Session 8: Urban Geography / Development

1) Chapter 10: 10.3 (part 2): How are cities organized and how do they function?

2) Chapter 10: 10.4: How do cities evolve?

3) Chapter 10: 10.5: What is the connection between cities and globalization?

4) Participant observation presentations

5) Chapter 11: 11.1: How is development measured

Fouberg, E. H., Murphy, A. B., De Blij, H. J. and C. J. Nash (2012). Human Geography: People, Place, and Culture. John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., Mississauga.

March 13, 2015

Modeling the North American City

3 Classical structures:

Concentric zone model: A structural model of the American central city that suggests the existence of five concentric land-use rings arranged around a common centre.

Creative Commons - Wikimedia

Commuter zoneResidential zoneWorking class zoneZone of transitionFactory zoneCentral business district

Zone of transition: characterized by residential deterioration and encroachment by business and light manufacturing

Model is dynamic: as the city grows, inner zones encroach on outer zones

Sector model

Creative Commons - Wikimedia

Homer Hoyt – cities grows outwards from its centre; explained where wealthier classes wanted to live

Multi-nuclei model

Creative Commons - Wikimedia

Model developed in the 20th Century – more realistic model of urban development

Winnipeg

Source: winnipeg.ca

Edge cities: A term introduced by American journalist Joel Garreauin order to describe the shifting focus of urbanization in the United States away from the central business district (CBD) toward new loci of economic activity at the urban fringe. These cities are characterized by extensive amounts of office and retail space, few residential areas, and modern buildings (less than 30 years old).

Modeling the Cities of the Global Periphery and Semi-periphery

The Latin American City

Griffin-Ford model: Developed by geographers Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford, a model of the Latin American city showing a blend of traditional elements of Latin American culture with the forces of globalization that are reshaping the urban scene.

Disamenity sector: The very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not even connected to regular city services and are controlled by gangs and drug lords. Also known as barrios or favelas.

Examples: Mexico city; Sao Paulo (Brazil)

Brazil cleaning up favelas ahead of World Cup

CBC – The National

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfV6C7lg8Z4

The Southeast Asian City

Some of the most populated cities in the world

Focus of cities is the old colonial port zone

CBDs are clustered around port

Western commercial zone most like North American CBDs

The African City

Farmers make up most of the population

Africa now has the world’s fastest growing cities

South African cities (Cape Town; Johannesburg; Durban) resemble more Western cities

Sub-Saharan African Cities are centered around colonial core

Section 10.4 - How do cities evolve?

Economic, social, political, technological, and cultural processes…

Cities in the Global Core

In order to counter the suburbanization trend, city governments are encouraging commercialization of the central city and gentrification of the central city neighborhoods…

Commercialization: The transformation of an area of a city into an area attractive to residents and tourists alike in terms of economic activity.

e.g., The creation of waterfronts – The Forks, Winnipeg

Gentrification: The rehabilitation of deteriorated, often abandoned, housing of low-income inner-city residents.

Video debate from the Thursday Observer: What is gentrification

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaHy6ZY6mFU

Some issues with gentrification…

• reduced diversity

• inaccessibility / affordability

• pushes some groups to the margins

Tear-downs: Homes bought in many North American suburbs with the intent of tearing them down and replacing them with much larger homes, often referred to as “monster homes”.

This also happens in the urban core…

In Winnipeg may tear-downs result in condos

Urban Sprawl and New Urbanism

Urban sprawl: Unrestricted growth in many North American urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning.

• “a phenomena of the automobile era”

• is not necessarily related to population growth – in North America sprawl occurred in cities that had relatively slow population growth

New urbanism: Outlined by a group of architects, urban planners, and developers from over 20 countries, an urban design that calls for development, urban revitalization, and suburban reforms that create walkable neighborhoods with a diversity of housing and jobs.

Some strategies:

• reduce the amount of time spent in traffic

• increase affordable housing

• rein in urban sprawl

• the use of non-traditional housing design (often mixed use)

Cities in the Global Periphery and Semi-periphery

A large proportion of the worlds most populous places are also the poorest.

Often population increases and structures cannot keep up with the demands.

Shantytown: Unplanned slum development on the margins of cities, dominated by crude dwellings and shelters made mostly of scrap wood, iron, and even pieces of cardboard.

Zoning laws: Legal restrictions on land use that determine what types of buildings and economic activities are allowed to take place in certain areas. In North America, areas are most commonly divided into separate zones of residential, retail, or industrial use.

Without zoning laws there would be a very different urban pattern –much more mixed

Examples:

• India: squatter settlements between buildings

• Uganda: villas looking over slums

Immigrant Neighbourhoods in the Global Periphery and Semi-periphery

Slum development are prevalent in these areas, sometimes much larger than the permanent residential areas

Characterized by high number of migrants

The informal economy (discussed further in a later slide) plays a strong role

People in such areas may receive remittances from their relatives abroad

Issues due to the non-taxation of the informal economy and remittances

Visible Minority Neighbourhoods in Canada

In the 60s and 70s scholars and policy makers criticized ethnic enclaves as going against assimilation and integration

In Canada the mandate is multiculturalism – visible minority concentrations are seen in a more positive light

• is part of the Canadian cosmopolitan city (not strongly connected to ghettoization)

• creates different districts with different things to experience (food, music, goods, etc.)

Section 10.5 - What is the connection between cities and globalization?

World city: Dominant city in terms of its role in the global political economy. Not the world’s biggest city in terms of population or industrial output, but rather centres of strategic control of the world economy.

• are “nodes of globalization” – “a place through which action and interaction occur”

• are connected to each other at a global level

How do we measure the impact of a city on globalization?

Global Power City Index

Measures 6 main city functions:

1. Economy

2. R&D

3. Cultural Interaction

4. Environment

5. Accessibility

Cities as Spaces of Consumption

Cities are also products of globalization

Spaces of consumption: Areas of a city, the main purpose of with is to encourage people to consume goods and services; driven primarily by the global media industry.

Media companies invest heavily in city centres – creation of entertainment districts where products are consumed

e.g., bars (music and beverages), theaters, rides, cafes, etc.

Section 11.1 - How is development measured?

Developing: With respect to a country, making progress in technology, production, and socio-economic welfare.

Gross national product (GNP): The total value of all goods and services produced by a county’s economy in a given year. It includes all goods and services produced by corporations and individuals of a country, whether or not they are located within the country.

Gross domestic product (GDP): The total value of all the goods and services produced within a country during a given year.

Gross national income (GNI): The total value of all goods and services produced within a country plus income received from investments outside the country.

Per capita GNI: The total value of all goods and services produced within a country plus income received from investments outside the country, divided by the population of the country.

Quality of Life Index

Includes different indices: quality of life; purchasing power; safety; health care; consumer price; property price to income ratio; traffic commute time; pollution

http://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp

Formal economy: The legal economy that is taxed and monitored by a government and is included in a government’s gross national product (GNP); as opposed to an informal economy.

Informal economy: Economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government and is not included in that government’s gross national product (GNP); as opposed to the formal economy.

The Sharing Economy

e.g. Air BnB; Uber

Home Depot renting tools as well as selling tools

We all have something we can give!

Video: Shareconomy (sharing economy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32NlrmJs5kw