Chapter 13

Key Issue #1
Urbanization
Process by which the population of cities grows
Has 2 dimensions:
Increase in the number of people living in cities
Increase in the percentage of people living in cities
Urbanization cont.
Increasing percentage of people living in cities
Measures a countrys level of development
Why is there a higher percentage of people living in
cities in MDCs than in LDCs?
Increased migration from the countryside to work in the
cities
Did not need as many farm workers
Rising employment opportunities in cities
As percentage in cities grew, percentage in rural areas
decreased
Urbanization cont.
MDCs are fully urbanized- Why?
How is urbanization changing in LDCs? Why?

Urbanization cont.
Increasing number of people living in cities
MDCs have higher number of city dwellers, but LDCs
have more large urban developments
See fig. 13-1 on page 440
Rapid growth of cities in LDCs is not a measure of
improved level of development
What is fueling the migration to cities in LDCs?
Defining Urban Settlements
Why is defining where urban settlements begin and
end difficult?
Have determined ways to define rural and urban
settlements
Defining Urban Settlements cont.
Social Differences b/t Urban and Rural Settlements
Louis Wirth-a city has 3 characteristics:
Large size
Only know a small number of residents
Meet most of them in specific roles
Social relationships different than in rural settlements
High Density
Specialization
Encourages people to compete for survival in limited space
Social Heterogeneity
Larger the settlement, the more diverse the population
More accepting of different behavior in urban areas
People may feel isolated b/c of this

Defining Urban Settlements cont.
May still apply in LDCs
Social distinctions b/t urban and rural settlements are blurred
According to Wirths definition, most people in a developed
society is urban
Universal ownership of technology has also reduced the
differences between rural and urban settlements
Because of this, had to develop new criteria to distinguish
rural and urban settlements
Defining Urban Settlements cont.
Physical definitions of Urban Settlements
This was easy b/c most cities were surrounded by walls
Most have been removed, blurring the differences in
traditional physical barriers b/t rural and urban
settlements
Urban settlements defined in 3 ways:
Legal defintion
Urbanized area
Central city and surrounding built-up suburbs
Why is working with urbanized areas difficult?

Defining Urban Settlements cont.
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Why do we need to determine this?
U.S. Census Bureau created the MSA which includes:
Urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000
County within which the city is located
Adjacent counties with a high population density and large
percentage of residents working in the central citys county
Why is the MSA not a perfect tool for measuring the
functional area of a city?
US Census Bureau also designated micropolitan statistical
areas
Urbanized area of 10,000-50,000 people
County in which it is found
Adjacent counties tied to the city

Defining Urban Settlements cont.
Overlapping Metropolitan Areas
County b/t two central cities that send commuters to both
areas
So close together that they formed one continuous urban
complex
Ex. Megalopolis or Boswash corridor
What are some other megapolis areas in the US?
Key Issue #2
Three Models of Urban Structure
Used to help explain where different types of people
tend to live in urban areas
Concentric, sector and nuclei models
All developed in Chicago
Why Chicago?
Later applied to other cities within the US
Three Models of Urban Structure cont.
Concentric Zone Model
E.W. Burgess (1923)
City grows outward from a central area in a series of
concentric rings
Precise size and width of rings vary, but basic types of
rings appear in all cities in the same orders
http://www.crimetheory.com/Images/icons/chicago/ZMODEL.gif
Three Models of Urban Structure cont.
Sector Model
Homer Hoyt (1939)
City develops in sectors, not rings
Why are some areas more attractive?
As cities grow, they do so outward in a wedge from the
center
According to this theory, where is the best housing
located?
Where are industrial and retail locations developed?
Why?
http://www.qkschool2.org.uk/keys/geography/settle19.gif
Three Models of Urban Structure cont.
Sector model a refinement of concentric zone model
How?
Both claimed Chicago supported their models
Multiple Nuclei Model
C.D. Harris and E.L. Ullman (1945)
Cities are complex structures which has more than one
center around which activities revolve
Some activities are attracted to certain nodes while
others try to avoid them
Incompatible land-use activities avoid locating in the
same area
http://www.qkschool2.org.uk/keys/geography/settle20.gif
Three Models of Urban Structure cont.
Geographic Application of the Models
Effective use of the models depends on the availability
of data
Census tracts
Social Area Analysis
What are the pros and cons of social area analysis?
See http://www.answers.com/topic/social-area-analysis?cat=technology


Using the graph above
select the most correct
statement.
The 1930s had significant
expansion outward, with a
decrease in the CBD.
The 1990s saw
Cleveland's density at 4
miles with 10-14.9 persons
per square mile.
The 1900s saw the
density at below 5 persons
per square mile 6 miles
from the CBD.
Cleveland's density during
the 1960s changed from 5-
9.9 persons per square mile
30 years ago, to 10-14.9
persons per square mile at
6 miles from the CBD.
All of the above are correct.
Select the most correct statement regarding the above illustration of suburban
development patterns in the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the United Kingdom, new housing is more likely to be concentrated in new
towns or planned extensions of existing small towns.
There is discontinuous growth in the United States.
The United States has more sprawl than the United Kingdom.
A and c are correct.
All of the above are correct.
Use of the Models Outside North America
Social groups in other countries may not have the
same reasons for selecting a particular neighborhood
European Cities
Wealthier people cluster along sector extending from
the CBD
A lot of Europeans still live in the inner rings of the
city
Why are they attracted to this central location?
Do not have big yards, so have to go to parks to enjoy
open space
How do some Europeans meet their desire for large
tracts of land?
Use of the Models Outside North America cont.
European social segregation is vertical- Explain.
Why are poorer people less likely to live in the inner
city? What are their living areas like?
European officials have encouraged high density
suburbs to help preserve the countryside
The result: segregation of poor away from the wealthier
citizens and tourists
What are the implications of this policy of social
segregation?
Use of the Models Outside North America cont.
Less Developed Countries
Poor are located in the suburbs while rich are
concentrated in the cities
Result of European colonialism
Precolonial cities
Few cities existed; most people lived in rural settlements
Cities often surrounded a religious core, w/wealthy
citizens living closest
How were commercial activities arranged?
The Aztecs
Use of the Models Outside North America cont.
Colonial cities
Cities were expanded as Europeans gained control of
Africa, Asia and Latin America
Some were destroyed and rebuilt, others were built
alongside the old city
Fes, Morocco and New Delhi, India
Saigon, Vietnam (now Ho Minh City)
How were European cities different from the existing
cities?
All followed a standardized plan
Use of the Models Outside North America cont.
Cities since independence
Became major areas of change-Why?
Ernest Griffin and Larry Ford (see fig. 13-15)
Rio de Janiero
Physical geography influences the distribution of social
classes-How?
Squatter settlements
LDCs can not house all their poor
Cities growing due to migration from rural settlements
in search of jobs
Housing shortage causes people to live in squatter
settlements
Use of the Models Outside North America cont.
Have few services b/c people cannot afford them
Many squatters have 2 choices to improve their housing
conditions:
Move illegally into a vacant home closer to the citys center
Rent slum housing legally from a landlord
Key Issue #3
Inner City Physical Problems
Process of Deterioration
Filtering
Occurs when rent collected is less than maintenance
costs
Landlords will not keep up with the property b/c it costs more
than it they are profiting from it
What are some of the results of filtering?
Redlining
When banks refuse to lend money to people in certain
areas
Illegal practice, difficult to enforce
The Community Reinvestment Act
Inner City Physical Problems cont.
Urban Renewal
When cities identify areas w/substandard inner city
housing, get the property from the owner and clear the
site for development or turned over to public agencies
Public Housing
How is public housing different in the US than in Europe?
High rise housing now deemed unsafe
Scattered-site housing
In the US govt has stopped funding pubic housing which has
resulted in a decrease in the number of available units
Council estates in Britain also declining-Why?
Why has urban renewal been criticized?
Inner City Physical Problems cont.
Renovated Housing
Alternative to demolition
Gentrification-What is the attraction?
Expensive
How do cities reduce the hardship of the poor forced to
move?
Inner City Social Problems
Underclass
Lack of job skills
Homeless
Culture of Poverty
Trapped in a cycle of poverty
Crime
Ethnic and racial segregation
Can help explain voting patterns
Inner City Economic Problems
Require services but do not generate enough funds to
support it
How can a city close the gap b/t costs of services and
available funding from taxes?
Problems have been alleviated by additional funding
from federal government

Inner City Economic Problems cont.
Annexation
Why was annexation attractive in the 19
th
century?
What is todays view on annexation?
As a result, cities are surrounded by suburbs that prefer
to stay separate from the large city

Key Issue #4
Why has suburban population grown? What makes it
so attractive?
The Peripheral Model
Chauncey Harris
Urban industrial area surrounded by suburban
residential and business area
Tied together by a beltway or ring road
Rise of edge cities
Emergence of specialized nodes
The Peripheral Model cont.
Density Gradient
As distance from the city increases, number of houses
decreases
Changes in density gradient
Number of people living in the center has decreased
Less density difference in urban areas
Decrease in central residential areas only to increase in the
periphery
How is it affected in Europe?
The Peripheral Model cont.
Cost of Suburban Sprawl
Suburban Development Process
As long as demand for homes remains high, land must
be converted for use as residential area
Why is this current system inefficient?
European urban areas are more restrictive with land use
Surrounded by greenbelts
Restrictions have driven up the price of houses
The Peripheral Model cont.
Suburban Segregation
2 ways:
Separated from commercial and manufacturing
activities
Usually built for people of a single social class that
excludes others b/c of cost, location or size of the
housing
Describe the homogeneous suburb.
Zoning ordinances encouraged spatial separation of
land
What are the criticisms of US suburbs?
Contribution of Transportation to Suburbanization
Suburban sprawl makes people dependent on
transportation
Most trips are for business
As advances in transportation increased, the further
away they were able to live
Motor Vehicles
Ownership is universal with some exceptions-What
are they?
How did the government help motor vehicle use grow?
An important user of land in cities
How will technological improvements help traffic
flow?
Contribution of Transportation to
Suburbanization cont.
Public Transportation
Rush-Hour Commuting
Role of public transportation
Rapid transit lines
Fixed heavy rail or fixed light rail
Service vs. cost
Fares usually do not cover operating costs so poor still
may not reach places of employment
What is the cycle that follows?
Contribution of Transportation to
Suburbanization cont.
Public transit in other countries
Experiencing a construction boom in public transportation

Local Government Fragmentation
Makes it difficult to solve regional problems explain
Metropolitan government
Most US cities have metropolitan areas
Council of government
Two types:
Federations
consolidations