AP HUG Unit 6

self study

What is Unit 6 all about?

Urbanization, the effects of urbanization & its infrastructure & its sustainability, world cities & globalization, urban models (7 of them), how population density affects land use policies, how to keep cities sustainable, smart growth policies, how qualitative and quantitative data is used for urban policies, gentrification, and challenges to urban change

Site

Physical geographical location on Earth - absolute location

Situation

The way urban areas are connected to other urban areas - relative location

Urbanization

All the various factors that cause cities to grow and function

What does situation determine for cities?

Situation determines a cities function

Urbanization influences

Transportation technology
Communication technology
Population growth and migration
Economic development
Government policies

What transportation technology advancements could influence urbanization?

The street car

Later on, it is the automobile

What does the automobile create as a result of its invention?

The automobile creates suburbs as a result of its invention

What communication technology could influence urbanization?

The telegraph and telephone

What government policies could influence urbanization?

Zoning restrictions, which determine what areas are allowed to do

Urbanization rate

The percentage of a country’s population that lived within the bounds of urban areas

Sprawl

Geographic expansion of an urban area with little to no planning

Suburbanization

Resettlement of urban residents to the outskirts of cities

Edge city

A new land use form that creates a semi-independent community. This land use form is found at the edges of cities with downtown areas, housing, etc

What is unique about edge cities?

They are uniquely American and self-sustaining

Exurb

A new land use form found outside the suburbs with more abundant land

Who typically lives on exurb land?

They are typically lived on by wealthier people

Boomburg

A new land use form that is a suburb that has experienced rapid growth (100,000+ residents) and becomes a city in itself

Megacities

Urban area that contain a regional population of over ten million

What is considered a region for cities?

The metropolitan area (city + suburbs)

Metacities

Urban areas with a regional population of 20+ million

Why are Metacities important?

They are important because they have great influence

World cities

They tend to be the headquarters of multinational corporations, stock exchanges, etc

What do world cities act as?

They act as nodes for political, cultural, and economic diffusion around the world

Examples of world cities

New York
London
Paris

Shanghai

How do world cities drive globalization

World cities drive globalization through efficient transportation, communication systems, and cultural innovations

Urban hierarchy

ranking of various cities - the most powerful and influential hold top spots, which the least powerful and influential are near the bottom

Rank

Size rule - explains the distribution of a country’s cities based on proportional population

The largest city acts as the baseline, where the rest are ranked according to it

Why does Rank only work in developed countries

they have highly distributed wealth, decentralized economies, and interconnected urban systems

They have decentralized urban hierarchies, meaning goods, services, and economic opportunities are spread across multiple regional hubs rather than concentrated in a single city

What does the size rule act as?

It acts as more of a suggestion rather than as a fact because urban growth is based off of political, cultural, and economic reasons, not purely from a mathematical point of view

Primate city rule

In developing countries in the periphery and semi-periphery, where primate cities exist, there will be very few other large/medium cities

Where does the primate city rule apply?

It can apply to a developed country, but les often

Gravity model

It explains the pattern of interaction between two cities

closer = more interaction
Size = larger = strong connection

How can the gravity model explain how two large businesses far apart from each other have a stronger connection with each other than two local places?

Two large businesses can have a stronger connection because they are much bigger than local organizations, which creates a strong connection

Christaller’s central place theory

It explains the size and spatial arrangement of cities, towns, and other settlements in an area

Central place

A settlement with the purpose of giving people goods and services

Threshold

The number of people needed to support a good/service

Range

Distance people are willing to travel to spend money on a good/servicec

Low-order goods and services

They have low range and threshold because they are common items (toilet paper, food, water, etc)

High-order goods and services

High range and threshold because they are luxury items

Limitations of the Christaller central place theory?

It assume flat land and no barriers
It assume settlements are arranged because of a person’s economic decisions

No account for development of transportation technology

What is the importance of urban models?

They can tell the city’s internal structure

What three entities are all cities made up of?

A central business district
An industrial/commercial district

Resident locations

Important facts about urban models

Each model has strengths and limitations
Innovations in transportation led to newer models being created
Why are different sectors located where they are & their relationship with each other
How does the bid-rent theory explain the models spatial arrangement

Burgess Concentric Zone

The first of four models, which are used to better understand North American city’s internal structure

It has five parts: the CBD, Factory Zone/zone of transition, working class zone, residential zone, and commuter zone

The model are multiple circles that spread out from the center, with the CBD in the middle

Hoyt sector model

The second of four models used to better understand North American city’s internal structure

It has four parts: the CBD, a high class residential area, middle class residential area, and low class residential area

It was created because it sought to address the burgess model by adding direction as a determining factor

What does the hoyt sector model’s wedges correspond to?

It corresponds to major transportation routes

What two major innovations drove the hoyt sector model?

The electric street car and elevated trains

where is housing built in the Hoyt sector model?

Housing is built along transportation routs rather than in concentric circles

Limitations of the Hoyt secotr model

It assumes city development to be a predictable manner

Multiple Nuclei model

The third model used to better understand North American city’s internal structure

This model argues that city development grew from several different nodes & that growth occurs independently around different focal points/nuclei

What are the three factors for multiple nuclei in the multiple nuclei model?

Specialized activities require specialized land and infrastructure

Economic benefits for companies - financial sectors or business districts
Negative consequences led to new nodes - noise and pollution

What are the limitations of the multiple nuclei model?

Over time, nuclei borders blend together with their surroundings, causing distinct nuclei to be hard to identify

Galactic city model

The fourth model used to better understand North American city’s internal structure

This model developed as a response to the rise of urban sprawl, in which edge cities develop and beltways connect places

Limitations of the galactic city model

It is becoming more obsolete with the rise of the internet, which makes beltways less important

Latin-American model

Based on Mexico city, this model has higher residence close to the spine

The outside edges have little to nothing

Southeast Asian model

Organized around a water-based trading port, this model is unique because it has a market gardening zone that accommodates agriculture

Sub-Saharan African model

A unique urban model that has three Central Business Districts, where surrounding CBD’s are ethnic neighborhoods

Population density

Measure of how many people occupy a given unit of area

Land use

assigned function of a given unit of urban land

Zoning regulations

laws that dictate how land can be used in residential, commercial, industrial, and other areas - they determine what can be built

What cultural factors shaped city spatial development?

Racist segregation and white flight

Infilling

Development of underdeveloped/underused land inside urban areas - done for commercial or residential use

What is land considered in cities?

Land is a commodity in cities, meaning it is limited

City governments find wats to fill/use that land

Infrastructure

All systems and structure that support a population in aplace

Examples of infrastructure

roads, power lines and stations, internet access, hospitals, schools, etc

What does infrastructure dictate in cities"?

Infrastructure heavily determines a city’s quality of life, meaning they play a role inch city arrangement and development

Why is it hard to raise the standard of living in peripheral & semi-peripheral countries?

They lack the fund to improve infrastructure

Sustainability

The use of resources sot hat an urban society is habitable while also ensuring that resources are available to future generations

cities = resource hogs

Ecological footprint

Amount of land required to support a given populations use of natural resources

Smart growth policies

Initiative from urban pioneers that fight urban sprawl, which is done by emphasizing environmental protection and compact, walkable neighborhoods with public transportation, etc

What do smart growth policies want?

Mixed land use - neighborhoods with diverse functions

Walkable neighborhoods - sidewalks

Diverse housing options - prevents racial problems

Protection of natural environment - infrastructure created with the environment in mind

New Urbanism
Quality architecture - variation in buildings
Smart transportation

Greentbelts

Slow growth cities

New Urbanism

It focuses on neighborhoods, with similar goals to smart growth policies

This basically wants European style neighborhoods with dense populations

Greentbelts

Circular area of trees, forests, etc that surround cities and act as a formal barrier between urban and rural places

This creates a place to enjoy nature while also taking in city carbon emissions

Slow growth cities

Urban areas that use zoning laws to slow urban sprawl

How do zoning laws slow down urban sprawl

City governments use zoning laws to limit the spread of cities & city planners can build high density residence buildings to combat the negative effects of sprawl

Various responses to smart growth policies

Quality of life improvement achieved
Creates new problems without living up to promises, such as increasing housing costs
De facto segregation

Loss of historical or place character

How do government decisions impact?

Government decisions impact the quality of life and development of cities

How does the government use quantitative data to impact the quality of life for its citizens?

The government collects census data, letting them know the population composition and size of urban areas - can be used to influence certain policies created

Analyzing data is useful in specific situations

How does the government use qualitative data to impact the quality of life for its citizens?

The govt. could interview residents to gather how people feel about certain decisions, which adds personal feelings to numerical decisions

redlining

A practice still present today (fueled by racism), which dates back to the 1930s in the U.S., where banks marked high risk urban areas on a map with red lines and reused to lend money to people wanting to buy houses/obtain home-improvement lands in those neighborhoods

Blockbusting

A practice in which real estate agents sowed fear into white homeowners by persuading them that their neighborhood were becoming unsafe due to black families moving in

House affordability

The max price a buyer can afford when purchasing a residence

This is influenced by redlining and Blockbusting

Challenges surrounding access to services

Lower income people struggle to gain access to policing, fire department, and public welfare services, as well as other services

Rising levels of crime

A social problem, in which it is a phenomena characterized with racial discrimination

Environmental injustice

A social problem, in which a city’s poor and immigrant population bear the negative effects of hazards to the environment (pollution) at a higher rate than wealthier groups

Disamenity zones

Places where no amenities like running water or sanitation exist - found in cities of peripheral countries

Zones of abandonment

Areas of a city that are completely abandoned because people can’t afford it or because of environmental disasters

Squatter sett;e,emts

temporary and often illegal housing found on the outskirts of urban areas in peripheral countries

Gentrification

The process by which deteriorating areas in the city are rebuilt and renewed t offer high quality housing

The problem with gentrification

Lower income folks can’t afford to live in the gentrified areas any more

Pros of Gentrification

It revitalizes urban areas
governments recover tax dollars as the wealthy move in
The government can provide services to the community

Cons of Gentrification

Majority of people dislocated because of low income

Harder access to services if low income

Fragmented governments

The power of government split from state to state and to smaller branches of government - it tries to fix problems, but this just makes it harder for the government to coordinate with each other

Inclusionary zoning

A response to fragmented governments, in which they are policies enacted by municipal governments that require new developments to include affordable housing to law and moderate income residents

Benefits of inclusionary zones

If done properly, it could reverse class and racial division

Criticism of inclusionary zoning

Even if housing prices go down, low income families might not be able to afford local amenities

Local food movements

The encouragement for low-income communities to grow their own food in urban gardens - sponsored by non government organizations

They give low income residents access to fruits and vegetables

Why is urban sustainability hard?

Suburban sprawl - land is cheaper when farther away from the city
Sanitation - garbage and human waste, cities produce a lot of it
Climate change - increase temperature, cities create a low of heat
Air & water quality - available water could be polluted & smog could be created (clouds vision and can cause respiratory problems)

Regional planning efforts

A sustainability initiative, in which regional authorities can collaborate to create plans to increase sustainability in urban areas