Urban Flashcards
what does it mean the city is malleable
the city means differently for others, as everyone experiences it differently
define urbanisation
the growing proportion of urban dwellers within a particular territory - usually a country
what is urban growth
the growing size of the urban settlements
define urbanism
the way of life characterised to urban areas
outline definition limitations in urban studies
- What does a city/rural count as? different countries use different populations, and categorise cities differently
- boundaries of a city - commuters, suburbs, legal
what is the degree of urbanisation
- recommended by the UN statistical commission in 2020 as the best way to compare urban areas internationally
- recognises 3 tiers of urban - rural, towns, cities
when did the world become majority urban
2008
Where are all the megacities by 2050 estimated to be
in the global south
where is the fastest rate of urbanisation
smaller cities, often 10-100k people
what is the 80 20 world
80% of the world command 20% of the resources
what does urban theory try to do
try to find explanation, cutting through complexity to help understand places and processes better
why are British and American urban theories often parochial
they focus on UK and US examples and apply this to cities across the world
what did Engles write on urbanism
conditions of the working class in England
wrote about the emerging discipline of sociology on the everyday lived realities of the urban poor
what did Charles booth draw
maps social classing different areas of London based on poverty.
outline the Chicago schools of urban ecology
- talked of cities in evolutionary terms - inc niches, competition
- attempts to apply biological laws to human behaviour
- interested in how humans are adapting to a new environment.
what did Robert parks argue
as populations move to cities, and urban population expanded, the social difference between different types of people expands into a spatial system
peoples social differences found spatial manifestation.
urban residents tend not to mix, it is natural to have urban segregation
why is viewing urban segregation as natural a problem
it is no longer political, it is fact
what did Ernest burgess devleop
the concentric zone model
outline the concept concentric zone mode
urban is physically bounded with differentiation according to zone
the non city is beyond the rings, you move from the CBD outwards, increasing in wealth and suburbia
what are the 5 zones of the concentric zone model
CBD central business district
Transition zone
Blue collar residential
Middle income residential
Commuter belt
what is problematic about the concentric zone model
provides initial blueprint for models ghettoisation
certain spaces in the city exemplify marginality and exlusion.
presents dystopian visions that inequality is natural and expected. ignores processes of power and why ghettos are created
Louis Wirths ideas
urbanism as a way of life
more interested in social rather than spatial processes
Wirth defined urbanism according to social traits
what did jean gottman argue
concentric zone no longer applies by the 1960s
there are now megalopolis, as cities expand and merge in different ways
what did Manuel castells argue
the urban is a spatial unit of production of labour
argues cities organise labour to exploit it for capital. sees the physical space of the city essential to the way the labour force is distributed in response to the location of firms and consequently public services become concentrated in these urban units, because of the concentration of the labour force
the collective consumption of the urban unit!
