Urban Geography

No. Title Page

1 Chapter 1: Urbanization 2
2 Chapter 2: Suburbanization 3
3 Chapter 3: Counter-urbanization 5
4 Chapter 4: Gentrification 6
5 Chapter 5: Primate City 7
6 Chapter 6: Myrdal’s Cumulative Causation Model 10
7 Chapter 7: Global City / World City 11
8 Chapter 8: Bid Rent Theory 12
9 Chapter 9: CBD Dynamics 14
10 Chapter 10: Influences on the City Structure 18
11 Chapter 11: Influences on the Urban Structure 21
12 Chapter 12: Responses to Urbanization 23
13 Chapter 13: Urban Transport 26
 Urban Geography

Chapter 1: Urbanization

6.3 General Idea

 Urbanization increasing on global scale as more people stay in built-up areas, more
rural areas transformed into urban areas, rate of urbanization in LDCs outgrow those
in DCs
 Hence people become more urbane

1.2 Definitions
 Urbanization: process by which an increasing number of people live in towns and
cities, contributed by rural-urban migration and by natural increase (twin processes)
within urban areas
 Rate of urbanization: how fast people move to, or are being born in, urban areas in a
country
 Level of urbanization: present amount of people already in urban areas in a country

1.3 History
 DCs
o 1800s: Industrial revolution
o 1920s: rapid transformation with population growth rates in cities
outstripping those in rural areas
o Peaked in 1950s: >70% population living in built areas
o 1960s: cities too crowded, diseconomies of scale set in leading to
suburbanization and counter-urbanization
o Eg: US high urbanization levels – 80% population housed in cities
 LDCs
o Colonial times: resources focused at ports while rest of country primarily
agrarian, restrictions as to who could reside in the city which inhibited
growth in cities
o Accelerated after WW2, after independence: industrial emphasis – attract
MNCs, high rural-urban migration rates eg. Mexico City up to 1000 migrants
per day in 70s
o Eg. Peru 1 major city hosting 35% population
 Different levels of urbanization between DCs and LDCs
o DCs much longer history and most people already live in urban areas
o City sizes in LDCs would eventually catch up and overtake those in DCs
 Different city sizes between DCs and LDCs
o Focus on 1 or 2 cities in LDCs
 Legacy from colonial era
 1 or 2 cities absorb most of population growth  primate cities
 High rates of urbanization
 Urban Geography

Chapter 2: Suburbanization

2.1 General Idea

 Movement of people from city centre to city-edge to escape from congestion and
overcrowding in city and to enjoy better quality of life
 More prevalent in DCs and to middle class people due to their higher mobility

2.2 Enabling Factor – Influence of Transport

 Transport routes affect city growth sectorally due to advent of highways / freeways
 Rise of affluent class and private car ownership eg. average American middle class
has 2 cars
 Eg. East Coast Park condo belt due to highway

2.3 Urban Sprawl

 Uncontrolled expansion of city centre to its outskirts
 Growing socio-economic disconnections between city centre and outskirts
o Economic: poor people tend to live and get stuck in city centre but rich can
move to suburban areas
o Social: people in city have poor quality housing, leading to insular and
isolationistic attitude to the city because city is full of crime and social
problems
o Political: poor and rich tend to vote differently eg. poor: Democrat, rich:
Republican
 Engulfs farmlands and invades into rural territories causing loss of jobs in rural sector
eg. London sprawl engulfed much of the rich arable land surrounding it

2.4 Consequences of Suburbanization

 Social
o Segregation: rich/poor, social, racial
 Exclusion of the poor eg. building of airport but cannot afford to buy
land from rich so they build it where the poor live
 Urban dualism: coexistence of 2 dichotomous functional areas within
the city
 Economic: rich-poor
 Social: indigenous-foreign
 Social marginalization
 Eg. Gay village: need to find a place with sense of community,
like-mindedness
 “Gated community” eg. Cutteslowe Wall
 Racial segregation
 Eg. Chinatown in San Francisco: law excluding Chinese from
suburbs so Chinatown is where they can stay
 Urban Geography

 Ghettos: urban district containing a high proportion of 1 ethnic

group
 “White flight”
o Lack community spirit: cold and class conscious
 Economic
o Hollowing out of city centre, loss of businesses
o Increase in local taxes to support larger numbers of poor people
o Formation of new growth poles: smaller cities for lower order needs
 Environmental
o Can lead to urban sprawl
 Congestion eg. US no efficient public transport system so people drive
 Slums, shanty towns eg. Mexico
 Improper waste management
 Political: change in electorate as makeup of population changes

2.5 Measures to Contain Suburbanization

 Green belts (refer to Chapter 12)
 Gentrification (refer to Chapter 4)
 Urban renewal (refer to Chapter 9)
 Re-urbanization: attempt to attract people back into the city
 Re-imaging (refer to Chapter 9)
 Create separate, self-sufficient new towns (refer to Chapter 12) and growth poles
 Self-help program eg. Apple Tree Court (refer to Chapter 12)
 Urban Geography

Chapter 3: Counter-Urbanization

3.1 General Idea

 Extreme form of suburbanization: upper-middle class flight from cities into secluded
surroundings
 Largely a DC phenomenon but may occur in LDCs eg. Indonesia’s transmigration
program forced movement from urban to rural (Sulawesi)
 Indicated by extremely inverted pyramids of retirement villages: overrepresentation
of young adults and retirees
 Eg. Slapton Village, Devon, UK: retirement village that has no electricity and
newspapers to offer total escape form urban life

3.2 Consequences
 Economic
o Need to buy properties when they move over so increase in property prices
o Increase employment: people might buy over / set up businesses
o Increase in demand for services: retail, medicine, education
o Increase in tourism
 Social
o Might reverse population decline
o Reduce social problems attributed to rural people who are less intellectual
and older
 Environmental
o Increase stress on the environment
o Weekend traffic  need to build more roads

3.3 Application to Singapore

 Possibility of counter-urbanization in offshore islands
 STB plans to redevelop some of these islands, catering mainly to the upper-middle
class than the working class (waterfront housing, Bali-like resorts)
 But lure of continuing urbanization, ecotourism
 Urban Geography

Chapter 4: Gentrification

4.1 General Idea

 Process by which run-down houses in an inner city or other neglected area are
redeveloped into higher-end businesses and housing
o New uses: cafes, restaurants, bars, upmarket
o Eg. CHIJMES: used to be old church but now entertainment quarter
 Change the function of the building without drastically altering its outlook
 Yuppie-oriented (Young Urban Professionals)

4.2 Consequences
 Economic
o Expensive rent since target market are white-collar professionals
 Cultural / social
o Buildings may be protected to preserve heritage
o Poor, old, minority pushed out
 Urban Geography

Chapter 5: Primate City

5.1 General Idea

 Largest city in the country with a population more than twice of the 2 nd largest city
 Focal point of country’s socio-economic growth, high command control
 Can shape country’s culture through cultural hegemony and dominance eg. Javanese
dominate politics, business, culture in Jakarta
 LDCs much higher primacies than DCs eg. Bangkok (60x larger than Chiang Mai):
world’s largest primate city
 Binary distribution: 2 very large cities of roughly the same population and the size of
each of them is more than 2x the next largest eg. Madrid and Barcelona, Spain
 Difficult to decentralize / become non-primate
 Dual economy
o Formal economy: foreign-owned and produces goods and services for elite
o Informal economy: small trade and service establishments, crafts

5.2 Reasons to Move into City

 Push factors
o Rural population explosion due to lack of birth controls / eg. Pope does not
allow Catholics to use birth controls
o Fall in agricultural productivity
o Lack healthcare and sanitation
o Transport inefficient: roads unpaved
o Business few buyers
 Pull factors: employment, entertainment, accessibility, healthcare, education

5.3 Positive Consequences

 Focus growth on one area
o Make use of limited resources effectively to develop one city than to spread it
out to many smaller towns
o Greater multiplier effect
 Some ‘spread effects’ on other areas eg. suburbanization of Mexico City benefited
surrounding towns
 Channel for modernization due to concentrations of capital accumulation and
circulation
 Trickle down and benefit poorer in-migrants
o Welfare and self-help schemes increased socio-economic opportunities for
poor
o Eg. Cingapura project in Brazil lifted many squatters out of poverty through
self-help schemes, educational grants, literacy courses
 Urban Geography

5.4 Negative Consequences

 Economic
o Backwash effect and dual economy effect
 Capital locked and circulated inside primate city causing backwash
effect to be too strong for any trickle-down
 Smaller towns not given ample opportunities to grow, subsidiary to
primate city and heavily dependent on it
o Unemployment / underemployment
 Eg. Jakarta’s unemployment rate rose by 14% per annum in 2000s
 Most jobs lowly paid – exploitation of cheap labour
 Underutilized labour disguise full magnitude of unemployment
 Limited labour demands due to advent of machinery
 Dependent on informal sectors: no welfare payments / social security
 Child labour: no time to go to school – drop out – low level of
education – no money (vicious cycle of poverty)
 Environment
o Congestion: more vehicles than roads
o Pollution and waste management
 No sewage system
 Eg. Mexico City’s sewage system flows into open rivers to farming
areas – lead content of food and vegetables 2x that of US and high
enough to impair mental and physical development of newborns
 Social
o Inadequate access to basic amenities
 Poor hygiene and sanitary conditions
 Eg. <40% of Jakarta’s population has access to running water
o Housing problems
 Parachute settlements: on marginal land / dumping ground
o Segregation: invasion of areas once occupied by rich
o Hunger: malnutrition and food shortages
 Poor spend up to 80% of income on food and food prices rising
o High infant mortality rate eg. Dhaka IMR of 104 per thousand
o Deteriorating quality of life: misery and disrupted family life
 Political
o Severe unequal income distribution
o Economy vulnerable, hinders social and human development, cause of
political division
 Eg. Thailand’s rural poor and their complaints to the government of
their appalling conditions led to demonstrations in Bangkok
 Urban Geography

5.5 What Has Been Done

 Controlling urban development
o Bangkok: laissez-faire: government neither plans nor controls
o Cairo: government tries to keep urban sprawl from encroaching into farms
 October Six established to accommodate migrants but highly
inaccessible since poor have no cars
 Providing basic amenities
o Eg. Mexico City: trucks bring water to people who live in places without
water, gives ownership of land to illegal migrants
 Provide housing
o Eg. Mexico City: self-help schemes to set up low-cost homes
 Reduce congestion
o Eg. Mexico City: limit car usage by forbidding each car from use on one day of
the week
 Cars are colour-coded but people simply buy more cars
 Emission controls
 Managing waste
o Eg. Mexico City: organizes collection of trash but does not treat it, build
tunnels instead of open sewers
 Alleviating food shortages
o Grow more food in cities eg. China but in South Africa most food grown in
cities is stolen

5.6 Alternative Viewpoint to Primate Cities

 Can solve a lot of global problems
 Informal economy
o Provides 60% of employment in LDCs
o Enterprising areas: people create their own jobs
o Eg. 1/6 of India’s GDP from Mumbai
 Wealth creators
o Billions climbing out of poverty
o Women have opportunities: no gender discrimination
 Urban Geography

Chapter 6: Myrdal’s Cumulative Causation Model

6.1 Stage 1: Initial Growth

 1 area of concentrated growth in terms of commerce, trade, finance
 Strategic geographical point (eg. port) with high accessibility
 City grows economically and gains a built-in momentum of growth
o More jobs – more spending – higher standard of living – attracts investments
 Massive rural-urban migration, leading to higher crucial mass for employment,
consumption and exchange
 Eg. Bangkok in early 1900s

6.2 Stage 2: Backwash Effect

 Over-concentration of socio-economic activities at the expense of other cities
 Surrounding towns cannot compete
 Eg. Bangkok in the 70s to present

6.3 Stage 3: Spread Effects

 Diseconomies of scale sets in, causing main city’s wealth to trickle down to
surrounding cities
 Surrounding towns now benefit in terms of population redistribution, economic
opportunities
 Suburbanization and counter-urbanization balance out initial uneven distribution
 Eg. LA, London

6.4 Limitations
 Assumes last stage will occur but does not say when
o Dependent on time or government
o Role of government: build infrastructure out of cities, provide housing in
outskirts

6.5 Usefulness
 How primate cities form
 Why over-urbanization exists in cities
 Causes of large, mega cities
 Rich / poor divide in urban areas
 Urban Geography

Chapter 7: Global City / World City

7.1 General Idea

 Global cities have a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through more than just
socio-economic means, with influence in terms of culture or politics
 ‘Big four’ world cities: London, New York City, Paris and Tokyo
 Goal of building a ‘world-class’ city obsession with governments of some mid-sized
cities like Singapore

7.2 Characteristics and Functions

 International first-name familiarity
 International financial institutions that have considerable influence over world
economy eg. New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
 Advanced communications infrastructure that modern TNCs rely on
 World-renowned cultural institutions (museums, universities) eg. Harvard
 Lively cultural scene eg. Toronto International Film Festival
 Several powerful and influential media outlets eg. New York Times
 Strong sporting community (talents and facilities) eg. 2012 Olympics hosted in
London
 Active influence on and participation in international events and world affairs eg. UN
 Advanced transportation system eg. major international airlines
 Several international cultures and communities eg. Chinatown, Little Italy

7.3 Origin*
 Agricultural Revolution: process of people grouping together to carry out businesses
 Rebirth of cities in Europe during 16th century as capitalism led to development of
commercial cities like London
 Industrial revolution accelerated urbanization over the world
 1950s: acceleration of globalization process with rapid growth in world trade and
investment
 20th century: rapid growth in world’s population with the emergence of many large
cities
 1970s: world cities were emerging as globalization began to have significant effect on
urban areas

7.4 Other Issues*

 Global cities are so connected to each other that they are disconnected from their
national contexts
o Manhattan, London and Tokyo have more in common with each other than
with other cities in their respective countries
o Distinct hierarchy of financial functions, with many lower order activities
being decentralized
 Urban Geography

o Social polarization of occupational and income structures whereby there is an

absolute growth at both the top and bottom ends of the distribution and
decline in the middle
o Decline in traditional manufacturing and growth of low skilled service jobs

Chapter 8: Bid Rent Theory

8.1 General Idea

 Relationship between land use and proximity to CBD
 Most valuable and profitable land use nearest to CBD, based on ability to bid for
office space

8.2 Peak Land Value Intersection (PLVI)

 Intersection of streets in the CBD where land is the most expensive
 Higher the accessibility, higher the land value
o Changes in accessibility due to private transport as opposed to public
transport explains why areas on edge of town are often more accessible than
inner areas
o Eg. New York in mid-1920s: peak land values $22000 per foot of street
frontage on Broadway while half a mile away, land values were less than
$3000 per foot

8.3 Application to Singapore

 Shenton Way (finance), Orchard Road (retail), North Bridge Road (light
manufacturing), Redhill (lower income residential), Bukit Timah (higher income
residential), Tuas (heavy manufacturing)

8.4 Strengths of Theory

 Explains why financial and commercial activities are always concentrated in most
accessible and central parts of city as they can afford to bid for the highest rents
 Explains why industrial activities further away: no need to bid for most central place
 Explains housing density
o People who cannot afford to commute have to live near to CBD where due to
higher land values, they can only obtain small plots
o People who can afford to commute are able to live nearer the city boundary
where due to lower land values, they can buy much larger plots of land

8.5 Criticisms of Theory

 Cannot explain exceptions
o Residential uses found within CBD
 Urban village: small residential area within city usually with a unique
identity
 Eg. Chinatown
 Urban Geography

 Not paying market rate rentals

 Rent controls (by law cannot increase rent)
 Rent subsidy
 Own the land
o Financial activities in suburbs
 Assumes monocentric perception
o Reality: polycentrism
 Eg. Shenton Way and Orchard
 Usually peaks occur at intersecting transport routes
 Multi-nuclei effect, with each growth pole having its own bid-rent
curve
 Constrained by time, imperfect information and imperfect competition
 Land and property markets constrained by regulatory and fiscal controls by
intervention of special interest groups like preservationists and tenants’ associations
 Lack of dynamic component

8.6 Factors Affecting Property Values

 Not everything can be explained by economic reasons
 Proximity to utility clusters: shopping centres, MRT, good schools
 Proximity to CBD
 Orientation: NS more expensive because there is no sun
 Height
 Environmental consideration: pollution eg. highest concentration of dengue cases in
the east
 Superstition: feng shui
 Perception of place
 View
 Urban Geography

Chapter 9: CBD Dynamics

9.1 General Idea

 Confluence of activities with the highest accessibility
 Distinctive area housed within the central area which possesses a specific
concentration of administrative, financial and political functions
 Greatest challenge: not to overdevelop at the expense of preserving history and
heritage
 CBD changes with time: assimilation zone (direction CBD moving towards) and
discard zone (direction from which CBD is moving away)

9.2 Application
 US
o CBD: downtown Manhattan (financial district)
o Zone of transition: Harlem, Bronx (older residential area)
o City: New York City
 Singapore
o 1st CBD: Shenton Way
o 2nd CBD: Suntec / Marina area
o Suburban CBDs: Tampines, Woodlands, Jurong East, Seletar

9.3 Functions of the CBD

 Most crucial financial (retail), commercial, political (parliaments, high courts)
functions
o May include residential activities
 Old residential: urban villages, new residential: high-end condos
o Specialist retailing activities: attract customers off the street and generally
occupy ground floor of buildings which face main thoroughfare
 Attracts socio-economic consumption, exchange and production due to advantages
reaped from agglomeration economies as a result of clustering of essential activities
o Reputation of area for a particular activity ensure its continued importance
 Socio-cultural exchange: large mix of people from various walks of life
o Eg. many office people from different nationalities congregate at Boat Quay
for social interaction and business networking

9.4 Parts of CBD

 Inner core: intensive land use (upward extensions), high rental values, high value
commercial functions
 Outer core: suburbs
o New retail centres established lead to disappearance of small shops
o Viability of small shops threatened by increased sales of food and other
convenience goods on petrol station forecourts (extensive opening hours –
24h)
 Urban Geography

 Zone of transition: some residential areas, may include slums, some industrial usage
o Mixed zone of old and newer land use, with areas of discard

9.5 Re-imaging of the CBD

 CBD expansion: single to multiple CBDs
o City grows and possible urban sprawl – demand for more services – need to
have secondary CBDs to cater to such growing demands
o Spread out growth so that populations to prevent overdevelopment
o If monocentric, rents will soar
o Eg. Downtown at Marina Bay
 Urban renewal / redevelopment
o Demolish buildings which have lost its commercial value and build new ones
o Building of large undercover shopping precincts and redesigning of the street
layout to segregate pedestrian and vehicle flows
o Popular strategy in Singapore due to space constraints, but many old and
historic buildings have to give way to modernity
o Eg. North/ South Bridge areas in Singapore
 Gentrification (refer to Chapter 4)
 12 to 24h CBD
o Increase vibrancy in city
o Increase economic activities after office hours eg. Manchester 2005: 20% of
weekly takings made between 6pm to 8pm
o Creating corridors of activities
 Gentrification
 Itinerant markets: bazaars, food stalls that come to life only in evening
but depends on draw value of such activities
o Creation of integrated hubs of activity
 Plethora of retail, commercial, tourism and leisure-based activities
 Draw localized people (those working within CBD), local people,
tourists for consumption and leisure
o Problems
 Youth culture linked to crime, noise and anti-social behaviour
 Violent behaviour and disorder in and around pubs and clubs on
weekend nights – public health, criminal justice and urban
management problem
 Cleaning up of large quantities of litter from night-time economy
 Accessibility and security issues: availability of buses, safety of car
parks
 Good urban design
o Enhance the way the city functions and the way we feel about the city
o Eg. Paris: winding medieval streets and spectacular tree-lined boulevards and
sidewalk cafes
 Urban Geography

o Eg. Singapore’s lighting plan at Marina Centre, Singapore River corridor and
Raffles Place to enhance Singapore’s unique features as a tropical metropolis
and garden city
 Adaptive reuse
o Schools are significant social landmarks which serve as physical reminders for
many generations of old students
o Some adapted to house civic and cultural institutions or entertainment
facilities
o Serve as tangible anchors and reminders of development of educational
system and the evolution of the school building types in pre and post-war
years
 Eg. 2009: old Victoria School restored and refurbished to house
People’s Association

9.6 Problems in CBD

 Lack of space and sites: vertical zoning – shops occupy ground floors, offices occupy
upper floors
 High cost of land: need multi-storey development
 Congestion and pollution
o Public transport concentrated: convergence of bus routes
o Traffic restrictions: pedestrianization reduced access for cars since 1960s
o Results in reduced accessibility
o But more widespread car ownership increased customer mobility and
favoured out-of-town shopping and service expansion, increasing dispersion
of population towards suburbs
 Planning restrictions and strict government control
 Overdispersion
o Removal of too many job opportunities to outer suburbs
o Reversal of decentralization policies
 Inner areas being revitalized and derelict industrial sites and wharf
areas redeveloped
 Special Enterprise Zones: subsidies and other inducements to be
offered to attract services and some employment back into the city
 Eg. rundown areas like Don Valley received Regional European funding

9.7 URA Conservation Efforts in Singapore*

 Anything deemed as pollutive or incompatible with the character of heritage areas
will have breached the conservation guidelines put in place to maintain the
ambience of these areas eg. Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam
 Retain and enhance places with sense of history and identity: cons
o Gives us sense of belonging
o Add to charm and character of city by offering variety in landscape
o Visual contrast to high-rise buildings
 Urban Geography

o Preserves authenticity of area

o Turned into trendy creative lifestyle hub sought after by advertising and
design agencies etc.
 Have to maintain a fine line between conservation and economic viability
o Eg. Butterfly House’s partial conservation: preserved particular elements only
but still allowing for development
 By involving stakeholders, conservation guidelines can be made more relevant while
achieving the objectives of conservation

9.8 Singapore – City in a Garden*

 Green spaces make up > 8% of total land area
 Enhance value of surrounding land and help make Marina Bay area distinctive live-
work-play environment on a world stage
o Eg. Hyde Park in London enhanced the aesthetic and economic value of their
surrounding developments
 Tree planting campaign: active tree planting on all roads, vacant plots and new
development sites
 1967: Garden City program launched to green up the whole island and try to make it
into a garden
 Greater emphasis placed on extending greenery to buildings: sky-rise greenery
o Introduced incentives to encourage vertical greening of Singapore
 Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
o Dec 06: launch of $20m incentive fund which private developers could use to
modify their buildings
o 2005: BCA Green Mark scheme rates buildings on their environmental impact
and performance
o All new public buildings, including HDBs, will go green from April 07
o Private sector projects going for the Green Mark more than doubled

9.9 Studentification*
 Growing number of students entering higher education – concentrations of students
in towns and cities across UK have increased
 Economic
o Flexible part-time workforce seeking seasonal / evening employment
o Focus of intellect and ‘brain-gain’ – establishment of innovation and science
parks
o Changes in retail function from small independent and local shops to global
fast-food outlets and café / club / music venues
o Repairs, renovations, extensions – benefits construction and service sector
o Ghost town during holidays: shops and services have to cope with variability
of demand
o Strain on local shops and services due to increased population density
 Social
 Urban Geography

o More ‘cultured’
o Typically have a lot of electronic goods eg. mp3 – prime targets for thieves
o Serious depopulation and outward migration in many inner-city areas
 Environment
o On-street parking pressures
o Noise pollution

Chapter 10: Influences on City Structure

10.1 Social Forces: Invasion and Succession (Filtering) and Rich Repelling from Poor
(Burgess’ Model)
 City based on a single centre that spreads itself concentrically outwards
 1st wave in-migrants settle nearest to the city centre to save on transport costs:
convenience due to jobs
 2nd wave in-migrants settle nearest to centre to save on transport costs, invading the
1st wave in-migrants – 1st wave in-migrants now relatively richer, move out to occupy
next zone
 3rd wave in-migrants settle in – 1st wave in-migrants move even further due to social
repulsion of the richer from the poorer (people are drawn to live near their ethnic
groups)
 Various land use zones formed: poorer inside, richer outside – rich-poor spatial
divide
 Eg. Vancouver
o 80s – 90s: Hong Kongers after Hong Kong was returned to China
o Present day: PRCs and Indians

10.2 Transport (refer to Chapter)

10.3 Growth Poles

 Designated areas of development with the primary purpose of attracting people and
businesses into the area
 Due to state planning eg. Singapore
o Maximize land use in city to spread out growth in city
o High-tech industrial growth pole (Tuas), residential growth pole (Bishan)
 Due to market forces: other cities more organic (natural) eg. London, New York
 Influenced by what kind of growth poles there are, where they are located, how they
are being developed and managed

10.4 Government
 New Town development
 Urban redevelopment eg. URA
 Limited by activities of private market, driven by market forces of demand and
supply – different intensities and levels of ‘planned’ cities
 Urban Geography

 Eg. US suburbanization
o National Defense System of Highway (1956): US government decided to ubild
criss-crossing web of interstate highways to facilitate military transportation
should country ever be attacked led to growth of many suburban towns
 State planning principles
o Concept of Garden City due to over-concretization of cities
o Land use zoning (legislation): synergistic purposes
o Master Plan and Concept Plans (URA): macro, strategic plans that drive entire
planning parameters of the entire city or region, where the planning
parameters cascade down to more localized town plans – for overall
coherence and organization

10.5 Case Study of Singapore

 Jackson Plan (1822): racial segregation, euro-centric
o Segregation of housing zones originally found along racial and social lines
o Situation reversed today: racial mixing encouraged within HDB blocks via HDB
buying and selling rules which have certain % of different races
 Ring concept plan (1971)
o Development of ring of new high-density satellite towns, green spaces,
private housing estates and industrial estates
o First idea of an MRT system linking Jurong and city
o Building of expressway system
 1991 Concept Plan
o To be the first developed city on equatorial belt, with its own identity distinct
from cities in the west
o Decentralization via 4 regional centres, secondary CBDs, gentrification and
conservation, transport connectivity, technological corridor
o Continued reclamation and increased density in housing
o Create more choices, flexibility and identity in urban planning
 2001 Revised Concept Plan
o Based on population scenario of 5.5m
o Land for housing, industry, recreation, infrastructure needs, water catchment
and military uses
o Technical constraints like height constraints imposed by airports
o Further reclamation by another 15%: limit to how much we can reclaim as
Singapore’s shoreline not far from boundaries of neigbours
o Key proposals
 Focus on identity: need to have distinct precinct
 New homes in familiar places
 High-rise city living – a room with a view
 More choices for recreation
 Greater flexibility for businesses
 Global business centre
 Urban Geography

 Extensive rail network

10.6 History
 Colonial cities
o Eg. Jakarta: town square, old government house, port, Chinatown
o Mixed land use and racial segregation, strong government planning
 Architecture, urban design in different racial areas distinctively
different
 Proliferation of slums due to spontaneous growth
 National and cultural identity: Hong Kongers feel culturally
schizophrenic
 Latin American cities
o Eg. Mexico City: central plaza, commercial spine, squatter areas
o Growth of city based on a city centre: central plaza
o Commercial spine: follows major transport route, connecting city with other
parts of the region, surrounded by elite group of city
o Poor residences on city outskirts in makeshift shacks called ‘favelas’

10.7 Other Factors

 Cultural and ethnic grouping
 Topophilia: strong sense of attachment to a place that goes beyond economics or
logical reasoning (aesthetic, emotional or nostalgic) eg .conservation of temple
 Gentrification attraction
o Creative class who want to stay in inner-city because of attraction of night-life
and close proximity to work and leisure
 Urban Geography

Chapter 11: Influences on Urban Structure

11.1 Future Forms of Cities

 Polycentric city
o Fragmented, disjointed, multi-nodal, chaotic, multiple growth poles
o Consists of a number of large, spectacular developments, each with its own
hub of activities
o Not all cities will experience this post-modernization
 Traditional, industrial-based eg. York
 Mix of modernization and post-modernization eg. Singapore
 Post-modern city
o Functionalistic to organic and playful eg .Bird Nest Design of Beijing Olympic
Stadium
 Divided city
o Dualism eg. rich-poor divide
o Different quarters
 Gentrified city: new creative class
 Suburban city: new middle class
 Abandoned city: poorest of the poor
 Tenement city: working class
 Wired city
o Influence of technology to create intelligent / digital city
o Link entire cities in order to facilitate communication, exchange and flows of
information and services
o Eg. Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo top 3 digital cities
 Cultural city
o Cultural melting pots eg. London, Barcelona for the sake of entertaining
people
 Sustainable city
o Eco-city, climate change, recycling, pedestrianization, green transport
o Green politics: because politicians want to be green to attract votes
o Strongest and forefront agenda amongst urban planners because of the
heavy polluting effects of large cities on a worldwide scale
o Sustainable development: socio-ecological process characterized by
fulfillment of human needs while maintaining or increasing the quality of
natural environment indefinitely
o ‘Agenda 21’ initiative created and agreed upon by governments in the
developed world to map out how future cities should grow and bemanaged
in light of environmental sustainability
 Urban Geography

11.2 Case Study of Australia

 If Australia’s cities continue to grow as urban sprawl, in just 10-15 years, air pollution
in cities will increase as much as 70% compared to 1990 levels
 Cars biggest cause of air pollution
o Shun public transport, impacting city’s air quality and exposing population to
harmful pollutants
 Urban land use and transportation patterns poorly integrated
 Cost of air pollution
o Human health cost $3b and $5.3b every year
o Damage to materials, property and buildings: $3b - $5b, ~1% of GDP
 Future scenarios
o Most people have come to accept urban sprawl and driving long distances
but this might change due to
 Threat of oil supply and associated price increases
 Enhanced greenhouse effect
 Threat to human health caused by poor air quality
o Role of construction industry
 Ecological footprint concept: minimize energy consumption and
emissions in the construction, operation and maintenance of
buildings
o Public education
 More aware of air pollution and the impact private transport usage
has on the air
 Public transport patronage increased by 45%, 28% decrease in
exposure to photochemical smog
 Urban Geography

Chapter 12: Responses to Urbanization

12.1 Clearing of Slums

 LDCs eg. 1960s Bukit Ho Swee

12.2 Settlement Relocation

 Cheap housing: HDB flats
 Self-help housing schemes
o Eg. Bustee redevelopment in Calcutta, Mexico City
o Squatters take over responsibility of building simple housing for themselves
o Migrants first taught basic construction skills (eg. laying of bricks) then given
materials to build homes themselves
o Affordable and give migrants a sense of ownership
o But governments do not take this as their top priority, lack of resolve and
complex socio-political problems: collusion, corruption prevent poorest from
benefiting
 Eg. Manila’s public housing policies plagued by corruption during
Marcos’ regime

12.3 New Town Creation

 Creation of growth poles that are relatively self-sufficient in basic social amenities
and employment opportunities
 Affordable public housing to re-house populations from congested city centres as
part of decentralization, check urban sprawl
 Regenerate declining, peripheral regions: serve as magnet for future growth
 Demographic bias: middle class, attracts younger groups
o Eg. Anaheim, California, US planned communities: belief that planning should
be carried out in an orderly fashion with concern for community values
 Clean, green, low density feel
o Eg. Pasir Ris, Seng Kang, Punggol, Tampines
o Garden City concept
 1st Garden City: Letchworth UK: combined both rural and urban
elements
 Issues / Challenges
o Lack character / charm / individuality: poorly-designed in terms of character,
monolithic architecture and poor workmanship
o Private capital vs. public capital
 Eg. Toyota town in Tokyo built by Toyota
 Increasing privatization of public housing can be potential cause of
homelessness
 UK: people now encouraged to buy their own homes – housing
affordability problem
 Eg. subsidized public housing: tower blocks in Manchester, Sheffield
 Urban Geography

 Not successful because poorly maintained

 Local council runs the area. Poor people pay low council rates.
Cannot maintain buildings well because not rich.
 Social problems because poor people live her. Stigma
 UK people prefer low-rise buildings
 So government decided to build low-rise, low-density buildings
which became more acceptable by public
o LDCs trying to create new towns in inner city areas to ease congestion
 BLISS housing schemes in Manila: public transport inefficient: high
rents, rather far away from city centre
 Sao Paulo’s Cingapura public housing: rather successful in re-housing
the poor, but not all poor can afford it
o Design, nature and accessibility of new towns direct impact over success /
failure
 More successful: affordable, fully backed by government, accessible
to central areas eg. Singapore new towns
 Less successful: still out of reach to masses, one-off projects lacking in
government support (eg. Malaysia does not have agency that
concerns with public housing), inaccessible (eg. October 6th new town
in Cairo)

12.4 Green Belt Creation

 Creation of greenery space to reduce urban sprawl, environmental pollution and
smog
 Legislated in UK eg. East London, Bristol
 But leapfrogging effect can occur
o Urban development went beyond green belt to produce suburbanization and
counter-urbanization effect on rural countryside
 Partially increased land rents in urban area within green belt since urban area now
greatly restricted and cannot expand so easily
 Concept of green belt extended in Singapore to include the various water catchment
areas (Seletar, Pierce), national parks (botanic)

12.5 Urban Renewal and Gentrification (refer to Chapter 4 and 9)

12.6 Case Study of New Town Development in Singapore

 Phase 1: 1900-1950: slums, squatters, and Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT)
o Rapid population growth due to high immigration and natural increase
o Lack of stringent building laws to regulate town planning: haphazard and
improper growth: slums and squatters
o Set up SIT in 1927 to solve inadequate housing problem based on gradual
decentralization radiating from central area
o Built towns of Tiong Bahru, Queenstown: neighbourhood concept
 Urban Geography

o Problems
 Ineffective because housed only 20% of nation’s total requirements
 Lack adequate funds, shortage of experienced professionals,
burdened with building other infrastructure, post WWII baby boom
 Phase 2: 1960-80: HDB and new towns
o Dissolution of SIT and emergence of HDB in 1960
o Solve housing problems quickly and affordably
o Cheap and quick flats built: Bukit Ho Swee (1962)
 Phase 3: 80s onwards: continued decentralization via ring concept
o Focus more on quality
 Characteristics
o Spatial: high density, high-rise, monolithic design in older towns but newer
ones have more character, gradual decentralization
o Social: self-sufficiency concept, efficient transport infrastructure
o Economic: relatively cheap and affordable
 Success
o Solved housing problems effectively in 20 years, ~85% population
o Full legal power, full government backing, large budget

12.7 Case Study of Metro Manila, Philippines

 Poor health and environment
o Eg. mortality rates for infants 3x higher in slums than rest of city
 Infrastructure and social services
o Large proportion use public transport and paratransit
o Land prices risen by 100-300$, especially in prime district areas
o 2m squatters inhabit 415 sites
o Waste disposal: ~6000 tons of waste generated daily. 85% collected and
properly disposed at 2 sanitary landfills or at open dumpsites, the rest
dumped illegally
 Zonal Improvement Scheme (ZIP)
o Slum upgrading program to improve lives of squatters and slum dwellers in
Manila
o Tondo Slum, Smokey Mountain: slum on gigantic city rubbish dump
o Refurbished into green grass area cleared of squatters and fenced up but
squatter live outside the fences
o Late 90s, housing built but rents too high
 BLISS
o Public flats scheme which houses more middle-income groups because rents
still too high
o Main problem: socio-political: lack of public funds, low priority, lack of
commitment from government
 Urban Geography

Chapter 13: Urban Transport

13.1 General Causes of Transport Problems

 Rapid increase in private car ownership: 1/3 households >1 car
 Increased reliance on private cars
o USA: 90% of adults have driving license because cost of ownership low, cost
of petrol cheaper since American companies priority buying of fuel at
cheaper prices
o Low levels of walking and public transport use
o Low levels of vehicle occupancy
o More complex commuting-to-work patterns: suburb-suburb, city-rural etc
 Population growth within cities: cannot afford to travel on public transport
 Higher demand for commuting
o More people are working: feminization of labour market
o Increasing affluence – more tourism

13.2 Specific Causes of Transport Problems in LDC Cities

 Very rapid population growth within cities
 Poor road infrastructure due to
o Corruption
o Delay in building mass transit systems: Jakarta just started
o Costly fares: usually ask private sector to build – fares set by private firms
thus more expensive – people cannot afford – low usage
 Greater preference for door-to-door service
o Spatial inefficiency because unplanned urban structures
o Leads to massive congestion because high volume of mixed traffic with
varying speeds
 Lax vehicle emission controls
o Poorer vehicle maintenance and older engines more pollutive
o Use of cheaper fuel eg. low-grade diesel eg. Bangkok changed to natural gas
so there’s cleaner air

13.3 Specific Causes of Transport Problems in DC Cities

 Over-reliance on cars leads to rush hour traffic problems eg. CTE in Singapore most
congested highway because it is the only major route from north to south
 Inconvenience of public transport and usage
o Crowding and discomfort, especially peak hours
o Eg. Australia: no buses / low frequency of buses
 Higher demand for bigger engines – bigger petrol consumption and take up more
space on road eg. American’s love affair with SUVs (sports utility vehicles)
 Urban Geography

13.4 Management of Transport Problems

 Transport system measures
o Road pricing
 Eg. Toll payment to enter major cities in Malaysia, ERP
 Discriminate against lower-income car owners
 Political opposition from motoring lobby: Automobile Associate of
Singapore tried to oppose this
 Unpopular
 High political costs for authorities to implement
 Discriminate against residents living in CBD
o Auto restraint
 Encourage public transport during peak hours eg. bus-only lanes
 Public transport must be efficient in the first place
 Takes up a lane, so may cause more congestion
 Enforcing rule eg. taxi drivers still drive in to pick up
passengers in the bus lane
 Increase cost of using cars in cities eg. parking costs
 Park and Ride schemes eg. US
 Ban cars from city centre eg. Mexico city: cars banned on different
days but people buy more cars
 Pedestrainization
o Ride sharing
 Discourage solo drivers in cars
 Successful van-pooling schemes provided by employer for employees
 Eg. Singapore ask factories to provide transport because may
be located in secluded areas
 US more successful than Singapore because Singaporeans do
not like strangers in their cars
 Non-transport initiatives
o Promote alternative work schedules
 Flexi hours eg. 10.30am-6.30pm instead of 9-5
 Singapore students start school earlier to spread out traffic
because public transport cannot take demand
 Some impact on families – cannot leave house together
 Work from home using IT
 Main problem: do not trust employee to work from home
 Trying to push Singapore to become and intelligent city
 Decentralize office functions from CBD to suburban eg. bank office
functions
o Integrated urban planning
 Multi-modal: plan in such a way that one mode of transport links to
another
 Urban Geography

 Singapore can because we have one-tier government, but in Bangkok

there are jurisdiction problems
 Singapore built MRT lines first eg. Woodleigh then wait for demand to
increase, but other cities wait for demand then start supplying
 Singapore has EZ link card that can be used for bus and MRT, but
Bangkok has 2 MRT lines that are not integrated (need 2 cards)
 Implementation of laws vs. enforcing them

13.5 Case Study of Urban Transport in Asia

 Characteristics
o High reliance on road public transport, especially buses eg. in Seoul, share of
bus services remains higher than half
o Well-developed public transport systems to provide almost door-to-door
service
o Mixed transport by diverse transport modes eg. Bangkok: variety of transport
modes differ in travel behaviour – buses, minibuses, taxis
 Solutions
o Transport policies
 Mass transit systems
 Easy transfer between new rail transit and existing public transport
 COE, ERP, congestion pricing
 Park-and-ride
o Emission control
 Asian countries 5-10 years behind those in Europe
 Thailand and Malaysia taken lead to introduce restrictions,
strengthened vehicle inspection programs
 Public transport largely relies on buses using low-quality fuels – futher
air pollution
 Eg. China: GECAM: water diesel emulsion with additives – lower
emissions compared with ordinary diesel fuels
 Conclusion
o Policies more effective if impact of other urban activities and land use taken
into account eg. Singapore

13.6 Case Study of Urban Transport in North America

 Cars seen as symbol of status, freedom and prestige
 Solutions
o Controlling automobile usage
 Dissuasion but impeded by regulations and physical planning eg.
parking spaces
 Prohibition of downtown circulation: downtown area closed to
automobile circulation during the day but deliveries permitted at
 Urban Geography

night – to protect character and physical infrastructure of historical

city
 Tolls but drivers willing to bear additional cost
o Controlling congestion
 Traffic signal synchronization: tuning traffic signals to time and
direction of traffic flows
 Incident management: making sure vehicles involved in accidents /
failures are removed as soon as possible
 HOV lanes (high occupancy vehicle): exclusive access to less
congested lane
 Challenges
o Greater decentralization makes it more difficult and expensive to serve urban
areas with public transit
o Cities are dynamic – travel patterns may change – transit system built for
servicing specific pattern may eventually face spatial obsolescence
o Competition: public service being offered outpaced by convenience of
automobile

Chapter 14: Inner City Decay

14.1 General Idea

 Inner city: part of city found outside CBD
 Deterioration of housing, infrastructure and various amenities of inner urban area
resulting from congestion, pollution, neglect and ageing, lowering quality and
standard of living
 Rise of slums (legal) and squatters (illegal)

14.2 Causes
 Economic
o Decline and closure of manufacturing industries in EMDCs
o Eg. 1960s onwards, many manufacturing based cities in UK like Liverpool
suffered due to closure of factories – deindustrialization
 Physical
o Age and type of housing: many buildings built before industrial revolution –
densely-packed – age – deteriorate and decay, lack modern amenities
o Poor urban planning: tower blocks in UK like Hulme Estate did not meet social
needs of Britons
o Overcrowding, congestion and pollution
 Socio-cultural
o Cycle of poverty and social disorder: inhabited by ethnic minorities
 Discriminated from job market because language barrier, skin colour,
lack of skills
 Crime and social disintegration
 Urban Geography

o Rise of out-of-town shopping centres and interstate highways causing

hollowing out
 Urban Geography

14.3 Inner City Decay in the DCs

 Harlem, Bronx
o Some parts experiencing gentrification, forcing the poor to move out
o Increasingly more yuppies from Manhattan are moving in
 Causes
o Industrial decline due to NIDL
o Age, overcrowding, decay
o Cycle of poverty
o Suburbanization and out-of-town shopping centres
 Singapore tries to prevent hollowing out. Demand for CBD area high
because dependent on international economy. Not so much of a
problem because as people move out, people move in too.
 Kill small businesses – worsen problem. Mum-and-Pap businesses
close
 Results in urban dualities: race, class, space

14.4 Inner City Decay in the LDCs

 Rio de Janerio, Brazil
o Massive rural-urban migration to Sao Paulo
o Poor live on slopes because flat land is only available at a premium for rich
 Mass movement and flimsy buildings – high-risk areas
 Houses not made of concrete – mud houses
o Government no power to resettle people
 Smokey Mountain, Tondo, Manila
o Smoke from smouldering rubbish. Rubbish dump flammable due to release of
methane
o High rural-urban migration
o Livelihood: salvaging
o Land for residential purposes at premium – poor just live wherever they can
find space. Poorest live in cemeteries.
 Issues
o Importance of informal sector (refer to Chapter 5)
o Traditional images of crime, violence
o Reveals social divide: rich / poor live close to each other because slums very
established
o Gentrification and renewal limited
 City has grown so much
 Slum land owned by private sector, pockets sold off to build condos.
Government / private sector difficult to enforce ownership. People
rater die than move because psychological attachment to land.
 Urban Geography

 Solutions
o Clearing of slums and squatters eg. in Jakarta, lots of squatters cleared. Poor
living far away from CBD but does not really solve problem because no
alternative housing. Must clear and relocate.
o Settlement relocation
 Cheap housing
 Cannot extend houses, no pets, no backyard. So people refuse
to move. Government usually does not ensure that such
houses are maintained well.
 Housing schemes
 Some areas specially chosen to be upgraded for political
reasons – vested interest to secure votes
 Forced resettlement eg. Indonesia’s Transmigration Program: not
great success because failure of government to provide enough
amenities for rural folks living in resettled areas
 Self-help housing schemes (refer to Chapter 12)
o New town creation (refer to Chapter 12)
o Gentrification and urban renewal (refer to Chapters 4 and 9)
o Check population growth
o Basic problem of slums is not how to eradicate them, but how to make them
more livable
 Improve economic conditions in an area: job agencies, provide
employment – advertising job vacancies, reskilling, give them address,
provide transport from where they live to work