Unit 7

Cities and Urban Land Use

Chapters 12 and 13
BAV- Search “AP Human Geography
Urbanization” to locate these terms using
your device. Finish for HW if you don’t finish
in class.
annexation central business district
central place theory gentrification ghetto
greenbelts megacity megalopolis
peripheral model MSA (metropolitan & micropolitan)
primate city public housing redlining
sector model slum smart growth sprawl
Squatter suburb underclass
urban decay urban renewal zone in transition
zoning ordinance
Cities are everywhere
Physical City
 Is a continuous
development that
contains a central city,
many nearby cities,
towns and suburbs.
Physical cities may be
separated by less
developed landscapes.
But they may be part of a
larger urban landscape.
 Urban Geography
 Focuses on how cities function, their internal systems and
structures, and the external influences on them.
 Two sub-fields of urban geography are:

◦ The study of systems of cities-where located, and why they are there.
An external view of cities
 Current and historic distribution of cities
 Functions of cities
 Reasons for differential growth among cities.
◦ The study of internal cities
 Land use, racial and ethnic segregation, architectural styles, types of
intracity transportation, cycles of construction and development.
 Makes use of quantitative data-census data
 Qualitative data-narrative accounts and field studies
 Urbanization
 process by which cities grow. has 2 dimensions:
◦ An increase in the # of ppl living in cities.
◦ An increase in the % of ppl living in cities.
What is an urban area?
 Nucleated-one or more clear core areas. People who live
in them work in non-agricultural jobs.
 City and town describe nucleated settlements that perform
multiple residential and non residential functions.
◦ Towns are smaller and less complex than cities but still have the
nuclear business concentrations.
◦ Cities may be surrounded by suburbs-areas also nucleated, use
much land space for residences of people who work in or near
cities.
◦ Suburbs are separated from the central city by political
boundaries.
Percent living in urban areas. More developed countries have higher % in urban areas.
Urbanized area
 70% of USA lives in
urbanized areas
◦ 30% in central cities
◦ 40% surrounding
jurisdictions
Cities with 3 million or more
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
An MSA includes the following:
1. An urbanized area with a population of at least
50,000.
2. The county within which the city is located.
3. Adjacent counties with a high population density
and a large percentage of residents working in the
central city’s county.
Micropolitan Statistical Area
 Urbanized area between
10,000 and 50,000.
 The county in which it

is found and adjacent

counties tied to the city
Megalopolis
 Megalopolis
 Adjacent MSA’s overlap.
 A county between two central cities may send large
number of commuters to jobs in each.
 Megalopolis-Greek word meaning “Great City”

 Bowash Corridor
 Urban Hierarchy-
from smallest to largest
 Hamlet-cluster of farmer’s houses with a few basic
services.
 Village-smallest urban settlement. Several dozen services

more specialized than a hamlet.

 Town-has more specialized function. May have a bank,

post office, hospital, schools. Towns have a hinterland-

smaller villages or hamlets economically dependent on it.
 City-large population, functional specialization. Well

defined central business district.

 Megalopolis-multiple cities that have grown together.
Social Characteristics of Urban Areas
 Luis Wirth defined a city as a permanent settlement that
has three characteristics that create living experiences
for urban residents that are different from residents in
rural areas.
◦ Large size
◦ High density
◦ Social heterogeneity
1. Large Size
 Residents can know only a small percentage of each
other.
 Know persons through work, living arrangements and

daily routines.
 Come into contact with many people but does not

know them well.

 In contrast-
◦ People in rural areas know almost everyone that lives nearby
◦ Know a great deal about neighbors
 2. High Density
 Highly specialized jobs, which allows a large number
of people to live in one place.
 Each person plays a specific role or performs a specific

task which allows the urban area to function smoothly.

 High density causes people to compete for space,

causing social problems-one group dominates others.

 Higher prices for property and rent
 Further distinguishing between rich and poor.
 3. Social heterogeneity
 People with diverse backgrounds
 Anonymity, uncomfortable with all knowing neighbors.
 Attract persons with unusual occupations only

available in urban areas.

 Sexual orientations unacceptable in rural areas.
 Cultural interests fed by museums, theaters.
 People tend to be lonely and isolated feeling those

around them are indifferent and uncaring.

Systems of Cities
 Cities appear in
response to human
needs and activities.
 A cities geography is

important in determining
growth.
 A city may establish

itself as a center of
culture, arts, shipping,
industry.
Origin and Evolution of Cities
 It is hard to imagine the world without cities.
 Humans appeared 100,000 ago.
 No permanent settlements appeared for 90,000 years.
 The Neolithic(Agricultural) Revolution caused people to form permanent
settlements.
 These settlements were small and simple.
 Southeast Asia 3,000 BCE changed things as large scale farming and
irrigation caused agricultural societies to become more complex.
 Inequality of wealth caused some houses and landholdings to become
larger than others.
 Specialization of jobs began and some stayed farmers while others
became crafts people, priests and government officials.
 Government buildings appeared.
The Role of Government
 4,000 to 2,000 BCE is called the Formative Era for
both the development of states and urbanization.
 The more complex settlements grew, the need for

central authority increased.

 States-organized territories under governments

appeared.
◦ Tigris/Euphrates River(Mesopotamia)
◦ Indus River(South Asia)
◦ East Asian Rivers(China)
◦ Agean Sea(Greeks)
 Function and Location of
Ancient Cities
 Organized focus of the state.
◦ Agriculture planned and controlled to generate a flow of food.
◦ Governments collected taxes, walls around cities to protect
from outside invaders.
◦ Sites chosen near farmland, water, trade routes, defensibility.
◦ Less accessible, more isolated places were at a disadvantage.

◦ A group of urban elite controlled the resources and lives of

others.
 Function and Location of
Ancient Cities
 Functions of cities included:
◦ Centers of power-headquarters of early heads of state.
◦ Religious centers-priests, temples and shrines located in cities.
◦ Economic centers-markets for trade, wealthy merchants, land
and livestock owners, traders operating and living in urban
areas.
◦ Educational centers-city residents included teachers and
philosophers to educate the urban elite.
City
Urbanization and Mediterranean
 City-states-self-governing communities that included the
nearby countryside.
 Greeks
◦ Athens-first city to reach 100,000 in population.
◦ Urban empire included large parts of the interior of Europe along
with Mediterranean shores.
 Phoenicians-SW Africa
 Romans

 The cities were connected by a network of land and sea

routes.
Urban Growth in China
 Huang River and its
tributaries.
 Han Dynasty as large as

the Roman Empire.

Medieval, Preindustrial and Industrial
World Cities
Medieval cities
 The largest settlements were centers of government,
church and markets.
 Roads connected to hinterlands.
 Most cities were surrounded by walls.
 Streets were narrow and winding.
 Occupational groups were clustered together.
 Ethnicity defined communities and sought to keep out

people who differed from themselves.

 “ghetto” first described the segregation of Jews in

Venice.
Preindustrial Cities.
 Urban centers for culture.
 Mark Jefferson named them: Primate Cities –larger

in other cities in the area and representing national

culture.
◦ Kyoto-old Japan
◦ Paris-French culture
◦ London-all that is English.
Preindustrial Cities
 Mercantile City-where trade became central to the city
design.
◦ No matter where the city was located, it’s central square was
fronted by government and religious buildings, housing for the
rich.
◦ Streets leading to the square were arteries of commerce, lined
with shops that specialized in products brought by the trade
routes.
Industrial Revolution Cities
 Industrial Revolution
 Created the Manufacturing City
◦ Factories attracted workers from rural areas. In some countries
tenements were constructed for worker housing.
◦ Broad, straight boulevards to accommodate the flow of
commercial traffic, eventually cars.
◦ Developers divided cities into regular sized lots as land was a
commodity to be bought and sold.
◦ Some cities retained their historic square, others lost
organization.
◦ Problems of sanitation, overcrowding, pollution and dissaray.
 Rural to Urban Migration and
Urban Growth
 ¾ of people in developed countries live in cities.

 Urbanization in the USA

◦ 1800-5% urbanized----1950-20%

 Migration urban to rural has increased in less developed countries in

Asia, Africa and Latin America.
◦ By 2000, 32 of the 48 cities with populations over 5 million were in less
developed nations.

 All countries have in common:

◦ The proportion of people living in cities is rising.
◦ Cities themselves are large and growing.
World’s 26 Largest Cities
 1. Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan - 33,200,000  14. Los Angeles, United States -
2. New York, United States - 17,800,000 11,789,000
3. Sao Paulo, Brazil - 17,700,000 15. Buenos Aires, Argentina -
4. Seoul-Incheon, South Korea - 11,200,000
17,500,000 16. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 10,800,000
5. Mexico City, Mexico - 17,400,000 17. Moscow, Russia - 10,500,000
6. Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Japan - 18. Shanghai, China - 10,000,000
16,425,000 19. Karachi, Pakistan - 9,800,000
7. Manila, Philippines - 14,750,000
20. Paris, France - 9,645,000
8. Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay) -
21. Nagoya, Japan - 9,000,000 (tie)
14,350,000
21. Istanbul, Turkey - 9,000,000 (tie)
9. Jakarta, Indonesia - 14,250,000
10. Lagos, Nigeria - 13,400,000 23. Beijing, China - 8,614,000
11. Kolkata, India (formerly Calcutta) - 24. Chicago, United States - 8,308,000
12,700,000 25. London, United Kingdom -
12. Delhi, India - 12,300,000 8,278,000
13. Cairo, Egypt - 12,200,000 26. Shenzhen, China - 8,000,000
World Cities and Megacities
 In the place of great
manufacturing cities are
modern world cities that
have become centers of
business, consumer and
public sectors.
Tiers of cities
First tier-London, NYC, Tokyo
Second tier-Chicago, LA, Washington, DC.
,Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Sao Paulo,
Singapore.
Third Tier-Bangkok, Bombay, Hong Kong,
Manila, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Buenos Aires,
Caracas, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro,
Johannesburg.
Tiers of Cities.
 These tiers are based on centrality of these services to
the city: Business, consumer and public services.
◦ Business-corporate offices and support staff, financial services
of banks, insurance companies. Stock exchanges, convergence
of transportation networks.
◦ Consumer-more wealthy live in cities. Entertainment and
cultural offerings.
◦ Public-national or international seats of power. NYC-United
Nations, Brussels-EU headquarters.
Megacities
 Coined by the United Nations in the 1970’s for cities
over 10 million.
 House new arrivals in overpopulated apartment

buildings, tenements or slums.

 Shantytowns have grown up around many.
 Lack of zoning allows the very wealthy to live next to

the very poor.

 Functions of Cities
 Urban centers are functionally connected to other cities
and to rural areas.
◦ Transportation centers-major routes converge.
◦ Special function cities-engaged in manufacturing, mining, or
recreation.
◦ Central places-provide goods and services for the surrounding
areas.
◦ Cities carry out activities that are necessary simply to support
itself.
The economic base of cities
 Export activities-produce goods and services for
outside the city. They are the basic sector of the
city’s economy.
 Non-basic or service sector- produce goods or

services for the residents of he city itself.

 Base ratio-ration between workers employed in

basic and non basic sector. The larger the city the
larger the ratio of non-basic workers.
◦ Multiplier effect-new basic sector employment is
accompanied by a larger share of non-basic workers.
Decreasing the ratio of basic to non-basic workers.
Economic base
CBD-Downtown
 Retail
◦ High end shops
◦ Retail services such as malls,
grocery stores
◦ Business services
 High cost of land
◦ Tokyo-$500 million/sq acre
◦ Intensive land use
◦ skyscrapers
 Excluded activities
◦ Declining manufacturing
◦ Lack of residents
Charleston
1943-Chauncy Harris
 Father of modern
Geography
 Classified cities in the

USA into three types

according to function.
◦ Manufacturing dominated
cities in the Northeast.
◦ Retail centers scattered
across the country.
◦ Diversified cities with
multiple functions.
Urban Influence Zones
 Areas outside the city
that are affected by it.

 How big an area,

depends on the city.

The urban hierarchy is at

work.
John Borchert (1967)-
Stages in the Evolution of a City
1. Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830)-trade took ships across the
ocean or along shorelines, wagons overland. Technologies
determined job opportunities of people that came to work in
cities.
2. Iron-Horse Epoch (1830-1870)-railroad technology changed
the nature of trade and employment.
3. Street-Rail Epoch(1870-1920)-the steel industry transformed
urban America and job opportunities of workers.
4. Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920’s-1960’s)-internal
combustion engine came to dominate life styles,
employment opportunities and the economic base of cities.
Models of Urban Systems
 Two theories of settlement geography or
patterns of settlement on the earth’s
surface.
◦ Rank-size rule.
◦ Christaller’s Central Place Theory
Rank Size Rule
 Rank size ordering describes patterns of urban sizes in
complex economies where urbanization is well
established.

 Tells us that the nth largest city will be 1/n the size of
the larges city.
◦ Example the 2nd largest city will be ½ the size of the first
largest city.
◦ In some countries the primate city so dominates that no other
cities fit the rank size order.
 Central Place Theory
 Views urban settlements  Walter Christaller
as centers for Germany in 1933.
distribution of
economic goods and
services to the
surrounding nonurban
populations.
Central Place Theory
 Several Assumptions:
◦ No topographic barriers
◦ No difference in farm productivity
◦ An evenly dispersed farm population
◦ People with similar lifestyles and incomes.
◦ Differing thresholds, or minimum number of consumers necessary to
support different products(lower threshold for inexpensive items,
higher threshold for expensive items.)
 1) threshold -- the minimum market needed to bring a firm or city selling
goods and services into existence and to keep it in business
 2) range -- the average maximum distance people will travel to purchase
goods and services
◦ Purchase of goods and services at the nearest center.
Basis of the theory
Central Place Theory
 The landscape is divided into non-competing market areas. Each
individual urban center and its merchants has a sales monopoly.
 The market areas for a series of hexagons, with no area un-
serviced and no area with equal service from two centers.
 The central place is the center of he hexagon, it will supply all
the goods and services to consumers in the area.
 The size of the market area of a central place is based on the
number of goods and services offered.
 Within each hexagon, or around its edges, lie smaller hexagons
with central places that serve smaller areas.
◦ This creates a hierarchy of hexagons or central places providing lower
order services.
Two conclusions
 Towns of the same size are evenly spaced apart because
they are the center of the like-sized market areas.
Larger towns will be farther apart than smaller towns
because their market area is larger.
 Towns are part of an interdependent system. If a

central place is eliminated, the entire system readjusts

altering the spatial pattern.
Conclusions
 The conclusions apply widely to differing
areas of the world.
◦ They describe agricultural areas particularly
well.
◦ Where cities are multi-functional, the model
is less applicable.
 But still can accurately describe special-
function as well as transportation based
cities.
 Internal Cities
 Geographers analyze the internal land spaces of cities
and the various uses that it serves.
 Cities are often arranged in similar ways, allowing

geographers to develop models of urban land use.

 The models are influenced by:

◦ Accessibility
◦ High cost of accessible space
◦ Transportation
◦ Societal and cultural needs.
Internal cities
 Accessibility
◦ Functions of cities be fulfilled in spaces accessible to its
inhabitants. Ex. High density housing within walking distance
of workers during the Industrial Revolution.
 High cost of accessible space
◦ The cost of land ↑ as available land↓
◦ Mass transportation allowed the amount of useable space to
grow.
◦ Population density pushes the cost of land and other
commodities higher.
Internal Cities
 Transportation
◦ Lines of transportation determine the growth of a city.
◦ Land with highest accessibility is the most desirable and
generally the most expensive.
 Societal and cultural needs.
◦ Economic competition determines land use.
◦ Some highly desirable land is usually set aside for parks,
schools, libraries. Look at Central Park in NYC
Models of Urban Land Use
 Three different models developed to explain land use
within cities.
 The 3 models were all developed in Chicago, with flat

land and only Lake Michigan to disrupt the landscape.

 The three models:

◦ Concentric Zone
◦ Sector
◦ Multiple Nuclei Models
Concentric Zone Model
 Created in 1923
 Sociologist EW Burgess
 It views cities growing

outward from a central

area in a series of
concentric rings.
Concentric Zones
Concentric Zones
 Zone 1-CBD, nonresident activities, property costs↑.
 Zone 2-Zone in transition, light industry, housing for

poor, services in transition between CBD and

residential areas in outer zones. Housing formerly
occupied by the wealthy, who have moved farther out.
Industry in Zone 2 are too large to fit into Zone 1,
owners seeking cheaper land.
 Zone 3-working class homes, modest older homes on

smaller lots. Housing is less expensive than outer

rings.
Concentric Zones
 Zone 4-homes are larger and more expensive. Middle
class single family homes or high rent apartments.
These persons choose location and afford high cost of
transportation to the CBD.
 Zone 5-commuter zone, farthest from CBD. Beyond

continuous built up area. People live in small villages

where they spend leisure and sleep hours and commute
to the CBD.
Indianapolis
concentric
Concentric Zone
 Burgesses model is dynamic.
 Invasion and succession explains the changes to the

model.
◦ Poorer inhabitants drive wealthy farther out from the center of
the city.
 Sector Model
Homer Hoyt
1939
Land Economist
Sector Model
 Cities develop in a series of sectors.
 Sectors develop by environmental factors or by chance.
 As cities grow, activities expand outward like a wedge.
 Once an area is established for industry, other industry

will cluster around it.

 Wealthy areas attract wealthy. Middle class live next to

wealthy.
Sector Model
Multiple Nuclei Model
C. D. Harris and E. L. Ullman
Developed in 1945
Multiple Nuclei Model
 Harris and Ullman
 Explains that large cities develop by spreading from
several nodes of growth, not just one.
 Individual nodes have special functions
 This model explains that incompatible land use activities
do not cluster in the same location.
 Nodes influence the type of development that occurs
around them.
 This model explains then clusters come into contact,
incompatible land uses will develop along juncture lines.
Multiple Nuclei Model
Summary
 All 3 models help explain not only land use, but the
different social characteristics of people living in areas
of a city.
 These models may be used along with census

information.
 Census tracts-division of urban land areas in the USA.

◦ Approximately 5,000 people

◦ Correspond to neighborhood boundaries.
Peripheral Model
 North American Cities follow this model.
 Created by Chauncy Harris-created the multiple nuclei

model.
 Strong desire for suburban living

◦ Families with children

◦ Amenities
◦ More space, play and protection than city
Peripheral Model
Chicago
Cleveland
Density gradient-
Density change in an
Urban area.

Sprawl-progressive
Spread of
Development over the
Landscape.
Urban Sprawl
 Progressive spread of
development over the
landscape.

 Greenbelts-rings of
open space can fight
urban development.
London is an example.
Development
Zoning Ordinances
 Encourage spatial segregation.
 Prevents mixed land uses within the same district.
 This is a form of suburban segregation.

◦ Vertical segregation is replaced by territorial segregation.

◦ Legally requirements such as lot size, prohibition of

apartments, prevent many low income families from living in
the suburbs.
Planning for growth
 Urban redevelopment
◦ Revitalization of downtown areas
 Gentrification-middle class people drawn to renovated areas.
◦ Expensive condos replacing low income housing.
◦ Poor even further displaced.
 New public housing with less population density.

 Smart growth
◦ Produce a pattern of controlled development.
◦ Protect rural lands for agriculture, wildlife and recreation
◦ Urban growth areas designated by the local governments.
 Patterns of class, age, gender, race
and ethnicity
 Social Area Analysis-puts together information from
census tracts to create an overall picture of how various
types of people are distributed within a broader area,
like a city.
◦ Social groups influenced by the size and value of available
housing.
Patterns of class, age, gender, race
and ethnicity
 Social class
◦ Low number of people per room=high social class
 Age/marital status
◦ Younger families live farther from CBD
 Gender
◦ Increasing number of 1 parent families-78% of one parent
families are headed by women.
◦ Feminization of poverty-increasing proportion of the poor who
are women. Rely heavily on public transportation and live
closer to or in CBD’s.
Patterns of class, age, gender, race
and ethnicity
 Race and ethnicity-
◦ Tendency for ethnic and racial groups to cluster together.
◦ Many black Americans and Latinos live in undesirable
neighborhoods “ghettos” with dilapidated housing, high crime
rates and inadequate schools.
◦ Social and economic barriers to move are high
◦ Redlining-It describes the practice of marking a red line on a
map to delineate the area where banks would not invest; later
the term was applied to discrimination against a particular
group of people (usually by race or sex) no matter the
geography.
Ghettoization
 Forced segregation limits residential choices, ethnic or
racial minorities may be confined to older, low-cost
housing areas typically close to the city center.

 Patterns of ghettoization have differed by region

Ghettoization
 Early South-alleys and back streets, nearby white
communities where jobs were.
 Classic south-newly freed black slaves, poor quality

houses on undesirable land. Spatial and social

segregation from white neighborhoods.
 Early northern-in cities competed with other groups for

living space. High density housing on the margins of

the CBD.
 Classic northern-low rent housing surrounding CBD.

Overcrowding leads to crime.

Transportation and
Infrastructure
Cities and Urban Land Used
Infrastructure
 Refers to all the facilities that support basic economic
activities to such a degree that a city cannot function
without them.

 Transportation impacts the demographic layout and

function including:
◦ Motor vehicles
 About ¼ of city land allocated to roads and parking lots.
◦ Public transportation
 Busses, rail, subway
Public Transportation
 Comparative Urbanization
How do worldwide cities compare to American cities?
Comparative Urbanization
 European Cities
◦ Wealthy live close to town
◦ Small yards if any, parks are popular
◦ Wealthy have weekend homes.
◦ European suburbs are centers for crime, violence, drug dealing.
◦ Suburb residents are often immigrants from Africa or Asia who
face discrimination or prejudice in larger society.
Comparative Urbanization
 Latin American Cities
◦ Faster growth today
◦ CBD main focus of business, employment and entertainment.
◦ Socioeconomic levels and housing decrease in quality as
distance from the center city increases.
◦ Disamenity sector is a relatively stable slum area that radiates
from the central market to the outermost zone of periphery
squatter settlements that consist of high density shantytowns.
Layout of Latin American City
Squatter settlement it is considered as a residential area in an urban
locality inhabited by the very poor who have no access to tenured land of
their own, and hence "squat" on vacant land, either private or public.
Squatter Settlement
Comparative Urbanization
 Asian Cities
◦ Founded and developed by Europeans, follow European model
of spatial arrangement.
◦ Asia’s urban growth is explosive

 African Cities
◦ Northern Africa-Islamic influence, mosque in the center,
marketplace or bazaar.
◦ Southern Africa-Western due to colonization by Europe.
Inner city Social Problems
 Underclass-inner city residents who are trapped in an
unending cycle of economic and social problems.
◦ Lack of job skills
◦ Homeless
◦ Poverty
◦ Crime
◦ Racial Segregation
◦ Annexation –legally adding land to the city
Bid Rent theory
 How the price and
demand for real estate
changes as the distance
from the Central
Business District (CBD)
increases. It states that
different land users will
compete with one
another for land close to
the city centre.