Urban Geography and Urban Ecology Urban Geography The Location of Cities o Geographic and climactic characteristics of an urban

n area, then, provide a set of physical conditions to which people must adapt.

Why Cities are where they are o It must be a minimally hospitable environment o It cannot be infested with disease-producing organisms or have a climate or geography that makes permanent settlement impossible o Any city has to have adequate access to food, water , and building materials, and the larger its population, the greater the need for these goods. 1. Natural Crossroads- such crossroads facilitate the confluence of people, services, and especially trade goods. 2. Break-of-bulk points- at a point where a good- "the bulk"- has to be transferred to another type of transportation. 3. Access to some major raw material in demand. 4. Amenity city- a city located in a particular place because it provides a certain type of pleasurable service not easily available elsewhere. 5. Administrative or political city- a city established primarily for governmental purposes 6. Strategic military location- some cities are situated in easily defensible spots 7. Religious or educational reasons The Shape of the City o Radiocentric City Importance of the defensive function to preindustrial peoples gave their cities a characteristic form. The city quite literally became a container, protected either by naturally occurring geographic features or by human constructs such as walls, moats, castles, or battlements. Radiocentric- suggesting that they radiate outward from a common center. Radiocentric cities did not always assume perfectly radial shapes People generally will want to be as close to that center as possible for simple reasons of economy, such as cost and time of travel. o Gridiron City Basically composed of straight streets crossing at right angles to create a city of highly regular blocks. Typical of cities built after the rise of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution-- cities that placed tremendous importance on the role of economic activity in daily affairs. The benefits of a gridiron begin with its ability to parcel out land efficiently within the city It should be noted that grid patterns are not always the result of careful planning o City Growth Horizontally- the city can grow out Vertically- the city can grow up Interstitially- the city can grow denser

The Economics of Urban Land Use o Central Place Theory The city is the only place where everything human comes together The greatest action is, literally, in the center, where people contact each other frequently

The Economic advantages of cities Cities tend to be located where important goods or services are available in abundance Cities are places where what economists call agglomeration industries spring up. Competition tends to keep cost down and quality up for many important goods and services Competition also explains why so many businesses of the same type tend to locate near one another in a city. Cities can offer higher quality and cheaper products because of the greater population they are linked to. Because people want to take advantage of the amenities offered by cities, they are drawn to them in large numbers, thereby greatly increasing the local demand for goods and services. Many cities are characterized by what is called a central business district (CBD) The Urban hierarchy These basic economic advantages also help explain why some cities grow much larger than others. That cities should arrange themselves into a pattern of dominance of hierarchical order should come as no surprise. Christaller suggested: that the more important a city's economic function to a region, the larger its population would become. The city's hinterland-- smaller cities, towns, rural areas-- would become dependent on the large city for many goods and services that their smaller populations could not support "distance intervals"- would allow each to perform functions for its hinterland without severe competition from the others. The General Pattern of Urban Land Use Economists argue that the consequences for urban land use of these economic advantages of cities are enormous

William Alonso Cities do use their land similarly Assumptions: 1. The city existed on a completely flat, featureless space 2. It had a single CBD 3. Efficient transportation existed in all directions 4. Every person in the city is motivated by economic self-interest Only those who can pay the most are likely to get center-city-land

Overall, Alonso's model suggests a city with two major districts: 1. A CBD in the middle occupied by businesses of various types 2. The surrounding residential areas Businesses pay the highest rents to be near the CBD. As the distance from the CBD grows, the number of businesses declines until, at some point, they cease altogether. The case of the inner-city poor If Alonso is correct, the poor, unable to afford rents near the CBD, should be living a relatively long distance from the CBD Criticisms: The poor are exploited because of their inability to compete equally in the free-enterprise system Important non-economic factors may influence urban land use patterns decidedly Not meaningfully applicable to many cities in history or in other cultures The theory is not wrong, it is just limited It does underscore the need for keeping the economic concerns of city life in mind when analyzing urban land use Economic forces are important considerations, but they are only a part of the story of urban land use.

Urban Ecology: The Chicago School The Ecological Theory of Urban Development (Robert Park) Park believed that human life always was motivated by the evolutionary principle of the struggle for existence. In the effort to satisfy their needs, people competed with each other for the same resources Park saw a distinctly social element in competition. People didn't just compete for economic gain, they also competed for power and prestige.

The Concentric Zone Hypothesis (Ernest W. Burgess) The city develops something like the interior of the tree i. The Loop (CBD) ii. Business and light manufacture iii. Area inhabited by the workers in industries who desire to live within easy access of their work iv. Residential area- high class apartment buildings, or of exclusive "restricted" districts of single family dwellings v. Commuters' zone- suburban areas, satellite cities Criticisms of the Chicago School Do all cities and towns conform to the concentric zone pattern? Criticisms have been raised about the reliance of Park's ecological theory on the concepts of unrestrained competition and population movements. It seems that these forces are more powerful in some cultures and some periods of history than in others

Burgess's model implicitly assumes that cities everywhere are based on transportation systems like the railroad, something that is patiently not the case. Another major criticism wonders whether zones in the sense suggested by Burgess ever really existed. The ecological theory has been criticzed as being "too biological."

Urban Ecology: Other Theories The Sector Theory (Homer Hoyt) Noticed that a fair number of city districts did not conform to the purely concentric model suggested by Burgess. 1. Most of these areas formed districts or sectors of varying size. 2. Although there was evidence of a concentric shape in some sectors, many sectors often took a pie-shaped form 3. As frequently as not, fashionable districts abutted and were sometimes even surrounded by lower income districts. 4. Hoyt found a tendency for sectors to move out of the city radially, along a path begun by the sector in earlier years 5. Fashionable areas seldom were found in only a single city location; rather, they commonly occupied two or even three areas. Importantly, Hoyt discovered that such locations were chosen for reasons well beyond the pressures of competition and population movement.

The Multiple Nuclei Theory (Chauncey Harris and Edward Ullman) They argued that as the contemporary city grew, it diversified, developing in the process many sectors of activity. Modern cities like have one major CBD, the suggested that specific historical, cultural, or economic factors fostered the location of other urban districts in places that neither the zonal nor sector theories could explain . First, Certain type of activities require certain types of facilities to operate at highest productivity. A second reason for the multiple nuclei is the fact that some types of activity are disadvantageous to one another; therefore, they separate into some nuclei some distance apart Third, for some urban activities, a CBD location may not be desirable for social or economic reasons Social Area Analysis (Eshref Shevky, Marilyn Williams, Wendell Bell) Attempted to describe land use by focusing on only the social characteristics of a city's population The social characteristics examined were social rank, family status, and ethnicity. If a fairly large proportion did share these characteristics, they called the district a social area. Criticisms:

It is not theoretical It cannot be used either to predict where groups will settle or to explain why groups have settled where they have.

Factorial Ecology Uses computer technology to analyze the social characteristics of an urban population. Differs from social area analysis because, rather than beginning with a few preselected social characteristics, all characteristics thought to be potentially important in a city are analyzed. A Synthetic Theory: Berry and Rees They reasoned that, if socioeconomic status were the sole determinant of urban location, cities would tend to divide in sectors. Berry and Rees contended that this outward sectoring would characterize all status groups in the city, whether high, middle, or low. If family status were the dominant social characteristic, given demands for living space, city groups would tend to arrange themselves in concentric zones. Were ethnicity the predominant characteristic, minority groups would tend to be segregated in various ethnic communities throughout the city. The forces that shape urban land sue patterning are still more complex.

Criticisms of Factorial Ecology: R.J Johnston argues that because the computer technique employed by factorial ecology is of a particular type, it often forces the complex world of the city into rigid, and possibly distorted categories. Factorial ecology usually employs census tract data. But census tracts often do not conform accurately to the areas where particular groups live. There is the question whether census tract information is all that accurate anyway. Next there is the question of whether the findings of factorial ecology research are descriptive of anything beyond contemporary cities.

The Rise of Radical Urban Geography A response to what its proponents saw as the deficiencies urban geography as it was currently practiced, but also as a response to the turmoil of the times. These geographers began by studying the distribution of wealth and political power in a city and noted that the wealthiest people lived on the most desirable land with the greatest access to the city's valued services.

The structure of the city is to be explained by the pursuit of profit