Urbanization FINALLLLL

the peopling of america

• The “peopling” of North America is debated in academia  

• Conservative theories talk about the humans crossing from Asia across the  

St. Louis- gateway arch  

the founding history

• Giovanni de Verrazzano discovered New York in 1524 but it was not settled until 1625 by the Dutch (Verrazzano Narrows Bridge) 

• The British took over New Amsterdam (New York) in 1664 and renamed it after the Duke of York  

• New York City was the first capitol of the United Stated, and George Washington inauguration in 1789 was held on Wall Street  

• In 1790, Philadelphia replaced NYC as the capitol of America 

• Washingtons Second Inauguration takes place on 1793 Congress Hall, Philidelphia  

 

manhattans planned grid

• Manhattans regular grid layout was designed in the Commissioner's Plan of 1811 

• Avenues run north/south; streets run for west/east  

• The NYC subway opened to the public in 1904 and was an instant success with New Yorkers  

central park

• Created in 1857 and designed by ***Fredrick Law Olmstead***(often referred to as “father of America’s urban parks)  

• Now 843 acres  

• Elizabeth Park (Hartford) was also designed by Olmstead! 

invention that made skyscrapers possible

• 1870s invention of the people elevator  

• Invention of the steel beams stronger and more heat resistant than iron  

• Steel cage construction: a building “cage” is built with steeled beams as the supporting framework  

• For the structure, the walls are hung like curtains on the beams  

• Steel cage construction:  

• Empire State Building was started in March 1930 and finished in 1 year and 45 days  

• Both Chicago and NYC lay claim to be the birthplace of the skyscraper 

• The first skyscrapers in NYC were built in the financial district  

• In the 1920s, 1930s skyscrapers came to midtown NYC  

432 park avenue

Recently finishes, the apartment tower on 432 Park Avenue offers apartments from $7 million to 95 million (penthouse) 

5 boroughs of NYC

1. Manhattan  

2. The Bronx  

3. Brooklyn (highest population) 

4. Queens  

5. Staten Island (lowest population) 

growth

• Between 1870 and 1880 NYC reached its first million (1.2 million by 1880) 

• Brooklyn became a borough of New York City of January 1^st, 1898 

• The 1900 (and thereafter) population number of 3.4 million shows all 5 combined!  

previous famous mayors

• Fiorello LaGuardia 1933 

• Ed Koch 1977, 12 years  

• Rudy Giuliani 1993, 8 years, mayor during 9/11 (“Americas Mayor”) 

• Michael Bloomberg, 2001, 12 years, media billionaire (Bloomberg business news) 

• Briefly candidate for democratic president this year  

• Current president:  

• Bill de Blasio, 2013  

• The mayor the NYC gets a mini white house- Gracie Mansion  

public schools

• Largest public school system in USA 

• Over 1.1 million students in 1700 schools  

• Diverse atmosphere  

museums

• Metropolitan Museum of Art  

• The Thomas crown affair  

• Egyptian Temple  

• Metropolitan Opera 

• Carnegie Hall  

• Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) 

• Edgar Degas  

hernan cortes

was a Spanish conquistador whose expedition led to the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521  

• The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was renamed Mexico City  

• King Charles 1^st – Holy Roman Empire  

francisco pizarro

conquered the Incan Empire in Peru  

• The Incan capital of Cusco fell to the Spanish in 1533 

• In 1535 Pizarro founded the city of lima because Cusco (elevation 11,200 ft) was too far from the sea 

machu pichu

built as an estate for the Incan emperor around 1450 AD 

• Located 50 miles NW of Cuzco, elevation 7875 feet  

• Religious retreat for Incans  

• The Spanish conquistadores did not know about Machu Pichu  

• It was discovered by the American Historian, went to Yale, Hiram Bingham in 1911 (through others claimed knowing the site first) 

 

largest urban areas in latin america

1. São Paulo- 22.99 million 

2. Mexico City – 22.75  

3. Buenos Aires 15.7  

4. Bogota Columbia  

1. Drug business: like mushrooms 

 

5. Lima Peru – 11.5 m 

6. Santiago Chile 7 m 

7. Belo Horizonte, Brazil 6.3 m 

8. Guadalajara Mexico – 5.2 m 

favelas

• informal poor part of town/slum/ shantytowns  

• People just build their own home no permit and not planned by the city  

largest countries by population

1. India- 1.41 billion  

2. China – 1.4 billion  

3. USA – 342 million  

4. Indonesia  

5. Pakistan  

6. Nigeria  

7. Brazil  

8. Bangladesh  

9. Russia  

10. Mexico  

Africa

• Very oil rich country 

• The oil wealth does not reach down to every Nigerian citizen, but it is often concentrated in the hands of a few oils business leaders   

• Very corrupt government  

• Lagos- expected to be the 6^th largest Metropolitan Area in the world by 2050  

• Abuja: federal capital of Nigeria  

• Replaces Lagos as federal capital

modern india

• Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal surrounds India 

• Capital of India: New Delhi  

• The Indus River  

• Around 1938-50, PARTITON occurs: the division of British India into the independent nations of India and Pakistan, which was accompanied by widespread violence and a massive displacement of people. 

mumbai

city, capital of Maharashtra state- southwestern India.  

• It is the country's financial and commercial center and its principal port on the Arabian Sea  

• Along the center of India's cotton textile industry (everything made from cloth), developed a highly diversified manufacturing sector than included an increasingly important technology (IT) component.  

• The citys commerical and financial institutions are strong and vigorous, and Mumbai serves as the country's financial hub

delhi and new delhi

• Consists of 2 components: Old Delhi and New Delhi, since 1947 the capital of India 

• Delhi sits astride the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges River, about 100 miles south of the Himalayas  

hyderbad

• Become a hub of trade and commerce and an international center for information technology (IT) 

• The city has long been associated with the production of “Tollywood”  

• Telugu language spoken in southeastern India 

Ping Yao

Ancient City of Ping Yao (show World Heritage Site Video)
• Ping Yao is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a
traditional Han Chinese city, founded in the 14th century. Its urban
fabric shows the evolution of architectural styles and town
planning in Imperial China over five centuries. Of special interest
are the imposing buildings associated with banking, for which Ping
Yao was the major centre for the whole of China in the 19th and
early 20th centuries.

the color red

In China, red is a symbol of the sun. The Ming emperors required
red porcelain vessels for annual ceremonies at the Altar of the
Sun, one of the four main imperial altars. This particular hue is the
most challenging porcelain glaze color. The imperial potters had
to meticulously control every aspect of glazing, firing, and cooling,
including adding just a tiny amount of copper oxide to the glaze, to
achieve such a sublime red. The impression of a velvety surface
results from millions of unbroken bubbles trapped in the glaze.

HAN China

The colonial powers employed the name China Proper to denote
the “real” China , the China of those who called themselves
people of Han . They do so because the HAN dynasty (206 BCE –
220 CE) is seen as the time when China became the real China,
when the state adopted Confucian principles, culture flourished
as never before , cities burgeoned (present day Xian was the
“Rome of China”), armies conquered distant lands, trading good
moved across the heart of Eurasia via the Silk Road to and from
the Roman Empire and population grew steadily.
• (according to de Blij, REGIONS 15 e)

trends in Asia’s urbanization

Urbanization continues to be a defining megatrend in the Asia-Pacific
region. Fifty-four per cent of the global urban population, more than 2.2
billion people, live in Asia. By 2050, the urban population in Asia is
expected to grow by 50% - an additional 1.2 billion people.
• Cities in Asia and the Pacific are at the global forefront of economic
opportunity and in efforts to secure a more sustainable future. They
face challenges related to environmental degradation, increasing
impacts of natural and man-made disasters, the persistence of slums
and social exclusion, lack of affordable housing and unemployment.
Yet, they are also economic powerhouses, dynamic hubs of innovation
and transformative urban solutions and awarded for their protection
and use of cultural heritage

Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou, city, capital of Guangdong sheng (province), southern
China. Its city centre lies near the head of the Pearl River (Zhu
Jiang) Delta, more than 90 miles (145 km) inland from the South
China Sea. Because of its position at the meeting point of inland
rivers and the sea, it has long been one of China’s main
commercial and trading centres. It has served as a doorway for
foreign influence since the 3rd century ce and was the first
Chinese port to be regularly visited by European traders, who
called it Canton. The city is a historic centre of learning.on.

People of Guangzhou

Guangzhou is one of the most densely inhabited areas in China;
most of its residents live in the central districts of the city. The
local people, called Cantonese, speak the Cantonese language
(Yueyu), which is distinctly different from the Mandarin spoken by
most Chinese. However, with growing numbers of immigrants
from northern and eastern China coming to live and work in the
city, both Cantonese and Mandarin are now popularly used.

chinese language

One of the most distinctive differences between Mandarin and
Cantonese lies in their pronunciation. Mandarin has four tones
(flat, rising, falling then rising, falling), whereas Cantonese has six
or nine tones (depending on the region), which adds complexity to
the spoken language. The variation in tones can drastically change
the meaning of a word or phrase in Cantonese
• source:
Verbalplanet, language learning website

shanghai

Shanghai was one of the first Chinese ports to be opened to
Western trade, and it long dominated the nation’s commerce.
Since the communist victory in 1949, however, it has become an
industrial giant whose products supply China’s growing domestic
demands. The city has also undergone extensive physical changes
with the establishment of industrial suburbs and housing
complexes, the improvement of public works, and the provision of
parks and other recreational facilities.

beijing

Capital of the People’s
Republic of China
• Second largest city in China
after Beijing
• Summer Olympics 2008

The city remained the most flourishing cultural centre in China despite the frequent
political changes in the country throughout the early decades of the 20th century;
Beijing’s importance was fully realized, however, only when the city was chosen as
the capital of the People’s Republic in 1949, and this political status has added
much vitality to it. Indeed, few cities have ever had such rapid growth in population
and geographic area, as well as in industrial and other activities. Combining both
historical relics of an ancient culture and new urban construction, ranging from fast-
food franchises to plush hotels for foreign tourists and corporate travelers, it has
become a showplace of modern China and one of the world’s great cities. Renewed
international attention focused on Beijing after it was chosen to host the 2008
Summer Olympic Games.

the forbidden city in beijing

Forbidden City, imperial palace complex
at the heart of Beijing (Peking), China.
Commissioned in 1406 by the Yongle
emperor of the Ming dynasty, it was first
officially occupied by the court in 1420. It
was so named because access to the
area was barred to most of the subjects
of the realm. Government functionaries
and even the imperial family were
permitted only limited access; the
emperor alone could enter any section at
will.
• ( Nova on u tube )

indus civilization

the earliest known urban culture of the indian subcontinent. The nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500- 1700 BCE. Among the earliest first 3 civilizations. most extensive

Maurya empire

in ancient
India, a state centered at
Pataliputra (later Patna) near the
junction of the Son and Ganges
(Ganga) rivers. It lasted from
about 321 to 185 BCE and was
the first empire to encompass
most of the Indian subcontinent.
The Mauryan empire was an
efficient and highly organized
autocracy with a standing army
and civil service.