The Western World Daily Readings on Geography Chapter 9 Urban Geography

CHAPTER Urban Geography Concepts and Terminology Created by from Noun Urban geography is the study of cities . examine the factors that lead to the location and relative size of cities , and also the complex processes that shape the nature of individual urban areas . THE HISTORY OF Humans took their first step toward urbanization over years ago with the development of agriculture . As the domestication of plants and animals grew more and more sophisticated , a food surplus began to develop in some societies . This surplus allowed a few members of these societies to step away from agriculture and develop specialized occupations . The first were likely political and religious leaders , soldiers , artisans , merchants , and scholars . Whatever their occupations , they began to live in concentrated settlements around 4000 , and the first cities were born . and still is ) a dense settlement of people working in specialized occupations . The rural area surrounding a city is known as its hinterland . have long been focused on the primary 51

52 JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL agriculture , timber , mining , and other forms of raw materials extraction . The hinterland supplied these raw materials to the city , and the city provided goods and services for its hinterland . Over time , cities grew larger and more complex , as civilizations linked multiple cities and their to form larger states and empires . Since the dawn of urbanization , cities have evolved into centers of trade , invention , commerce , education , politics , religion , and culture . Still , for most of human history , the bulk of labor was needed in the primary sector , so the vast majority of humans remained rural . As late as 1800 , fewer than of humans lived in cities . A century later , the global urbanization rate was still under 20 . But the process that would create an urban world was well underway . The Industrial Revolution had two profound impacts on urbanization rates . The first was the mechanization of agriculture , which slowly reduced the need for labor in rural areas . The second was the rise of the factory . It has always made good economic sense for factories to cluster together , which means that factories were best suited for large urban areas . Urbanization accompanied industrialization throughout the world . The industrialization ofthe United States was in full swing by 1920 , when its urban dwellers first accounted for more than half the population . Since then , the labor market has increasingly shifted from manufacturing to services and information , but are also primarily located in cities . At the same time , jobs in the primary sector , such as agriculture , have continued to dwindle , furthering migration . By 2010 , the population was more than 80 urban . The rest of the world has followed the same trend . By the close of the century , the world was nearly half . In 2007 , for the first time in human history , more people worldwide lived in cities than in rural areas . Since more developed economies have in manufacturing , service , and information sectors , they tend to have more populations . The five countries with the highest standards of living ( according to the Human Development Index ) are , Australia , Switzerland , Denmark , and the Netherlands . These countries are , on average , about 84 urban . Less developed economies tend to feature in the primary sector , and are thus more rural . The five poorest countries on earth are , the Central African Republic , Chad , and . These countries are , on average , only about 23 urban . Even though less developed countries tend to be less urban , some ofthe fastest growing cities are found in the developing world . This is because nearly all economies on earth are seeing a decline in jobs in the primary sector , and because the most rapid population growth is happening in developing countries . Two cities in Africa illustrate this rapid trend . in the Democratic Republic of Congo , was home people in 1960 . By 2000 , its population had swelled to million . Over the next decade , the population nearly doubled , to million . had a population of in 1950 . By 1960 , the population had quadrupled to million . In 2000 , the population stood at 11 million .

URBAN GEOGRAPHY 53 URBAN REGIONS A city is as an area of dense settlement that falls within legally defined municipal boundaries . Cities are often surrounded by suburbs . Suburbs are generally defined as smaller municipalities and settlements of medium population density that are adjacent to a large city , and part of its economic market . Some suburbs are primarily residential . Such bedroom communities are home to those who commute to work in the city or in another suburb . Some suburbs , called edge cities , are more economically complex . They are usually relatively new developments , and contain residential areas , but also the same kinds of economic landscapes traditionally associated with urban centers , such as office buildings , shopping and entertainment districts , and even factories . A metropolitan area , or metro area is the urban region occupied by a large city and its suburbs . A metropolitan conurbation ( also known as a metropolitan agglomeration ) is an area where two or more metropolitan areas grow large enough to overlap one another . Examples of prominent metropolitan in the United States include the overlapping metro areas of New York and Newark Washington and Baltimore Boston and Providence and San Francisco , and Oakland . A megalopolis is an urban region where several metropolitan areas and form a large , nearly continuous urban region . One example of a North American megalopolis is found along the lower Great Lakes . Extending roughly from Milwaukee to Buffalo , it includes such metropolitan areas as Chicago , Detroit , Windsor , Cleveland , and Pittsburgh . Another megalopolis is located in the American Northeast . Sometimes referred to as , it extends from Boston to Washington , and includes such metro areas as New York , Baltimore , Philadelphia , and Providence . Chicago Photo by Pedro on . SITE AND SITUATION A city location and relative size are often determined by its site and situation . A city site refers to the properties of its physical environment . A city situation refers to its spatial relationship to other places . Examples of the importance of both site and situation can be found in the northeastern United States . Four of the largest cities in that region New York , Philadelphia , Boston , and Baltimore are located on large harbors . These excellent harbor sites stimulated economic activity that enabled these cities to become important commercial and transportation centers . But of all of them , New York had the best situation . Located at the mouth of the Hudson River , New York had easy access to upstate New York and , with the completion of the Canal , the Great Lakes . New situation enabled it to tap into the growing economy of the Midwest . Its situational advantage over other east coast cities is the primary reason for its eventual economic and demographic dominance of the region .

54 JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL URBAN FORM A significant focus of urban geography is urban form . This is the examination of the geographic distribution of people , activities , and landscapes that make up a city . A city physical environment may play a large part in shaping its urban form . For example , cities situated in lowlands will often take different forms than those situated in hilly or mountainous areas . The presence of a major river , a lake , or an ocean will also have a significant impact on a city form . History plays a role as well . Cities that have existed for hundreds or even thousands of years will obviously look different from much newer cities . In some cities , newer developments are constructed separately from older parts of the city . In others , some of the newest buildings rise alongside some of the oldest . Cultural patterns will often manifest themselves on the urban landscape , with certain sections of a city bearing the imprint of particular ethnic groups . Politics will also shape urban forms . In Europe , feudal governments , fascist governments , and communist governments all left unique urban imprints , and European empires left their unique colonial imprint on cities all over the world . Population density is one of the most easily detected variations in urban form . Sprawling Phoenix , Arizona , with a population density of about people per square mile , certainly has a different form than Manila , the capital of the Philippines , which is home to more than people per square mile . Probably the most important force that shapes urban form is economics . The heartbeat of a city is found in its trade , commerce , and manufacturing . The distribution of these activities , along with the transportation networks that connect them to one another , and to their customers and workers , are some of the defining characteristics of a city . Likewise , the distribution of wealth , both within and among cities , plays an enormous role in shaping urban form . A wealthy city will , of course , look different from a poor one . Photo A Singapore , a rich city , is almost infamous for its fastidious dedication to tidiness and order . Poorer , would strike many native as being absolute chaos . Of course , many cities are both wealthy and poor , depending on the neighborhood . In some cities , the very rich live right alongside the very poor . In other cities , there are distinct income gradients , with the wealthy living as far away from the poor as possible . Additionally , the typical distribution of income relative to a city center will vary from country to country . In some American metro areas , older industrial cities have fallen on difficult economic times , and are largely dominated by poor or class neighborhoods , while the suburbs have become the domain ofthe wealthy and the middle class . Conversely , in many African cities , wealthy areas are still largely found in the core of the city , while the outskirts of the city are dominated by informal squatter settlements occupied by the very poor . Did You Know ?

The words and are derived from two Greek words meter , meaning mother , and polis , meaning city . The large city at the center of a metropolitan area can be thought of as the metropolis the mother surrounded by her offspring the suburbs .

URBAN GEOGRAPHY 55 CITED AND ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Antoine . 2016 . Phoenix . Generic ( Pedro . 2017 . Chicago Skyline . Generic (