urban epochs how technology and transportation change situation
TRANSCRIPT
The Rise of Cities• Cities that grew and
became important were…
• Influential over a very large area (big hinterland!)
• Highly accessible such as along trade routes (silk road) or coasts as ocean trade routes opened (situation)
• Places that brought people & ideas together
Urban Epochs 5 Epochs (Developed by John Borchert, a Minnesotan Geographer and U of M professor in 1967)
• Urban Epochs describe time periods where cities provide goods and services in a certain way to a surrounding area (hinterland) in exchange for raw materials
• The wealth and prosperity is directly tied to the wealth and prosperity of its hinterland
• This is why most cities are around the best farmland
• Over time, the ways cities interact with their hinterlands have changed
• These changes are due to advancements in how we can transport people and goods
Sail and Wagon Epoch: 1790 - 1830• Pre-Industrial• Transportation was slow,
hinterlands were small• Trade was with Europe
and domestic• Much of interior of US
was not accessible• Leading cities – big ones
on the East Coast – Boston, New York, Philadelphia
• All major cities have access to rivers / oceans
• This makes their hinterlands larger!
Then comes the 2nd Urban Revolution!
• A series of innovations led to major changes in how people make goods – the industrial revolution
• Food production went up due to mechanization of farming
• People began flocking to cities to work in factories
• This is the beginning of the 2nd Urban Revolution
Steamboat Epoch: 1830 - 1870
• Beginnings of industrialization
• Steam powered RR and ships
• Nationwide transport system begins
• 1869 – Transcontinental RR completed
• Industrial cities in North, along Great Lakes and RR lines – Rise of Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh
• Minneapolis and St. Paul emerge here
• Erie canal (1825) connects MN to global markets
Rail Road Epoch: 1870 - 1920• Larger, wealthier
hinterland• National metropolitan
network emerges• Steel industry defines
this epoch• Golden age of
northern, industrial cities
• Expansion of RR further south and west
• Telegraph communication increases links
Lower St. Anthony Falls Dam, electric power plant, and flour mill – Minneapolis, 1908
Auto/Air/Amenity Epoch: 1920 - 1970
• Continued improvements in transportation• Interstate Highway
system• More with access to
automobiles and air travel• Shift begins from
industrial (factory) to post-industrial (services)
• Leads to the rise of suburbs with wealthy living outside of town away from factories
• Housing boom post WWII• Rise of south and west in
the US Notice how people begin live further away from the city center as transportation becomes more available to more people
High Technology – 1970 - Today• Hinterland is still
important, but cities now have a global reach
• Economic base of cities is now based on information access and distribution
• Technology and research base
• Less manufacturing need
• Continued growth in west and south
• Even greater access to transportation and rise of suburbs makes cities take up more space (urban sprawl)