The capitalist city
 Underlying changes occurring during the
Renaissance and baroque periods
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Socioeconomic transformation reshaped Western
Europe
Drastic changes in class structure, economic systems,
political allegiances, cultural patterns, and human
geographies
Changes occurred from the mid-sixteenth to the mideighteenth century
Introduction of commercialized and specialized
agriculture
Enclosure of individual land units
The capitalist city
 Perhaps of greatest significance is how
capitalist mind set introduced notion of urban
land as a source of income
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Proximity to city, center and most pedestrian
traffic added economic value to land
Areas close to river or harbor or along major
thoroughfares in and out of city also increased
in land value
Fundamental change in value led to gradual
disintegration of medieval urban pattern
The capitalist city
 The city center consisted of buildings devoted to
business enterprises
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A downtown defined by economic activity emerged
With industrialization would eventually expands and
subdivide into specialized districts
A new upper class emerged
 Status based on accumulation of economic wealth
 Made money buying and selling urban land
 Used urban land as a basis for expressing their wealth
 Sought newer land on edge of city for their residential
enclaves
The capitalist city
 One of finest wealthy class enclaves was London’s
Covent Garden Piazza
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Designed by Inigo Jones in the early 1630s
Square was lined with townhouses edged in arcades
Presence of nobility lent an aristocratic aura to the area
Economic success of this enclave led to many
imitations
These upper-class squares were transplanted to
America throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Up to the Industrial Revolution, urbanization
rates in Western countries were low
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In 1600, urban dwellers made up only 2
percent in Germany, France, and England
At the same time 13 percent of the
Netherlands and Italy were urban
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 As millions of people migrated to cities
urbanization rates skyrocketed in the last 200
years
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By 1800 England was 20 percent urban, and
became the first urban society around 1870
By the 1890 census 60 percent of England’s
people lived in cities
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 As millions of people migrated to cities urbanization
rates skyrocketed in the last 200 years
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By 1800 England was 20 percent urban, and became
the first urban society around 1870
By the 1890 census 60 percent of England’s people
lived in cities
The United States was 3 percent urban in 1800
 In 1900 it was 40 percent
 In 1920 it became an urban country with 51 percent
 Today, about 75 percent of the population lives in
towns and cities
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Class
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Laissez-faire industrialism did little for the
working classes
There was distribution of such utilities as gas
and water
No living improvements beyond that of the
seventeenth century were made
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In slum dwelling, direct sunlight was seldom
available
Open spaces were nonexistent
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Class
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In Liverpool, England, one-sixth of the people lived in
“underground cellars”
In Manchester, England, only one toilet for every 212 people
was available
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Running water was usually available only on the ground floor
Disease was pervasive, and mortality rates ran high
In 1893 life expectancy of a male worker was 28 years, his
country cousin might live until age 52
In 1880, the death rate in New York City was 26 per
thousand, in rural areas it was half that
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Infant mortality rate rose from 189 in 1850 to 240 in 1870
Legislation correcting such ills came in the latter part of the
century
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Class
 American industrial cities relied on a diverse labor
force
 Many in the labor force came from Europe
 After the Civil War, many former slaves migrated north
to find jobs
 In the South, former slaves moved into the
industrializing cities
 In both South and North, African-Americans lived in
segregated neighborhoods
 Forced by discrimination and often by law to keep their
distance from white neighborhoods
 For the most part services to these neighborhoods
were minimal
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Race
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Some results of a recent study of black
Richmond, Virginia, after the Civil War
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Residents used public rituals in streets and
buildings to carve their own civic representations,
as well as challenge dominant white order
Black militias marched through streets on
holidays certified by the black community as their
own political calendar
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Race
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Some results of a recent study of black
Richmond, Virginia, after the Civil War
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January 1, George Washington’s birthday, April 3
emancipation day, and July 4
Whites did not take kindly to this as they watched
blacks occupy Capital Square, formerly reserved
for white citizens
Churches, schools, and beauty shops served as
community centers and public statements of an
African-American identity
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Gender
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Industrialization led to creation of separate
spheres
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Feminine sphere centered on the home and
domestic duties
Male spheres dominated the public spaces and
duties
Also created the need for mass consumption to
keep factories running profitably
With men as producers, the duties of
consumption fell to the women
Class, race, and gender in the
industrial city
 Gender
 Location logic of the urban land market meant retailers
were located in the central parts of the city
 Established what some have referred to as a
feminized downtown
 Retailers created spaces considered appropriately
“feminine”
 Interior spaces were well-arranged and orderly
 Exterior architectural design was heavily ornamented,
and streets were paved and well-lit
 Today, many of these places have been replaced by
shopping malls
Megalopolis
 Movement away from the central city quickened in the last
decades of the nineteenth century
 Since World War II, new forms of transportation and
communication have led to the decentralization of many urban
functions
 One metropolitan area blends into another, until supercities are
created that stretch for hundreds of miles
 Supercity of “Boswash” on the Eastern Seaboard of the
United States that stretches from Boston to Washington,
D.C.
 Geographer Jean Gottmann coined the term megalopolis to
describe it
 The term is now used worldwide to describe giant metropolitan
regions
Megalopolis
 Characteristics of Megalopolis
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High population density covering hundreds of
square miles
Concentrations of numerous older cities
Transportation links — freeways, railroads, air
routes, and rapid transit
Very high proportion of the nation’s wealth,
commerce, and political power
Megalopolis
 Common problems found in megalopolis
 Congestion and overcrowding
 High land prices
 Financial insolvency and deteriorating inner
cores
 Poor and disenfranchised population in
contrast to the affluent in the suburbs
 Air and water pollution
 Political fragmentation caused by the many
smaller towns and counties
Megalopolis
 Common problems found in megalopolis
 Congestion and overcrowding
 High land prices
 Financial insolvency and deteriorating inner cores
 Poor and disenfranchised population in contrast to the
affluent in the suburbs
 Air and water pollution
 Political fragmentation caused by the many smaller
towns and counties
 Problems are difficult to solve because they are
regionwide even crossing state borders
Edge cities
 Many so-called sleeping suburbs of the post-World
War II era have been transformed into urban centers
with their own retail, financial, and entertainment
districts
 Most Americans now live, work, play, worship, and
study in this type of settlement
 Suburbs do not offer all the services or work places
found in the edge city
 The commuter who used to live in a suburb and work
in the inner city has been replaced by the commuter
who lives and works in an edge city
Edge cities
 Many scholars are wary of calling these new nodes
cities because they do not resemble our nineteenth
century version of a city
 Edge cities contain all the functions of old
downtowns, but are spread out and less dense
 Interstate highways and truck transportation made it
possible for industries to locate outside the downtown
 Computer and communication technologies have
allowed companies to move their headquarters away
from downtowns
Edge cities
 Edge cities present problems for today’s
planners
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Traffic congestion and planning for mass
transit
Environmental concerns as spreading urban
areas consume more land
Is it possible to provide mass transit in a
system with no center?
The urban landscapes of the
developing world
 Most of the world’s population lives in the
developing world
 Here we see the greatest potential for
dramatic change in urban patterns
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High natural population growth
Enormous rates of migration from rural to
urban
The urban landscapes of the
developing world
 Recent city growth has been staggering
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In 1950 they had only 4 of the 15 largest cities
in the world
Latest census shows they have approximately
half of the largest 20 cities
With this growth has come serious economic,
political, and social problems
 It is difficult to generalize about cities of the
developing world
The indigenous city
 Developed without contact with Western colonial
influences
 Many evolved long before there were cities in
northern Europe
 Precolonial indigenous cities in the New World are
restricted to Mexico, Central America, and the
Andean highlands
 Cities in Africa
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Cities associated with the Yoruba civilization in
present-day Nigeria
Along the Nile River Valley
Band of Islamic empires in the north, and small cities in
eastern highlands
The indigenous city
 Asia has the largest number of precolonial
indigenous cities — from the Middle East,
across present-day Pakistan and India, to
China and Japan
 Basic form of many cities is derived from the
cosmomagical
 Many cities in Mexico, Central America,
China, Japan, Egypt, and India were laid out
according to religious principles
Indigenous City: Jerusalem, Israel
Indigenous City: Jerusalem, Israel
 Old, walled Jerusalem had
Arab, Armenian, Christian,
and Greek Quarters. In this
Arab Quarter, passageways
are narrow with stepped
slopes. In earlier times
streets could be gated shut.
 Few openings and high
windows ensure privacy in
this Muslim area. Note the
pipes and wires of the
modern era superimposed
on the ancient walls.
The indigenous city
 Beijing kept its basic cosmomagical landscape until
the early twentieth century
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Deviations from the strict pattern arose to
accommodate everyday functions of business and
culture
Small alleyways and houses were built in irregular
patterns not in accord with sacred principles
Until the abdication of the last emperor in 1912, the city
was generally maintained as the celestial capital
In 1959, the Socialist government chose to build its
symbolic center, Tiananmen Square, on the site of the
sacred axis mundi of Imperial Beijing
The indigenous city
 Indigenous cities of the Islamic world
 In the city center is the primary mosque, representing
the religious core
 Near the mosque is the bazaar, or market place
 Homes of the elite, government or municipal buildings
surround the core
 Moving from the core, areas of decreasing wealth and
social status are found
 The city is further divided in occupational districts much
like that of the medieval city — decreasing in prestige
nearer the city edge
The indigenous city
 Indigenous cities of the Islamic world
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Ethnic groups dominate certain areas or
formalized “quarters”
Cities commonly reserved one quarter for
Jews, another for Christians
Have a very irregular Street plan, with narrow,
winding streets
Uneven building pattern, and few open spaces
Residences are usually humble, in keeping
with religious dictates
The indigenous city
 Indigenous cities of the Islamic world
 Housing arrangements often structured
around segregation of the sexes
 Dictated by religion
 Two sectors organized around separate
courtyards
 Female half more private, therefore at rear of
house
 More public male half near entrance
 When men are gone, whole house become
women’s domain
The colonial city
 Administrative, commercial, and often military outpost for an
external power
 Many established to economically or militarily subdue local
people
 When built near indigenous cities, Europeans would either weld
their city onto the existing settlement or, in a few extreme cases,
build a whole new city
 Seen as guardians of the home
 Considered more moral and spiritual than men
 Imperative women should move to colonies to civilize and
bring order to “backward” lands
 In South Africa, for example, women could fill their patriotic
and feminine duties
 Bring visual evidence of women enlightening those who
needed it
Colonial City: Salvador, Brazil
Colonial City: Salvador, Brazil
 Salvador, established by the
Portuguese in 1549 to deter
French and Dutch
encroachment, was Brazil’s
capital until 1763. The city
grew as a center of sugar
production, trade, and
religion. Eventually, the
original core, with its narrow,
winding streets and slave
market on the acropolis
became linked with port
functions on the shore
below.
Colonial City: Salvador, Brazil
 European architectural
styles here date from
the 17th through the 20th
century. At the left of
the Ciudad Alta is the
Palacio Rio Branco,
now housing tourism
offices. At the right of
the Ciudad Baixa is one
of Salvador’s dozens of
Roman Catholic
churches.
The colonial city
 Overseas emigration would provide an alternative source of
scarce work opportunities for women
 Between 1862 and 1914, more than 20,000 women emigrated
to British colonies
 Presence of women in the colonies was fraught with difficulties
 It was thought women needed protection from physical
danger
 Dangers were considered more threatening than those in
London because they were “foreign”
 Specific spaces were set up to keep them from direct contact
with foreign danger
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Lived in the newly built colonial cities
Hill stations — fairly small residential compounds in the hills of
India
The colonial city
 Separating women from native peoples did not work
 They could not civilize from a distance
 Indian servants often lived within or close to British
 Indian soldiers were stationed nearby
 Women performed missionary and benevolent work in
the Indian city
 Indian servants, cooks, and gardeners were present in
hill stations
 Housing designed in an open fashion to let in cool
breezes; also allowed native people to view private
parts of the house
The colonial city
 Separating women from native peoples did not work
 They could not civilize from a distance
 Indian servants often lived within or close to British
 Indian soldiers were stationed nearby
 Women performed missionary and benevolent work in
the Indian city
 Indian servants, cooks, and gardeners were present in
hill stations
 Housing designed in an open fashion to let in cool
breezes; also allowed native people to view private
parts of the house
The emerging city
 With the end of colonialism and movement toward
political and economic independence, developing
countries entered a period of rapid change
 Cities have often been a focal point of this change
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Millions have migrated to cities in search of a better life
Economic activities have often changed their
orientation from external to local markets
Cities have been centers of political and social unrest
The emerging city
 Because the emerging city model is a fluid
one, results cannot be predicted accurately
 Some think cities in developing countries will
undergo the same changes found in
industrializing cities of the nineteenth century
The emerging city
 William Hance has written on the differences
between today's emerging cities and those of the
past
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Often 25 percent of the urban labor force is without
work
In the 1800s, people could migrate to the New World to
find land and jobs
Emerging cities have weaker ties with their hinterlands
than did European cities
Local rural areas excluded from development that
could offer employment
It will be difficult to develop rural employment as long
as economic activities continue to cluster around cities
Emerging City Homeless:
Bombay, India
Emerging City Homeless:
Bombay, India
 This woman is one of
Bombay’s homeless
millions. About 75% of
Bombay’s almost 13
million residents live in
one-room tenements,
15% in squatter shacks,
and 2% in the streets.
 Family abandonment
for a variety of reasons
such as failure to pay a
Emerging City Homeless:
Bombay, India
a promised dowry,
death of a husband, or
divorce, forces many
women into a life of
prostitution or begging
to survive.
 Most of Bombay’s
homeless are migrants
from the countryside
and many are low caste
and scheduled caste
(untouchable).
The emerging city
 Alejandro Portes argues large internal migration from
rural to city can be traced back to colonial times
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In colonial Latin America, the city was essentially home
to Spanish elite
When preconquest farm patterns were disrupted,
peasants came to the city
These migrants usually lived on the margins of the city
They were completely disenfranchised, because only
landowners had the right to hold office
Elite attitude was a mixture of tolerance and
indifference
This pattern continues today in emerging cities
The emerging city
 High numbers of migrants and widespread
unemployment lead to pressure for low-rent
housing
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Most common folk solution is construction of
illegal housing, or squatter settlements
In Linia, Peru, the barriadas house fully a
quarter of the urban population
In Caracas, Venezuela, it is about 35 percent
Similar figures are found in emerging cities in
Africa and Asia
The emerging city
 The evolution of squatter settlements
 Usually begin as collections of crude shacks
constructed from scrap materials
 Gradually become more elaborate and permanent
 Paths and walkways link houses, vegetable gardens
spring up
 Often water and electricity are boot-legged in so a
common tap or outlet serves a number of houses
 Later economic activities such as handicrafts or smallscale artisan activities develop
The emerging city
 Various treatment of squatter settlements by city
governments
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Some bulldoze them down periodically to discourage
migration to the city
Some turn their backs, viewing them as a satisfactory
solution to the problem of low-cost urban housing
 Squatter settlements are an important part of the
emerging city landscape
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Occupy vacant land on the outskirts and in the city
center
Downtown parks often covered by squatters’ houses
Most often spread over formerly unwanted land, such
as steep slopes and river banks
Emerging City Squatter Settlement:
Jakarta, Indonesia
Emerging City Squatter Settlement:
Jakarta, Indonesia
 Emerging cities are
characterized by squatter
settlements. Developed as
Batavia by the Dutch at
Kota, a swampy coastal
area, Jakarta is now a
rapidly growing capital city of
more than 8 million. These
stilt-houses are in the heart
of old Batavia along the fetid,
tidal Kali Besar (Big Canal)
constructed in the nineteenth
century.
Emerging City Squatter Settlement:
Jakarta, Indonesia
 Jakarta is perceived by poor,
rural people as a wealthy
city, full of opportunities to
get rich.
 Almost half of the city’s
population was born
elsewhere and millions
reside in shanties like these.
 Along with other emerging
cities, rural to urban
migration accounts for a
significant portion of urban
growth.
The emerging city
 Outskirts of cities is often where new economic
activities are located
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Landscape of factories and warehouses is common
When money is available, large high-rise apartments
are built for workers
Middle-class suburbs may also grow up because of
jobs and “push” forces driving affluent out of the city
center
Traffic noise, air pollution, and congestion make the
central city less desirable than before
The emerging city
 Large central-city dwellings are often
subdivided into smaller apartments for lowerincome families
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Where one middle-class family lived, six or
seven families may be housed
Whether this structural change will lead to the
ghetto pattern of North American cities
remains to be seen
The emerging city
 It is important to remember emerging cities
may not follow the pattern of industrial cities
of the 1800s
 Emerging cities will not undergo the same
transportation system evolution
 They may evolve directly from foot and cart
traffic to autos and trucks
 A totally unique urban landscape may emerge
Culture regions
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Urban Culture Region
Origin and Diffusion of the City
Evolution of Urban Landscapes
The Ecology of Urban Location
Cultural Integration in Urban Geography
Site and situation
 Site — refers to local setting of a city, its longitude
and latitude coordinates
 Situation — the regional setting
 Example of San Francisco
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Originally site of Mexican settlement on a shallow cove
or inland shore of a peninsula
Importance of its situation was that it drew on water
traffic coming across the bay from other settlements
Characteristics of the site changed when the small
cove was filled to create flatland for warehouses and
extending wharves into deeper bay waters
Site and situation
 Example of San Francisco
Filled in cove is now heart of the central business district
 The situation has changed as patterns of trade and
transportation technology have evolved
 The gold rush changed the importance of its geographical
situation by creating a demand for supplies for settlements,
and mines and miners in the gold country
 In the last decade, Oakland improved its situation to
accommodate containerized cargo ships by filling in large
tracts of shallow baylands
 San Francisco has since declined as a port city losing
situation advantage
 Depending on the function of a city, certain attributes of the
physical environment have been important in the decision of
where to locate cities

Defensive sites
 A location where a city can be easily
defended
 There are many defensive sites for cities

River-meander site-city located inside a loop
where stream turns back on itself
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
Leaves only a narrow neck of land unprotected by
water
Examples of Bern, Switzerland, and New Orleans
Defensive Site: Toledo Spain
Defensive Site: Toledo Spain
 Acropolis and meander on
the Tagus River made this a
perfect defensive site for a
fortified Roman settlement
called Toletum. It was a
capital for the Visigoths and
the Moors prior to becoming
a Spanish one. The skyline
is dominated by the 13th
century Alcazar (fort),
destroyed and rebuilt many
times, and the Gothic
cathedral begun in 1227.
Defensive Site: Toledo Spain
 In 1227 Toledo was the
most important Jewish
town in Spain and a
major cultural and
intellectual center.
While the Jews were
expelled from Spain in
1492, the city retains
their architectural
heritage along with that
of the Islamic Moors,
Christians and other
occupants.
Defensive sites
 A location where a city can be easily defended
 There are many defensive sites for cities
 More advantageous was the river-island site
 Often combined a natural moat made when a stream
was split in two
 Montreal is situated on a large island surrounded by
the St. Lawrence River and other water channels
 Islands lying off seashores or in lakes
 Mexico City began as an Indian settlement on a lake
island
 Venice a classic example of a city built on an offshore
island
 New York City began as a Dutch trading outpost on
Manhattan Island
Defensive sites
 A location where a city can be easily
defended
 There are many defensive sites for cities

Peninsular sites were almost as advantageous
as island sites


Offered natural water defenses on all but one side
Boston founded on a peninsula had a wooden
palisade wall across the neck of the peninsula
Defensive sites
 A location where a city can be easily
defended
 There are many defensive sites for cities

Danger of sea attack prompted shelteredharbor urban sites
 High points were used where a city
developed around a fortification, and then
spilled out over the surrounding lowland
Trade-route sites
 Defense was not always a primary
consideration
 Most common types of trade-route sites —
bridge-point and river-ford sites


Where streams were narrow and shallow with
firm banks
Occasionally cities even reflect these sites in
their names
 Confluence sites are common—point where
two navigable streams flow together
Trade-route sites
 Head-of-navigation sites — where water routes begin
— are even more common


Goods must be transshipped at such points
Examples
 Minneapolis-St. Paul, at the falls of the Mississippi
River
 Louisville, Kentucky, is at the rapids of the Ohio River
 Portage sites are very similar — goods are portaged
from one river to another
 Many nonenvironmental factors can influence the
choice of a site
 Useful to distinguish between the specific urban site
and the general location, or spatial distribution
Culture regions
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Urban Culture Region
Origin and Diffusion of the City
Evolution of Urban Landscapes
The Ecology of Urban Location
Cultural Integration in Urban Geography
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 Series of models designed to explain spatial
distribution of tertiary urban centers
 Terms

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
Threshold — size of population required to
make provision of the service economically
feasible
Range -- average maximum distance people
will travel to purchase a good or service
Hinterlands — large tributary trade areas
associated with central places that offer many
services
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 Crucial to his theory is the fact that different
goods and services vary both in threshold
and range


Larger number of people required to support a
hospital, university, or department store than a
gasoline station, post office, or grocery store
People are willing to travel farther to consult a
heart specialist, record a land title, or
purchase a car than to buy a loaf of bread or
mail a letter
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 Because range of central goods and services varies,
tertiary centers are arranged in an orderly hierarchy




At the top are regional metropolises that offer all
services associated with central places, and that have
large hinterlands
At the bottom are small market villages and roadside
hamlets that may contain nothing more than a post
office, service station, or cafe
Between the two extremes are central places of
various degrees of importance
Each high-ranked central place offers all goods and
services of next lower ranked place, plus at least one
or two more
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 One regional metropolis may contain
thousands of smaller central places in its
hinterland
 Christaller tried to measure the influence of
three forces in determining spacing and
distribution of tertiary centers
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 He created models — he first measured influence of
market and range of goods on the spacing of cities



To simplify model he made assumptions
 Terrain, soils, and other environmental factors were
uniform
 Transportation was universally available
 All regions were supplied with goods and services
from the minimum number of central places
The shape of the model was circular, with the city at
the center
When central places of the same rank were nearby, the
circle became a hexagon
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 In his second model he no longer assumed transportation was
universally and equally available in the hinterland
 Assumed as many demands for transport as possible would
be met with minimum expenditure for construction and
maintenance of transportation facilities
 any high-ranking places would then be on straight-line routes
between important central places
 The transportation factor causes a rather different pattern of
central places
 Direct routes between adjacent regional metropolises do not
pass through central places of the next lowest rank
 Resulted in second-rank place to be “pulled” from the points
of the hexagonal market area to midpoints on the straightline routes
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 He thought market factors would be the
greater force in rural countries
 He also thought transportation would be
stronger in densely settled industrialized
countries with more central places and more
demand for long-distance transportation
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 His third model measured the effect of political
borders on the distribution of central places



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Political boundaries within an independent country
would tend to follow hexagonal market-area limits of
each political central place
Borders tend to separate people and retard movement
of goods and services
Central places in border regions lose rank and size
because market areas are politically cut in two
Important central places are pushed away from
borders, which distorts the hexagonal pattern
Walter Christaller’s
central-place theory
 Many other factors affect the spatial
distribution of central places
 Assumptions must be made to construct a
theoretical model that integrates different
components of culture