Transcript More on urban geography…

Urban geography…
Concepts:
Metropolitan area
Central City/CBD
Suburb
Exurb (disconnected residential dev’mt)
‘Edge City’ (sudden surge of growth from
business relocation, etc.)
Urban land use patterns…
 Residential 35% (about one-third of
average city’s land area)
 Commercial (less than 4-5% of city?)
 Industrial (only 6-7% of area?)
 Transportation 35% (larger and larger
share of available land)
(and other 20% uses like recreational,
government, education etc…)
More fascinating info about
urban geography
Historical ‘epochs’ of urban development
in the U.S. – based on:
1) Resources: City’s grow because they’re
near resources.
2) In-migration.
3) Transportation and technology (e.g.
Chicago and RR; Seattle’s seaport
connection etc.)
More reasons for urban growth
4) Functional
interrelationships
between cities:
Cities grow because
they assume
important roles in
already existing urban
systems (e.g. Vegas’
and Reno’s connection
to CA).
Changes in social and
economic systems
(e.g.Gold Rush brought
migrants to the West;
emancipation
encouraged AfricanAmericans to leave the
South.
Six ‘epochs’of urban growth in
the U.S.
1) Prior to 1800: The Colonial Heritage
• Resources: food, fish, timber.
• Largest cities - trading centers with
access to interior and to Europe.
• NYC at the top by 1790 (33,000);
Rivals were Philadelphia and Boston.
Six epochs…
2) Sail and Wagon Era – up to 1830.
• Period of major agricultural settlement
of NE and Midwest.
• Decreased links with Europe.
• Only period when urban percentage
actually dropped.
(Pgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans)
More epics…
3) Rail and Steam Epoch – 1830-1870.
• Entire continent opens up.
• East Coast grows due to migration and
industry.
• Boston was key financial center.
• Chicago rises from obscurity (RR/meatpacking, etc.).
The six urban periods continued 4) The Steel Rail Epoch – 1870-1920.
• Extension of connections to West and
South.
• All regions joined by standardized RR
network.
• Major growth of western cities (e.g. LA,
SF, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, Salt Lake
City, Denver)
Epoch # 5…
5) Streetcar Suburbs: 1920 - ?
• Cities begin to change internally as
their urban morphology is reshaped by
new transportation systems and new
migrants.
• The big question: Does suburban
growth (and the emergence of ‘edge
cities’) mean death to the CBD?)
Epic Six:
6) The automobile era: 1940 to
present
What next?
New towns
Telecomm villages
Neo-traditional (smart growth)