Cities and Urban

Land Use Unit VII

Settlements• Settlement: a permanent collection of

buildings and inhabitants

ORIGINS OF SETTLEMENTS• Religious - graves, churches, temples

• Cultural - schools, libraries

• Political/Military - leader’s house, walls

• Economic - stores, food

TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS• Rural Settlements - agriculture as the predominant occupation.

– Can be Clustered or Dispersed– Clustered Rural Settlements – Grouped settlements in rural areas to

minimize travel – Dispersed Rural Settlements – Isolated farms with enclosed

continuous fields

• Urban settlements - principal industries are secondary and tertiary.

GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE OF SETTLEMENTS

• Geographers are interested in the patterns of settlements and the interrelationship of settlements

• How do the patterns of settlements explain human culture?

Site – Physical characteristics of a city or settingSituation – A city or settings location in relation to other cities or settings.Developed Country (Core) - Those countries with the highest level of technological advancements.Countries with high literacy rates, GNP’s and good health care.Developing Country (Periphery/Semi – Periphery)Those countries with limited use of high technology.Countries with lower literacy rates, GNP’s and poorer health care

Origin of Cities • Cities arise following efficient agriculture use • Food surplus • Agriculture hearths and cities

Historical Rise of Cities

• 3,000-4,000 BC • Iraq, Fertile Crescent • Eridu (Mesopotamia) 3,000 -

4,000 BC• Thebes/Memphis (Nile Valley)

2500 BC• Ugarit/Byblos (Med. Europe)

1500 BC• Ayan (Huan-Ho) 1500 BC• Teotihuacan (Mesoamerica) 200

BC

Ancient World CitiesOldest cities are found in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China

and Indus Valley.Mesopotamia (Jordan/Iraq)

Jericho 10,000 B.C. Ur 3,000 B.C. (Iraq)Walled cities based on agricultural tradeZiggurat (stepped temple)

Ancient Ur in Iraq

Ancient World CitiesOldest cities are found in

Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Indus Valley.

E. MediterraneanAthens 2,500 B.C. 1st city to exceed 100,000 Many cities organized into City-States

Ancient Athens

Historical Rise of Cities

• Rise of Trade and Agriculture create cities in Europe

• Decline of Western Cities during the “Dark Ages” 700’s

• Growth in East and Mesoamerica – Feudal System

Medieval World CitiesAfter collapse of Roman Empire

in 5th Century, Europe’s cities were diminished or abandoned.

European Feudal Cities-Begin in 11th Century -Independent cities formed in exchange for military service to feudal lord. -Improved roads encouraged trade-Dense and compact within defensive walls

Cittadella, Italy

Paris, France

Medieval World Cities

Cittadella, Italy

Cittadella, Italy

Historical Rise of Cities

• Renaissance 1350-1650 • Cities as centers of learning • Europe began to compete with world

cities• Growth of trade

Historical Rise of Cities

• Colonial Period: Renaissance – 19th Cent.• Colonial powers explore earth in search of

plunder • Transform many ancient world cities into

colonial cities – Tenochtitlan = Mexico City

• Growth of European cities = decline of world cities

Historical Rise of Cities

• Industrial Revolution • Growth of cities near manufacturing and

transportation routes • Gateway cities

Historic City Functions

• Cities as location of industry and services

• Cities as centers of social and technological innovation and freedom

• Commercial Centers - Fresno, Venice, New York

• Industrial Cities - Manchester, Detroit, Los Angeles

• Primary Resources - Scotia, Minas Gerais, Nevada City

• Resort Cities - Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, Marseille

• Government / Religious Centers - Monterey, D.C., Brasilia

• Education Centers - Palo Alto, Berkeley

U.S. Urban Growth Stages

Cities and Urban Geography• In 1950 1/3 of

the world lived in a city.

• Today 1/2 of us live in cities and the number is increasing.

Major Cities of the World

Modern World CitiesA high percentage of world’s business is transacted

and political power is concentrated in these cities.– Headquarters of large businesses– Media control centers– Access to political power

London, New York, Tokyo• Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, Brussels,

Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Sao Paulo, and Singapore

Urban Planning Building Better Cities

How to Make a Great City

Famous Planned Cities Canberra, Australia Brasilia, Brazil Washington, D.C. Irvine, CA Seaside, FL Poundbury, England

Smart Growth Pedestrian Friendly Increase Density Mix Ethnic and Income Groups

Largest World Metropolitan Areas

Ten Most Populous TodayRank City Population

1 Tokyo, Japan 28 million2 New York City, United States 20.1 million3 Mexico City, Mexico 18.1 million4 Mumbai, India (Bombay) 18 million5 Sao Paulo, Brazil 17.7 million6 Los Angeles, United States 15.8 million7 Shanghai, China 14.2 million8 Lagos, Nigeria 13.5 million9 Kolkata, India (Calcutta) 12.9 million

10 Buenos Aires, Argentina 12.5 million

Largest World CitiesTen Most Populous in A.D. 19751. Tokyo 19.8 million2. New York 15.9 million3. Shanghai 11.4 million4. México 11.2 million5. São Paulo 9.9 million6. Osaka 9.8 million7. Buenos Aires 9.1 million8. Los Angeles 8.9 million9. Paris 8.9 million10. Beijing 8.5 million

Source: U.N., 2001

* Note that five of these cities are in the Core or more developed world.

Largest World CitiesTen Most Populous by A.D. 20151. Tokyo 28.7 million2. Bombay 27.4 million3. Lagos 24.4 million4. Shanghai 23.4 million5. Jakarta 21.2 million6. São Paulo 20.8 million7. Karachi 20.6 million8. Beijing 19.4 million9. Dhaka, Bangladesh 19.0 million10. México 18.8 million

Source: U.N., 2001

* Note that only one of these cities

is in the Core of the more developed

world!

Urbanization• Urbanization – the process by which the

population of cities grows• 2 Dimensions:

1. Increase in the number of people living in cities

2. Increase in the percentage of people living in cities

Increasing Number of People in Cities

• PEDs have a higher percentage of people in cities, but PINGs have more of the large urban settlements

• Eight of the top ten cities are currently in PINGs

• Top Ten cities ranking

Rapid Growth in PINGs

• Growth of urban areas in PINGs is the reversal of Western Europe…it is not a measure of development

• Where is the growth coming from?– 50% is coming from the countryside– 50% results from high natural increase rates

The Streets of Mumbai

DISTRIBUTION OF CITIES• International Distribution

– Developed countries have a higher population living in urban areas

• Two thirds live in urban areas– Developing countries have the greatest

increases in the number of large urban settlements

• One quarter live in urban areas• Most of the largest cities are in the developing

regions

Percent Urban by Region

Fig. 13-2b: Over 70% of people in MDCs live in urban areas. Although under half of the people in most of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are urban, Latin America and the Middle East have urban percentages comparable to MDCs.

Legal Definition of a City• City – an urban settlement that has been legally

incorporated into an independent, self-governing unit– Elects officials– Can raise taxes– Responsible for providing essential services

• Central city – a city that is surrounded by suburbs

Characteristics of Modern Cities

Large Size• In rural areas – you

know the other inhabitants

• You might be related to them!

• In urban areas – you only know a small percentage of the other inhabitants

High Density• The only way for large numbers of people to

survive in a small area is through specialization

• Each person in an urban area plays a special role to allow the system to function smoothly

• High density causes people to compete for survival in limited space

Specialized Jobs

Social Heterogeneity

• The larger the settlement, the greater the variety of people

• Urban areas provide for more freedom to pursue an unusual profession, sexual orientation, or cultural interest

• Urban residents are more tolerant of diverse social behavior

Urbanized Area• A central city and its contiguous built up

suburbs where population density exceeds 1000 people per square mile

• About 70% of the U.S. population live in urban areas, divided equally between the central city and surrounding areas

Metro Atlanta

St. Louis Metropolitan

Area

Fig. 13-3: The metropolitan area of St. Louis is spread over several counties and two states. It is also a diversified trade center, due to its position on the Mississippi River.

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS

• Megalopolis - – conurbation of a number

of cities blended together without separation

• “The Blob” Lewis Mumford

– SMSA- Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area

Metropolitan Statistical Area

• An MSA includes the following– A central city with a population of at least 50,000– The county within which the city is located– Adjacent counties with a high population density

and a large percentage of residents working in the central city’s county

Overlapping Metropolitan Areas

• A county between two central cities may send commuters in either direction

• Megalopolis – metropolitan areas that overlap

• Bosnywash – the areas from D.C., to New York and Boston form a large complex of cities

Megalopolis

Fig. 13-4: The Boston-Washington corridor extends over 700 km and contains about one-quarter of U.S. population.

US Megapolitan Areas

Skyscrapers

• Why build up?• Why copy Western

model?• Where are the

world’s tallest buildings?

GROWTH OF THE CITY

• Skyscrapers - using vertical space– intensive use of land

• shops at street level– professional offices at higher levels

• Outward Expansion– advent of the automobile & transportation routes– decline of public transport

URBAN PATTERNS• City Center

– best known area, most visually distinctive

• San Francisco, London– original site of settlement

• Central Business District (CBD)– retail & office space– accessible– often a focal point with

skyscrapers– specialized stores for the office

workers

CBD, Chicago

URBAN PATTERNS• Zones in Transition

– mixed use with light industry– transition from business to residential– older neighborhoods (slums)

• home to ethnic groups not culturally integrated• ghettos vs. ethnic neighborhood

• Suburbs– residential– nodes of retail services

OUTWARD EXPANSION)• Squatter Settlements - illegally erected

shacks, cardboard structures and tents, due to rapid growth in cities of developing countries

• De-urbanization of the City – suburbanism - legally independent cities– cluster cities– rural areas- preferable to urban lifestyle– telecommuting - economic activity from a

distance

Consequences of Rapid Growth

• Large numbers of people working in informal sector of the economy.

• Unhealthy living conditions and high sickness and mortality rate in squatter settlement.

• Development of strong anti-govt. or anti-authority political parties or branches of political parties.

• Development of gangs, mafias, or other non-legal authority systems in the squatter settlements that use violence to enforce their rule.

• Increased police corruption.

Consequences of Rapid Growth• Increased soil erosion on hillsides as existing vegetation is

removed for housing.

• Increased water pollution resulting from lack of sanitary facilities in squatter settlements.

• Decreased air quality resulting from fires used for cooking and heating in settlements.

• Social and health issues, such as increased drug use, limited access to fresh water, children not attending school.

• Strain on infrastructure, illegal access to electricity out of necessity.

SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS

Squatter/Shanty Towns • Every South American city has them – usually on the edge of town outside the ring road, often on steep slopes or along river corridors subject to periodic flooding.

• So common are the squatter areas that almost every country in South America has its own term for them – favelas, villas miserias, pueblos jóvenes, cerros and quebradas, and so forth.

• Depending on the country and city, shanties may contain more than half of the urban population, although 20-30% is a more common figure.

• In some situations, rapid growth of cities has led to shanties filling in underutilized space (for example steep unstable slopes) inside the sprawling metropolises, creating stark juxtapositions.

Squatter settlements – Highly Variable Zones

• They are characterized more by the fact that the land they occupy has no title – the communities are squatting on (usually) public or ejidal lands – than the nature of the dwellings.

• Depending on age, they can range from sprawling collections of hastily constructed shacks of scavenged materials to more orderly, multi-room brick or cement panel buildings, often with rebar or wood scaffolding sticking out of a flat roof - evidence of permanency, or at least ambitions of such.

Changing Attitudes• Population growth has overwhelmed most South American cities and

shanty towns are obvious demonstrations of this.• In the 1960s and 70s, when officials had not yet accepted the

ultimate, even necessary reality of the shanty town, they were seen as failures and blights and were frequently eradicated with or without efforts to replace them with public housing complexes financed, all to frequently, by foreign loans.

• The elite viewed them with disdain and fear, imagining them to be soul-less hovels devoid of virtues and without community.

• Frequently, we confuse economic poverty with poverty of spirit, absence of dignity and other redeeming social virtues and values.

• Frequently, the opposite is true and gradually the shanty town has been looked at in a more positive light in terms of its societal role and the lives of its inhabitants, although it is still of great concern from the perspective of securing material quality of life and access to the key services enjoyed by formal settlements.

Characteristics of Shantytowns

• Population densities are high, families living in close proximity to each other on small parcels of land.

• Privacy is very limited, with minimal separation between households in both a geographical and physical sense.

• Basic services are often absent: especially garbage collection, sanitary sewer service, telephone and piped potable water supply, although basic electricity service might be provided (often with many illegal connections).

• Roads are usually unpaved, with no formal surface drainage to conduct surface runoff safely off the roads and down hillsides, leading to extensive erosion.

• Garbage is usually burned in oil drums or pits and open-air defecation is common, thus development projects frequently promote pit-latrine projects in shanty towns.

Squatter settlements - Change Over Time

• In the beginning, amenities are limited with perhaps a local front-room store (pulperia) selling basic items in a particular vecino (neighborhood) and many street-vendors and hawkers will be present selling food items and/or anything that can be carried or pushed up the potholed and muddy streets.

• Depending on the age of the settlement, schools may be absent although as time goes by and the shanty upgrades to greater permanency and substance, such things as churches, schools, police stations, health clinics and public transport nodes will become established.

• Prior to this maturity, shanty dwellers will need to walk down to the bottom of the community and to the periférico to hop on a bus to work, the doctor, church or school.

• Development more permanent structures and better roads, depending on the terrain, might bring bus service and water tankers to the streets.

• In the cases where formal incorporation of the shanty town occurs and titles are provided, roads might by paved and water and sewer pipes laid along with telephone lines.

Some Pros and Cons of Shantytowns• Illegal squats that, over time, become established and provided with

services by authorities gives the urban poor a stake in society that they could not otherwise get.

• They are a solution to a public housing issue that the formal economic system and government programs are ill-equipped to satisfy.

• As the poor search for a better life, they tend to upgrade their own environment through self-help, eventually raising the quality of the barrios to something approaching middle-class status.

• The reserve of urban poor close to the city provides a wealth of potential employees usually willing to work for low wages.

• Because they are unplanned, they do not conform to appropriate building or public-works standards and thus are likely to experience public safety problems.

• Because they lack basic services, they are foci for disease, both vector-born and infectious, and lead to water pollution from erosion and sewage runoff.

• Made of ramshackle materials in risky locations, they are especially subject to the impact of earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc.

To summarize: Squatter settlements are most

likely located…• On the edge of the metro area on either public or private land

which was unoccupied prior to the establishment of the squatter settlement.

• On steep hillside areas either at the edge of the city or in the center, which were thought to be un-buildable or unoccupied before the squatters established themselves.

• On dump sites in the city

• On areas that are prone to flooding

• Lands that have unclear title

Factors that have resulted in the high proportion of squatter settlements…

• Large scale and rapid rural to urban migration resulting from push factors. For ex: changing nature of agriculture, rural populationgrowth and violence.

• Lack of employment opportunities in urban areas.

• Inability of government to provide enough public or subsidized housing to meet the demand.

• Undeveloped housing sector of the economy to provide financing, labor, property and development expertise to build large areas of low cost housing in the private sector.

• Rapid population growth within the squatter population in the large cities.

Urban Hierarchy • Cities are linked together (system)• Ranking based on size and functionally

complexity • Interactions among cities tend to be vertical

(move upward in search of needs) • Sphere of influence is proportional to size

Rank – Size Rule Rank-Size Rule: nth

largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement. In other words, 2nd largest is 1/2 the size of largest. Works best in most developed countries that have full distribution of services.

Urban Hierarchy • Rank Size Rule: The City Population = Largest

City Pop/Rank of City • nth largest city of a national system of cities

will be 1/n the size of the largest city • Works well for highly industrialized complex

economies

Urban Hierarchy • Primacy• Country Dominated by a Primate City: a single

city that is more than twice the size of the second largest city

• Dominates the economics, political, and cultural landscape of a country

• No obvious “second City”, violates rank size, colonialism

Primate City RuleLargest settlement in a country has more than twice the number as the second ranking city. These cities tend to represent the perceived culture of the country.

Largest City Population Second-largest City Population

Paris 9 million Marseille 2 millionLondon 9 million Birmingham 2 million

Primate Cities • Seoul: 40% total population• Luanda: 66% of total population • Cairo, Mexico City, London, Paris • Sao Paulo

– 10% of Population – 25% of GDP– 40% of manufacturing

Cultural Interaction in Urban Geography – Why do

geographers study it?

• Study of the spatial distribution of towns/cities

• Attempt to determine the economic/political factors that influence patterns

Models of Urban

Structure

Models of Urban Structure

• Study of the spatial processes occurring in cities

• How land uses are grouped • How urban areas have changed

over time • Key is relationship of CBD to high-

income, middle-income, and low-income neighborhoods

Varied Land Use and Density

• Cities have multiple land uses • Commercial • Industrial • Residential • Creates a pattern of competition for

land use

Rent Gradient • In a market economy most land is

freely bought and/or sold • “rent gradient” – purchase price• The rent gradient indicates the rate

at which the value of urban land declines with distance from the CBD

Rent Gradient

Land further from the CBD is ???? Land closer to the CBD is ???

Geographic TheoryQuick Write 4.30

• How far would you go to buy a cup of coffee?• How far would you go to buy a book?• How far would you go to buy a washing machine?• How far would you go to buy a car?

• On average these distances will progressively increase• Goods have a threshold and range• Central Place Theory explains this…

Central Place Theory• Proposed by Walter Christaller

– German geographer– 1933, translated into English

1966– Influenced by von Thünen and

Weber• Focuses on the role of

distance in the location of urban centers

• Attempts to explain the relationship between cities and their hinterlands

Central Place Theory

• Cities exist for economic reasons• Are the articulation points that

facilitate the exchange of goods and services

CPT focuses on four questions:

• How may central places will develop?

• Why are some places larger than others?

• Where will cities locate? • What will be the size of each city’s

trade area?

Important Concepts – CPT

The Central Place • Not all settlements are central places • Central places exist to provide goods and

services to the hinterland • Excludes specialized function places• Central Places are towns and cities that

support tertiary activities

Assumptions• Countryside is a flat, homogenous plain • Rural farm population of the hinterland is

evenly dispersed • Consumers will always consume from the

closest central place that offers a particular good

• Actors are economically rational and have perfect market knowledge

Centrality • Population size is positively correlated with

the importance of a city as a central place • The correlation is far from perfect • Another measure besides population needs

to be used • Centrality - distinction between size of a place

and importance

• The market area of a central place is the sphere within which consumers will travel to purchase given goods and services.

• The range is the distance consumers are willing to travel for a given good or service.

• The threshold is minimum number of consumers needed to support a given good or service.

The Market Area

Source: http://www.uwec.edu/geography/Ivogeler/w111/urban.htm

Threshold • The purchasing power required to

support a tertiary activity • Low-order goods • High-order goods • Dollar amounts often hard to

measure• Use the number of consumers

needed

Range of a Good • Distance people are willing to travel

to purchase a particular good

• In order to determine level of a central place, you must rank all goods and serviceaccording to their thresholds

• Threshold (inner range) – minimum level of demand needed that will allow a firm to stay in business (minimum level of sales, minimum population)

• Range – (outer range) average maximum distance people are willing to travel to purchase a good

• Threshold and range vary for each good and service • Central places of a given level provide not only goods and services that are specific to its

level, but also all other goods and services that lower order centers provide • Threshold influences the number and relative location of producers • High-order goods are available only at a few locations They are expensive and purchased

infrequently • They have a high threshold and wide ranges • Low order goods provided by a large number of locations. They are relatively cheap and

purchased frequently • For any market, the most effective system of marketing region will be a hexagonal lattice • Regular shape close to a circle. Completely covers an area without overlaps or unserved

areas

Central Place Theory (CPT)

Size and Spacing Christaller’s Hierarchy• Hamlet • Village • Town • City • Regional Capital

Central Place Theory

In order to reduce spatial friction, places of similar size, rank, or function will tend to be evenly spaced across geographical space

Source: http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/67

• The hinterland (market area) is what makes the central place theory hexagonal in shape. It is equidistant along all edges from the product center or urban area.

• An entity’s sphere of influence remains strongest near its source or center, but people in the hinterland may still be willing to travel some distance to purchase or enjoy it.

Central Place Theory In Real World

• South West Wisconsin • 142 Hamlets

– Avg. Spacing 5.5 miles• 73 Villages

– Avg. Spacing 10 miles • 19 Towns

– Avg. Spacing 21 miles

Modifications • Towns not on major transportation

routes are smaller than predicted • Trans- routes attract business =

larger towns • Political boundaries may disrupt the

even spacing of cities

Let’s define…• The Hinterland (Market Area)• The Range of a Service• The Threshold of a Service

• Let’s discuss the optimal location within a market…

Where is the best location of a service such as a McDonalds?

McDonalds Locations in Alpharetta

Draw the market areas around each McDonalds.

• Answer the questions within your group…– Are the market areas the same size?– Are there concentrations of populations in some areas, i.e. are

the thresholds the same size? Would concentrations of college students or apartment complexes influence the locations? Why? Would the locations of businesses with large work forces influence the range?

– If the community had a large elderly population would that change the threshold, therefore influencing the range for each restaurant?

– Are there ‘gaps’? Where would people go if they were not in the one of the market areas?

– Where would the next McDonalds be built?– Do the transportation routes influence where people would

stop?– What other factors might influence where people would stop?