Group in urban areas-roles &

Structure
• The term is a political
designation
City
• Refers to a municipal
entity that is governed
by some kind of
administrative
organization
• In Europe the largest
cities (especially capitals)
are often
• the foci of the state
• microcosms of their national
cultures
Urban Structure
Isotropic surface
• A hypothetical uniform
plane representing a
City & its Use Zones
• Accessibility of a
location is a function of
its utility, which
decreases steadily with Figure 11.1 Accessibility, bid-rent, and urbanstructure
distance from the city
center.
Bid-rents - Different users are
• Utility decreases from prepared to pay different
center but at different amounts for locations at various
rates for different land distances from the City center.
users. Trade-off model
• Urban dwellers trade-off
between accessibility & living
space
 North American CityStructure
• Central business district
(CBD) – traditional city development based on
urban center with administrative functions
including government, banking, law, education,
& retail functions.
• Zone in transition – as city space evolves &
changes, previous zones of industrial use fall
into decay, may develop into new business
with different land use; mixture of growth, Figure 11.2 Chicago's
“Globalized” Financial CBD
change & decline.

Historic 3rd Street

Central Business
District
Santa Monica, CA
1950’s to 2012
Urban groups and their structure
• Congregation provides a means of cultural preservation. Allows
religious & cultural practices to be maintained & strengthens group identity
through daily involvement in routines & ways of life.
• Minority groups are population subgroups that are perceived as different
from the general population. Defining characteristics of minority groups can
be based on race, language, religion, nationality, caste, sexual orientation, or
lifestyle.
• Segregation – The combined result of congregation & discrimination, the
spatial separation of specific subgroups within a wider population.
• Enclaves are tendencies toward congregation & discrimination are long-
standing but dominated by internal cohesion.
• Ghettos long-standing products of discrimination than congregation.
• Colonies – result from shorter lasting congregation, discrimination or both.
Persistence depends on continuing arrival of new minority-group members.
Racial Segregation
• Segregation –
The combined
result of
congregation &
discrimination, the
spatial separation
of specific
subgroups within
a wider
Detroit Washington, D.C.
population.
• Development of
American Cities
reflect historical
trend of racial
segregation.

New York Long Beach Figure 11.a,b,c,d

Spatial Organization
Figure 11.7
Polycentric new metropolis
Non-concentric reality of American
Urban & suburban growth
Both multiple-nuclei & polycentric
Metropolitan urban regions merge into
“megalopolis” Gottman’s 1961
Conceptualization of the urbanized region
from Boston – New York – Baltimore –
Washington, DC & it’s role in industrial,
trade/shipping, financial, &
government activities.
Edge City –
Tysons Corner, Virginia**
Urban development with new
Business, commercial, retail, &
Upscale residential areas
Outside of more established cities.
Business Parks are ex. of outlying
Centers of economic innovation.
Also planned developments such as Irvine, CA
 Spatial Organization

Figure 11.8 Metroburban landscapes – merging of Figure 11.9 Gentrification in Philadelphia – Elite
urban centers with edge cities of residences, retail economic class enjoys revitalization of older core
centers, & business parks. Commute times are residences near the CBD & Downtown ofAmerican
extended but over time the regions merge into cities. Controversial for displacing lower income
interconnected metro-urban areas. Example is San residents & neighborhoods.
Diego from Mexico border north east and north
west is all developed commercially & residentially &
connected via freeway networks to Orange County
and to Los Angeles.
Smart Growth versus Sprawl
Pasadena was founded in 1900, part
of original Los Angeles landscape at
turn-of-century; not the same as
contemporary sprawl, not really a
good comparison, nation’s 1st freeway
led from downtown LA over pass LA
River into town against Mts. Pasadena
used to be connected to Pacific Ocean
via the Red Cars – trolley system
removed when automobiles became
popular.

Figure 11.E Transformation of California farmland to

suburban sprawl – Water comes from Colorado River
Water & from Water Table via municipal wells. Figure 11.F Smart growth in Pasadena
European Cities • City planning based on
• Features • Centuries of History
– Low skylines – Zoning • Beaux Arts style
– Lively downtowns • Modern movement
– Neighborhood stability
– Based on historic Nationalism
– Municipal socialism

Figure 11.12 Vigevano, Italy

• A country’s largest city Primate Cities
• Always disproportionately
larger than the second
largest urban center -- more
than twice the size
• Especially expressive of the
national culture
• Usually (but not always) the
capital
• Examples: Paris,
• London, Athens
 Modern Urban Structure
City of Brasilia,
Brazil, capital
based on “La
Ville Radieuse”
designed by Le
Corbusier,
famous early 20th
century architect
& visionary.
Criticized for dis-
affecting
landscape,
presaged
modern Cities.

Figure 11.16 La Ville Radieuse – Le Corbusier was a

Swiss-born architect who imagined the city of the “future”
criticized but also prophetic, take a look at his work: His
buildings are to the right:
Chandigar, India - Le Corbusier’s Hand
https://www.google.com/search?q=la+ville+radieuse+le+corbusier&hl=en Monument: The city of Chandigarh was the first
&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lrpuUcy2D8jRyAGD64Fw&ved planned city in India post independence in 1947
=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=758
Islamic Cities globally
• Basic principles
• Personal privacy and
virtue
• Communal well-being
• Inner essence of things Figure 11.18 Mosque in Pakistan

• Jami (principal
mosque)
• Kasbah (citadel)

“Religious architecture of Islam”

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/java
/travel-tips-and-articles/76171
Seville, Spain (1167) - Almohad Mosque
Islamic Cities in Arid Regions

Figure 11.20 Housing in Tunisia

Interior public spaces

addresses hot arid climates.
Figure 11.19 A suq, a covered bazaar, in Iran
Landscapes of Wealth - Dubai, United Arab
Emirates

Figure 11.H Luxury development, Palm Jumeirah

Figure 11.G Dubai cityscape

• Over-building, speculation
without basis for profit
contributed to real estate crisis in
UAE during global economic
crisis of 2009.
• Large numbers of transnational
migrant workers from Turkey &
other middle Eastern nations
contributed to economy &
Figure 11 Dubai real estate bust – do the buildings
remind you of Las Vegas?
construction.
 Cities of the Periphery
• “Unintended” metropolises
• Meaning no planning for
• Low Income Population
• Underemployment
• Dualism
• The informal economy
• Slums = Unaddressed Poverty
• Transport & infrastructure
problems Figure 11.23 Dualism in Rio de
Janeiro:
• Environmental degradation
Upper middle class & wealthier
“official” residents of the City vs.
unofficial residents of the Favelas
 Cities of the Periphery

Figure 11.25 Informal economic activities in Bangkok, Figure 11.26 Self-help as a solution to housing problems in Zambia
Thailand

Figure 11.22 Recent explosive growth in Lagos, Nigeria due to

oil economy & Rural to Urban Migration.
Figure 11.24 Garbage picking in Bangkok, Thailand for Survival
 Cities of the Periphery

Philippines – Garbage is the business of very poor groups,

Shantytown fire in Philippines, people living in containers.

Figure 11.27 Infrastructure problems in Columbia,

S. America

Figure 11.28 Water-supply problems in India

 Future Geographies

Megacities – Population
outstrips
Major Issues:
• Slum housing, environmental
degradation, & lack of infrastructure
for sewage treatment, unsafe water
supplies or none at all.
• Disease & health risks, especially to
children, lack of education &
healthcare. Sao Paulo, Brazil

• Economic competition for space & accessibility along with tendency toward
social & ethnic discrimination, congregation, & segregation are apparent in
World Cities.