Studied by 7 people
Ecumene
a variety of community types within a range of population densities
Settlement
place with a permanent human population
Urbanization
process of developing towns and cities
Rural
areas (farms and villages with ) low concentrations of people
Urban
areas (cities) with high concentrations of people
Suburbs
residential areas near cities
Factors driving urbanization
presence of an agricultural surplus, the rise of social stratification and a leadership class or urban elite, and the beginning of job specialization
Percent Urban
an indicator of the proportion of the population that lives in cities and towns as compared to those that live in rural areas
Site
describes the characteristics at the immediate location
Situation
refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and its connectivity to other places
City-state
an urban center (the city) and its surrounding territory and agricultural villages
Urban Hearth (Historical Examples)
the Tigris-Euphrates Valley (Mesopotamia) in modern Iraq
the Nile River Valley and Nile Delta in modern Egypt
the Indus River Valley in modern Pakistan
the Huang-He floodplain in modern China
Urban Area
a central city plus land developed for commercial, industrial, or residential purposes, and includes the surrounding suburbs
City
a higher-density area with territory inside officially recognized political borders
Metropolitan Area (metro area)
a collection of adjacent cities economically connected, across which population density is high and continuos
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
consists of a city of at least 50,000 people, the county in which it is located, and adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration, or connection, with the urban core
Micropolitan Statistical Area
cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants (but less than 50,000), the county in which they are located, and surrounding counties with a high degree of integration
Nodal Region
focal point in a matrix of connections
Morphology
physical characteristics, such as the buildings, streets, public places, and homes that can describe an urban area
Population characteristics of cities (3)
High social heterogeneity, mass amount of immigration, and very diverse
Time-space compression
the shrinking “time-distance“, or relative distance, between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication
Borchert’s Transportation Model (chart)
Sail-Wagon Epoch - 1790-1830, water ports became very important, poor road conditions made long-distance travel between cities difficult
Iron Horse Epoch - 1830-1870, steam engines powered boats, which promoted the growth of river cities, regional rail networks connected cities, rail lines connected resources and industrial sites
Steel Rail Epoch - 1870-1920, transcontinental railways emerged, cities emerged along rail lines in the interior of continents
Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch - 1920-1970, cars allowed cities to spread out, airport hubs emerged, cities became far more interconnected
Pedestrian Cities
cities shaped by the distances people could walk
Streetcar Suburbs
communities that grew up along rail lines, emerged, often creating a pinwheel shaped city
Communications impacts on cities
changes in communication technology have dramatic impacts on the growth and development of cities. Historically, cities connected to trade routes received information first. However, as telecommunication technology developed with the telegraph, telephone, cell phones, and the Internet--early adopting cities benefitted
Population and migration impacts on cities
Rural-to-urban migration is an important concept to understand the growth of cities. Population growth pressure, cultural tension, environmental strain, and lack of economic opportunities create push factors in agricultural communities
Economic development and
government policies impacts on cities
cities are viewed as engines of growth for a country’s economy. Consequently, economic and political leaders, at the national and local scale, develop policies to guide and encourage the growth of cities
Transportation impacts on cities
Changes in transportation infrastructure within cities has also had important effects on the urban structure
Suburbanization
involves the process of people moving, usually from cities, to residential areas on the outskirts of cities
Causes of Suburbanization
Several causes contributed to the growing suburbanization after WW2 such as economic expansion, greater purchasing power for many families, the growth of a car-centered lifestyle, and the government’s construction of a vast system of new highways that allowed workers to commute from their city jobs to suburban houses
Boombergs
rapidly growing communities (over 10 percent per 10 years), have a total population of over 100,000 people, and are not the largest city in the metro area
Edge Cities
nodes of economic activity that have developed in the periphery of large cities
Counterurbanization (deurbanization)
the counter-flow of urban residents leaving cities
Exurbs
the prosperous residential districts beyond the suburbs
Megacities
have a population of more than 10 million people
Metacities
continuous urban area with a population greater than 20 million, attributes of a network of urban areas that have grown together to form a larger interconnected urban system
Megalopolis
a chain of connected cities
Conurbation
an uninterrupted urban area made of towns, suburbs, and cities
Trend of urbanization in the developing world
Megacities were once found at only the centers of large empires or the most powerful countries. However, that pattern has changed. In the past century, megacities have become more common in LDC’s because of high birth rates and increased rural-to-urban migration
World Cities (global cities)
cities such as New York, London, Tokyo, and Paris that exert influence far beyond their national boundaries
Urban Hierarchy
ranking, based on influence or population size
Top 10 World Cities 2020
London, England
New York City, USA
Tokyo, Japan
Paris, France
Singapore
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Seoul, South Korea
Hong Kong
Shanghai, China
Nodal Cities
command centers on a regional and occasionally national level
Urban Systems
an interdependent set of cities that interact on the regional, national, and global scale
Rank-size rule
describes one way in which the sizes of cities within a region may develop. It states that the nth largest city in any region will be 1/n the size of the largest city
High-order services
usually expensive, need a large number of people to support, and are only occasionally utilized
Low-order services
usually less expensive than higher-order services, require a small population to support, and are used on a daily or weekly basis
Primate Cities
if the largest city in an urban system is more than twice as large as the next largest city
Gravity Model
states that larger and closer places will have more interactions than places that are smaller and farther from each other
Central Place Theory (CPT)
explains the distribution of cities of different sizes across a region
Central Place
a location where people go to receive goods and services
Market Area
zone that contains people who will purchase goods or services, surrounds each central place
Hinterlands
in which people living in the corners would be farther from the central place in which there would be overlapping areas of service
Threshold
the size of population necessary for any particular service to exist and remain profitable
Range
the distance people will travel to obtain specific goods or services
Limitations of CPT
it assumes a flat, featureless plain and does not take into account the effects of natural landscapes of rivers, mountains, or other barriers. Nor does it consider the influence of transportation systems and how the availability of those types of transportation can expand the market area
Expected changes in US cities
in the future, self-driving cars and other new technology could reduce the friction of distance. If so, edge cities and exurbs will likely expand. Immigration will likely continue, making the population more diverse. Voluntary segregation will likely continue, and the number of ethnic neighborhoods will flourish
Exp. changes in Asia and Africa
The megacities of the LDC’s will likely get larger, the economic, social, and educational opportunities these cities offer will continue to pull in migration from rural areas. However, if growth exceeds carrying capacity, the standard of living will deteriorate. The high dense concentration of people will likely increase the impacts of deadly epidemics, natural disasters, environmental changes, immense pollution, criminal networks, terrorist activity, and civil unrest. Without dramatic economic and political changes, access to water and inhaling of pollution will likely worsen.
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