found in industrializing cities of the nineteenth century

47. The emerging city • William Hance has written on the differences between today's emerging cities and those of the past • Often 25 percent of the urban labor force is without work • In the 1800s, people could migrate to the New World to find land and jobs • Emerging cities have weaker ties with their hinterlands than did European cities • Local rural areas excluded from development that could offer employment • It will be difficult to develop rural employment as long as economic activities continue to cluster around cities

48. Emerging City Homeless:Bombay, India

49. Emerging City Homeless:Bombay, India • This woman is one of Bombay’s homeless millions. About 75% of Bombay’s almost 13 million residents live in one-room tenements, 15% in squatter shacks, and 2% in the streets. • Family abandonment for a variety of reasons such as failure to pay a

50. Emerging City Homeless:Bombay, India a promised dowry, death of a husband, or divorce, forces many women into a life of prostitution or begging to survive. • Most of Bombay’s homeless are migrants from the countryside and many are low caste and scheduled caste (untouchable).