Urban Geography Where are cities located and why

Urban Geography

Where are cities located and why?

Although The U. S. and Europe have a higher percentage of urban dwellers, India and China both have higher numbers of urban dwellers.

Settlement Factors: Topography • Orientation and shelter

Settlement Factors: Topography • A river crossing

Settlement Factors: Topography The floor of a river valley.

Settlement Factors: Topography • Machu Pichu—symbolic significance

Site Factors for Settlements: Key resources • Mining towns

Site Factors for Settlements: Key resources Water and energy supply

Site Factors for Settlements Key resources The Fall Line—Important resource sites Trenton NJ Philadelphia PA Baltimore MD Washington D. C. Richmond VA Raleigh NC Columbia SC Atlanta GA Montgomery, AL Jackson, MS

Site Factors for Settlements: Key resources • Outside of a river’s meander

Site Factors for Settlements: Key resources At a desert oasis

Site Factors for Settlements: Trade Routes • At a crossroads

Site Factors for Settlements: Trade Routes

Site Factors for Settlements: Defense A hilltop city

Site Factors for Settlements: Defense New Orleans—The “Crescent City”

Walter Christaller Location Theory The nested hexagons show urban areas with their surrounding market area (hinterland).

Walter Christaller Location Theory A hamlet provides some basic services to the people living there and those nearby.

Walter Christaller Location Theory A village is likely to offer several dozen services. There will be some specialization.

Walter Christaller Location Theory A town is larger than a village and has a higher level of specialization.

Walter Christaller Location Theory A city has more specialization and a larger hinterland than a town. . A ciy has suburbs while a town has outskirts

Walter Christaller Location Theory An urban hierarchy is a ranking of settlements according to their size and functions.

Walter Christaller Location Theory The rank-size rule states that there is an inverse relationship between the size of a city and its rank in the urban hierarchy.

Walter Christaller Location Theory Under the rank-size rule: If the city has 1 million people -the town will have 500, 000 (1/2 the size), -the village will have 333, 333 (1/3 the size), -and the hamlet will have 250, 000 people.

Location Theory Conclusions 1. Urban places form an orderly rank or hierarchy.

Location Theory Conclusions 1. Urban places form an orderly rank or hierarchy. 2. Places of the same size and number of functions are rather evenly spaced.

Location Theory Conclusions 1. Urban places form an orderly rank or hierarchy. 2. Places of the same size and number of functions are rather evenly spaced. 3. Larger urban areas are spaced farther apart than smaller towns or villages.

Walter Christaller Location Theory • Christaller’s central place theory tends not hold in countries that have unitary systems of government or those that have gone through extended periods as colonies. • They have primate cities. Population Cartogram of France Bangkok, Thailand

How are cities organized? Traditional models of urban structure:

How are cities organized? The Concentric Zone Model reflects the walking-horsecar era--early 20 th century.

How are cities organized? The Sector Model reflects the influence of transportation corridors.

How are cities organized? The Multiple Nuclei Model reflects the influence of the automobile on suburbanization.

Present-day United States metropolitan area.

The Galactic City

Social Geography of American and Canadian Cities