Urban Environments Flashcards
What is an urban area?
Built up area that forms part of a city or town
What are informal and formal activities?
Informal: untaxed, unregulated jobs
Formal: taxed, regulated activities
What is suburbanization?
Outward growth of towns and cities to engulf surrounding villages and rural areas
Creates middle-class suburbs
Caused by improved public transit, available land, lower cost of living
What is gentrification?
Improvement of residential areas by immigrants and residents, with an economic dimension like retailing; reinvestment of capital to inner-city
May occur around brownfields
May lead to social displacement of poor as prices increase
What is counter-urbanization?
Movement of population away from larger urban areas to smaller urban areas or just beyond the city
Causes: high prices, congestion, pollution, crime rates, lack of community and services
What is re-urbanization / urban renewal?
Development of activities to increase residential population densities with the existing built-up city
Revitalizes urban areas fallen into decay
What is the urban circular system?
A sustainable city where there is recycling, reuse / reduction of resources, renewable energy, measures to reduce ecological footprint
What is the urban ecological footprint?
Amount of land required to sustain population and resources and assimilate waste
How are urban places characterized?
Population size
Specific features, such as CBD or residential zones
Predominant economic activities
An administrative function
What is a site?
Site: land on which a settlement is built
Situation: settlement’s relationship with surrounding area
Desirable factors: water and timber availability, sunny south-facing slopes, potential for trade
Describe types of urban land use
Most places have an industrial or service role
Land use has changed pre / post industrialization (Caribbean fishing town → tourism)
Types: residential, industrial, services, open space, recreation, transport
Describe case study: land use in New York
4% commercial: midtown / downtown Manhattan, most jobs
4% industrial
Residential: most land is low-density; med- to high- is 2/3 of housing but 12%
7% public facilities
25% of open space is parks etc
8% vacant
What terms are used to describe the hierarchy of settlements?
Range: max distance people travel for good / service
Threshold: min # people for good / service to stay in business
Low-order goods: necessity or convenience bought frequently
High-order goods: luxury bought or used infrequently
Sphere of influence: area served by settlement
Describe the hierarchy of settlements
Individual household
Hamlet: low-order services
Village / town: low- and high-order services
City / millionare city (> 1 mil) etc: max # services
Sliding continuum of population / #of services
Each one has more sphere of influence
What are megacities and how do they develop?
> 10 million people
Result of: economic growth, rural-urban migration → many young adults for work → high birth
Swallow nearby towns and rural areas; multi-nuclei
Many in developing regions → new planning; env impacts; generate wealth
What are five functions of urban areas in the process of development?
Commercial: market, centers to convert to cash crops
Industrial: provides stimulus for development
Political: nationalist feeling
Administrative: economies for health and education
Social: intermixing weakens ties to traditions
What are nine problems cities cause?
High unemployment
Insufficient housing
Overloaded transportation systems
Air, water, noise pollution
Deteriorating infrastructure
Growing access inequalities between areas
Inadequate sanitation
Increasing social problems (crime, suicide, drug / alcohol abuse, family breakdown)
Deterioration of perceived quality of life
What factors effect the growth of urban settlements?
Areas favoring food production, trade routes, transportation
Attempts to reduce importance of some cities (gongju-yongi planned new capital of South Korea bc Seoul is overcrowded and attack target)
What is bid rent?
Land in center is most expensive bc is / was most accessible, limited amount
Price generally decreases further out, peaks around major intersections
What is the heirachy of traditional retail land use?
Low-order goods concentrated in neighborhood stores and shopping parades
High-order goods in high streets, department stores, central shopping areas
Out-of-town superstores and retail parks
What factors have caused a retail transition toward supercenters?
Demographic change: falling pop growth
Suburbanization and counter-urbanization of affluent households
Technology change: more people own deep-freezers
Economic change: increased standards of living, car ownership
Congestion and price in city centers
Increased accessibility
Social change: more women in paid work
Closure on high-streets → govt policy to return to central / neighborhood → inner-city redevelopment
What are ten characteristics of the central business district (CBD)?
Multi-story development
Concentration of retailing
Concentration of public transit
Concentration of offices
Vertical zoning
Functional segregation (pie-slice diagram), internal zoning
Few people live there
High pedestrian flows
Greatest traffic restriction
Changes over time
Where and why is industrial activity in cities?
Locations in city:
Inner-city near rail or canal
Near airport
Away from residents
Types of industries:
Skilled labor
Access to CBD (fashion)
Needing urban market (news)
Large cities bc:
Big manufacturing and market
Innovation
Available labor
How do physical factors effect the location of urban residential areas?
Wealthy near river bc views and recreation, or poor bc flooding
Same with high/low ground
In rich countries, building standards tend to make up for risks
How do land values effect the location of urban residential areas?
In most HIC cities high-dense residential is inner-city (usually low bc price)
Density decreases with space in suburbs
Often poor folks in inner-city bc employment → stuff around is expensive
How does ethnicity effect the location of urban residential areas?
Positive segregation: group gains together bc they support services
Negative segregation: groups excluded (redlining)
How does urban residential planning effect the location of urban residential areas?
Plans for social mix via a variety of mixed housing
“Edge cities” often gated by wealthy → mix doesn’t occur
Describe case study: cities in Latin America
Development patten different from the rest of the world
CBD around colonial core, commercial extension → “spine” of area with parks, upper-middle
Outside are recent suburbs with fewer services
Better-accessible older shanty housing compared to new
How is urban deprivation measured?
Physical indicators: quality of housing, pollution, crime
Social indicators: health levels/access to care, education standards
Economic indices: access to employment, income levels
Political indices: opportunity to vote, partake in community organization
What is a slum household?
Typically on land not wanted by planners
1+ individuals living under the same root in urban area, lacking 1 or more:
Durable housing
Sufficient living space
Access to improved water
Access to improved sanitation facilities
Secure tenure
What are the positives and negatives of living in a slum?
Positive:
Points of assimilation
Informal employment without commute
Strong sense of kinship
Low crime rates
Negative:
Lacks security of tenure
No basic services
Overcrowding
Hazardous sites
Poor levels of hygiene and sanitation
What is the dual economy of the developing world?
Formal economy, often foreign-owned and for elite
Informal economy, local, labor-intensive → bazaar economy and street economy
Can work in both sectors
Describe characteristics from the informal and formal sectors
Informal easy to enter
Informal indigenous inputs, formal foreign
Informal family property, formal corporate
Informal adapted tech, formal imported
Informal unregulated/competitive market, formal protected
What is urbanization?
Increase in proportion of people living in urban areas
Causes: rural-to-urban migration, urban sprawl
S-curve tails at 80% → many HICs have falling urban population
What is natural increase?
Birth rate > death rate
Often in cities bc youthful structure
What is rural-urban migration?
People think they’ll be better off in urban areas → move to cities
Push factors: negs that cause movement away
Pull factors: attractions in another place
What is urban sprawl?
Uncontrolled growth of urban areas
Limited by green belts
Describe case study: gentrification and relocation in Cape Town, South Africa
Gentrification of Woodstock in Cape Town
Became seaside suburb in 1850s bc rail line, population grew
Stayed integrated during apartheid → POC moved in during 1970s and 80s
Urban renewal started in 90s, more young professionals and shops, businesses, etc
Describe case study: a changing urban environment: Shanghai
Shanghai is very large; hub for information and most industries
11 themed satellite towns as growth points
Air and water transport, but mainly extensive metro lines and buses
Targets: public transport between any 2 parts of city center is 1 bus, < 60 min
High levels of water stress from demand, saltwater, pollution of agriculture and lack of treatment
Most waste is piled outside the city → use of incineration to destroy toxins and for energy
Strong base in telecommunications
What is deindustrialization?
Long-term decline in manufacturing employment
Declining since 1950s
Causes:
Decline or increasing cost of materials
Automation
Increased competition
Falling demand
What are the two types of deindustrialization?
Positive: industries reduce workforce to increase productivity via automation → more competitive
Negative: industries decline without productivity compensation
Describe case study: urban deindustrialization: decline in Detroit
Was a large city bc car industries, now a lot of vacancy and fallen prices
Causes: falling car sales → less revenue, shrinking population, aging population → social costs
Lots of unemployment, illiteracy, crime
Attempts at revival in farms and art scene from low costs
What factors effect the climate of an urban area?
Structure of air above area: more dust → more noxious fumes from industry
Structure of urban surface: heat-retaining materials, aspect, exposure
What are the resultant processes of urban microclimates?
Radiation and sunshine:
Scattering short-wave, absorb long-wave; depends on screening by buildings
Haze from industry
Clouds and fog:
Higher incidence of cloud cover in summer bc convection, radiation fog in winter
Day temps .6°c warmer
Temperatures:
Heat energy retention / release → heat islands
1.5°c warmer on winter nights
Big local contrasts between sun and shade
Pressure and winds:
Severe turbulence around tall buildings, calm small streets
Humidity:
Decreases bc lack of moisture and high temps
Precipitation:
More intense storms bc less stability
Less snowfall
Describe case study: Cheong Gye Cheon, Seoul, South Korea–the impact of river restoration on on urban microclimate
Stream area under highway, temp ~5° higher than city
Restoration has decreased temp, increased wind speed, no highway
Describe case study: Air pollution in Delhi
Air pollution from diesel exhaust, construction dust, industrial emissions, household cooking and heating
Also a problem for smaller Indian cities
Rules rarely enforced
What are some air pollution management strategies?
Burn less fossil fuels and use energy-efficient technology
Use public transit or carpool
Bike or walk
Use catalytic converters
Increase enforcement of emissions standards
Describe case study: managing air pollution in Mexico City
Altitude causes lower pressure → higher combustion emissions
Pollutant smog blankets city from sun
Very expensive
Using more green roofs
Programs against air pollution:
Reduce use of private vehicles
Enforce engine maintenance standards
Improve fuel quality
Make catalytic converters compulsory
What is the pattern of traffic congestion?
Transport performance index (TPI) 0-10
Peak congestion weekday morning and evening
Weekend is less severe but prolonged
Worse at beginning of school year, around holidays, etc
What is the impact of traffic congestion on noise pollution?
Related to traffic volume, composition, speed, weather, road surface, barriers
Exposure to roads may cause people to exceed the recommended average noise levels
Describe slum clearance in Rio
2016 olympics → property boom in central favelas, more outsiders
Displaced 170,000 people
Describe contested land in Dharavi, Mumbai
Slum area home to thousands of micro-industries → means to escape poverty
Contested bc developers want to turn it into a business area, displacing 1 mil
Where is urban crime most common?
Concentrated in most urbanized / industrialized areas, poorest working-class
Higher rates in deprived areas and where there are more commuters than residents
What factors influence the development of a crime hotspot?
Typical attributes: young, single, minority, male, broken home, low-income and skill, unemployed, poor housing
Location:
Crime targets
Easy access
Residential land use
Lack of health centers, schools, rec areas, police stations
Describe case study: urban crime in Zanjan, Iran and Kaduna, Nigeria
Islamabad: dense informal settlement in Zanjan, few facilities
Violence, drug abuse and trafficking
Higher rates of burglary and stealing in dense, poor-quality Badarawa-Malali district of Kaduna than high-income areas with higher car theft
Describe case study: urban deprivation and regeneration in Barcelona
Two areas of deprivation: inner-city El Ravel and edge migrant housing
Deindustrialized in 70s and 80s → high unemployment
Overcome via economic transformation: entreprenurial and political leadership, public-private partnership, diversification of economy especially for World Cup
Continues to regenerate
How can urban crime be managed?
More police officers
Greater use of security cameras
Improved street lighting
More available and women-only taxis when bars close
What are the trends in urban growth projections?
% of pop in urban areas is increasing, highest in North America
All cities are growing, megacities and large cities fastest
Describe characteristics of resilient cities
Economically productive, socially inclusive, environmentally friendly
Functioning transportation, energy, waste, water systems
High population → more vulnerable but less emissions and ops for infrastructure
How do cities manage hazard risk?
2000 - NYC water supply contamination → financial incentive to industrialists / farmers
Smog → change to clean energy
Seismic events → zoning and building codes
Storm / flood risk → levees and sea walls; more infrastructure up
Greanspace, sustainability plans
Describe case study: protecting Lagos: Eko Atlantic
Lagos: coastal metacity, at risk of erosion, 2/3 people in slums
Sea wall designed to stop erosion
Eko Atlantic: eco-city planned behind sea wall, would benefit wealthy
Govt should improve lives of people; project could increase erosion
How can cities become sustainable?
Compaction: less space / stuff / sprawl, better transit
Use renewables
Conserve / reduce fossil fuels
Treat waste locally
Sufficient green spaces
Reuse / reclaim land
Active community involvement
What is the Beddington zero energy development (BedZED)?
99 env-friendly homes in south London, 2000-2002
Solar panels, insulation, renewable / recycled materials from nearby, close to transit
Lower average space-heating requirements, hot water, water main, power, car mileage
Expensive to build
Describe case study: Mazdar City
$22 bil planned eco-city for 2030 in UAE
All solar-powered, no cars, circulation via infrastructure
Supported by US govt, Greenpeace who said more emphasis on existing things
What is the urban ecological footprint?
Land area to provide people’s resources: food, water, electricity, waste assimilation
Based on population’s consumption
Describe case study: Tokyo’s ecological footprint
High density → more land availability compared to spread areas
Less needed infrastructure, resources
Describe case study: environmental measures in Chicago
City Hall roof garden → cooler in summer, less sewer water, reduces heat island
CCAP 2008 → reduced C02 → hybrid buses, light colored repaving when needed
What is C40?
83 megacities addressing climate change
Goals:
Improving public / personal transport
Efficient outdoor lighting
Reliable and efficient infrastructure and water
Retrofit offices/homes to be efficient
What are some examples of non-car traffic management?
Cable-car system linking El Alto and La Paz, Bolivia; 85-90% use public transit
Bogotá, Colombia bus system specifically accessible for low-income communities
Helsinki and Hamburg becoming car free, greenspace and transit / people power
Venice and The Medina of Fez el Bali (Fez, Morocco) are car-free
What is a “smart city”?
Investments in social and human capital, physical infrastructure, info / comm / tech → sustainability and high quality of life
Performs well in: economy, env, people, living conditions, governance, mobility
Describe case study: Songdo International Business District, South Korea
2005 started brand-new smart city; LEED certified, sensors and tech, zoned to become international business hub
Songdo has greenspace, ways to reduce emissions / resources, etc
Cheongna (finance) and Yeongjong (logistics) also in free economic zone
