Geography - Urban environments

An urban place is characterised by:

• Pop. size

• specific regions such as CBD and residential zones

• predominant economic activities

• an administrative function

Site

land on which a settlement is built

Situation/position

lands relationship with the surrounding area

Desirable factors for agriculture and housing

• readily available water

• freedom from flooding

• level sites to build on

• local timber for construction and fuel

• sunny, sought facing slopes

• proximity to rich soils

• the potential to trade and commerce

How land may be used for

• residential

• industrial

• for services

• open space

• for recreation

• transport routes

Vertical zoning

Same building is used for different things depending on the floors, e.i. shops on first floor —> housing on second

Settlement hierarchies

• tresholds

• range

• high-order goods

• low-order goods

• sphere of influence

Different-order centres distinguishers

• type

• number of functions

• market area

• employment

• population size

Conurbation

When two cities merge together

Metacity

large-scale city where many cities merge

Megalopolis

where cities sprawl and merge together

Generalisations about hierarchy of settlements

• more small settlements than large

• at bottom of the hierarchy small villages provide low-order goods to low amount of people

• small urban areas provide more low- and high-order goods to a larger population from surrounding areas

• at top of the hierarchy large urban areas provide a lot of high - and low-order goods to low amount of people

Important functions in the process of development

• commercially

• industrially

• politically

• socially

• administratively

The deterioration of cities is manifested in:

• high rates of un- and underemployment

• insufficient housing and shelter

• overloaded and over crowded transport systems

• air, water and noise pollution

• deteriorating infrastructure

• growing inequalities between areas in terms of access to infrastructure and services

• inadequate sanitation

• increasing prevalence of social problems, i.e. crime rates, suicide rates, drug and alcohol abuse

• general deterioration in quality of life

Settelments

have greater potential for range and growth if they are located well = not harsh climates i.e too dry, wet, hot, cold

Mission of the Puryaja Corpiration is to provide:

• effective and affective administration

• quality of services to ensure customer satisfaction

• infrastructure and amenities to create an ideal living and working environment

Corporations functions include:

• local government in the Putrajaya area

• promoting, stimulating, facilitating and undertaking commercial infrastructure and residential development in the area

• controlling and coordinating the performance of their activities in the area

Example of a scheme

Putrajaya in Malaysia = a totally new city designed 25 km from the capital. Established in 1995, it is being built according to a series of comprehensive policies and guide lines for land use, transportation systems, utilities, infrastructure, housing, public amenities, information technology, parks and gardens.

Bid rent of land

The value of land varies for different purposes such as commercial, manufacturing and residential

A central place-type hierarchy of retailing

1. low order goods in neighbourhood stores and super markets

2. high order goods in high street shops, department stores

3. out of town superstores and retail parks

Central shopping areas / high streets

department, chain, specialist stores, pedestrianised malls

Shopping parades

clusters of shops : small super market, off-licences, newsagent and other low-good outlets

Superstores

large outlets close to residential areas with 2500> m2 of shopping area, parking and good road access

Retail park

may be formed from hardware, electrical and furniture superstores clustering

Causes for changes in shopping habits

• demographic change = i.e. falling population growth

• sub- and counter urbanisation

• technological change = i.e. increased standards of living

• congestion and inflated land prices in city centres

• increased accessibility to suburban sites

• social changes, i.e. more women work

Renovating retails may include:

• full scale development

• creation of traffic free zones

• large scale redelopment schemes

Characteristics of CBD

• multi-storey development

• concentration of retailing

• public transport

• offices

• functional segregation

• vertical zoning

• few people living there

• traffic restriction are greatest

• the CBD changes over time

CBD (the central business district)

most connected by public transport, heart of the city, location with highest land values

Examples of locations for industrial zones

• inner-city areas close to railways/canals

• brownfield suburban areas close to airports

• sites away from residential locations

Industries in cities include:

• those needing skilled labour i.e. medical instruments

• those needing access to the CBD i.e. fashion accessories and clothes

• those needing the whole urban market for distribution i.e. newspapers

• all have a central location

Why large cities are attractive for industries

• capital cities are often largest manufacture centres of the nation

• largest markets

• port cities have good access to international markets

• major centres of ideas, innovation and fashion

• a variety of labour is available i.e. skilled and unskilled workers

Factors affecting the location of urban residential areas

• physical factors

• land values

• ethnicity

• urban residential planning

Physical factors

HICs, wealthy people live in scenic areas, while in LICs, poor communities occupy risky locations due to lack of options and regulations.

land value

In HIC cities, high land values in inner-city areas lead to low residential density, while suburban areas have lower land values and lower density, with wealthier people living further out and poorer households in inner-city locations close to jobs

Ethnicity

Groups may form neighbourhoods for mutual support and services, but negative segregation can occur when certain groups are excluded from specific areas due to cost or discriminatory practices

Urban residential planning

Aims for a social mix, but wealthier communities may resist affordable housing, leading to segregation by wealth, race, and ethnicity

positive segregation

where populations of given groups concentrate in areas for increasing their access to jobs and other social benefits

negative segregation

where populations become excluded from socio-economic functions

Induces used to measure deprivation

• physical and social indicators i.e. quality of housing and crime

• ecological and political induces i.e. access to employment and oppurtunity to vote

Slums typical location

• what planners don’t want

• steep slopes

• flood plains

• edge of town locations

• industrial zones

Un defines something a slum when the area has up to 3 of these criterions

• durable housing

• sufficient living space

• access to improved water

• access to improves sanitation facilities

• secure tenure

Dual economy

1. formal economy (offices, factories commercial buildings)

2. informal economy (gardeners, maids, taxi drivers)

Division of informal economy

1. bazaar economy

2. street economy

Bazaar economy

consists of small trade and trade astablishments

Street economy

shoe-shiners, beggars, prostitutes

Urbanisation

An increase of habitants within an urban area i.e. rual-to-urban migration

Natural increase

When the birth rate is higher than the death rate in a country or a place

Rural-urban migration

movement of people from rural areas to cities

Push factor

negative features which cause a person to leave a certain place

Pull factor

attractions that exist in another place

Gentrification

reinvestment of capital into inner-city areas

Brownfield sites

abandoned, derelict or underused industrial buildings and land

REurbanisation / urban renewall

revitalisation of urban areas and the movement of people back to them

Centrifugal population movements

• suburbanisation

• counter-urbanisation

• urban sprawl

• urban system growth

suburbanisation

outward expansion of towns and cities thanks to improvements in transport systems

counter-urbanisation

The movement of people from large cities to smaller towns or rural areas due to high costs, congestion, pollution, and a desire for better community and environment

Urban sprawl

Uncontrolled growth at city edges, but greenbelts can limit this expansion

Urban system growth

As urban areas grow, inadequate infrastructure like clean water, sanitation, and transport can lead to health risks and hinder economic development

Deindustrialisation

Long term absolute decline in employment in the manufacturing sectors of an economy

Causes for deindustrialisation

• exhaustion of resources

• increasing cost of minerals

• automation and new technology

• the introduction of rival product

• fall in demand

• overseas competitions from NIC’s

• rationalisation

• a rise in costs

• the removal of subsidy

• lack of capital

Positive deindustrialisation

When industries reduce workforce to increase productivity trough mechanisation and rationalisation

Negative deindustrialisation

When particular industries decline without any compensating rise in productivity or mechanisation

Urban microclimates

The local atmospheric conditions within urban areas that differ from the surrounding areas, often with a slight but sometimes substantial difference in temperature

Resultant processes from urban microclimates

• Radiation and sunshine (higher absorption of long light waves by CO2, reduces visibility)

• Clouds and fog (thick clouds in summer fog in winter, day temp. +0.6 from average

• Temperatures (+1.5 warmer in winter nights, heat “islands”, heating from below, contrasts between sunny and shaded areas

• Pressure and winds (severe gusting and turbulence around tall buildings causes high pressure gradients, “canyon effect”

• Precipitation (more intense storms especially during hot summer evenings, higher thunder, less snow fall

Urban heat island

An urbanised area usually 2-4 degrees warmer than surrounding rural areas

In urban heat islands:

• Wind speeds are lower

• Urban pollution

• Buildings have low albedo and high heat capacity

Heat island effect

Maximum heats in city centre, otherwise depending on amounts of open spaces, industries, rivers/canals, etc.

Causes for heat island effect

• Heat produced by human activity

• Changes of energy balance

• The effect of air flow

• Reduced number of open bodies of water

• The composition of the atmosphere

• The reduction of thermal energy required for evaporation and evapotransmition

• reduction of heat diffusion

Air pollution patterns

LICS have higher population demand thus needing more vehicles or other air polluting devices whilst the opposite goes for HICS

Reducing air pollution from transport emissions

• burning less fossil fuels and using energy more efficiently

• using public transport instead of private cars

• car pooling scheme

• cycling or walking more

• using catalytic conventors to reduce emissions of NOx

• increasing enforcement of emissions standards

Urban tree and green spaces

Help reduce effects of the urban heat island, reduce noise levels and clean the air

Managing urban crime

• More police patrol

• Greater use of CCTV

• Improved street lighting

• Buildings designed to reduce dark/poorly lit areas

• Greater availability of taxi services around the closing times of bars and clubs

• More women-only taxis

• Adopting zero crime policies (like NYC)

Urban crime

Mostly in industrialised, poor and working class neighbourhoods

Influences on a crime hot spot

• Lack of a police station

• Lack of health centres, schools and recreational locations

• High level of residential land use

• Percentage of a high number of offenders

• Site features: easy to access and low security

Traffic congestion patterns

More prevalent on weekdays, start of the school year, festivals, and national holidays, with morning and evening peaks

Depletion of urban green spaces

Often have little economic value and are not favored by developers

Compensatory afforestation projects do not necessarily decrease air or noise pollution

Contested land

Due to events e.g. Rio de Janeiro Olympics, anti-capitalist protests, potential development projects that may displace people living in slums