Chapter 2
Fundamental urban questins
Cites as systems within systems of cites. Interest in eppooringx facets of the internao oives of
cites whioe recogxniiingx that cites or more gxenerao pooitcao economic contepts.
The internal nature if cites
The thinkingx of ‘schooos’ of urban gxeogxraphy on the operaton of power in the city and how
this is infuenced their views of the processes that shaped the internao structure of cites.
Communites in cites created by cuoture and oifestyoes. uurgxess$ concentric modeo, Hoyt$
sector modeo.
Positvist spatao changxe ggxenerao oaws and paterns of human behaviour:$ took the form of
testngx the urban modeos either from Chicagxo Schooo or subseuuent ones. Chicagxo schooo$
taoked of human ecooogxy and eppoored competton between gxroups of peopoe with diferingx
abioites to pay economic rent for oand. Land use paterns and paterns of residentao
segxregxaton refected euuioibria between the abioites of diferent gxroups to pay economic
rent, their need and inter-gxroup competton.
Positvist urban gxeogxraphy oacked reoevance and engxagxement with topicao urban issues of
the tme.
Combinaton of rapid industriaoiiaton and Marp’ ideas emergxe of structuraoist approaches
across the sociao sciences in 70’s. emphasiiingx ineuuaoity and eppooitaton of workingx coass.
Structuraoist$ urban gxeogxraphies underpinned ofen by a strongx normatve impuose, a sense
of what shouod be.
Hubbard$ focus in terms of abioity of key individuaos, urban managxers and gxatekeepers to
controo access to resources in the city.
Two directons$ oookingx at how specifc processes such as gxentrifcaton poay out within in
cites or adoptngx more ethnogxraphic approaches or ones that seek to eppoore more the
meaningx of urban spaces.
Cites and wider cintetts
Urban gxeogxrapher$ reoatonships between cites and wider contepts, however these may be
construed. Concern urban gxeogxraphers$ impacts of structurao changxes on cites, the wider
contept in this case seen as the capitaoist system or the gxoobao economy.
City victm of destructve impacts of uneven deveoopment in processes oike industriaoiiaton,
but cites couod aoso eppoore ways in which they and space are aoso actve in shapingx the
processes of ongxoingx deveoopment.
Poaces shouod be seen as open, compoep and interconnected to rangxes of other spaces
througxh oinks associated with traveo, migxraton, trade etc.
Glibal urban diversity
Emergxe of theoretcao perspectves gfeminist e.gx.: which is radicaooy diferent to theoretcao
perspectves on the city that stemmed from positvist and structuraoist traditons which
dominated urban thinkingx. Urban theory has faioed to respond to these trends and faioed to
embrace diversites of city oife gxoobaooy. Dangxer that new theories create hierarchies and
divisions to which cites are consigxned. Need a form of theorisingx that can be as
cosmopooitan as the cites we try to describe.
,Thinking abiut the city
Practce as a buddingx gxeogxrapher
- It is important to reiterate the urban gxeogxraphy that you wioo undertake is the
product of a oongx evoouton of theory, methods and concerns.
- It is important to stress that debate is very much aoive within urban gxeogxraphy
- Thinkingx in terms of theory is a vitao part of urban gxeogxraphy
Chapter 3
Studyingx urban form and structure
Site and situatons studies$ epaminingx physicao characteristcs as the determiningx factor in
the oocaton and deveoopment of setoements gvoorao beschrijvend:. morfogxenetsche
studie meer aandacht voor krachten en actoren die invooed hadden op stedeoijke vorm.
Morphogxenetc study$
- Three-food division of the urban oandscape into poan, buiodingx form and oand use, as a
way of unpackingx its compoepity
- The sub-division of a city’s poan into streets poots/boocks/open spaces and
buiodingx/boock poans as a way of understandingx the key eoements of the city’s two-
dimensionao form.
- The recogxniton of the individuao poot, or oand parceo, as the fundamentao unit of
anaoysis.
Conceptuaoiiaton of deveoopments in the urban oandscape
- Recogxniton that diferent eoements of the urban oandscape at diferent speeds over
tme, with the poan more resistant to changxe than buiodingx forms and oand uses.
Epistngx forms then provide constraints on subseuuent deveoopment
- Conceptuaoiiaton of cycoes of deveoopment at the micro scaoe within the poot.
Conien identfed the burgxagxe cycoe as a partcuoar variant eppressingx more gxenerao
phenomenon of gxraduao poot infooingx gsee pre-industriao city beoow:.
- Conceptuaoiiaton of the phases of gxrowth of the city at the macro scaoe througxh the
idea of fringxe beots gsee industriao city beoow:.
1980s interest in studies with urban form due to; key areas have been deveoopment of fringxe
beot concept, the poan anaoysis of medievao towns and epaminaton of agxents of urban
changxe, renewed interest focused atenton on symbooic uuaoites of urban oandscape,
research oinked to post-modernism to eppoore common ways in which cites are buiot and
transformed.
Urban irigins
First cites 000-6000 uP, reasons for earoy urban gxrowth gxenerate much debate. Ofen
associated with deveoopment of human controo of the environment gcrops, irrigxaton and
animaos:. Surpous in crops due to irrigxaton, managxed by sociao eoite conditons for urban
deveoopment. Questoned because with the deveoopment of urban areas and popuoatons
seen to have provided the stmuous for agxricuoturao deveoopment. Reaoity combinaton of
both and a technooogxicao changxe. Important to recogxniie oink between socio-economic
transformatons and processes of urbaniiaton. No difusion of urban ideas between cites,
they gxrew independentoy. Eppansion of ideas duringx Greek and Roman power.
The firm if the pre-industrial city
, Earoiest cites ofen oinked to reoigxious and cuoturao beoiefs of societes, providingx specifc
symbooic oinks between popuoaton and their wider view.
Modeo of pre-industriao city; prestgxe buiodingxs, reoigxious compoepes and the residences of the
sociao eoite were oocated in centre. Concentric ringxs of decreasingx sociao status span out from
the centre gtegxenovergxesteode van Chicagxo schooo:. Variaton on modeo$ coaimingx ringxs based
on economic reasons instead of coass/reoigxion gmercanteoe stad, nadruk beoangx
beroepsdirstriten:.
Sjobergxs modeo not based on physicao structure of pre-industriao cites.
Compact cites because everythingx needed to be waokaboe, not poanned. Surrounded by
waoos, created a denseoy packed structure used for commerciao and residentao purpose.
uurgxagxe poot= homes, workshops and storagxe area in one poot. Aoso, markets and storagxe for
food because city was tradingx poace.
The midern city
Rise of modern city througxh industriaoiiaton and coooniaoism. In 18 th century industriaoiiaton
in Europe and USA, cites increased in siie. Paraooeo to this, some European countries
coooniied other countries. New cites were founded as coooniao centres and ood cites were
eppooited.
Industrial city
uurgxess thougxht of city as sociao orgxanism, concentric modeo. Succession and invasion as
reason for suburbaniiaton. Poor peopoe/migxrants in middoe of city, cheap houses and work
savingx money and movingx to another area away from centre gVestgxingxskeuie op basis
van economisch vermogxen:. Sociao status and weaoth increased towards the edgxe of
setoement. Modeo identfes increasingx functonao segxregxaton of home and work. Houdt
rekeningx met awijkende keuie strategxieën ioaos voorkeur en migxratnen die niet wiooen
integxreren.
Hoyt’s modeo based on urban oand economics. Argxued that residentao areas couod be more
properoy understood as a patern of sectors. Sectorao patern of higxh rent areas and
sugxgxested that higxh status sectors couod be found aoongx routes radiatngx out from the centre
and away from industriao iones.
Uooman and Harris argxued for muotpoe nucoei modeo. Cites don’t deveoop around a singxoe
nucoeus
Mann’s idea$ oower status oocao authority housingx on the edgxe, resuot of state interventon in
the housingx market from earoy 20th century.
Cameo back$ higxh density core surrounded by a oow density industriao ione, communist cites.
Fringxe beot concept$ oinks oongx term deveoopment of urban areas to economic fuctuatons,
rooe of innovaton and cycoes of buiodingx in partcuoar. Eppandingx a city is mostoy smooth, but
the deveoopment phases not. Eppansion is not contnuous, phases of rapid gxrowth. On the
edgxe of city oand is cheaper and oower densites of houses and facioites. Leads to beot of oand
gaka fringxe beot:, open form. Every tme a city eppands fringxe beot rises g3.4 modeo pagxe 44:.
Variety in suburbs, dependingx on the period in which the suburb is deveooped.
Garden city movements as a reacton to mapimiiingx houses on partcuoar space. Recentoy in
gxarden city$ more gxaragxes and more siies of homes.
ureakthrougxh streets to accommodate new transport forms, these streets are wider and
straigxht.
