Chapter 13 Key Issue 4

Why do Cities face Challenges?

• most land in urban settlements is devoted to housing
• US inner cities have concentrations of low-income people who have physical, social, and economic problems that are very different than those in the suburbs

Changing Urban Physical Geography

• major physical problem in inner-city neighborhoods is the poor condition of housing

The Process of Deterioration

• as the amount of low-income residents increases, territory occupied by them expands
• neighborhoods can shift from middle-class to low-income
• middle-class move to newer houses nearer to the center and sell/rent old houses to low-class

Filtering

filtering: a process of change in the use of a house, from single-family owner occupancy to abandonment

• landlords stop maintaining houses when collected rent becomes less than maintenance cost → building deteriorates and is abandoned
• cities hace codes to require owners to maintain their houses, but it just causes abandonment to happen faster
• many low-income families have moved to less deteriorated houses farther from the center

Redlining

redlining: a process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries

• families who try to fix houses have difficulty borrowing money
• redlining is illegal, but enforcement of its laws is difficult

Public Housing

public housing: housing owned by the government; in the US, it is rented to residents with low incomes, and the rents are set at 30% of the families’ income

• a housing authority manages the buildings
• federal government pays cost of construction and the maintenance, repair, and management
• in other countries, local governments/non-profit organization build the housing, aided by subsidies
• most public housing now is unsatisfactory for families with kids
  • elevators are broken
  • juveniles terrorize other people
  • drug use and crime rates are high
• people claim the buildings were responsible for the problem because too many low-income families were concentrated into a high-density environment
• many public houses have been demolished
• US government stopped funding new public housing
• federal program, Hope VI, tries to renovate older public housing
• around 1 million units of public houses have diminished, but the demand has increased by over 2 million people
• in Britain, amount of public housing decreased due to it being sold to residents

Gentrification

gentrification: a process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class, owner-occupied area

• middle-class families are attracted to deteriorated inner-city neighborhoods because
  • houses are larger and less expensive
  • houses have attractive architectural details
  • downtown workers don’t have the strain of driving through traffic
  • neighborhoods are near cultural and recreational facilities
  • people with no children don’t care about quality of schooling
• cities encourage the process by giving low-cost loans and tax breaks
• criticized for forcing low-income people to move out once rents get too high
• US requires moved out low-income people to be reimbursed
• gentrification allows to disperse low-income families throughout the city

Changing Urban Social Geography

Underclass

underclass: a group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics

• underclass suffer from
  • high rates of unemployment
  • unable to compete for jobs
  • lack technical skills for jobs due to no education
  • don’t have access to low-skilled jobs because they’re all in the suburbs
  • alcoholism
  • drug addiction
  • illiteracy
  • attend deteriorated schools
  • juvenile delinquency
  • live in an atmosphere that ignoes good learning habits
  • crime
  • lack police and fire protection, shops, hospitals, clinics, etc.
  • homelessness
  • affordable housing is difficult to find
  • sleep in doorways, heated street grates, and in stations

Culture of Poverty

• most low-income children grow up with a singe mother, who are forced to choose between working or staying at home
• dads are usually not found, and couples tend to be better apart than together
• people turn to drugs due to hopelessness
  • may obtain money for drugs from criminal activites
  • gangs form and may fight and kill people
• many neighborhoods are segregated by ethnicity
• families seeking new residences consider only a few districts, where they share the social and financial characteristics

Suburban Stress

• high-income people move into the inner city
• low-income people move into inner suburbs
• middle-class people move to new homes on the periphery
• inner suburbs aren’t able to get revenue to provide for needs

Urban Economic Geography Challenges

The Eroding Tax Base

• low-income residents need public services, but can only pay very little for the taxes needed
• a gap has grown between the cost of services and the funds
• cities have two options
  • reduce services
  • close libraries
  • eliminate bus routes
  • collect trash less often
  • delay replacement of outdated school equipment
  • causes hardship of people laid off from work
  • encourages gentrification
  • raise tax revenues
  • provide tax breaks for downtown offices, luxury hotels, restaurants, and shops
  • these businesses provide a lot of taxes and provide minimum wage jobs for residents
  • takes away subsidies for projects in the inner-city neighborhoods

The Impact of the Recession

• financial condition of local governments remains poor
• one of the causes of the recession was the collapse in the housing market in the inner city
• people were unable to pay subprime mortgages
  • lenders can take over the property (foreclosure)
  • house prices fell below the mortgage

Reviving Consumer Services in the CBD

• retailing is thriving in CBDs if combined with leisure activities
  • more willing to make a trip for unusual shops in a dramatic setting

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