Kraal in Africa
Dispersed Rural Settlement
Each settlement has an economic base
• Basic Services create goods to be distributed outside of the community.
• big industries• Paper Mill• USAA Insurance• QVC
• Non-Basic Services: serve the community.
• schools• Grocery stores• Doctors• DMV• restaurants
Basic or Non-Basic?
1. Hardees2. Planters Peanuts3. Norfolk Naval Base4. Old Dominion U.5. Ford Plant6. U-Haul distributer
7. Landstown High School8. Smokey Bones9. The International Port10. Virginia Beach oceanfront11. Hall Honda12. Lipton Tea
Urban HierarchyMegacity: 10 million peopleCity: Varies throughout the world (urban area)TownVillageHamlet: less than 100 people
Urban Specialization (functionality): The larger the urban area, the more specialized services you can receive.
The Central Place TheoryWalter Christaller
• Market area of a service• Size of a market area–Range –Threshold
Gravity Model
Back to Central Place Theory Which shape to use?
Hexagon: Central Place
• Are the market areas the same size? • Are there concentrations of populations in
some of the areas, i.e. are the thresholds the same size?
• Would concentrations of population influence the locations?
• Would the locations of businesses with large work forces influence the range?
• Would demographics of population (specifically income) influence the range?
Advantages to Central Place Theory
• Does a “good enough” job of describing spatial patterns in urbanization
• Only theory to describe hierarchy of urban centers• Describes location of trade and service activity• Beneficial to city economic developers to identify
what types of services are necessary and will survive in a given community
Problems with Central Place Theory
• Large areas of flat land are rare and transportation networks often intentionally channel traffic in specific directions
• Government intervention can dictate the location of industry• Perfect competition is an unreal assumption• People vary in their shopping trends—personal
preference/sales• People and resources are not evenly distributed• Christaller did not account for changing functions of areas
over time
Site: physical characteristics of a place
• Site: Physical characteristics of a place
• When you lookAt a place up close
What is the siteOf Singapore?
Situation: Relative Location, What is the location in relation to other places? When you look at a place far away, pull back with a
satellite.
Mumbai: Site?
Mumbai: Situation
SITE: Located on the northern Highlands in the Guayllabamba river basin
on the Eastern slopes of Pichincha Volcano
Situation: 2nd largest city, political and historical center of Ecuador
Guayaquil is the largest city and economic center of Ecuador
1734 map On the eastern slopes of Pichincha Volcano Quito
Primate City and Rank Size Rule
Primate City• Where the largest city is
disproportionately larger than the next sized city.
• Mexico City• Paris
Ecuador has two primate cities, very unusual. What are they?
Rank Size Rule• The second largest city is
1/nth of the largest city.
The largest city has 10 millionThe next city has 5 millionThe next city has 2.5 million
Central Business Districtsvs.
The SUBURBS!!!
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Central Business Districts
- OriginalLocation
-Site
-Situation
Characteristics of CBDsCharlotte, NC
• -Vertical Geography
• -High Rents (bid rents)
• -Demography
• -Environmental Concerns
• -Cultural Amenities
• -Sense of Place
Services of CBDs: Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston
-Retail Services with a High Threshold
-Retail Services with a High Range
-Retail Services Serving Downtown Workers
-Business Services
Centralization in CBDs
1. Economic Advantages: -accessibility -location near transportation hubs -agglomeration, clustering of “like” services2. Social Advantages: -Historical momentum -Prestige -locate near work
Urban Renewal
• Gentrification• Revitalization• Zoning• Sense of Place?
Granville Island, Vancouver
Who lives in the inner city?• Single Yuppies, DINKS=want to be near amenities and
walk to work• Elderly, retired=want to be near amenities, can’t
drive, no kids, downsizing from big house in suburbs• Middle-aged, single career women• Gay population• People with unique careers can only find jobs in big
cities • People who don’t want to be far from amenities• Affordable, high density housing• Don’t want to pay transportation costs to CBD jobs
Problems with Decentralization in CBDs
• Inadequate and run-down housing, redlining, filtering, ethnic and racial segregation
• Stores shut down• Homelessness, underclass,
cycle of poverty• Services are cut or taxes are
raised• Crime• Pollution• Lack of residents
http://www.juicygeography.co.uk/downloads/podmovies/ExeterCBD.movVideo made by a geography student in Exeter, England about the CBD
http://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html
Suburbs: The answer to decentralization• -The commuter zone: Counterurbanization, Transportation
Corridor• -Early Policies that led to suburbanization A. Federal Road Act of 1916, Interstate Hwy Act 1956 B. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 1934 -single family homes -FHA loans for repairs were short and small C. GI Bill 1944 D. United States Housing Act 1937 -provides public housing for the poor E. Zoning Ordinances, Gated Communities
2 effects:1. Encouraged single family homes away from the central city2. Magnified segregation of residential areas
Suburbs: The Good Life?-Urban Sprawl-checkerboard development, in-filling-Placelessness-Better Schools-Safer Environment-Large Yards, single homes-Jobs have moved to the suburbs (suburbanization of business) Services have moved to the suburbs, office parks-Redlining, blockbusting-Master-planned communities
Ted Talks on Suburbshttp://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia.html
Who wants to live in the Suburbs?• Married with families,
affordable, single homes• Divorced moms who get the
family home• Widowed women (older• People who want safety
(less crime), big yards, better schools
• People who work outside of the city
Urban Sprawl: Suburbs run amokhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/america-in-gridlock/video-nowhere-to-grow/3/
CBDs in Europe and Latin America
How are they similar AND
How are they different?
Resources• De Blij, Harm, J. (2007). Human Geography People, Place and Culture. Hoboken,
NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. • Domosh, Mona, Neumann, Roderic, Price, Patricia, & Jordan-Bychkov, 2010. The
Human Mosaic, A Cultural Approach to Human Geography. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
• Fellman, Jerome, D., Getis, Arthur, & Getis, Judith, 2008. Human Geography, Landscapes of Human Activities. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
• Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic and Alex M. and Pulsipher, 2008. World Regional Geography, Global Patterns, Local Lives. W.H. Freeman and Company New York.
• Rubenstein, James M. (2008). An introduction to human geography The cultural• landscape. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.• Benewick, Robert, & Donald, Stephanie H. (2005). The State of• China Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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