Topic: Urban Patterns & Processes

•Aim: What primary functions do cities serve?

•Do Now: Would you ever consider moving to a major city? Why or why not?

Introduction:• Imagine humankind’s existence on Earth as a 24-hour day. In this metaphor:1. Settlements of more than a hundred

people are only about a half-hour old2. Towns and cities emerged only a few

minutes ago3. Large-scale urbanization began less

than 60 seconds ago4. Urban explosion has gone hand in hand

with the industrial revolution5. Estimates demonstrate the world’s urban

population more than doubled since 19506. Urban population doubled again by 20007. Over 50 percent of Earth’s population

live in cities

The largest public gathering in the world, the Kumbh Mela is expected to draw as many as 70 million people, a crowd greater than New York, London, and Paris combined, for ritual bathing in the rivers.

Problem of recognizing urban regions:

• No agreed-upon international definition of what constitutes a “city”– India defines an urban center as 5,000 inhabitants, with adult males employed primarily in nonagricultural work

– The United States Census Bureau defines a city as a densely populated area of 2,500 people or more

– South Africa counts as a city any settlement of 500 or more people

– China revised its census definitions with criteria that vary from province to province causing their urban population to swell by 13 percent in 1983

1.Why do people live in cities?

2.When did the rise of modern cities begin? Why?

3.What problems do we associate with cities?

4.What differences are there between the city and the countryside?

5.How do you think cities are different outside of North America?

Why do people move to the city?

Push• Lack of electrical, water and sewage services.

• Hard work, long hours and little pay for farmers.

• Shortage of education, health and welfare services.

• Chance of natural disasters leading to crop failure.

Pull• The availability of schools, doctors, hospitals and entertainment.

• A greater variety of jobs with higher wages.

• Improved housing. • More reliable sources of food

• More enjoyment of life

Rural-urban migration

•Cities speak to rapid development…

Shanghai from 1990 - 2010Review:

1.From where do states (like China) get the money to fund development projects like this?

2.What is the HDI?

3.How would rapid urbanization change a country’s score on the HDI?

•Cities also speak to contrasts…

Seoul, South Korea

Hyderabad, India (the same one from your test!) - How does this relate to the concept of scale?

• Cities speak to changing land use and altered rural landscapes…

• http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/world/road-to-rio/satellite-photos-urban-sprawl/index.html

•Where were the hearths of Earth’s first cities (hint – the same place as the major agricultural hearths…)

Ancient World Cities

• Oldest cities are found in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Indus Valley.

• Mesopotamia (Jordan/Iraq)Jericho 10,000 B.C. Ur 3,000 B.C. (Iraq)Walled cities based on agricultural trade

Ziggurat (stepped temple)

Ancient Ur in Iraq

Ancient World Cities

• Oldest cities are found in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Indus Valley.

• E. Mediterranean Athens 2,500 B.C. 1st city to exceed 100,000 Many cities organized into city-states

Ancient Athens

Medieval World Cities

• After collapse of Roman Empire in 5th Century, Europe’s cities were diminished or abandoned.

• European Feudal Cities Begin in 11th Century Independent cities formed in exchange for military service to feudal lord.

Improved roads encouraged trade

Dense and compact within defensive walls

Paris, France

Cittadella, Italy

Hierarchy of Urban Places:

• Every city has a trade area: an adjacent region within which its influence is dominant

• Trade areas and population combine to give us a hierarchy of urban places, commonly called the rank-size rule (George Zipf 1949), which states…

• The population of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy.

Rank-Size Rule:• If the largest city had 12 million people, for example, the second largest will have about 6 million (1/2); the third largest will have 4 million (1/3); the fourth city 3 million; and so on.

• Does not apply to all countries, particularly with one dominant city (primate city)

• Does seem to apply in U.S.

Rank Size Rule:

Largest City:x (population)

2nd Largest City: 1/2 x (population)

3rd Largest City:1/3 x (population)

Population

Population Population

Primate City Rule:• Largest settlement has more than twice as many people as 2nd largest settlement. Most important urban areas economically, politically, and culturally. Tends to lack effective distribution of goods and services.

• Primate Cities:– Copenhagen, Denmark– London, England– Buenos Aires, Argentina– Bangkok, Thailand– Paris, France– Bucharest, Romania– Mexico City, Mexico

No primate cities in the U.S., China, India, Canada,

Australia or Brazil

Primate City Rule:Largest City Population Second-largest City Population

Paris 9 million Marseille 2 millionLondon 9 million Birmingham 2 million

Primate City and Population

2nd Largest City and Population

Copenhagen, Denmark

1 million people

Arhus, Denmark

200,000 people

London, United Kingdom

7 million people

Birmingham, United Kingdom 1 million people

Bangkok, Thailand

7.5 million people

Nanthaburi, Thailand 481,000 people

Paris, France

9.6 million people

Marseilles, France

1.3 million people

Bucharest, Romania

2 million people

Iasi, Romania

320,000 people

Mexico City, Mexico

8.6 million people

Guadalajara, Mexico

1.6 million people

Examples of Countries that Lack Primate Cities:

•India's most populous city is Mumbai (formerly Bombay) with 9.9 million; second is Delhi with 7 million, third is Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) with 4.4 million, and fourth is Chennai (formerly Madras) with 3.8 million.

•Utilizing the metropolitan area population of urban areas in the United States, we find that the U.S. lacks a true primate city.

•With the New York City metropolitan area population at approximately 20.1 million, second ranked Los Angeles at 15.8 million, and even third ranked Chicago at 8.8 million, America lacks a primate city.

http://www.theplaceswelive.com/

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/big-pictures-for-a-big-city/?scp=4&sq=urban&st=cse