Human Geo 13.1 Questions Flashcards
What are some public services in CBDs?
Government offices, libraries, and museums. Historically, these facilities clustered downtown, and they remain in the CBD to facilitate access for people living everywhere. Semipublic services (churches, social service agencies) also cluster there. Sports facilities and convention centers have been constructed or expanded downtown, and attract a large number of people, and stimulate more business for downtown restaurants & hotels.
What are retailers with high thresholds in CBDs?
-They traditionally preferred a CBD location in order to be accessible. Large department stores would cluster near 1 intersection (100% corner), where rents were highest. Most high-threshold shops have closed their downtown branches. Downtown stores’ customers are now downtown office workers, inner-city residents, and tourists. Department stores with high thresholds are now more likely to be in suburban malls.
What are retailers with high range in CBDs?
-High-range retailers are often specialists (with infrequent customers). They once preferred CBD locations because their customers were scattered over a wide area, but they have moved with department stores to suburban locations. Some high-range retailers have located in CBDs because they’re visited by tourists, and local residents patronize shops & restaurants in the CBD as a leisure activity on evenings and weekends.
What are retailers serving CBD workers?
-Serves those who work in the CBD and shop during lunch/working hours. They sell office supplies, computers, clothing, shoe repair, dry cleaning, rapid photocopying, etc. Shops that appeal to nearby office workers are expanding in the CBD because the # of downtown office workers has increased and they require more services. Although the total volume of sales in CBDs has been stable, the pattern of demand has changed.
What are business services in CBDs?
Offices cluster in a CBD for accessibility, and people in business services depend on proximity to professional colleagues (Lawyers near courts and gov’t offices; printers near lawyers), even w/ modern telecommunications. Offices are centrally located to facilitate rapid communication of breaking news, face-to-face contact helps establish a trusting relationship, and business that employ workers from a variety of neighborhoods and firms with highly specialized employees are helped by a central location.
Why is there intense competition for land in a CBD, and as a result of that, what 2 distinctive features does it have?
A CBD’s accessibility produces extreme competition for the limited available land, so land is $ (in London, a hectare would be $200 million).
1. Land uses commonly found elsewhere in the urban area are rare in the CBD, especially industrial and residential activities
2. The CBD has a 3-dimensional character, with more space used below and above ground level than elsewhere in the urban area.
How is manufacturing being removed from the CBD?
Modern factories require large parcels of land for one-story buildings (available in the suburbs). In the past, inner-city factories and retail places relied on waterfront CBDs with piers/warehouses. Today’s large ships can’t maneuver in CBD harbors, so port activities are now in modern facilities downstream. Port cities have transformed their waterfronts to recreational activities (residences/hotels/parks), and are major tourist attractions.
Describe residents in the CBD in past and present:
Many people used to live in or near the CBD, with the poor being jammed together and the rich in mansions. In the 20th century, residents were pulled to suburbs offering larger, private homes, and were pushed from CBDs by high rents, crime, & poverty. In the 21st century, CBD population has increased as “empty nesters” like downtown living and are attracted by the entertainment & nightlife (less concerned about schools/children).
How have CBDs made use of underground space?
CBD makes intensive use of space with a vast underground network (garages, docks, pipes, sewers, TV cables, electric lines, subways, etc). Cities in cold-weather climates have built extensive underground passages and shops, sheltering and segregating pedestrians from motor vehicles.
How do CBDs make use of skyscrapers?
High-rises are economically feasible due to demand in CBDs. The nature of an activity influences which floor it occupies in a high-rise. Each city has a distinct downtown skyline. The first skyscrapers were built in Chicago in the 1880s, and adjacent properties overcame problems caused by them thru artificial lighting, ventilation, AC, and central hating. Zoning ordinances were enacted in the early 20th to control the location/height of high-rises.
What is the exception to the rule that all CBDs in the US have skyscrapers?
-In Washington, DC, no building is allowed to be higher than the US Capitol dome, so offices rise no more than 13 stories, and the typical Washington office occupies more horizontal space–land area–than in other cities. Thus, the CBD spreads over a much wider area than those in other cities of comparable population.
