Wendy A. Mitteager

State University of New York, Oneonta

CITY

SPACES:

URBAN

STRUCTURE

Urban Structure - Key Terms

Land Use & Spatial

Patterns

• North American Cities

• European Cities

• Islamic Cities

• Unintended

Metropolises

• Mega Cities

• Dualism

• Infrastructure

Urban Land Use

Models

• Racial Segregation

• Smart Growth

• Urban Sprawl

• Gentrification

• Edge Cities

City• The term is a political designation

• Refers to a municipal entity that is governedby some kind of administrative organization

• In Europe the largest cities (especially capitals) are often

• the foci of the state

• microcosms of their national cultures

Urban Structure

Isotropic surface

• A hypothetical uniform plane representing a City & its Use Zones

• Accessibility of a location is a function of its utility, which decreases steadily with distance from the city center.

• Utility decreases from center but at different rates for different land users.

Figure 11.1 Accessibility, bid-rent, and urban structure

Bid-rents - Different users are

prepared to pay different

amounts for locations at various

distances from the City center.

Trade-off model

• Urban dwellers trade-off

between accessibility & living

space

North American City Structure

• Central business district

(CBD) – traditional city development based on

urban center with administrative functions

including government, banking, law, education,

& retail functions.

• Zone in transition – as city space evolves &

changes, previous zones of industrial use fall

into decay, may develop into new business

with different land use; mixture of growth,

change & decline.

Figure 11.2 Chicago's

“Globalized” Financial CBD

Historic 3rd Street

Central Business

District

Santa Monica, CA

1950’s to 2012

North American Cities

Figure 11.3 The ecological model of urban land use –

The “Chicago Model”

Zones of concentric land use in a model City.

Central business district (CBD) at center, location of

original agricultural farmers’ markets, livestock

transport & slaughter, rail yards for shipping nationally

& regionally. Manufacturing. Historic ethnic enclaves

with distinct cultural fabric in proximity to groups

experiencing discrimination due to race and ethnicity.

http://www.chicagohs.org/history/stockyard/stock6.html

Kids in the Dump yards of

Chicagohttp://www.chicagohs.org/history/stockyard/stock8.html

Worker Housing

Chicago Union Stockyards, Railroads

Manufacturing Zones

Urban Population & Congregation

• Congregation provides a means of cultural preservation. Allows

religious & cultural practices to be maintained & strengthens group identity

through daily involvement in routines & ways of life.

• Minority groups are population subgroups that are perceived as different

from the general population. Defining characteristics of minority groups can

be based on race, language, religion, nationality, caste, sexual orientation, or

lifestyle.

• Segregation – The combined result of congregation & discrimination, the

spatial separation of specific subgroups within a wider population.

• Enclaves are tendencies toward congregation & discrimination are long-

standing but dominated by internal cohesion.

• Ghettos long-standing products of discrimination than congregation.

• Colonies – result from shorter lasting congregation, discrimination or both.

Persistence depends on continuing arrival of new minority-group members.

Racial Segregation

Detroit

Long BeachNew York

Washington, D.C.

Figure 11.a,b,c,d

• Segregation –The combined

result of

congregation &

discrimination, the

spatial separation

of specific

subgroups within

a wider

population.

• Development of

American Cities

reflect historical

trend of racial

segregation.

Spatial Organization

Figure 11.6 Decentralized multiple-nuclei model

Contemporary American urbanization; ever-

increasing metropolitan sprawl with outlying nodes

of residential & economic development

Ex: Los Angeles & southern California regions,

Northeastern Indiana – Chicago metropolitan region

Figure 11.5 Hoyt's model of urban structure:

Sector model

Hoyt observed dominant patterns of population

classes in as concentric & sectors of land use.

Wage earners live in proximity to manufacturing

The Central Business District containing

administrative functions & segregated low & higher

income residential areas.

Where

are

vistas

located?

Spatial OrganizationFigure 11.7

Polycentric new metropolis

Non-concentric reality of American

Urban & suburban growth

Both multiple-nuclei & polycentric

Metropolitan urban regions merge into

“megalopolis” Gottman’s 1961

Conceptualization of the urbanized region

from Boston – New York – Baltimore –

Washington, DC & it’s role in industrial,

trade/shipping, financial, &

government activities.

Edge City –

Tysons Corner, Virginia**

Urban development with new

Business, commercial, retail, &

Upscale residential areas

Outside of more established cities.

Business Parks are ex. of outlying

Centers of economic innovation.

Also planned developments such as Irvine, CA

Spatial Organization

Figure 11.9 Gentrification in Philadelphia – Elite

economic class enjoys revitalization of older core

residences near the CBD & Downtown of American

cities. Controversial for displacing lower income

residents & neighborhoods.

Figure 11.8 Metroburban landscapes – merging of

urban centers with edge cities of residences, retail

centers, & business parks. Commute times are

extended but over time the regions merge into

interconnected metro-urban areas. Example is San

Diego from Mexico border north east and north

west is all developed commercially & residentially &

connected via freeway networks to Orange County

and to Los Angeles.

Smart Growth versus Sprawl

Figure 11.F Smart growth in Pasadena

Figure 11.E Transformation of California farmland to

suburban sprawl – Water comes from Colorado River

Water & from Water Table via municipal wells.

Pasadena was founded in 1900, part

of original Los Angeles landscape at

turn-of-century; not the same as

contemporary sprawl, not really a

good comparison, nation’s 1st freeway

led from downtown LA over pass LA

River into town against Mts. Pasadena

used to be connected to Pacific Ocean

via the Red Cars – trolley system

removed when automobiles became

popular.

Problems of North American Cities• Central cities – inner-city cores experience decay, crime, poverty.

• Fiscal squeeze – Occurs when tax revenue goes down (businesses

leave area, homeowners move out) plus increasing demand for

money to improve & support urban infrastructure & city services.

• Detroit – entire industry leaves & city disintegrates

• Infrastructure – Bridges, roads,

• Sewers, electrical grids, public

• Transportation all has to be maintained

• Poverty- lower wage populations who

• need support to escape cycle of poverty.

• Neighborhood decay – lack of investment in maintenance of

properties - low income areas needs investment

• Redlining – racial/financial profiling of homebuyers – nice word for

economic Racism. Contributes to economic decline by undermining

neighborhood stability.Figure 11.10 Decaying infrastructure, Minneapolis

Problems of North American Cities

Figure 11.11 Devastation of Poverty in the District of Columbia or DC

The Department of Housing and Urban Development oversees homes owned by the government, and ensures that

tenants and renters are treated fairly under the law. http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/Federal/Executive/HUD.shtml

• The mission of the Office of Housing is to:

Contribute to building and preserving healthy neighborhoods and communities

Maintain and expand homeownership, rental housing and healthcare opportunities

Stabilize credit markets in times of economic disruption

Operate with a high degree of public and fiscal accountability

Recognize and value its customers, staff, constituents and partners

http://defeatpovertydc.org/

Addresses Literacy – “as many as 37% of DC residents are functionally illiterate. “

Discrimination in Education, Employment & Housing: What

explains such significant racial disparities?

Historically, African Americans have faced many uphill challenges

that partly trace back to longstanding spatial segregation, social

and economic exclusion, and isolation. All, in turn, can

undermine employment and educational success especially in

neighborhoods served by failing public schools. Some disparities

in employment and income stem from underlying disparities in

education and even health. Then there's the outright

discrimination revealed in paired testing studies—equally

qualified potential home buyers or job seekers get treated

differently because of race or ethnicity. Clearly,

disadvantages in one area, such as education, can undermine

outcomes in others such as employment and earnings.

European Cities • City planning based on

• Centuries of History

• Beaux Arts style

• Modern movement

• Features

– Low skylines – Zoning

– Lively downtowns

– Neighborhood stability

– Based on historic Nationalism

– Municipal socialism

Figure 11.12 Vigevano, Italy

Urban History

• Urbanization

• Related concepts• Primate city

• Metropolis

• CBD-

• Central Business District

• Finance, Govt. & Courts,

• Parks, Libraries, Museums

Sequent Occupance – ancient relics,

historical City planning of boulevards, &

modern architecture

Primate Cities• A country’s largest city

• Always disproportionately

larger than the second

largest urban center -- more

than twice the size

• Especially expressive of the

national culture

• Usually (but not always) the

capital

• Examples: Paris,

• London, Athens

Modern Urban Structure

Figure 11.16 La Ville Radieuse – Le Corbusier was a

Swiss-born architect who imagined the city of the “future”

criticized but also prophetic, take a look at his work: His

buildings are to the right:

https://www.google.com/search?q=la+ville+radieuse+le+corbusier&hl=en

&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lrpuUcy2D8jRyAGD64Fw&ved

=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=758

Chandigar, India - Le Corbusier’s Hand

Monument: The city of Chandigarh was the first

planned city in India post independence in 1947

City of Brasilia,

Brazil, capital

based on “La

Ville Radieuse”

designed by Le

Corbusier,

famous early 20th

century architect

& visionary.

Criticized for dis-

affecting

landscape,

presaged

modern Cities.

Figure 11.17 The Brazilian National Congress buildings, Brasilia

Latin American architecture –representative of the “Frontier”

Architecture: Who's Oscar?

“Considering the easy nature of the Brazilians, it's almost

an enigma that such a country could foster an architect

like Oscar Niemeyer. He is the main architect behind

Brasilia, the artificial and mostly unbearable capital of

Brazil. Perhaps his greatest work is the Niterói

Contemporary Art Museum in Niterói, a short boatride just

across the Guanabara bay from Rio de Janeiro. Oscar

Niemeyer is almost 100 years old, and still going strong.

He is currently working on a statue to put down the US

blocade of Cuba.”

Spanish Colonial Architecture

Volcano overlooking Antigua, Guatemala

Grid street system with

Churches, govt. offices, stores, &

slaughter house at Center with

Central Plaza

Islamic Cities globally

• Basic principles

• Personal privacy and

virtue

• Communal well-being

• Inner essence of things

• Jami (principal

mosque)

• Kasbah (citadel)

Figure 11.18 Mosque in Pakistan

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/java

/travel-tips-and-articles/76171

“Religious architecture of Islam”

Seville, Spain (1167) - Almohad Mosque

Islamic Cities in Arid Regions

Figure 11.19 A suq, a covered bazaar, in Iran

Figure 11.20 Housing in Tunisia

Interior public spaces

addresses hot arid climates.

Landscapes of Wealth - Dubai, United Arab

Emirates

Figure 11.H Luxury development, Palm JumeirahFigure 11.G Dubai cityscape

Figure 11 Dubai real estate bust – do the buildings

remind you of Las Vegas?

• Over-building, speculation

without basis for profit

contributed to real estate crisis in

UAE during global economic

crisis of 2009.

• Large numbers of transnational

migrant workers from Turkey &

other middle Eastern nations

contributed to economy &

construction.

Cities of the Periphery

• “Unintended” metropolises

• Meaning no planning for

• Low Income Population

• Underemployment

• Dualism

• The informal economy

• Slums = Unaddressed Poverty

• Transport & infrastructure

problems

• Environmental degradationFigure 11.23 Dualism in Rio de

Janeiro:

Upper middle class & wealthier

“official” residents of the City vs.

unofficial residents of the Favelas

Cities of the Periphery

Figure 11.26 Self-help as a solution to housing problems in ZambiaFigure 11.25 Informal economic activities in Bangkok,

Thailand

Figure 11.22 Recent explosive growth in Lagos, Nigeria due to

oil economy & Rural to Urban Migration. Figure 11.24 Garbage picking in Bangkok, Thailand for Survival

Cities of the Periphery

Figure 11.28 Water-supply problems in India

Figure 11.27 Infrastructure problems in Columbia,

S. America

Philippines – Garbage is the business of very poor groups,

Shantytown fire in Philippines, people living in containers.

Future Geographies

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Megacities – Population

outstrips

Major Issues:

• Slum housing, environmental

degradation, & lack of infrastructure

for sewage treatment, unsafe water

supplies or none at all.

• Disease & health risks, especially to

children, lack of education &

healthcare.

• Economic competition for space & accessibility along with tendency toward

social & ethnic discrimination, congregation, & segregation are apparent in

World Cities.

End of Chapter 11