Unit 6 - Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes

Site factors

Include climate, availability of water, soil quality.

Situation factors

The connections between one site and another.

Urban sprawl

Unrestricted growth in urban area of housing, commercial development, and roads over large areas of land.

Suburbanization

Movement of upper & middle class people from urban areas to surrounding city outskirts.

Boomburbs

Rapidly growing suburban cities that represent a new metropolitan form.

Exurbs

Prosperous residential districts beyond the suburbs.

Edge cities

Economic center on the fringe of a city with an extensive amount of office and retail space.

World City (Global city)

A city with influence within its region as well as all around the world.

Primate city

Lead city in a country in terms of size and influence, where all resources are centered in one place.

Rank size rule

Statistical relationship between largest city and next largest city based on population.

Gravity model

Predicts the degree of interaction (ESPn) and probability of mobility between two places.

Christaller's central place theory

Explains the distribution of goods and services across a region.

Threshold

Size of population necessary for services to exist and be profitable.

Range

Distance people will travel for services or goods.

Megacities

Cities with 10+ million residents.

Sprawling urban areas

Urban areas with 20+ million residents.

Locational advantages

Important factors for the earliest cities included productive agricultural land and defensible sites.

Economic development

One of the factors that can drive urbanization and suburbanization.

Government policies

One of the factors that can drive urbanization and suburbanization.

Population growth

One of the factors that can drive urbanization and suburbanization.

Migration

One of the factors that can drive urbanization and suburbanization.

Communication

One of the factors that can drive urbanization and suburbanization.

Transportation

One of the factors that can drive urbanization and suburbanization.

Interactions between edge cities and cities

Reflect in the availability of goods and services, and whether they are high/low range & threshold.

Closer to CBD

means higher land cost

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

looks at relationship between socio-economic status of household and distance from CBD

Hoyt sector model

claims cities develop in wedge sectors instead of rings

Harris and Ullman multiple nuclei model

there are multiple CBDs in a city

Galactic city model (aka Peripheral model)

shows services along intersections of main transportation routes coming from CBD

Multiple nuclei model applicability

tends to be most applicable to newer faster growing cities

Density and Land Use

Look for patterns regarding high, medium, and low density of cities as you get closer and farther from CBD

Infrastructure

the basic structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society

Examples of infrastructure

Roads, Public transportation, Educational systems, Electric grids, Hospital, Sewage systems

Urban Sustainability Solutions

Greenbelt, Smart growth policies, New urbanism

Pros of urban design initiatives

Ease of accessibility to services and jobs, Increase sense in community, Less travel time, Decrease energy use, Increase real estate value, Preserving conservation of parks, Curbing urban sprawl

Cons of urban design initiatives

High housing costs, Decreased diversity, Strain on infrastructure, Placelessness

Quantitative data

data that can be counted, measured and expressed with numbers

Examples of quantitative data

survey data, census

Qualitative data

data that is descriptive and conceptual

Census tract

the area unit that best approximates a city neighborhood in size in the U.S. and Canada

Blockbusting

one ethnic group is convinced to sell their houses at a low price once they hear another ethnic group is moving into the neighborhood

Redlining

banks refusing loans to certain groups to purchase homes in certain areas

White flight

movement of white residents out of city in response to black residents moving in

Gentrification

the rebuilding of lower income neighborhoods into middle & upper middle class neighborhoods

Pros of gentrification

Property value increase, Investment opportunities, Architectural enhancement

Cons of gentrification

Tenants cannot afford new higher rents, Displacement of groups of people

Squatter settlements

a residential area that has developed without legal claims to the land

Causes of squatter settlements

rapid urbanization, demand for affordable housing, failure to enforce land use policies

Locations of squatter settlements

Edges of cities, Vacant and undesirable land

Negative effects of squatter settlements

Increased crime rates, Pollution, Soil erosion from homemade houses

Challenges to urban sustainability

Suburban sprawl, Traffic, Sanitation, Climate change, Pollution, ecological footprint, Energy use

Responses to urban sustainability challenges

Regional planning efforts, Farmland protection policies, Urban growth boundaries

Brownfields

a site that has been abandoned and has some level of environmental contamination