Global Urban Midterm

human geogrpahy

using spatial approaches and methods to describe and explain the world around us in terms of human activities and relationships

medieval cities

walled settlements

todays cities

varied, sprawling, fragmented and connected, no longer compact

Sakia Sassen

sees cities as nodes of economic power and interconnectedness

sassen’s 7 traits of a city

diverse economic functions, outsourcing, global engagement, business headquarters can locate anywhere, city to city transactions, increased inequality, services

karl marx

cities are a site of production rather than community, soviet urbanism (communalism)

Georg Simmel

living in a city transforms the mind and people put themselves and their protection over personal relationships, more individuality

global sense of place (massey)

different people are placed in different positions of power due to their access and flows from circuits of global capital

urbanization v urbanism

urbanization is a process and urbanism is the urban way of living

are all cities the same?

no they are all global but the people and their positions of power make cities different

colonialism

the political control of one government or territory over another, changing old forms with new ones

post-colonialism

colonial influences still exist through soft or hard forms, the center and periphery still exist but within the country, colonial legacies engender inequality on multiple scales

neoliberalism

proposes human well being can be advanced with free market policies, strong private property rights, little government oversight, but results in increasing wealth gaps

modernity

the era of human history characterized by scientific thought, individualism, technical development, and a rejection of traditional values

modernity as a double edged sword and ex

modernity is exciting technologically and comes with joy, power, and growth but also threatens what we know. ex. new machinery but also horrible labor conditions

modernism

the attempt by modern men and women to make sense of the world around them, privileges logic and rationality over superstition and belief

Sigmund Freud

said the city was uncanny, meaning its exciting and glamorous but there’s something off about it

what city was sigmund freud

vienna

what city is the quintessential modern city and why

vienna, site of world trade, center of european rails, place of new art forms, and a place for people to experiment

metropolis film and who made it

Lang, showing the dazzle of the city above but the robotic-ness and anxiety of the employees that worked “under” the city

how is the metropolis film a modernist portrayal of a city

shows all the potential and what can go wrong at the same time (modernity as a double edged sword)

what led to the rise of cities

development of nation states and increased state power in europe, and then trade and capital exchange

what did the chicago school of urban sociology want to study

spatial patterns (why things are where they are) and social patterns (what characterizes urban life)

biggest issue with the chicago school urban sociology

their book The City wanted to use chicago as the model to study all cities and all human behavior

the city as a modern institution

the city is an ecological and economic unit

concentric zone theory

the economic construction of a city is based on the division of labor

critiques of the concentric zone theory (5)

treats human behavior as natural instead of as a result of policy, ignores questions of power/inequality, social darwinist (the rich live), describes doesnt analyze, naturalizes segregation

urban ecology

cities function like biological organisms with groups within the city depending on each other (ex. immigrants)t

the city as a social institution and author

massey, the city fosters art and is art, the city creates theater and is theater, the city makes opportunities for collective action

louis wirth

similar to simmel, urban way of life is not confined to boundaries but is described by changing ethos, impersonal, blase, life organized around traffic signal, increased anxiety

why did cities spread out

sprawling city as a result of white anxiety and keeping women in homes, but also because of increased individual cars and highway building

why did cities spread up

the creation of skycrapers and elevators

robert moses

an unelected urban planner who created a bunch of highways, making the city less accessible to people without personal vehicles

how did skyscrapers fuel white anxiety

physical placement of people above, only certain people can access, cant see race at the top of a skyscraper

jane jacobs

urban planner who emphasized walking and sidewalks as a way to experience the city

jane jacobs and the eyes of the city

used streets are the safest places because all the people on the street will step in if something happens

critiques of jane jacobs

perspective is privileged, makes assumptions about human nature, implies surveillance is necessary

adrienne brown

the black skycraper, in urban areas youre forced to see diversity because of city density, fueled rise of suburbs

protest and the city

protest is a way of experiencing and engaging the city even if its unsuccessful (ex. stonewall), protests make the city and are a way of reclaiming power

the public/private divide

public space is masculine, political, working, and the private space is feminine, leisure and rest, cultural, space becomes gendered

gendered production

production for money v production for love, ties into public/private divide

kern

cities are made by and for men, women, especially mothers face accessibility issues and opportunities (ex. bus routes and space)

are cities liberatory for women

women are able to break through gender norms in the city but cities are still seen as dangerous for women

gender mainstreaming

incorporating gender equality in urban planning, be careful of surface level pink policies

power geometries

who moves, why, how, is it voluntary, people have different mobilities due to their cities and circumstances

cities and globalization

all cities are affected by globalization but are also impacted differently by it

time space compression

due to globalization, cities can communicate, move, and trade goods and information with essentially no bounds, speeding up and spreading out

geography of social relations

places are not defined by boundaries but by the social relations created in and around a certain area

different ways to experience a city and their importance

firsthand (walking through it) or secondhand (through media), and how we experience cities shape our perspective about cities

decerteau

walking is the foundation of the city but that comes from urban planning so can we really move on our own or can we move as a result of urban planning

segregation

when two or more groups occupy different spaces in the same area

de jure v de facto segregation

de jure is created by laws and policies and de facto is a result of voluntary individual choices

how can segregation be good

it can make people feel safer, positive forms of community and social networks

racialization of space and spacialization of race

The lived experience of race has a spatial dimension, and the lived experience of space has a racial dimension (ex. black men in starbucks v ethnic enclaves)

consequences of segregation

racial wealth disparities, ej issues, voter suppression, unequal health outcomes

urban marginality

the idea that slum dwellers and other urban poor are not integrated with the city or its political life

strutural barriers that keep people marginalized

loss of employment, tightening of the middle class, higher educational standards for job entry, increase in drug-related violence, prejudice and discrimination against favela residents

ethnic enclave

a geographic area where a particular ethnic group is spatially clustered and socially and economically distinct from the majority group (ex. chinatown)

how do ethnic enclaves form

they are the result of specific laws and policies, not natural

the ghetto

a distinct and extreme form of of racial residential segregation, better understood as a means of ethno-racial enclosure and social control (majority can control and exclude the minority)

Wacquant’s elements of the ghetto

stigma, constraint, territorial confinement, institutional encasement

urban boosterism

promotion of a city conducted by private and public sectors for economic gain and civic pride ex. olympics

problems with urban boosterism

city spends money on spectacle and not structural reforms, the money doesnt go to the people

colonialism and rio

cities in south america are shaped by colonial legacies and are colonial economies

how do colonial powers shape their colonies

around a natural resource, creating a bi-directional relationship between center and periphery, colonies rely on colonial tech and industry, putting them in debt

structural adjustment programs

economic policies attached to loans from the world bank or imf

indigineity and the city

colonialism has led to the marginalization of indigenous people, leaving them without equal ability or resources to promote their priorities within a city

Dorries

indigineity and the city are antithetical, one cannot exist with the other, this doesnt acknowledge the role indigenous people had in shaping cities

cities as a colonial product

all cities are on stolen land, indigenous dispossession

indigenous urbanism

how indigenous communities engage with cities to challenge white supremacy, often using protest to voice their opinions, using indigenous as an urban way of life and not an identity

mays reading

relationship between colonialism and slavery, different power structures but they can show solidarity, importance of art and reclaiming indigenous space in cities

urban marginality and urban informality relation

people in the margins often migrate to cities without jobs and end up living in informal settlements, resulting in social marginalization

The Block and Pemulway project

key aboriginal community, 1970s they had aboriginal owned housing but it ran down in the 90s. the pemulway project is hopes to redevelop and revive the town

potential problems with the pemulway project

dressed up gentrification, will aboriginals be able to live there, who is this redevelopment for, were aboriginals consulted

politics

who gets what, where, when, and how

formal v informal politcs

top down, government mandated v bottom up, grassroots everyday contestation for urban space

socialism

a political and economic theory that argues for the public ownership of the means of production and collective resources

cuban urbanism

building up urban and rural space, increase social services, nationalize construction, state seizure of all properties

goals of cuban urbanism

community development and justify socialism

how does urbanism promote socialism

all people have equal rights and opportunities, community resource shared equitably

cubas dual currency system and its issues

employees in tourist industries made more money than professional workers, widened wealth gap and a brain drain occurred, tourism now a necessary evil

us-cuba relations

american occupancy, revolution and fidel castro takes over, relying on ussr so us cuts ties and places embargo, fidel steps down and us slowly opens trade again

what shapes a city’s ability to govern

colonial legacies, the political and economic system, if its a strong or weak state

andrusz main idea

urban landscapes reflect the present political ideologies and political priorities

competing ideologies in russia

moscow was traditional slavophiles and st petersburgs was for westerners

issues in housing in moscow

density, design, individual or collective, rental or ownership, competing ideoologies

capitalism

a type of class society in which a small class of people own the means to produce or employ laborers to produce, privileges private ownership and market exchange, profit comes from surplus value, inequality is a structural feature

surplus value

the amount you can sell a product for minus the amount you pay the worker to produce it

use v exchange v value

use value is the function, exchange value is what you can sell it for, value is how much it cost to produce in terms of labor time

housing under capitalism

requires floating labor to maintain economic growth, where to house unemployed, shifts where the workers are to different places

friedrich engels

capitalism creates class struggle between bourgeoisie and proletariat, capitlaism is the root cause of housing inequality

soviet urbanism

educating citizens through the city, centralized planning, promoting international communist cause and successes, urbanization synonymous with constructing communism, urbanization needed to create working class

goals for soviet urbanism

equally distribute goods and services, minimize travel distance to work, provide public transportation

key structures of soviet housing

mikrorayan (microdistrict, everything you needed was here) and kommunalka (communal living)

example of how housing reflects ideologies

valuing the collective like in soviet urbanism created communal living spaces, valuing production created homes close to factories

why does lagos have trouble with infrastructure

massive population, weak state, foreign reliance, inequality

infrastructure

the underlying structure of services and amenities needed to facilitate productive activities, things we take for granted and only see when they fail

politics of infrastructure

formal top down and informal bottom up

simone reading and examples

people are waiting for infrastructure, equality, mobility, religious freedom, sahelians to hajj and muslim youth in france

where is the african city

a place of waiting, exploitation, and possibility