Chpater 4: Urbanization in the United States

Lefebvre’s explanation for urban patterns

when a connection is made between the production of settlement space and the current political economy in society

evolutionary theory of development (V. Gordon Childe)

assumes that the latest form of urban space is superior to earlier forms

mercantilism

the colonization of underdeveloped areas that were resource-rich through the state’s own military adn naval power

privatization

the civic culture that eschews social interests in favor of the private pursuit of individual goals

Kremlin/casbah

fortress

growth network

speculators, developers, polititcans, military protection, and state authorities

boosterism

involving a growth network composed of varied individuals who are like-minded developers of land

competitive capitalism

consisted of single individuals sought to build up businesses and build citites simultaneously, and overall corporations, often located in different cities or states, gobbling up smaller local companies

tenements

buildings that were created during the industrial period specifically for rental use and to squeeze together as many families as possible

monopoly capitalism

refers to how trade,commoditites, and businesses were controlled by a select few giant corporations

contributions to regional growth

greater spatial, functional, and demographic differentiation of the system of citites, and the process of suburbanization

spatial differentiation

refers to the division and segregation of different areas within the central city based on their economic, social, and physical characteristics

functional differentiation

refers to the specialization of different areas within the central city for specific economic activities or functions

demographic changes

changes in the diversity of a population

horizontal integration

manufacturing, command-and-control, and distribution functions split up in the firm and separated into various locations

vertical integration

businesses existed in locations with most of their functions in one place

monopoly

one firm

oligopoly

a select few firms

system of cities

an interlinked complex of functionally differentiated activities located within urban spaces

balanced urbanization

a select group of large cities with populations ranging from several hundred thousand to over 7 million

neoliberalism

a reduced scale of union support or government aid to accomodate service-based economies