Contemporary urban Flashcards
+What is urbanisation?
How has it changed over time?
The increase in proportion of people who live in urban environments (4.4 billion-2023)
1950:USA had largest population, China and India emerging
1970: USA, India, China still growing, as well as the emergence of Russia and Africa
1990-2010:rapid growth in Asia
urban growth slowing down in Europe
Why has urbanisation occurred?
1-Natural population growth:
-Birth rate exceeds the death rate (due to a younger population)
-Better healthcare - lower infant mortality rate (amount of babies that die before the age of one)
2-International migration:
-Migrants from eastern Europe- coming for a better life
-Post colonial flows
3-Push and pull factors:
-Rural-urban migration
-Better jobs (in tertiary/quaternary sector)
What are the consequences of urban growth?
1-Overpopulation/overcrowding
-can lead to the development of slums
2-Increased congestion/pollution
-can lead to traffic which is inconvenient for locals.
Pollution can also affect peoples health.
3-not enough jobs
-people will start looking to informal jobs
4-leads to urban sprawl
5-leads to habitat loss
In LICS AND NEES:
Shortage of housing as their is a high population density and demand for housing, but there is little space, infrastructure and resources to meet demand.
In HICS:
-Shortage of affordable housing:
-increased demand- less supply, so prices can increase.
-Gentrification-increases the house prices in an area
What is Suburbanisation?
How has it changed overtime?
-The movement of people from central areas towards outer suburbs (on outskirts of the rural-urban fringe)
-Early suburbanisation in the 1930s was mainly along main roads and railways (known as ribbon development)
-In 1940: Greenbelts were creates to control development.
-factories/offices located in suburbs as car ownership grew- led to decentralisation of CBD
Causes of Suburbanisation:
1- Improvements in public transport and roads
-People able to move to outskirts, and commute in.
2-Increased car ownership
- allowed people to commute into city centres
3- lower rent compared to CBD
4-less traffic/congestion/pollution compared to city centre
5-bigger housing with more space
Consequences of Suburbanisation?
In the inner city areas:
-more derelict buildings as people move to suburbs
-increased unemployment and poverty
In suburbs:
-employment opportunities for people
increased traffic and pollution as more people move
-increased house prices and prices of land- can make it unaffordable for locals.
-Increased pressure on the greenbelt.
In city as a whole:
-Social segregation as the wealthy move out
–Greater polarisation between inner and outer city
-Increased demand for recreational activities
-Increased commuting to inner city
What is counter urbanisation?
The movement of people from city centres to out of town villages
Why has counter urbanisation occurred?
-Due to de industrialisation
-The greenbelt policy- size of towns restricted, so villages become more popular
-Demographic:
-ageing population- elderly moving out of cities
-social:
-Better sense of community in villages
-Schools recognised as better
-lower crime rates
-Economic:
-technology-People can work from home (teleworking)
-car ownership- leads to increase commuting
-house prices cheaper
Consequences of counter urbanisation?
-Contributes to the social/demographic change of rural settlements eg. young moving out, elderly moving in
-modification of the village layout and character
-tension between newcomers and locals
-affluent can continue using services in city- may force services in village to shut down
-can increase house prices- can become unaffordable for those living there
What is urban resurgence?
Regenerating an urban area that has suffered a period of decline
Causes of urban resurgence?
1- Gentrification:
-change in neighbourhood as the low income are replaced by affluent
example: Notting hill in London
-used to be one of the UK’s poorest areas, now mainly upper/middle class living there
2- deindustrialisation:
-loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector-late 20th century
3-negative multiplier effect:
-spiral of events following a decline of investment
What is urban policy?
-Strategies chosen by locals and central government to manage and develop urban areas.
Regeneration strategies gone from ‘top-down’ to ‘bottom-up’
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What is the Urban development corporations and an example?
1980’s- a scheme to regenerate inner city/ derelict areas. It was mainly funded by the central government, but marketing was used to attract private investors.
Example: London Docklands
-Due to containerisation, boats became too big to fit down the River Thames. This lead to the loss of 30,000 jobs due to a lack of investment, as the river had poor transport and wasn’t easily accessible.
Successes:
-50,000 new homes were built.
-85,000 jobs created
-£2 million spent on environmental projects
-Docklands light railway and London city airport opened up to improve transport
-built new schools, parks and community facilities
Failures:
-Locals don’t have qualifications to do high paying work
-many TNC’s that locate there bring their ow workforce with them
What is the city challenge and an example?
-A scheme where cities compete for government regeneration grants
-Improve the physical, economic and social conditions in deprived areas
Example: Hulme city challenge partnership
-Part of a slum clearance programme, and to replace with high rise flats
-98% is council owned
-Lots of single person households
Successes:
-Population has grown by 3.3% since 1990’s
-80% of regeneration goals have been reached
-crime rates have reduced by 40%
-improved the look of the city
Failures:
-Unemployment remains 5x higher than the average
remains one of the worst wards in Manchester, and worst 2% in the country for education, employment and poverty.
What is New Deal for communities, and what is an example?
–Established to carry out 10 year programmes, and focused on 39 deprived areas.
Example:
Devenport regeneration company
-turned the deprived area of Devenport to a greener/newer place
Successes:
-£50 million funding used to improve Devenport park and Guidhall- a centre of social enterprise.
-£5.3 million put into green areas
-1100 new homes built
Failures:
-lack of engagement from local community- only 4% of locals involved
What is urban morphology?
The structure and organization of an urban area
Human land use in an urban area?
-Infrastructure - developing along transport links
-planning for urban expansion
-land value is usually high in city centres
Physical land use in an urban area?
-rivers- in fluence the location of trade and industry
-topography- the shape of the land influences its value
-natural resources - allow cities to grow
Factors affecting land value?
-Land value typically highest in city centres as accessibility is greatest
-out of town shopping affects some cities land values
what is the bid rent theory?
where you take a transect from the CBD to the suburbs and see how land value changes
What is the CBD?
the central area of a city with shops, offices, entertainment, restaurants
what is the inner city?
has old terrace housing and a light manufacturing industry
What is the residential area?
where housing gets larger and more expensive the further out you go
What is a business science park?
area on the edge of urban areas with good access to roads
How has urban landscape changed?
convenience and comparison goods led to the formation of local shops.
1970’s: supermarkets built which sold both food and electrical products
1980’s:retail parks created
2000’s: e commerce becoming increasingly popular, with many high street shops facing decline
What is decentralisation?
Many retailers move out the CBD
to the edge of the city, which causes the donut and polo affect a sit leads to a economic and social retailing hole in the middle of the city.
2000-2009- 15,000 shops closed
what services do urban areas now include:
leisure
hotels
residential areas
night life
street entertainment
What is a post modern western city?
the urban form that is associated with changes in the urban structure and a citys architectural design
It reflects social and economic changes since late 20th century
What is fragmentation?
where a city is more culturally diverse
What is globalisation?
Where there are more global chains of shops rather than local
What is architecture?
Where buildings link to history
what is beautification?
where the art is varied and links to the heritage of the city
What is fortification?
where areas are protected/security
What is a fortress landscape?
an area that is designed with the purpose of security an protection. It ensures that those visiting an urban area is protected and the wrong people are discouraged from entering
What is an edge city?
a settlement on the edge of a large urban area that is caused by urban sprawl
close to transport links
have offices, shops and leisure facilities
as car ownership has increased
contains some housing, but mainly used for offices or to use services
an example is LA- central sity has 30km, and population of 4 million but wider area is 100km, with 18 million
What is information?
an area that is dominated by services or ‘knowledgeable’ economies that create employment and attract businesses
