CIVICS & GLOBALIZATION

City and Culture

• Ethnic diversity in the United States and Europe– Ethnic urban districts are reflected by their

names– Older, stable cities = long-established ethnic

neighborhoods– European cities same– Most immigrants gravitate to the cities– Asylum seeker

City and Culture

• Cities in the developing world– Represent different urban landscapes– Squatter settlements– How do cities handle the situations?

City and Culture

• Power and accommodation– Slums can have their own ethnic neighborhoods– Survival of immigrants in slum-ridden rings

• Remittances

– Informal economy– Globalization is a factor

Life in Urban America

• Many contradictions in US– Inner cities

• Have lost tax revenues• Unable to adequately fund schools, public housing, and social

services• Many people must live in overfilled rat infested apartment

houses

– Smaller cities have been spared some of the worst problems

– Some establishments and businesses have not moved to the suburbs

– Deglomeration• Moving away from CBDs

Life in Urban America

• Revitalizing the center– Gentrification– Commercialization– As the city core declines, its role and

relevance in America's urban culture is diminished

Life in Urban America

• The Suburban City– Converts land from rural to urban use– Affects many people– Reveals living patterns– Helps with models and layouts

• Do the suburbs need the city?– Suburbs almost synonymous with the modern

American city

The Canadian City

• Urban areas less dispersed

• Multiple-family dwellings

• Urban amenities not reached suburbs

• Wealth discrepancy less evident

• Not same problems as American cities—yet!

The European City

• Impact of the Industrial Revolution– Transformation of cities – Population similar to major North American

cities– Smaller manufacturing cities, but major

urban complexes– Durable primate cities– Past readily preserved– Wars have taken their toll

The European City

• Greenbelts– Cities more compact– European

governments sustain central city dominance

– Highway and beltway development lag

– London example…

Urbanization and Environment

• Our Urbanizing World

• Possible detrimental planetary impacts– Hazards of site– Loss of land from expansion– Changed land cover– Impact of pollution– Production of waste (in the developing world)– Larger demand for water– Changing consumption habits

CULTURAL CHANGE IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION

The Changing Scopeof Cultural Interaction

• All cultures have been affected– No culture exists in isolation– Folk cultures– Popular culture – All cultures are dynamic– Today’s fast paced diffusion…

Impacts of theGlobalization of Culture

• Globalization– The influence of television– Economic and cultural globalization links

Impacts of theGlobalization of Culture

• Commodification– The process by which

something is given monetary value

Impacts of theGlobalization of Culture

• The evolving cultural landscape– Diffusion of architectural

forms and planning ideas– Idealized landscape images

Impacts of theGlobalization of Culture

• The changing meaning of “local”– Cultural convergence?– Cultural form & process has differential impact– NOT a mono-cultural world– Global-local continuum

Reactions toCultural Globalization

• Loss of local distinctiveness• Can represent a challenge to cultural forms and behaviors

with a high degree of symbolic importance• Accelerate human alteration of the environment

– “Minorities” often feel culture forced on on them

• Impacts of resistance– Widespread resistance– Limited impacts– Cultural & landscape hybridity

Discussion…

What events are tied to the link between globalization and culture?

How did Michael Jordan become the most recognized person on Earth?