DERI, JOHANISA K.

BSED SSTU-2103

MODULE 1
PART ONE
(THE STUDY OF URBAN GEOGRAPHY)

ACTIVITY I: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Fordism. It is a specific stage of economic development in the 20th century.

Fordism refers to the typical postwar mode of economic growth and its associated
political and social order in advanced capitalism. In addition, it refers to a way of
economic life developed around the mass production of consumer goods, using
assembly-line techniques. It was based on mass production and mass consumption,
linked through rising wages for workers and increased productivity in the workplace.
Fordism came to signify modernity in general.

2. Globalisation. This word used to describe the growing interdependence of the

world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in
goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information. It
also captures in its scope the economic and social changes that have come about as
a result. It may be pictured as the threads of an immense spider web formed over
millennia, with the number and reach of these threads increasing over time. People,
money, material goods, ideas, and even disease and devastation have traveled these
silken strands, and have done so in greater numbers and with greater speed than
ever in the present age.

3. Gentrification. It is described as a process where wealthy, college-educated

individuals begin to move into poor or working-class communities, often originally
occupied by communities of color. It is the process of changing the character of a
neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses.
Furthermore, it often shifts a neighborhood's racial or ethnic composition and
average household income by developing new, more expensive housing and
businesses in a gentrified architectural style and extending and improving resources
that had not been previously accessible. In addition, its process is typically the result
of increasing attraction to an area by people with higher incomes spilling over from
neighboring cities, towns, or neighborhoods.
4. Political Globalisation. Political globalization refers to the growth of the worldwide
political system, both in size and complexity. That system includes national
governments, their governmental and intergovernmental organizations as well as
government-independent elements of global civil society such as international
non-governmental organizations and social movement organizations. One of the key
aspects of the political globalization is the declining importance of the nation-state and
the rise of other actors on the political scene. The creation and existence of the United
Nations is called one of the classic examples of political globalization. Through this
political globalization we can easily contact and talk to other countries' leaders in
times of crisis or concern. We are able to resolve issues, and help spread democracy
through the use of globalization, which has helped lower boundaries and borders as a
result of war.

5. Glocalisation. It is a combination of the words "globalization" and "localization."

The term is used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed
globally but is also adjusted to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market.
Furthermore, it is the adaptation of global and international products, into the local
contexts they're used and sold in. Glocalization works for companies
with decentralized authority structures, and for companies that exist and compete in
multiple, different cultural contexts. The process can be expensive, and resource
intensive, but it often pays off for companies that practice it, as it allows for greater
access to a larger, more culturally varied target market. It also makes those countries
more effective competitors in those markets. A common example would be cars that
are sold worldwide but adjusted to meet local criteria such as emissions standards or
what side the steering wheel is located. It could also focus on more cultural aspects,
such as a global fast-food chain offering geographically-specific menu items that cater
to local tastes.

ACTIVITY II:

1. Why is there a need to study urban geography?

The study of urban geography can help us have a better appreciation of the
economics of what goes on within cities and recognize the interdependence involved
in local, national, and international economic development in an increasingly
globalized world. It provides us with a framework for conceptualizing urbanism in
conjunction with an appreciation of history and the relationships among art, culture,
and society. It explain the interplay of science and technology with social and
economic change; reveal important dimensions related to race, gender, and sexuality;
identify important issues concerning social inequality, urban segregation, and
gentrification; raise concerns about urban environmental quality; and point to
important lessons for urban governance and policy. To add, the study of urban
geography helps us understand, analyze, and interpret the landscapes and
communities of cities and metropolitan areas around the world.

2. Examine and explain the influence of global-scale ‘trigger factors’ in urban

change.
The trigger factors that influences changes in urban global-scale are the economy,
technology, demography, politics, society, culture and environment.

THE ECONOMY
Economic forces are regarded as the dominant influence on urban change. Since its
emergence in the sixteenth century, the capitalist economy has entered three main
phases. The first phase, from the late sixteenth century until the late nineteenth
century, was an era of competitive capitalism characterized by free-market
competition between locally oriented businesses and laissez-faire economic (and
urban) development largely unconstrained by government regulation.
The dynamism of the economic system – the basis of profitability – was enhanced in
the early decades of the twentieth century by the introduction of Fordism. This
economic philosophy was founded on the principles of mass production using
assembly-line techniques and ‘scientific’ management (known as Taylorism), together
with mass consumption fueled by higher wages and high-pressure marketing
techniques. The third and current phase of capitalism developed in the period
following the Second World War. It was marked by a shift away from industrial
production towards services (particularly financial services) as the basis of
profitability.

TECHNOLOGY
Technological changes, which are integral to economic change, also influence the
pattern of urban growth and change. Innovations such as the advent of global
telecommunications have had a marked impact on the structure and functioning of the
global economy.The effects of macro-level technological change are encapsulated in
the concept of economic long waves or cycles of expansion and contraction in the rate
of economic development.

DEMOGRAPHY
Demographic changes are among the most direct influences on urbanisation and
urban change. Movements of people, into and out from cities, shape the size,
configuration and social composition of cities. The condition of the urban environment
can also affect the demographic structure of cities by influencing the balance between
rates of fertility and mortality.

POLITICS
Cities reflect the political ideology of their society. During the middle fifty years of the
twentieth century the development of new towns and reorganisation of existing cities
reflected the imperatives of a command economy and centralised political apparatus.
Within Western societies, changes in political ideology and subsequent modifications
of economic and urban policy have had major impacts on city development. The rise
of the New Right governments of Ronald Reagan in the USA and Margaret Thatcher
in the UK led to reductions in public expenditure and increased dependence upon the
private sector in urban development.

SOCIETY
Macro-scale social changes can have a significant impact on the character of towns
and cities. For example, social attitudes towards abortion or use of artificial methods
of birth control may influence the demographic composition of a society and its cities.
Popular attitudes towards ethnic or lifestyle minorities can determine migration flows
between countries and cities, as well as underlying patterns of residential segregation
within cities.

CULTURE
One of the most significant of cultural changes in Western society in the post-Second
World War era, particularly from the late 1970s onwards, has been the rise of
materialism. This is displayed in conspicuous consumption by those who can afford it.
The effect of cultural change on cities is encapsulated in the concept of postmodernity
or postmodernism. This embraces social difference and celebrates variation in urban
environments, whether expressed in architectural or social terms.
THE ENVIRONMENT
The impacts of environmental change on patterns of urbanisation and urban change
are seen at a number of geographic scales. At the planetary scale, global warming
due to the greenhouse effect (caused in part by the waste outputs of urban civilisation)
may require the construction of coastal defences to protect cities.

CONCEPTS AND THEORY IN URBAN GEOGRAPHY

ACTIVITY I: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Urbanisation. It is the process by which large numbers of people become

permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities and is closely linked
to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization.
Urbanisation occurs mainly because people move from rural areas to urban areas and
it results in growth in the size of the urban population and the extent of urban areas.
These changes in population lead to other changes in land use, economic activity and
culture. In addition, urbanisation has been associated with significant economic and
social transformations. The process of urbanisation affects all sizes of settlements, so
villages gradually grow to become small towns, smaller towns become larger towns,
and large towns become cities. This trend has led to the growth of mega-cities. A
mega-city is an urban area of greater than ten million people. Rapid expansion of city
borders, driven by increases in population and infrastructure development, leads to
the expansion of city borders that spread out and swallow up neighbouring urban
areas to form mega-cities.

2. Urbanism. It is the way of living or characteristics of lifestyle of people living in

urban areas. Market economy grows, innovations that take place come to conflict with
traditions, complicated type of division of labour is introduced and more than any
other thing, a new way of living gets involved. These way of living may even spread to
village areas. Urbanism is a special concept which inherits within itself all the
characters connected with urbanization and the urban way of life. According to Louis
Wirth, urbanism is characterized by extensive conflicts of norms and values, by rapid
social change, by increased social differentiation, greater social mobility, by higher
levels of education and income, by emphasis on material possessions and
individualism, by impersonality of relationships and decline in intimate communication
and by increase in formal social controls.
3. Space and place. Place is a unique and special location in space notable for the
fact that the regular activities of human beings occur there. Place may furnish the
basis of our sense of identity as human beings, as well as for our sense of community
with others because it is a site of such activities and all that they entail. Places are
special sites in space where people live and work and where intimate and enduring
connection are formed. Moreover, place is created when the physical attributes,
emotional connections, and psychological perceptions are combined to impart
individual meaning and value while space is a physical gap or interval between two
objects.

4. Cyberspace. Cyberspace refers to the virtual computer world, and more

specifically, an electronic medium that is used to facilitate online communication.
Cyberspace typically involves a large computer network made up of many worldwide
computer sub-networks that employ TCP/IP protocol to aid in communication and
data exchange activities.Furthermore, it constitutes a virtual and non-material entity
that consists of computer and transmission codes and carries a geographical name as
a metaphor. It receives geographical interpretations and meanings. In addition, it
constitutes a subset of virtual space, which also includes printed works such as
paintings and maps. As well as, it features an interactive and virtual environment for a
broad range of participants.

5. Moral philosophy.
It is an approach based on ethics that represents an emergent perspective in urban
geography. This seeks to examine critically the moral basis of society. Concept of
normative judgement focuses on what should be rather than what is a central idea in
ethical perspective.This involves critical evaluation of actual situations against
normative conditions as defined by ethical principles.

ACTIVITY II.
1. What do you understand by the term ‘urban’?
Urban is is created and is related to a large group of people gathered to live in a
certain area. It’s like a place of convenience or a metropolis where you would do
business and acquire a quality life. It is the opposite of rural area and you can find
opportunities there. Moreover,one can define urban broadly on the basis of population
density, administrative institutions, infrastructures and a diverse income livelihood or
workforce. Usually characterized by the presence of health care institutions such as
hospitals, financial institutions such as banks, and administrative structure such as
government.

2. Explain the value of an urban geographical perspective for understanding

contemporary towns and cities.
Geographical perspective is important as just like other existing phenomena, it also
exist in time and thus have a history and is existing in space. These geographical
perspective can help us understand, analyze, and interpret the different landscapes in
contemporary towns and cities. How, When, Where and Why it is there.

3. Make a list of the positive and negative features of urban life.

 Positive Feature
 Starting a new career could be far easier if one moves to a town or city because
of greater job opportunities available there.
 Well built houses and a better quality of roads around the area.
 It can be faster to get from place to place in a city or town because of highly
developed transport facilities that receives regular funding updates.
 You can save money on a car due to better public transport.
 Often find new attractions to visit and entertainment and relaxing areas such as
cinemas, clubs, cafe etc.
 Easy access to health care services because hospitals and clinics are
everywhere.
 Technology are faster that’s why life becomes easier and convenient.

 Negative Feature
 Urban areas contains larger population that’s why there is a higher level of
pollution including noise pollution which causes health problem in the long term.
 You may not always be able to enjoy natural spaces because of fewer green
spaces in some areas.
 Prices of property, goods and services are expensive.
 Houses are more compact and one won’t be able to build house with gardens.
 You may feel more pressured and stressed in busy towns or cities.

PART TWO
(AN URBANISING WORLD)
ACTIVITY I: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Urban hearths . An urban hearth is an area where large cities first existed. The
area in the Fertile Crescent that is known as the first urban hb earth is Mesopotamia.
Other urban hearth areas are the Egypt, The Yellow River, The Indus Valley, and
Mesoamerica.

2. Industrial revolution. Industrial Revolution is the process of change from an

agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated
by industry and machine manufacturing. It started in England towards the middle of
the eighteenth century and then spread to the United States and other parts of Europe.
The Industrial Revolution contributed to the rise of factories, creating a demand for
workers in urban areas. It is also defined as the changes in manufacturing and
transportation that began with fewer things being made by hand but instead made
using machines in larger-scale factories. These technological changes introduced
novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society. The main
features involved in the Industrial Revolution were technological, socioeconomic, and
cultural. Both Industrial Revolutions led to inventions that included the telephone, the
steam engine, the sewing machine, the X-ray, the lightbulb, and the combustible
engine.

3. Medieval urbanism. “Medieval urbanism” is usually defined functionally based

upon the presence of certain urban characteristics, such as settlements having a
greater population size and density, a high proportion of economic activities based on
consumption and production, and high levels of administrative status and provision.
In addition is the rise of urban commerce, communes, and cathedrals that solidifies
the place of the cities as the centers of humanity during middle age. They produced
the concepts of trade, centralized government, and higher education which furthered
the development of the urban landscape into modern Europe.

4. Postmodern city. Postmodern theory began to exert an influence on urban

geography in the late 1980s and 1990s. The postmodern perspective is characterized
by the rejection of grand theory and an emphasis on human difference. The most
visible impact of postmodern thinking on the city is in its architecture, where the
‘concrete functionalism’ of the modern era is replaced by a diversity of styles. In terms
of the social geography of the city, the most important contribution of a postmodern
perspective is how its focus on difference, uniqueness and individuality sensitized us
to the needs and situations of all members of a society.

5. Tenements. The word "tenement" historically meant any type of permanent

residential property used for rental purposes. It could refer to houses, land and other
buildings, as well as the rights attached to this property. However, in the U.S. it is
typically associated with low-income communities and crowded, run-down, or
low-quality living conditions. Tenement buildings date back to the growth of the
industrial revolution and the sudden influx of people moving to cities, but today may
be associated with slums, inner-city housing, or low-income housing projects.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Where, when and why did the first cities appear?

The first cities are thought to have begun around 3500 BC in areas where the land
was fertile, such as the cities founded in the historic region known as Mesopotamia
around 7500 B.C.E., which included Eridu, Uruk, and Ur. These cities were among the
many communities between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers (the so-called Fertile
Crescent). Cities also formed along the Nile River in Egypt, the Indus River Valley on
the Indian subcontinent, and the Yellow (or Huang He) River in China, as people
began to cultivate crops and settle in communities. Agricultural production in these
fertile areas meant that people could give up a nomadic lifestyle as hunters and
gatherers to take advantage of food surpluses. Settling along waterways provided a
much-needed transportation system that facilitated trade.

2. Examine the contribution of ancient Greece and Rome to the spread of

urbanism.

Both Greece and Rome made significant contributions to Western civilization. Greek
knowledge was ascendant in philosophy, physics, chemistry, medicine, and
mathematics for nearly two thousand years. The Romans did not have the Greek
temperament for philosophy and science, but they had a genius for law and civil
administration. The Romans were also great engineers and builders. They invented
concrete, perfected the arch, and constructed roads and bridges that remain in use
today.

3. Identify the principal characteristics of the post-industrial/postmodern city.

Soja (1995) has characterized these trends in terms of six geographies of
restructuring. First, The restructuring of the economic base of urbanisation that
involve fundamental changes in the organization and technology of industrial
production, and the attendant social and spatial division of labour. Second, The
formation of a global system of world cities where it has the effect of expanding both
the ‘outreach’ of particular world cities, bringing most of the globe within their effective
hinterland, and their ‘inreach’, bringing into the global city capital and labour from all
major cultural realms. Third, The radical restructuring of urban form where
restructuring has generated a large number of neologisms, including megacity, outer
city, edge city, metroplex, technoburb, post-suburbia, technopolis, heterpolis and
exopolis to indicate a process whereby the city is ‘simultaneously being turned inside
out and outside in’. Fourth, The changing social structure of urbanism. Postmodern
urbanism is associated with the development of new patterns of social fragmentation,
segregation and polarisation, most evident in highly visible lifestyle differences and a
growing gap between rich and poor. Fifth, The rise of the carceral city. The complex
geographies of postmodern cities have made them increasingly difficult to govern via
traditional local-government structures. This has promoted the appearance of
‘carceral’ areas of walled-in residential estates protected by armed guards, shopping
malls made safe by electronic surveillance, ‘smart’ office buildings impenetrable to
‘outsiders’, and neighbourhood-watch schemes organised by concerned
home-owners Lastly, A radical change in urban imagery. This refers to our images of
the city and how these affect our behaviour and lifestyle in the postmodern city.
 THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF URBANISATION AND URBAN CHANGE

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY 1: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Urbanisation. It is the process by which large numbers of people become

permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities and is closely linked
to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization.
Urbanisation occurs mainly because people move from rural areas to urban areas and
it results in growth in the size of the urban population and the extent of urban areas.
These changes in population lead to other changes in land use, economic activity and
culture. In addition, urbanisation has been associated with significant economic and
social transformations. The process of urbanisation affects all sizes of settlements, so
villages gradually grow to become small towns, smaller towns become larger towns,
and large towns become cities. This trend has led to the growth of mega-cities. A
mega-city is an urban area of greater than ten million people. Rapid expansion of city
borders, driven by increases in population and infrastructure development, leads to
the expansion of city borders that spread out and swallow up neighbouring urban
areas to form mega-cities.

2. Million cities. A million city is a city with one million or more inhabitants. The first
urban settlement to reacha population of one million was the city of London by
around A.D. 1810. By 1982, approximately 175 cities in the world had crossed the one
million population mark.

3. Urbanisation Cycle. During the initial phase of urbanisation, the primate city
phase, an increasing proportion of economic activity and population in a country
concentrates in a limited number of rapidly growing primate cities.

4. Suburbanisation. Suburbanisation is the movement of people or businesses away

from the city center to the suburbs. This occurs, because the population of the city
become more affluent and choose to move away from the busy and polluted city. This
is only achievable if transport links are in place to allow them to commute back into
the city for their careers. Many businesses may then follow these people, as there is a
greater labour force located in the suburbs and often there is simply not enough space
in the city for companies to keep developing, so the suburbs provide an ideal solution.
5. Conurbation. This is the term coined in 1915 by Geddes to describe a built-up
area created by the coalescence of once-separate urban settlements. With
improvements in transportation and communications the functional influence of the
conurbation has spread beyond the limits of the built-up area, so the term is now
widely used in the UK and elsewhere to describe multi-nodal functional urban units.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Over the course of the second half of the twentieth century a world in which
most people lived in rural areas was transformed into a predominantly urban
world. Examine and explain the changing distribution of the world’s urban
population over that period.
The world’s urban population is distributed among settlements of differing sizes along
a continuum from small towns with several thousand people to giant cities with
populations of tens of millions. Most of the urban populations live in settlements with
fewer than 500,000 inhabitants. Most of these intermediate settlements function as
links between town and country where agricultural surpluses are exchanged for
manufactured goods and services in accordance with the precepts of central place
theory

2. Identify and explain the distribution of the world’s megacities and ‘million
cities’.

A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million
people. Megacities are often agglomerations, created when two or more towns and
cities grow so large that they join together.On the other hand, a million city is a city
with one million or more inhabitants. The first urban settlement to reach a population
of one million was the city of London by around A.D. 1810. By 1982, approximately
175 cities in the world had crossed the one million population mark.

3. Explain the four main stages of the cycle of urbanisation.

The four main stages of the cycle of urbanisation studies the growth patterns within
individual urban agglomerations. These four stages of urban urbanisation are:
1. Urbanisation: when certain settlements grow at the cost of their surrounding
countryside.
2. Suburbanisation or exurbanisation: when the urban ring (commuter belt) grows
at the cost of the urban core (physically built-up city).
3. Disurbanisation or counterurbanisation: when the population loss of the urban
core exceeds the population gain of the ring, resulting in the agglomeration losing
population overall.
4. Reurbanisation: when either the rate of population loss of the core tapers off, or
the core starts gaining population with the ring still losing population

REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON URBANISATION AND URBAN CHANGE

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY I: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Immigration. Immigration is the process of moving to a new country or region with

the intention of staying and living there. People may choose to immigrate for a variety
of reasons, such as employment opportunities, to escape a violent conflict,
environmental factors, educational purposes, or to reunite with family. The process of
immigrating to the United States can be complicated and is often driven by a few key
principles including uniting families, boosting the economy with skilled professionals,
promoting diversity, and helping refugees.

2. Baby Boom. A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth

rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within
certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born
during these periods are often called baby boomers. The cause of baby booms
involves various fertility factors. The best-known baby boom occurred in the
mid-twentieth century, sometimes considered to have started after the end of
the Second World War, sometimes from the late 1930s, and ending in the 1960s.

3. Underurbanisation. Under-urbanization, defined as the achievement of a high

industrial growth without a parallel growth of urban population, can be plausibly
viewed as a typical phenomenon of socialist economies and is widely recognized in
the special case of China.
4. Informal Economy. The informal economy can refer to economic activities that
occur outside the formal labour market. Most commonly, the formal labor market as
compared to the informal labour market are referred to as "legal" and "illegal";
"market" and "non-market"; "paid" and "unpaid." The informal economy can also be
referred to as "underground" or "criminal." Generally, the informal labour market refers
to production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that are not
accounted for in formal measurements of the economy. Informal economic activities
can include doing odd jobs or providing services for which you are paid in cash.
Examples include: home renovations, car repairs, etc. These informal activities can
be considered quasi-legal in that the work is considered "legitimate." But because it is
unregulated and no taxes are paid, it is not considered part of the formal labour
market economy. Other informal economic activities, including crime and drug dealing,
are considered less legitimate or "criminal." The informal economic activities that are
directly associated with homelessness in Canada, include aspects of the sex trade,
panhandling and squeegeeing.

5. Command Economy. Command economy is an economic system in which the

means of production are publicly owned and economic activity is controlled by a
central authority that assigns quantitative production goals and allots raw materials to
productive enterprises. It is a key aspect of a political system in which a central
governmental authority dictates the levels of production that are permissible and the
prices that may be charged for goods and services. Most industries are publicly
owned. The command economy is a component of a communist political system.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Identify the main factors underlying the future metropolitan pattern of North
America and consider the likely urban outcome of these trends.
The demographic basis of the post-Second World War urban transformation in North
America is the outcome of two principal components which are the series of
socio-demographic shifts and internal migration movements; and Immigration.

2. Discuss the major functional types of cities in Western Europe.

 Western Europe is highly urbanised, with over 75 per cent of the population
resident in urban areas. Consequently, between 1980 and 1995 the region exhibited
one of the smallest increases in the level of urbanisation of all major world regions. As
in North America, changes in household size and composition and in age structure
have had an important influence on housing markets and settlement patterns.
London and Paris are the largest cities in the region,after which the size ranking
becomes more ambiguous depending on the boundaries used. Comparing cities by
their dominant characteristics provides greater insight into current urban processes.
This highlights the major dichotomy between the growing high-tech/services cities,
which include many cities that are not among the largest in Europe, and the declining
industrial and port cities, many of which still are among the largest cities although
most have declining populations.

3. Asia contains many of the world’s largest and fastest-growing cities.

Examine the process of urban change in any one city.
Urban change in Asia demonstrates how the growth or decline of cities must be
understood in terms of the effects of the globalisation of the world economy on the
one hand, and economic, social or political changes that are specific to that city or
region on the other. We can identify three main groups of countries in the Asia-Pacific
region according to their levels of urbanisation:
1. The most urbanised group includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong,
Singapore and Korea. In these countries agriculture plays a minor role in the economy
and more than half of GDP comes from the service sector.
2. The second group comprises Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Fiji
and Pakistan, where agriculture contributed less than one-third of GDP and where
(apart from Thailand) between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of the population lives in
urban areas.
3. The third group contains China and all South Asian countries except Pakistan.
These remain predominantly rural, with agriculture having a greater importance in
their GDP.

NATIONAL URBAN SYSTEMS

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY I: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.
1. Openness/closure. Closure is an act or process of closing something,
especially an institution, thoroughfare, or frontier, or of being closed.

2. Central Places. Central-place theory, in geography is an element of location theory

concerning the size and distribution of central places (settlements) within a system.
Central-place theory attempts to illustrate how settlements locate in relation to one
another, the amount of market area a central place can control, and why some central
places function as hamlets, villages, towns, or cities. These is fundamentally
concerned with the patterns through which wholesale, retail, service, and
administrative functions, plus market oriented manufacturing, are provided to
consuming populations. Thus, it can also be designated as the theory of urban trade
and institutions or the theory of location of tertiary production.

3. Network Theory. It is a ‘network model’ of urban settlement; based on the concept

of a ‘dispersed city’17 defined as a group of similar-size politically discrete cities
separated by open land, functioning economically as a single urban unit. Such an
arrangement of places deviates from the basic nested hierarchical ordering of central
place theory in which horizontal relationships between places of similar size was
unnecessary (since all provided the same amenities and services).

4. Diffusion Theories. In geography, the term diffusion refers to the spread of people,
things, ideas, cultural practices, disease, technology, weather, and other factors from
place to place. This kind of proliferation is known as spatial diffusion.

5. Centrality. Geographical centrality is an evolving concept that differs from one

perspective to another at different stages. A spatial unit has strong centrality when its
average distance to the other spatial units is closer in the region, and such centrality is
based on geographical proximity. A spatial unit with one or some attributes relatively
stronger than those of the other spatial units in the region may also be considered to
possess strong centrality, and this centrality is based on scale attributes. In many
cases, the centrality of a spatial unit is determined by its own attributes and the
distance from other spatial units, and we refer to this condition as the centrality based
on geographical proximity and attributes.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Explain the economic principles and geometry underlying Christaller’s
central place theory.
Walter Christaller developed his "Central Place Theory" in the 1930s. This theory
is based on his idea that settlements only existed to function as "central places" to
provide services for the surrounding area. This theory is part of the study of
urbanization, taking into account the importance of supply and demand. These theory
assumes that central places are distributed over a uniform plane of constant
population density and purchasing power.

2. Since its inception, central place theory has been subjected to critical
analysis. Examine the main criticisms of the theory.
The main criticisms directed at central place theory are the following:

1. The theory is not applicable to all settlements. Being limited to service centres, it
does not include some of the functions, such as manufacturing industry, that create
employment and population.
2. The economic determinism of the theory takes no account of random historical
factors that can influence the settlement pattern.
3. The theory makes unrealistic assumptions about the information levels and mental
acumen required to achieve rational economic decisions, even if profit maximization
were the only goal of human behaviour.
4. The notion of a homogeneous population ignores the variety of individual
circumstances.
5. Christaller’s model assumed relatively little governmental influence on business
locational decisions,nwhereas today national and local governments play a major role
in influencing business locations by, for example, offering grants to attract electronics
firms into Scotland’s ‘Silicon Glen’ or the lobbying by US sunbelt city mayors to attract
investment to their cities.
6. Central place theory is a static formulation that relates to the distribution of service
centres under assumed conditions at one point in time. A particular level of mobility is
implied by the assumption that consumers look to their nearest central place to satisfy
their needs. Levels of personal mobility have increased greatly since the model was
proposed. Consumers do not always visit their nearest store, and multi-purpose
shopping trips often result in low-order centres being by-passed for low
order goods, thus leading to their decline.
4. Explain the network city model of urban settlement and consider how well it
describes contemporary patterns of urban development.
Criticism of the contemporary relevance of central place theory led some researchers
to suggest an alternative ‘network model’ of urban settlement; based on the concept
of a ‘dispersed city’17 defined as a group of similar-size politically discrete cities
separated by open land, functioning economically as a single urban unit. Such an
arrangement of places deviates from the basic nested hierarchical ordering of central
place theory in which horizontal relationships between places of similar size was
unnecessary (since all provided the same amenities and services).

PART THREE: Urban Structure and Land Use in the Western City
LAND USE IN THE CITY

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY 1: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Urban Morphogenesis. Urban morphology refers to the study of urban form that
focuses on the formation and transformation of urban forms of cities, towns, and
villages over time; their spatial patterns at different scales; and physical
characteristics to inform appropriate urban interventions to promote sustainable urban
development. The concepts and approaches to the study of urban form are
multidisciplinary. Relevant subject fields are ranging from human geography, urban
planning, urban design, architecture, and sociology to cultural studies. Urban
morphology usually benefits urban management, design and planning, urban
conservation and regeneration, as well as urban policy-making in general to
contribute to social economic and environmental sustainability.

2. Political Economy. Political economy is a branch of social science that studies

the relationship that forms between a nation's population and its government when
public policy is enacted. It is, therefore, the result of the interaction between politics
and the economy and is the basis of the social science discipline. Political
economists study how economic theories such as capitalism, socialism, and
communism work in the real world. At its root, any economic theory is a methodology
that is adopted as a means of directing the distribution of a finite amount of resources
in a way that is beneficial for the greatest number of individuals.
3. Postmodernism. Postmodern theory began to exert an influence on urban
geography in the late 1980s and 1990s. The postmodern perspective is characterised
by the rejection of grand theory and an emphasis on human difference. The most
visible impact of postmodern thinking on the city is in its architecture, where the
‘concrete functionalism’ of the modern era is replaced by a diversity of styles. In terms
of the social geography of the city, the most important contribution of a postmodern
perspective is how its focus on difference, uniqueness and individuality sensitizes us
to the needs and situations of all members of a society.

4. Public space. Public space is property open to public use. It can be privately or
publicly owned. Geographic research on public space examines struggles over the
production and transformation of publicly accessible spaces, their use, their political
and social meanings, and their relationship to the construction of the public
sphere. Public space is central to political and social life in cities. Streets, squares,
and parks are places for protesting, socializing, and encountering difference. They
contribute to the reputation of cities for vibrancy and livability, and to the well-being of
urban residents. For the homeless, public space is also where many basic needs
must be fulfilled.

5. Use value. Use value or value in use is the utility of consuming a good; the
want-satisfying power of a good or service in classical political economy. In Marx's
critique of political economy, any labor-product has a value and a use-value, and if it
is traded as a commodity in markets, it additionally has an exchange value, most often
expressed as a money-price. Marx acknowledges that commodities being traded also
have a general utility, implied by the fact that people want them, but he argues that
this by itself tells us nothing about the specific character of the economy in which they
are produced and sold.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. How can the study of town plans help explain the changing pattern of urban
land use?
Studying town plans helps us in protecting coastlines and historic buildings,
regenerates declining places and creates new environments in the near future. It
preserves the best of the past and promotes innovation, so that the towns and
buildings of the future will continue to meet our needs even if it is changing.
2. Evaluate the contribution of Burgess’s concentric-zone model to our
understanding of urban structure.
Ernest Burgess gave concentric zone model to define how different social groups are
located in a metropolitan area. These concentric-zone model is important as it helps
us explain the concentric urban development, as a way to introduce the complexity of
urban land use and to explain urban growth.. Burgess model is one of the well known
and widely studied models in urban planning.

3. Select one of the major actors involved in the production of the built
environment and, with reference to specific examples, write an essay to
illustrate their role in urban change.
Financial institutions have grown in importance in both Britain and North America with
the decline in private rented housing and the growth of home ownership. In common
with developers, financial institutions seek to maximise profits and minimise risks.
Since these opportunities are differentiated over the urban area, financiers adopt
spatially discriminating lending practices, a fact that will have a significant impact on
the location of new construction as well as on maintenance and improvements to
existing structures. The practice of red-lining areas by mortgage lenders is well
documented. Furthermore, financial helps in dealing with the recontruction and
economic development in developing countries that responds to the rise in
urbanization by changing its focus to deal with the demands of the increasingly
urbanizing world.

URBAN PLANNING AND POLICY

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY 1: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Thatcherism. Thatcherism is the conservative policies, political philosophy, and

leadership style of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, characterized
especially by monetarism, privatization, and labor union reform. These ideology
represents a belief in free markets and a small state rather than planning and
regulating business and people's lives, government's job is to get out of the way. In
addition, thatcherism attempts to promote low inflation, the small state and free
markets through tight control of the money supply, privatisation and constraints on
the labour movement.

2. Urban Sprawl. Urban sprawl, also called sprawl or suburban sprawl is the rapid
expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by
low-density residential housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the
private automobile for transportation. Urban sprawl is caused in part by the need to
accommodate a rising urban population; however, in many metropolitan areas it
results from a desire for increased living space and other residential amenities. Urban
sprawl has been correlated with increased energy use, pollution, and traffic
congestion and a decline in community distinctiveness and cohesiveness. In addition,
by increasing the physical and environmental “footprints” of metropolitan areas, the
phenomenon leads to the destruction of wildlife habitat and to the fragmentation of
remaining natural areas.

3. Smart Growth. Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation strategy

which is implemented when building towns and cities that helps to prevent urban
sprawl. Smart growth strategy is a term that is used most in North America. Smart
growth strategies aim to ensure good city layout for long term population growth and
sustainability. It is also called "compact city" in other places. Smart growth strategies
enable cities to grow in ways that help to preserve open space, support economic
prosperity and minimize loss of wildlife and pollution. One main principle that is
involved when implementing smart growth strategies involves building rural, urban
and suburban communities that have housing and transportation near schools, shops
and work opportunities. This helps to promote local businesses and protect the
environment.

4. Socialist City. The socialist city is an ideal. Urban planners created various
designs for such cities to translate the political concept of a socialist state into
everyday life. Their designs expressed the desire to shape a new future in older,
existing cities, such as Leipzig and Berlin, and in new ones, such as Halle-Neustadt
and Stalinstadt, later renamed Eisenhüttenstadt. It was planned to facilitate access to
quality housing and social services for all inhabitants and thus to eliminate inequalities
in living standards.

5. Sustainable Urban Development. Sustainable urban development is the way

forward for cities to mitigate climate change. Integrated urban places designed to
bring people, activities, buildings, and public spaces together, with easy walking and
cycling connection between them and near-excellent transit service to the rest of the
city. It means inclusive access for all to local and citywide opportunities and resources
by the most efficient and healthful combination of mobility modes, at the lowest
financial and environmental cost, and with the highest resilience to disruptive events.
Inclusive development is an essential foundation for long-term sustainability, equity,
shared prosperity, and civil society in cities.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Planning seeks to influence the process of urban development for ‘the
common good’. Consider what is meant by this concept. Make a list of
examples of planning actions that have a positive impact on the common good,
and a list that you feel have a negative impact on the common good.

Planning process outlines how the goals are to be met. This includes determining

what resources will be needed and how they can be obtained, defining tasks that
need to be done, creating a schedule for completing the tasks, and providing
milestones to indicate progress toward meeting goals. Planning directs everyone’s
actions towards a desired outcome and helps us determine where resources are most
needed so they can be allocated where they will provide the most benefit. On the
other hand, planners can become so focused in creating plans that sometimes they
never get around to implementing the plans. Planning is not a one-time process and it
must be continually adjusted as they are implemented.

2. Identify the origins and development of the current system of urban planning
in the UK.
Urban planning takes place within the framework of national urban policy, the
priorities of which reflect the ideology of the state. There are four major phases in the
Brithish post-war urban policy which are the Physical redevelopment, Social welfare,
Entrepreneurial, and Competitive. After the Second World War until the late 1960s,
urban problems can be seen in physical term that’s why the policy responded to the
issue by developing the quality of houses, supply, transportation, and the
restructuring of dwellings. As well as the redevelopment of strategies and plans for
the development of the country. When it comes to the social welfare, the government
of UK planned to create a programme that would improve the welfare of
disadvantaged individuals and communities. Furthermore, in the Entrepreneurial
phase, the urban policy of the county was been reoriented in order to restructure the
country’s economy, social factor,spatial and ideologies around a new consensus of
free-market individualism and unequivocal rejection of the socialdemocratic
consensus of the post-war Keynesian welfare state. Moreover, the Competitive phase
introduced competitive bidding among local authorities for urban regeneration funds.
These bidding has been successful because of the solid partnership of the community
during those days.

3. Explain what is meant by urban sprawl and examine the benefits and
dis-benefits of the phenomenon.
Urban sprawl, also called sprawl or suburban sprawl is the rapid expansion of the
geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by low-density residential
housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the private automobile for
transportation. Urban sprawl is caused in part by the need to accommodate a rising
urban population; however, in many metropolitan areas it results from a desire for
increased living space and other residential amenities. Urban sprawl has been
correlated with increased energy use, pollution, and traffic congestion and a decline
in community distinctiveness and cohesiveness. In addition, by increasing the
physical and environmental “footprints” of metropolitan areas, the phenomenon leads
to the destruction of wildlife habitat and to the fragmentation of remaining natural
areas. On the other hand , the possible benefit of urban sprawl can be the increase in
economic production, an increase in job opportunities and this might lead to better
services that can create better living conditions or lifestyle.

4. Identify the characteristics of the socialist city and consider how they may
change in response to the demise of the command economies in Eastern
Europe.
The planned socialist city was intended to promote national economic development
and to foster social and spatial equity in collective consumption. The general
principles for planning the socialist city were laid out in the 1935 plan for Moscow
which are the Setting of limitation of city size, State control of housing, Planned
development of residential areas, Spatial equality in collective consumption, Limited
journey to work, Stringent land-use zoning, Rationalized traffic flows, Symbolism and
the central city, and the Town planning as an integral part of national planning. These
principles may change if there will be a modification and changes in political ideology
and economic command of Eastern Europe.
5. What do you understand by the concept of sustainable urban development?
Sustainable urban development is the way forward for cities to mitigate climate
change. Integrated urban places designed to bring people, activities, buildings, and
public spaces together, with easy walking and cycling connection between them and
near-excellent transit service to the rest of the city. It means inclusive access for all to
local and citywide opportunities and resources by the most efficient and healthful
combination of mobility modes, at the lowest financial and environmental cost, and
with the highest resilience to disruptive events. Inclusive development is an essential
foundation for long-term sustainability, equity, shared prosperity, and civil society in
cities.

RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD CHANGE

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY 1: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.

1. Search space. The space of all feasible solutions (it means objects among those
the desired solution is) is called search space (also state space). Each point in the
search space represent one feasible solution. Each feasible solution can be "marked"
by its value or fitness for the problem. We are looking for our solution, which is one
point (or more) among feasible solutions - that is one point in the search space.The
looking for a solution is then equal to a looking for some extreme (minimum or
maximum) in the search space. The search space can be whole known by the time of
solving a problem, but usually we know only a few points from it and we are
generating other points as the process of finding solution continues.

2. Housing class. Housing classes is a theoretical concept that enables researchers

and scholars to explore how housing tenure is linked to societal class divides. It is
based on a Weberian idea that domestic homeownership is a basis for class divisions.
This concept has been used widely in the discipline of sociology.

3. Housing abandonment.
The giving up of a house absolutely, without reference to any particular person or pur
pose. For example, vacating ahouse with the intention of not returning, so that it may
be appropriated by the next comer or finder. It is
the voluntary relinquishment of possession of a thing by its owner with the intention
of terminating ownership, but without vesting it in any other person. The relinquishing
of all title, possession, or claim, or a virtual, intentional throwing away of a house.

4. Gentrification. Gentrification describes a process where wealthy,

college-educated individuals begin to move into poor or working-class communities,
often originally occupied by communities of color. The people and businesses that
move into gentrifying neighborhoods may have goals for their new homes that are at
odds with the goals of people who have lived there for a long time. Rising costs of
living and a changing community culture can make for a difficult adjustment for
longtime residents. These changes may drive out people of color and minority-owned
businesses. At the same time, gentrification brings much needed investment into
long-neglected areas. Gentrification is thus a complicated issue that involves many
different stakeholders and perspectives.

5. Displacement. Displacement is a particular form of migration, in which individuals

are forced to move against their will. Where people are forced to move within their
country of origin, this is referred to as internal displacement. Displacement is always
triggered by sudden onset disasters, but economic and social factors like resource
availability, social networks and livelihood opportunities determine whether or not
migration occurs.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Explain the major reasons why people move house.

People tend to move from one house to another because of different factors. People
move maybe because their home is too small for the family especially when it is
growing. When the house is too big, people might move to another house as well
maybe because they can no longer afford the house expenses and can’t maintain a
huge house anymore. Moreover, people could also move house because they want a
better neighborhood where they feel safe and loved.

2. What are the mechanics underlying the search for a new home and identify
any constraints on residential relocation experienced by different groups in
society.
Whether the decision to move house is voluntary or forced, all relocating households
must specify an ‘aspiration set’ of criteria for evaluating new dwellings and living
environments; undertake a search for dwellings that satisfy those criteria; and select a
specific dwelling unit. On the other hand, some constraints on residential relocation
that people may experience includes the price of the dwelling, the travel time to work,
and the monetary transportation budget.

3. Explain the phenomenon of housing abandonment.

Housing abandonment can be a major problem in different cities around the country.
People abandoning houses can be a cause of lack in demand for housing in
neighborhoods marked by social pathologies. The withdrawal of investment due to
red-lining by banks and mortgage lenders. The loss of the physical efficiency of a
house. Landlords reducing their spending on repairs and maintenance of dwellings
caused by the imposition of stringent rent controls. As well as escaping the growing
population of minorities group.

URBAN TRANSPORTATION

Test your knowledge!

ACTIVITY 1: Describe and explain the meaning of the following words.
1. Traffic congestion. Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs
as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and
increased vehicular queue. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction
between vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream, this results in some
congestion. As demand approaches the capacity of a road, extreme traffic congestion
sets in. Traffic congestion can lead to drivers becoming frustrated and engaging in
road rage. For example, on roads, traffic congestion can be due to excessive vehicles
from different directions, sometimes even causing deadlock while in the sky, many
airplanes can cause traffic congestion if there is already traffic congestion at the
airport and the flights cannot land.

2. Mass transit. Mass transit, also called mass transportation, or public

transportation refers to the movement of people within urban areas using group travel
technologies such as buses and trains. The essential feature of mass transit is that
many people are carried in the same vehicle (e.g., buses) or collection of attached
vehicles (trains). This makes it possible to move people in the same travel corridor
with greater efficiency, which can lead to lower costs to carry each person
or—because the costs are shared by many people—the opportunity to spend more
money to provide better service, or both. In addition, mass transit systems may be
owned by private, profit-making companies or by governments or quasi-government
agencies that may not operate for profit.

3. Auto restraint. An auto restraint (also known as vehicle restraint) is a piece of

equipment installed at the loading dock that is intended to prevent a transport
vehicle from leaving the dock during the loading/unloading process. A vehicle
restraint can also help keep your very expensive trailer and cargo at the dock where
it belongs rather than disappearing as soon as you leave for the day.

4. Weak-centre strategy. This type of weak-centre strategy is a city with a radial

road network and additional commuter rail service serving a small central area. The
combination of ring and radial routes attracts industrial and commercial development
to the interchange points and generates growth of strategic suburban centers.

5. Transit village. A transit village is a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use district or

neighborhood oriented around the station of a high-quality transit system, such as rail
or B.R.T. Often a civic square of public space abuts the train station, functioning as
the hub or centerpiece of the surrounding community and encouraging social
interaction.[1] While mainly residential in nature, many transit villages offer
convenience retail and services to residents heading to and from train stations.

ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following items.

1. Identify the principal dimensions of the urban transport problem. Relate

them to your own experience of urban travel.
There are seven urban transport problems which are the traffic movement and
congestion, crowding on public transport, Off-peak inadequacy of public transport,
Difficulties for pedestrians, Environmental impact, Accidents, and Parking difficulties. I
remember the time when my family had a vacation in Mindanao. The movement of the
car along with us on the road is so slow and there is the traffic congestion. I think it is
because some doesn’t want to ride public transport that’s why they use private
transport. But sometimes private transport are better because today public transport
are always crowded. You’ll get to your destination in a haggard look. The urban
transport also has great impact to the environment because of the emitted smoke by
vehicles that comes and flows with the air that causes air pollution.

2. Examine the view that the best way to relieve traffic congestion in towns is to
build more highways.
Building more highways in towns to relieve traffic congestion is not a good idea
because it will only encourage people to drive, thus failing to improve congestion.
When congestion on roads is high, people are more likely to use sustainable transport
as there is the perception that travel times will be shorter. When new roads are
opened it temporarily increases the supply of road space and traffic
decreases. Traffic is now slightly better, people get back in their cars, resulting in
congestion returning to the same level as before and sometimes worse.

3. Make a list of the main advantages and disadvantages of private (car-based)

transport and public (bus or rail) mass transit in cities.

 Advantages of Public Transport

 Cost
 Less stress
 No need to drive
 Be able to relax
 Be able to rest or read
 Travel time on bus lanes
 Less pollution
 New relationship

 Disadvantages of Public Transit

 Waste of time
 Too crowded
 Lack of comfort
 Time uncertainty
 Lack of control
 Unreliability
 Traffic
 Long walking time

 Advantages of Private Transport

 Freedom
 Ability to go where you want
 Convenience
 Rapidity
 Comfort
 Flexibility
 Safety
 Private space

 Disadvantages of Private Transport

 Cost
 Parking difficulty
 Stress driving
 Parking cost
 Traffic
 Pollution
 Accident
 Isolation