Population Growth and Migration

Urban growth comes from two sources:

1. Migration from rural to urban areas

2. Natural population increase

Rural to Urban Migration: Movement of people (typically farmers) from rural settlements to urban center in search of jobs.

Economic Development

Second Urban Revolution: Industrial innovations in mining and manufacturing that led to increased urban growth.

• Social Transformation: Urban land as a source of income

• “Downtown” areas emerge → expand businesses distracts → wealthy elite move to outskirts → build giant houses as a symbol of wealth

Government Policies

• As cities become more complex, it becomes necessary to manage not only the city’s infrastructure but also water, sewage, and garbage

  • Redevelopment: set of activities intended to revitalize an area that has fallen on hard times

Metropolis

Very large and densely populated city, particularly the capital or major city of a country or region

Megacities vs Metacities

Only differed by populations.

Mega Cities:

10 million inhabitants.

• Cairo, Mumbai, Beijing, Dhaka, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto

Meta Cities:

20 million inhabitants

• Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Mexico City

New Urban Land-Uses and Challenges:

The process of suburbanization, urban sprawl, and decentralization have created new land uses.

1. Suburbanization: Movement of people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts of a city.

2. Sprawl: Tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner

3. Decentralize: In an urban context, to move business operations from core city areas into outlying areas such as suburbs.

Edge Cities

A concentration business, shopping, and entertainment that developed in the suburbs outside of a city’s traditional downtown or CBD.

• Distinctly American

• Five characteristics

  • over 5 million square feet of office space

  • over 600,000 square feet of retail space

  • population that increases every morning and decreases every afternoon

  • status as an end destination due to its business, entertainment, shopping and/or recreation

  • history or not resembling a city three years prior to its establishment

Exburb

A semi-rural district located beyond the suburbs that is often inhabited by “well-to-do” families.

• Often found near farmland, beaches, or mountains

• More spread out and less walkable

World Cities

World City: A city that is a control center of the global economy.

• Cities became centers of trade and seats of power for colonizing nations.

Global Connections of Cities:

• Transportation

• Communication

• Business

Rank Size Rule

The population of a settlement is inversely proportional to its rank in the irban hierarchy.

Primate Cities:

A cities that is much larger than any other city in the country and that dominates the country’s economic, political and cultural life.

Christaller’s Central Place Theory

A model developed by Walter Christaller that attempts to understand why cities are located where they are

• People are willing to travel short distances for everyday low-order items while willing to travel long distances for specialized or high-order goods and services.

Threshold: The number of people required to support businesses.

Range: The distance people will travel to acquire a good.

Gravity Model

That idea that the closer two places are, the more influence they will have on each other.