Urban Patterns

Why Are Cities Challenging to Define?

  • Geographers define cities based on growth and extent.

  • Services cluster downtown.

Where Are People Distributed in Urban Areas?

  • Models describe population clustering in urban areas.

Why Do Urban Areas Expand?

  • City growth leads to suburbs.

  • Suburb residents rely on cars.

Why Might Cities Be More Sustainable?

  • Cities have wealth/poverty contrasts.

  • Future cities depend on transportation changes.

Defining Urban Settlements

  • Central City: Legally incorporated municipality with local government.

    • In the U.S., population declining in North and East cities, increasing in South and West.

  • Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): Functional area of a city.

    • Includes urbanized area of 50,000+ population, the county, and adjacent high-density counties with residents working in the central city's county.

    • 392 MSAs in 2018 (86% of U.S. population).

  • Micropolitan Statistical Area (SA): Smaller urban areas.

    • Includes urbanized area of 10,000-50,000 inhabitants, the county, and adjacent counties tied to the city.

    • 546 SAs in 2018 (9% of Americans).

  • Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA): Any MSA or SA.

    • 938 CBSAs in 2018.

  • Combined Statistical Area (CSA): Two or more contiguous CBSAs tied by commuting patterns.

    • 175 CSAs in 2018.

Urban Area

  • Central city and surrounding suburbs.

    • Urbanized Area: area with 50,000+ inhabitants (70% of the U.S. population in 2010).

    • Urban Cluster: area between 2,500 and 50,000 inhabitants (10% of the U.S. population in 2010).

Overlapping Metropolitan Areas

  • Megalopolis: Adjacent metropolitan areas merging into a continuous urban region.

    • Example: Boston to Washington, D.C.

The Central Business District (CBD)

  • Downtown area with public, business, and consumer services.

  • Accessible, focal point of transportation.

Public Services in CBDs

  • Government offices, libraries, museums.

  • Sports facilities and convention centers to stimulate business.

Consumer Services in CBDs

  • Retailers with high thresholds (e.g., department stores) declining in CBDs, now in suburban malls.

  • Retailers with high ranges (specialists) moving to suburban locations.

  • Retailers serving CBD workers (office supplies, services) expanding.

Business Services in CBDs

  • Offices cluster for accessibility, proximity to colleagues.

  • Communication, trust, and access to specialized employees are key.

Competing for Space in CBDs

  • High land values, competition for limited space.

  • Rare industrial and residential activities.

  • Three-dimensional character, use of underground/airspace.

Removing Manufacturing from CBD

  • Modern factories need large land parcels.

  • Waterfronts transformed to commercial/recreational uses.

Residents in the CBD

  • Population increased in some U.S. CBDs in the 21st century.

  • New buildings and conversions to lofts.

  • Attractive to "empty nesters" and young professionals.

The Vertical CBD: Underground

  • Garages, loading docks, utilities, subways.

  • Underground pedestrian passages in cold climates.

The Vertical CBD: Skyscrapers

  • High-rise structures due to demand for space.

  • Distinctive city skylines.

  • Zoning ordinances control height.

Models of Urban Structure

  • Concentric Zone Model: City grows outward in rings.

  • Sector Model: City develops in sectors.

  • Multiple Nuclei Model: City is a complex structure with multiple centers.

  • Galactic (Peripheral) Model: Inner city surrounded by suburban nodes tied by a beltway.

Concentric Zone Model

  • Created in 1923 by Ernest Burgess.

  • City grows outward from a central area in concentric rings.

Sector Model

  • Developed in 1939 by Homer Hoyt.

  • City develops in a series of sectors.

Multiple Nuclei Model

  • Developed in 1945 by Chauncey Harris and Edward Ullman.

  • City includes a CBD and other centers, activities are attracted to nodes.

Galactic (Peripheral) Model

  • Developed in 1960 by Harris

  • Urban area with inner city surrounded by suburban residential/service nodes tied together by a beltway.

Applying the Models in North America

  • Urban structure models help understand social characteristics within urban areas.

Social Area Analysis

  • Study of where people of varying living standards, ethnic background, and lifestyle live within an urban area.

  • Depends on census data at neighborhood scale.

Social Area Analysis: Concentric Zones

  • Older houses in inner rings, newer houses in outer rings.

Social Area Analysis: Sectors

  • Lower-income unlikely to live in the same sector as higher-income households.

Social Area Analysis: Nuclei

  • People with the same ethnic or racial background are likely to live near each other.

Limitations of the Models

  • Models are too simple.

  • Models based on mid-20th century U.S. cities may not apply to contemporary patterns or other countries.

Structure of European Cities

  • American urban areas differ from those elsewhere.

CBDs in Europe

  • Europe's CBDs have a different mix of land uses.

  • European cities display a legacy of low-rise structures and narrow streets.

Concentric Zones in Europe

  • Similarities and differences in the distribution of people within U.S. and European cities.

Sectors in Europe

  • Similar to U.S. urban areas, higher income people cluster in a sector in the Paris region.

Multiple Nuclei in Europe

  • In contrast to U.S. urban areas, most ethnic and racial groups of immigrants reside in the suburbs of Paris.

Premodern Cities in Developing Countries

  • Cities in developing countries may date from ancient times.

  • Ancient and medieval structure influenced by cultural values of Indigenous peoples.

Colonial Legacy

  • European colonial policies left a heavy mark on many cities.

  • Spanish cities built according to the Laws of the Indies.

Ancient & Medieval City: Beijing

  • Archeological evidence of Beijing dates from 1045 BCE."- Successive invaders and dynasties shaped the city.

  • Built based on cultural values of Indigenous peoples.

    • Restructured at the hands of European colonial rulers.

Applying the Models in Developing Countries

  • Urban structure models help explain contemporary patterns in developing countries.
    # Concentric Zones in Development Countries

  • Geographer Harm deBlij's model of sub-Saharan African cities is an example

Concentric Zones in Development Countries

  • United Nations defines an informal settlement as a residential area where housing has been built on land to which the occupants have no legal claim

Sectors and Nuclei in Development Countries

  • Sectors: Geographers Ernest Griffin and Larry Ford show that in Latin American cities, wealthy people push out from the center in a well-defined elite residential sector

    • Nuclei: T. G. McGees model of a Southeast Asian city superimposes several nodes, called alien zones, where foreigners live and work. McGee found that Southeast Asian cities do not typically have a strong CBD

Changing Urban Structure of Mexico City

  • Mexico City provides a good example of a city in the Precolonial Mexico City Aztec city which has passed through phases of development: Pre-European, European colonial period, and postcolonial independence. And, shows evidence of urban structure

    • Spanish colonial city. It was destroyed an a new city was built by Spanish city

    • Now it shows evidence of urban structure

Origin & Growth of Suburbs

-Suburb: Residential/commercial area is outside the central city.
US cities expanded by adding peripheral land and being annexated legally.
US fragmented with various levels of resources(90,056 local Gov, from 2012 Census).
The process legally adding land area to city annexation.
Difficult to annex peripheral land because residents wanted their services over paying taxes.

Origin & Growth of Suburbs

-US metro areas have council working along governments that cannot do logically to solve region.
US metro gov is difficult."- Most US metro areas have council working along governments that cannot do logically to solve region.

Suburban Lifestyle

-Suburbs offer varied attractions a detached single-family dwelling, private land around the house, space to park cars.
Families want the protection from high crime rates/heavy traffic for inner city life.

Local Government Fragmentation

Given the difficulty in annexing suburban jurisdictions, local government in the United States is extremely fragmented.
The fragmentation of local government in the United States makes it difficult to solve regional problems

Suburban Sprawl

Developers seek cheap/easy land, not contiguous to existing area. = Suburb development low density/locations not contiguous to build up area.
Results due to desire own large land tracks. High local authoritie expending money for extended construction.

  • Density decreases outward from center of city.

Density Gradient

-Number houses per unit diminishes as distance from city increases as change of density, also known as density gradient. = Houses now closer with small lots (due to population).
-City now gap when live now (with the changes due to recent years).

Suburban Development Pattern of The U.S. and U.K.

-Developed 1950-2000, United States more sprawling due to suburbs.
Restriction on land lead to pushed house price in Europe.
-Many cities in Britain in greenbelts (rings outside open space).
Legislate/regulate which limit sprawl & preserve farmland.
Goal is having pattern compact /contiguous development & protection.

Urban Sprawl

Smart Growth states Oregon/Tennessee urban growth (annex = inclusion)area.
Maryland smart-growth prevents more highways.

Suburban Segregation

-Suburbs shows forms with resident/commercial activities (that restrict and exclude).
People like similar in dimensions.
Social group protected via zoning ordinances (which limit land use) & neighborhood lifestyle.

Suburban Consumer Services

-Consumer service increase so suburbs so most customers can live.
The central shopping services/places where central business meet.
The location is at various concentrated shopping malls.
Discouragement so people wont walk store (shops restricted).

The Expansion of Trade and Transport

Online service rising means taking stores with from volume of sales.
Suburban Business Service Office move sub so rent low & cars ease.
Hardship so work wont walk area (more people employment)

Reliance on Motor Vehicles

-People travel with origin destination and purpose, in the US:

  1. Travel for school work/church.

  2. Travel on cars, transports public, bikes, and other schools.

Transportation Epochs

John Borchert identifies with five key parts to transport changing system.
US with 5 epochs during transportation systems

Transportation Epochs

US with 5 epochs during transportation systems.
Cities succeeded with time depends on migrate pattern and source with econom importance.

Benefits & Costs of Motor Vehicles

US: Has more motor V than licensee Driver. Motor V owners are always/near: households or poor.
Motor V principal offers:

  1. Easy and Flexed: motorist comfortable.
    2:Perceived Coast: Used and Transports.
    Motor V is users Land in City (Average 1/4 for roads

Benefits & Costs of Motor Vehicles

Motor V is users Land in City:

  1. Cut freeway for meter through center.
    -Valuable Land for Parking = Underground struct.
    American are over value privacy/Flex schedule. US encourage cart (47km/mile & fuel
    Fuel below Europe value = subsidies for car (Limited 48000km 80 Percent coast intstate highways = Slice CBD freeways and demo.

Legacy of Public Transport

To conclude this document, its important to consider where this information will take you and leave you. Please pause and reflect.

Public Transport

hrough traffic in the CBD.
Move transit for people due to cheap/less/energy efficient and transport.
As most trip traffic made in from CDD (most is people must small area). (Congestion due work in day 40 Percent all).

World many transport in funds in new year = more service expands = transport out USA