Urban geography Flashcards

1
Q

Who came up with the concept of complete urbanisation?

A

Henri Lefebvre (2003)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How has complete urbanisation been adopted recently?

A

Brenner (2013) planetary globalisation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What interesting things does complete urbanisation uncover?

A
  • Makes us think about what “being urban” or “urban effects” means
  • URBAN NOT AS A PLACE, BUT A PROCESS/ABSTRACT IDEA

What is nature and what is natural?

  • Also useful for understanding how urban areas rely upon infrastructure (metabolism of capitalism) beyond what conventional urban boundaries

(Brenner 2013)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is complete (/planetary) urbanisation?

A
  • Urban is too frequently viewed as a discrete space.
  • Complete urbanisation is when “the urban” is everywhere
  • The epitome of modernism, according to Lefebvre (2003)

(Brenner 2013)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is the “urban fabric” (Lefebvre, 2003)?

A

The way in which urbanisation extends into rural areas beyond what are usually viewed as “urban areas”

(Lefebvre, 2003)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is meant by “the urban”?

A

An abbreviation of urban society

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Name a good paper on the ontological categorisation of cities worldwide

A

Robinson, 2002 (epistemologies, ontologies and methods of studying cities globally)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Why are world cities problematic?

A

Capitalist economic metrics of wealth and economic growth

Robinson, 2002

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Who formulated the concept of “world cities”? Why is this interesting?

A

King (1990) formulated world cities. Since been inappropriately used - King saw every city as a world city because of globalisation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Who has been critical of “subaltern” urbanism?

A

Roy (2011)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What does Roy (2011) discuss?

A
  • Romanticisation of slums in third world countries

- Role of capitalism in obtaining slums as a place for investment (cheap, unused land)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is interesting about Koolhaas’ (2002) study of Lagos?

A
  • Romanticises slums, suggesting that they have achieved a pinnacle of capitalism (based on asymptotes on graphs, see Gandy, 2004)
  • Slums seen as a site of entrepreneurialism
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Why is “slumdog” an inappropriate term for those living in poorer parts of cities in the “developing world”?

A
  • Mumbai slum dwellers don’t like the term
  • “Poverty pornography”

Roy 2011

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What are the origins of the subaltern?

A

A Marxian term against colonialism (Roy, 2011)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is interesting about the subaltern?

A

It has a dualism:

1) “Archival recognition” (of poverty and colonialism)
2) “An agent of change” (political aspects)

(Roy, 2011)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How does Soto (2000) see slums?

A

“Dead capital” needing to be liquified - good links to frontier thesis! (Soto, 2000)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Why are gangs important in Slums?

A

Link informal economy of sums to the formal economy (Weinstein, 2008)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How has the notion of peripheries changed?

A
  • Peripheries not just geographically outside of cities or in suburbs
  • Increasingly within cities, esp degraded spaces (slums)
  • Being ‘in’ the periphery can be politically advantageous (Simone,2010)
  • A politics from below - GOOD LINKS TO CULTUREAL GEO

(Roy, 2011)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How has the conceptualisation of informality been critiqued by Roy, 2011?

A
  • Informal previously equated with poverty
  • Informality is not confined to the slum
  • (in)formality is epistemologically linked to law, determined by dominant classes in cities
  • Poverty and informal can be mutually exclusive

Roy, 2011

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

When did Engels write the condition? How does it relate to urban nature?

A

Translated in 1987 - a big focus on waste and wastelands

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is a good paper on botanical gardens and biotic colonialism?

A

Baber, 2016

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Give a good quote from Baber 2016 that is symbolic of plants being direct decedents of colonialism

A

“Botanic gardens constituted one of the key sites – physical, intellectual, social and cultural – in which colonial power was literally rooted”

Baber, 2016

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What does urban political ecology focus on?

A

Urban metabolism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Give a paper that focusses on the internal/homeostatic aspects of urban metabolism in an urban political ecology framework

A

Rademacher, 2015

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Give a paper that focusses on the metabolic rift in an urban political ecology framework

A

Swyngedouw 2003

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What is a limitation of complete urbanisation?

A
  • Cities are felt, experienced and understood in different ways
  • Urban natures are unique in the dense built environment

(Rademacher, 2015)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What is a good paper on the study of urban nature as a lab?

A

Francis, et al., 2012 - “Urban ecosystems as ‘natural’ homes for biogeographical boundary crossings”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Why is Philol (1995)’s historiographic analysis of animals in cities interesting? What dilemmas does it raise?

A
  • Shows that nature used to be more commonly accepted in cities, but now seen as separate and solely for rural areas
  • Slaughterhouses seen as disgusting places; miasmic discourses and likening to owners
  • Ironic aspects with complete urbanisation and animals still consumed and slaughtered in urban areas

Philol, 1995)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Is content or form more important in landscapes?

A

Form more important than content in landscapes (Tan, 2016 - based on Shanshui paintings)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What does Tan, 2016, raise awareness of regarding urban nature?

A
  • Material aspects of urban nature are an important epistemological aspect - determines how natural/genuine it is (fake rocks)
  • Landscape representations mainly about form, not composition
  • Landscape representations are read from side to side
  • Nature not always historically or scientifically conceived

Tan, 2016

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Are urban natures confined to biological natures?

A

No, a political ecological approach highlights the role of water in infrastructures. Also contradictions of nature being separated from urban areas whilst rain/air continually flows through

CITATION?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Why is the historical separation of nature from cities significant?

A

Urban areas are now seen as ontologically pristine and human. Nature must be controlled (Gandy, 2020)

33
Q

What is the main premise behind Wolch’s Zoopolis (1996)?

A

Main premise to encourage nature to return to cities and to “renaturalise” the idea of nature in cities as a discourse

Wolch, 1996

Interesting regarding the current obsession of rewilding rural areas of the UK and Europe etc

34
Q

Why is studying urban nature important?

A

Allows the discursive barrier and separation of nature and culture to be broken down, facilitating renaturalisation (Wolch, 1996)

35
Q

Why is a homogenised nature important to capitalism?

A

Allows environmental issues to be overlooked (O’Connor’s “second contradiction of capitalism”)

36
Q

What is a good text on the importance of studying “urban areas” (or cash nexuses) in a completely urbanised world (Lefebvre, 2003)?

A

Wirth 1938 - urbanism as a way of life

37
Q

What is a good source for “cities as a solution” (modern urban ecology) discourse?

A

Angelo and Wachsmuth, 2020

38
Q

What is a good source for the “filthyness” of nature in cities, especially regarding the political ecology of disease etc?

A

Kearns, 1991: Cholera, nuisances and environmental management in Islington, 1830–55

39
Q

Why is ironic that the crystal palace dinosaurs are at risk of extinction?

A

Strange simulacra could disappear from the park… primordial/theme park aspects too (Anderson, 1995)

From time out 2020

40
Q

What is a seminal paper on urban ecology for the benefit of humans?

A

McPhearson, et al., 2016

41
Q

What does a “science of cities” (McPhearson, et al., 2016) involve?

A
  • A holistic approach incorporating both nature and humans in the study of urban ecosystems
  • Important implications for climate change
  • Hazard mitigation

(McPhearson, et al., 2016)

42
Q

What does a “science of cities” (McPhearson, et al., 2016) overlook?

A
  • Science of cities = objective, empirical and from above
  • Overlooks construction of natures (and the corresponding contemporary normalisation of natures outside of cities) and the phenomenological aspects of natural experience
  • OVERLOOKS SEPARATION AND URBAN NATURE CONTRADICTIONS

(McPhearson, et al., 2016)

43
Q

Give a good quote on the question of urban separation

A

“the city was [and still is?] nature’s opposite, defined by the extent to which nature was excluded” (Rademacher, 2015)

44
Q

What is a good paper on green spaces and gentrification?

A

Draus, et al., 2020

45
Q

Why do wastelands have beneficial economic consequences?

A

Non-design is beginning to be appreciated more, with a “ripple effect on surrounding communities” (Draus, et al., 2020)

46
Q

Despite the benefits of normalising wasteland natures along green corridors in Detroit, are the natures genuine?

A

The natures are simulacra of genuine urban wastelands, which is of significance because the underlying composition is important

(Based on Draus, et al., 2020)

47
Q

What is a good text on community involvement in green development?

A

Ioannou, et al., 2016 - grassroots gardening movements

48
Q

Give a good quote on parks for biopower (Foucault, 1973)?

A

“The provision of public recreation grounds is NOT A MERE QUESTION OF ORNAMENTAL PHILANTHROPY …it is also a vital question of social ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY”. (Metropolitan Public Garden, Boulevard, and Playground Association, 1883)

49
Q

What is a good text for the history of parks in the UK?

A

Jones, 2016. History of public park funding and management (1820-2010

Esp. good for “shareholders” and partial incorporation

50
Q

What is a good text for London parks and simulacrums?

A

Amherst, 2014

51
Q

Who made elaborate sanky diagrams in a functionalist urban ecology framework?

A

Paul Duvigneaud (covered in Danneels, 2018)

52
Q

What are two interesting points about Duvigneaud’s work?

A

1) Identified urban metabolism from an urban ecology perspective
2) Ideologically-driven

(Danneels, 2018)

53
Q

What is interesting about zoos in urban areas?

A
  • Zoos to bring wild to urban areas, yet contained and controlled
  • A relative wild superimposed on an ‘unnatural’ landscape

(Addressed in Anderson, 1995)

54
Q

How was colonialism reflected in zoos (extension for botanical gardens!)?

A

“These exhibits served as emblems of colonial mastery over the animal world, the former becoming more impressive, it seems, the more exotic the subdued creatures” (Anderson, 1995)

  • Zoos also site of entertainment for profit!
55
Q

What is a good paper from the functionalist Baltimore school of urban ecology?

A

Alberti, 2005: The effects of urban patterns on ecosystem function

56
Q

What is a good text on wasteland natures and “non-design”?

A

Gandy 2013

57
Q

What is a good text on spaces of urban natures used for different purposes?

A

Gandy 2012 (Queer ecology in Abney park cemetery)

58
Q

What is a good text on politics (in the context of autonomous equality) and aesthetics, as well as commodity fetishism?

A

Rancière, 2015: Dissensus: On politics and aesthetics

59
Q

What does Di Palma cover in “Wasteland: A history” (2014)?

A

The historical, classical, entomological and biblical origins of wastelands, especially regarding disgust

60
Q

What does picturesque mean?

A
  • Defined by Whatley as “after the manner of the painter” (Di Palma, 2015)
  • First used in Wye valley by William Gilpinin 1782
  • Sets requirements for what makes a picturesque landscape

(Di Palma, 2015)

61
Q

What is a good text for landscape representations?

A

Daniels, 2004. Landscape and art - is landscape art?

62
Q

What is the difference between “infrastructure as landscape” and “landscape as infrastructure”? (Gandy, 2020)

A

“infrastructure as landscape” - incidental places next to railways and roads etc

“landscape as infrastructure” - Parks which fulfil a purpose for biopolitical reasons

Gandy 2020

63
Q

What does landscape mean from its origins?

A

“seeing space from a distance” (Gandy, 2011)

64
Q

When did Ballard write concrete island?

A

1973 - good links to psychogeography

65
Q

How could landforms from physical geography be applied to human geography for beneficial purposes?

A
  • Study of landforms includes the geomorphic processes which shape them in physical geography
  • Could be used in human geography to uncover what is put into landscape components (uncovering Williams’ “Pastoral”)
66
Q

What is a good paper on infrastructure and place attachment in the developing world?

A

Amin, 2014. Lively infrastructure

67
Q

Why is hidden infrastructure important?

A

Hidden infrastructure allows the urban metabolism (complete urbanisation) of capitalism to continue unchecked, ensuring a technological sublime (Gandy, 2011)

68
Q

What are the two ways of studying urban metabolism, according to Gandy (2004)?

A

1) Functional analyses - circulatory, based on homeostasis
2) Historical materialist perspectives - based on capital circulation across entire urban fabric

(Gandy, 2004)

69
Q

How does disease and epidemiology relate to cities?

A

Diseases are “biological protagonists” (Gandy, 2004) with their own agency, capable of shaping cities through subsequent alterations and improvements to urban sanitation. Biopolitical aspects too

70
Q

What is a good paper on water infrastructure in relation to materialistic urban metabolism in the North and South?

A

Gandy, 2004

71
Q

How does Gandy conceptualise the modern city in terms of urban metabolism?

A

A more homeostatic form of urban metabolism

72
Q

Who suggested that light from cities is symbolic of capitalism?

A

Lefebvre 2003

73
Q

What does circadian mean?

A

A biological process concerning the 24-hour cycle for organisms unimpaired by light changes

74
Q

Name 5 interesting aspects of light covered in Gandy 2017

A

1) Spatial and temporal differences in luminescence
2) Work and light (noted by Marx)
3) Light killing organisms
4) Metabolic rift of gas and LED lighting
5) Political ecology -> political astronomy (?) of dark sky reserves

Gandy 2017

75
Q

What is the derive?

A

The SOCIAL (not political; Smith, 2010) experience of places (intentionally or otherwise ordered)

76
Q

Why is the use of monochrome in La Haine (1995) significant?

A

Same colour contrast between Banlieus and Paris city centre - paradoxes of republican inequality

77
Q

Why is the Bosnian civil war footage (on a tv) in La Haine (1995) ironic?

A

Civil war in France at the time

78
Q

What is significant about Dickec (2011)?

A

The way places are conceptualised affects policy implementation (Dickec, 2011)

79
Q

Name 3 key ideas from Dickec 2011

A

1) States statements shaping conceptualisation, spatially reinforced
2) The role of the Police, sociologically speaking
3) Exacerbation of conceptualisation and inequalities

Dickec 2011