Urban Patterns and Geography Study Notes

Central City: A municipality that is a legally incorporated, self-governing unit with fixed boundaries.
Urban Area: Consists of a central city and surrounding built-up suburbs. The U.S. Census defines two types: Urbanized Areas ( $50,000$ or more residents) and Urban Clusters ( $2,500$ to $50,000$ residents).
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): A functional area including an urbanized area of at least $50,000$ , the county it is in, and adjacent counties with high density and residents working in the central county.
Micropolitan Statistical Area ( $\mu$ SA): Includes an urbanized area between $10,000$ and $50,000$ inhabitants plus adjacent tied counties.
Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA): Any one MSA or $\mu$ SA ( $929$ total in $2013$ ).
Combined Statistical Area (CSA): Two or more contiguous CBSAs tied by commuting patterns.

Characteristics: Highly compact (less than $1\%$ of urban land) but contains a large percentage of services due to high accessibility and being the focal point of transportation.
Services: - Public: City halls, courts, and libraries; often located in historic downtown structures. - Business: Offices for advertising, banking, and finance that depend on face-to-face contact and proximity to colleagues. - Consumer: Historically included high-threshold and high-range retailers; modern CBDs focus on leisure, tourism, and services for downtown workers.
Vertical Features: Due to high land values (e.g., $1$ hectare in London costing over $200$ million dollars), CBDs use space below ground (garages, subways, pedestrian passages like Montral’s RSO) and above ground (skyscrapers).
Excluded Activities: Manufacturing and residential uses are rare due to high rents and land requirements, though downtown living is increasing for "empty nesters" and young professionals.

Concentric Zone Model (E. W. Burgess, 1923): A city grows outward from the center in rings: CBD, Zone in transition, Zone of working-class homes, Zone of better residences, and Commuters’ zone.
Sector Model (Homer Hoyt, 1939): A city develops in sectors or wedges. High-income housing and industry expand outward in corridors from the center.
Multiple Nuclei Model (C.D. Harris and E.L. Ullman, 1945): A city contains multiple centers or nodes (e.g., ports, universities, airports) around which specific activities cluster.
Peripheral Model: An inner city surrounded by suburban residential and service nodes (edge cities) tied together by a beltway.

European Cities: Feature more residents in CBDs, low-rise historic structures, and pedestrian-friendly zones. High-income residents often live in the center, while immigrants more frequently reside in the suburbs (e.g., Paris).
Developing Countries: - Beijing: Evolved from Yuan and Ming dynasty structures (e.g., the Forbidden City). - Colonial Legacy: Cities often follow the Spanish Laws of the Indies (gridiron plans) or feature dual nodes with a precolonial town and a European colonial district (e.g., Fs, Morocco). - Informal Settlements: Known as barriadas, favelas, or squatter settlements, these are built on land without legal claim and lack basic services. - Models: DeBlij (African concentric), McGee (Southeast Asian multiple nuclei), and Griffin-Ford (Latin American sector with an elite spine).

Suburbs: Residential or commercial areas outside the central city. In $2000$ , $50\%$ of Americans lived in suburbs.
Annexation: Legally adding land to a city; less common today as residents prefer independent jurisdictions.
Sprawl: Low-density development non-contiguous to built-up areas. It increases road costs, energy consumption, and agricultural land loss.
Density Gradient: The decline in housing density as distance from the CBD increases; this gradient has flattened in recent years.
Segregation: Suburbs are often segregated by social class (via zoning ordinances) and land use (separation of residential and commercial areas).

Megalopolis: A continuous urban complex, such as the "Boswash" corridor ( $700\,km$ from Boston to Washington).
Borchert's Transportation Epochs: Sail-Wagon ( $1790–1830$ ), Iron Horse ( $1830–1870$ ), Steel Rail ( $1870–1920$ ), Auto-Air-Amenity ( $1920–1970$ ), and Satellite-Electronic-Jet Propulsion ( $1970–?$ ).
Public Transport: Used for only $5\%$ of U.S. commuting trips, but vital in cities like New York City and Munich. Unlike the U.S., many countries heavily subsidize transit.
Motor Vehicles: Provide flexibility but consume $1/4$ of city land for roads and parking. Future trends include autonomous vehicles and alternative fuels (Diesel, Hybrid, Ethanol, Plug-in, and Hydrogen fuel cells).

The Underclass: Residents trapped in a cycle of poverty, inadequate job skills, drugs, crime, and lack of services (e.g., food deserts).
Housing Physical Challenges: - Filtering: Large houses subdivided for low-income use until they are abandoned. - Redlining: Banks refusing to lend in specific inner-city neighborhoods.
Gentrification: Renovation of low-income neighborhoods for middle-class residents. It attracts single professionals but can displace lower-income families.
Sustainability: Goals include the reduction of $CO_2$ emissions via Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and shifting to renewable electricity for transport.

West Edmonton Mall Exploration

1. Can you see any evidence of consumer services adjacent to the mall? Why might the continent's largest mall have relatively few services immediately adjacent?
2. What is the principal use of land on the other sides of the four perimeter streets?
3. What evidence do you see of transportation services for people to arrive other than in individual passenger cars?

Ukraine: Serhiy's Leap Video

1. How does Serhiy's family earn its living? What is Serhiy's contribution?
2. How does Serhiy rate the advantages and disadvantages of village life versus city life?
3. Describe Serhiy's plan for his life. Does it seem reasonable? What is the alternative?

Mexico City Analysis

Why might the Spanish wish to destroy the Great Temple? Why might contemporary Mexicans wish to excavate and explore the ruins?