urban studies

Urban Restructuring

The transformation of cities' economic, social, and spatial organization due to shifts in production, employment, and investment patterns.

Economic Base

The foundation of a city's economy (basic industries and non-basic industries)

Old Donut:

Decline in urban core with growth in suburbs

New Donut

Reinvestment in urban cores while inner-ring suburbs decline

Fordism

Mass production, standardized products, stable employment, strong unions (early-mid 1900s)

Post-Fordism

Flexible production, specialized products, contingent work, globalized economy (1970s onward)

Horizontal Integration

Company expands within same production level (multiple factories making similar products)

Vertical integration

Company controls multiple stages of production (raw materials → manufacturing → distribution)

Urban Crisis

Period of economic decline and social problems in cities

Global City

Cities that serve as key nodes in global economic networks.

Globalization

Increasing interconnectedness of economies globally for benefit like trade and information

Friedmann's 7 Theses

Framework explaining world city hierarchy based on role in global capitalism,

Advanced Producer Services

High-level business services that serve corporations globally. (finance, law, accounting, consulting, and advertising)

Command and Control Functions

Decision-making power over global economic activities, concentrated in global cities.

Employment Sectors

Primary (extraction), secondary (manufacturing), tertiary (services), quaternary (information/knowledge).

Citadels and Ghettos

Spatial polarization in global cities between wealthy enclaves and impoverished neighborhoods.

International Division of Labor

Geographic distribution of different stages of production across countries based on costs, skills, and resources.

Social Polarization

Growing inequality between high-wage workers and low-wage workers.

FIRE Employment

Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sectors—key components of global city economies.

Common Municipal Revenue Sources

Property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, user fees, grants, bonds.

Common Municipal Expenditures

Education, public safety, infrastructure, social services, administration.

Decentralization-Growth Thesis

Argument that smaller, decentralized governments promote economic growth through competition

Dillon's Rule

Cities only have powers explicitly granted by state

Home Rule

Cities have constitutional authority to govern local affairs

Government

Formal institutions and officials

Governance

Broader processes including private actors, NGOs, and informal arrangements

Elitism

Political power concentrated among economic and social elites who dominate decision-making.

Pluralism

Power distributed among competing interest groups; policy emerges from negotiation and compromise.

Growth Machine Politics

Coalition of business interests and politicians promoting urban growth to increase land values and economic activity.

Entrepreneurialism

Cities compete for investment through incentives and marketing

Managerialism

Cities provide services to existing residents

Neoliberal Urban Governance

Market-oriented policies emphasizing privatization, reduced social spending, and business-friendly approaches.

Corporate Incentives

Tax breaks, subsidies, and other benefits offered to attract or retain businesses.

Public vs Private Service Provision

Debate over if government or private companies should deliver urban services.

Place-Based Urban Policies

Programs targeting specific geographic areas

Broken Windows Policing

Strategy focusing on minor offenses to prevent more serious crime

Stop-and-Frisk

practice of stopping, questioning, and searching individuals (criticized for racial profiling).

Urban Amenities

Features making cities attractive.

Eds and Meds

Universities (education) and hospitals (medicine) as economic anchors in post-industrial cities.

Business Improvement Districts (BID)

Self-taxing areas where property owners fund additional services

Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

Using future property tax increases from development to finance current infrastructure improvements.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

Collaboration between government and private sector to finance, build, or operate public projects.

Elements of Gentrification

Reinvestment in disinvested neighborhoods, influx of higher income residents, rising property values, changing commercial landscape, demographic shifts.

Displacement

Forcing out of existing residents due to rising costs, demolition, or changing neighborhood character.

Direct displacement

Eviction, rent increases, condo conversion

Indirect displacement

Commercial changes, cultural displacement, exclusionary displacement (unable to move in)

Ways of Studying Displacement

Census data analysis, surveys, interviews, case studies, tracking moves of low-income households.

Significance of Gentrification

Raises questions about equity and racial and class dynamics in cities.

Urban Heat Islands

Cities significantly warmer than the surrounding areas due to natural climate

Surface Run-off

Water flowing over land instead of absorbing into ground

Impervious Surface

: Materials preventing water infiltration (concrete, asphalt), contributing to flooding

Urban Sprawl

Low-density, automobile-dependent spreading cities.

Garden City

Planning concept of self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts (Ebenezer Howard).

Circular Economies

Economic systems minimizing waste by recycling materials.

Adaptation

Adjusting to respond to environmental changes.

Resilience

Capacity to absorb disturbances and maintain function.

Waste-Water Management

Collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage and stormwater.

Chicago as Global City

command center for Midwest, strong FIRE sector, advanced producer services, transportation hub, social polarization is evident.

Brooklyn Gentrification

Transformation from working-class neighborhoods to expensive areas; displacement of long-term residents, and POC.

NYC Waste Processing

Complex system exporting waste to other states/countries; environmental justice worries about facilities near POC neighborhoods

Urban Crisis to New Governance

urban crisis created fiscal stress, prompting a shift from managerialism to entrepreneurialism. Cities adopted neoliberal approaches like corporate incentives, privatization, BIDs, TIFs, PPPs.

Environment and Urban Governance

Environmental challenges require coordinated governance like managing sprawl, circular economy initiatives, and addressing heat islands through urban forestry.

Urbanization Patterns to Gentrification

Historical suburbanization created disinvested urban cores. Recent demographic shifts drive reinvestment, like the demand for urban amenities, leading to gentrification.

International Division of Labor to US Cities

Deindustrialization moved manufacturing overseas, hurting industrial cities. Some evolved into global cities; others struggled. The global cities made high-wage and low-wage jobs

Old & New Donut

Old donut caused by white flight and deindustrialization.

New donut driven by demographic changes, preference for walkability and amenities. Consequences are gentrification and suburban poverty.

Globalization to Global Cities to Polarization

Globalization concentrates command functions in global cities. These cities attract high wage professionals and demand for low-wage service workers, (income polarization)

Global Cities to Governance Changes

Competition among global cities drives entrepreneurial governance. Cities invest to attract global capital and talent. Rise of PPPs, BIDs, and market-oriented development strategies.

Environmental Justice Framework

Pros: Addresses environmental burdens on marginalized communities, connects environment to social justice, empowers communities.

Cons: focus on distribution over root causes, may not address underlying economic structures.