Transcript Urban Landscape - SKH Lam Kau Mow Secondary School

Urban Landscape
Notes to Handouts (08-09 version)
I. What is a settlement?
I. The
‘what’ and ‘where’ of settlements
- site, location (situation), size, form, structure,
morphology, function, quality of environment,
households, people and interaction
II. Types of settlements
What is an urban settlement? How is it
different from a rural settlement?
a. Functional definition of urban settlement
b. Statistical definition of urban settlement
- Why is it difficult to set a universal minimum size
of an urban settlement?
- Refer to ‘Urban Data 2008’
- Refer to T.B. p.388-389, 392-397, 516-517

Comparing north & south in the USA
Not all types of society will develop an urban structure. There was,
for a long period, a marked contrast between the economies of
the northern & southern regions of the young USA.
II. Types of settlements
- Settlement patterns:
Causes of dispersion and nucleation:
T.B. p.397
Nearest neighbour analysis: T.B. p.402-404
Interaction / gravity models: T.B. p.410-411
III. Urban Processes


Urban growth
- trends and distribution
(refer to fact notes ‘Urban Data 2008’, T.B. p.418-419)
Urbanization
- it is not simply a matter of an increasing % of people
living in towns and cities
- it is a multi-dimenstional process involving:
physical, economic, social and demographic changes
(refer to notes p. 3)
III. Urban Processes
Urbanization
- On demographic level, urbanization involves two
processes:
(1) natural increase
(2) migration (with push and pull factors)

The average size of the world’s
100 largest cities, 1800-2000
 The
growth of large urban areas (cities) has been
especially notable over the last 50 years.
World mega-cities
 The
recent feature of urbanization: the emergence of
mega-cities with populations of over 5 million.
III. Urban Processes
Urbanization
- The rate of natural increase in cities are often
significantly higher than those in more rural
areas. Why?
(1) Higher fertility rate in urban areas due to a
low age profile
(2) Which is often the result of migration, esp.
rural-urban migration (highly selective) – do ex.

III. Urban Processes
What are
the processes and features of
urbanization? (notes p.3)
How did the % of the worlds’ urban population
change with time? (notes p.3 & ‘Urban Data 2008)
III. Urban Processes
The proportion of
world population living in urban
areas (notes p.4)
Proportion by different continents
No. of cities with > 1 million people, 1800-2000
Region
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America
North America
Oceania
Total
1800
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
1900
0
3
9
0
4
0
16
1950
0
26
30
7
14
2
81
2000
34
136
61
39
36
5
311
Source: Advanced Geography Edexcel (A), 2005, p. 461
Distribution of the world’s100 largest cities, 1800-2000
Region
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America
North America
Oceania
Total
1800
4
64
29
3
0
0
100
1900
2
23
51
5
16
2
99
1950
3
32
37
8
18
2
100
2000
6
44
19
16
13
2
100
Source: Advanced Geography Edexcel (A), 2005, p. 461
Urbanization in the developed
countries
1. The invention of
agricultural machinery
2. Improvement in transport
3. Development of new manufacturing industries
4. Attractiveness of urban life
Counter-urbanization
 It
is a trend that involves the movement of people and
enterprises out of urban areas to more rural areas.
 The trend experienced by UK after 1950s:
- 1. improved transport
- 2. a decline in the heavy industries which had
been concentrated in a few areas
- 3. a greater development of services which
favoured edge-of-city environments
Reurbanization since 1980s
 the
return of people to the cities is directional in nature
 with majority of movement happens in the inner cities
 which formerly suffer from dereliction and unemployment
 the scale of return is large and impose an obvious effect
within the city, both positive and negative
 the return is particularly significant in large cities,
especially global cities in MEDCs
 where population has grown rapidly
Reurbanization in most MEDC
cities in the 1990s
 the
recognition of an urgent need to revive & redevelop
flagging city / central city areas
 a response to the changing world economy: globalization
 effect of switching employment structure, from
manufacturing industry to service industry
 the derelict part of the cities, mainly the inner part, usu.
captures the awareness of the government
Reurbanization in most MEDC
cities in the 1990s
 major
aims: to stop the loss of population & employment,
improve housing stock and upgrade the city
image
 ultimate
goal: to attract the mobile, global investment
case study in UK (1) - Birmingham
the principal area of development:
- the derelict areas in the NE part of the city
 Heartlands initiative:
- developing office space within the city
 other city projects:
- building an international convention centre,
national indoor arena, etc.
 aiming at the creation of a safe, profitable and
pleasure environment
 through ‘growth coalition’, several flagship schemes
have been promoted.

case study in UK (2) - Nottingham
revival of the past textile centre into an important
centre for financial & business
 pulling down small workshops to create more office
space and space for houses
 renovation of the historic Lace Market
 redevelopment of the Borad Marsh and Trinity Square
shopping areas, crating a further 77 000 sq. metre for
retail space
 further investment on key city centre sites
 dev’t of national & international sports facilities – the
National Ice Centre, the National Water Sports Centre &
the Nottingham International Tennis Centre

Urbanization in the less
developed countries
in
the stage of concurrent urban growth &
urbanization
impacts under the withdrawal of the colonial
administration
‘over-urbanization’
‘pseudo-urbanization’
other factors for the rapid process (notes p.6)
a case study of China (notes p.6)
Urban and rural population,
1950-2030
 With
projected values to 2030
Think about it
What about the
recent trend and prediction of
China’s urbanization?
What are
the driving force of rural-urban
migration in China?
Urbanization in China
 Total
population at the end of 2006: 1.3 billion,
 with 737 million (56%) and 577 million (44%) residing in the
rural and urban areas respectively.
 About 94% of population lives on approximately 46% of land.
 Recent trend: the decreasing rural population and increasing
urban population; moving industry and economic activities
from the rural to urban areas as the main focus
 The UN forecast: By 2015, China's rural and urban population
will be about 50% vs 50%]
 In the long term, China faces increasing urbanization: by
2035 – the level of urbanization will reach 70%
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3 driving forces for China’s
rural-urban migration
 1.
the widening income gap between rural & urban areas
 2. the increasing labour demand in centain economic
sectors of the big cities
e.g. construction, electronics & textiles, services
 3. the further agricultural modernization & therefore the
agricultural labour surplus
Source:
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/ChinaFood/argu/trends/t
rend_30.htm
Recommended Reference:
Rural-urban
Migration in China: Recent Trend
and Future Challenges