Manchester Community College
Social Sciences Division
Urban Geography
Chapter Three
Lecture 4. The Evolution of the American Urban
System
Adjunct Lecturer:
Donald J. Poland, MS, AICP
The Evolution of the
American Urban System
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.donaldpoland.com
The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Urban Systems
Philadelphia - Site
„ Why do some cities grow rapidly while others grow slowly and yet
„ The site of a city is its specific
others either stagnate or are experiencing population loss or economic
decline? Why did cities in the Dakotas and eastern Montana remain
small while the mid-continent metropolises of Dallas-Fort Worth and
Houston become huge? Why did Detroit become the early center of the
U.S. automotive industry, before the industry moved south?
„ These are the kind of questions we endeavor to answer in this chapter
through empirical examination of the North American urban system and
through the introduction of several major conceptual models of urban
change.
„ One of these models, urban systems, has to do with the ways cities
are related in interlinked, dependent ways, based on changing
transportation and communications technologies. Cities exist within
regional and national groups, larger and closer cities being more
interdependent.
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location. On a river, along the
cost, in a valley.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Chicago - Situation
The American Urban Hierarchy 1630 to 2007
„ The situation of a city or urban
„ Colonial Imprints: Native American inhabited organized settlements,
area relates to the cities’ spatial
relationship with other urban
centers in the region or country.
Cities do not exist in isolation
and do not grow in population
size or economic viability
independent of other cities.
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communities, and towns across America. In fact, these settlements and
networks influenced the location and growth of subsequent European
towns and cities, as well as later roads and highways.
The Spanish established the earliest settlements in Florida (St.
Augustine) 1565, and in the Southwest.
The Dutch set up trading posts on New Amsterdam (Manhattan) and
Hartford (House of Hope). The French pursued trading posts along the
Great lakes and Mississippi River (Detroit, Montreal, New Orleans, and
Quebec).
It was the English colonists who had the greatest imprint on North
America settlements—town/city development. Jamestown 1607,
Boston 1630, Hartford 1636, Williamsburg 1663, Annapolis 1708,
Charleston 1672, Savannah 1733, Washington D.C. 1791.
Philadelphia was the largest city from 1760 to 1790. In 1790 all
settlements with populations exceeding 10,000 were port cities.
New York did not become the largest economic center of the U.S. untill
after 1800.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
The American Urban Hierarchy 1630 to 2007
The American Urban Hierarchy 1630 to 2007
„ Early Development: The urban population of the U.S. has grown
„ Recent Shifts in the U.S. Urban Population: Statistics indicate slow
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initial urban growth from 1790 to 1840, followed by rapid increasing
urban growth from 1840 to 1970, and then tapering off of growth to the
present.
„ It was not until 1920 that over half of the US population were city
dwellers. The percentage today is more than 80 percent, and even
people living in decidedly rural settings are daily affected by
metropolitan life styles.
„ Urban growth slowed somewhat after 1960, especially with
counterurbanization (urban-to-rural migration) in the 1970s.
steadily each decade since 1790, as has total population. In 1790 the
total number of people living in cities was about 200,000. In 1850 it
grew to 3.5 million, 1900 to 30M, 1940 to 75M, and today 245M.
In 1800 the upper end of the US urban hierarchy was tiny. New York,
the largest U.S. city had only 60,000 residents. The four leading cities
in 1800 were all port cities with strong ties to Britain and other
European countries.
These centers served small surrounding territory, called hinterlands
(the land behind) to collect commodities/raw materials for export and to
distribute commodities/manufactured items from overseas as imports.
The expansion and rapid growth of New York was due largely to the
opening of the Erie Canal in 1825.
Agricultural goods from the Midwest could be shipped via the Canal
and then southward via the Hudson River to the port of New York.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
The American Urban Hierarchy 1630 to 2007
The Location of Cities
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In 1961, French urban geographer
Jean Gotmann published
Megalopolis. This seminal book
focused on the continuously
urbanized area of the Northeastern
Seaboard, extending from north of
Boston to south of D.C.
A recent update of the U.S. urban
population distribution some 45
years after Gottmann’s Megalopolis
is the bathtub model.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
South and West Population Shift
Movement Away from the Central City
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Megalopolis
Types of Urban Places
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City and Town denote nucleated
settlements, multifunctional in character,
including an established central business
district and both residential and
nonresidential land uses. Towns are smaller
in size and have less functions.
Suburb denotes a subsidiary area, a
specialized function segment of a large
urban complex, dependent on an urban
area. Suburbs can be independent political
entities, as in Connecticut.
The Central City is the part of the urban
area contained within the suburban ring; it
usually has official boundaries.
An Urbanized Area is a continuously builtup landscape defined by buildings and
population densities with no reference to
political boundaries.
A Metropolitan Area, on the other hand,
refers to a large-scale functional entity,
perhaps containing several urbanized areas
and operating as an integrated economic
whole.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Metropolitan Dominance
Urbanization and Industrialization Among U.S. Urban Centers
„ Geographers use the term metropolitan dominance to describe the
„ As the Pred model suggests, U.S. urban settlements evolved from local
process whereby a small settlement can grow into a village, a town, a
city, and even a great metropolis. Not all early settlements became
contemporary metropolitan areas. In fact, many died out or no longer
exist. Others reach a certain population size and then grew extremely
slowly or remained stable. Few achieved large population size and
economic viability.
„ The urban geographer would respond by noting that, although site
characteristics may play a part in the early establishment of a
community it is the situation (relative location) of a settlement that is
ultimately responsible for its economic success.
market centers for retail and service activities to centers of
manufacturing industries. In fact, the U.S. urban economy, until recent
decades, has been driven almost entirely by the process of
industrialization. The most intense period of industrial-driven
urbanization began after the Civil War (1865) and lasted until
approximately 1970.
„ Urbanization and Industrialization Among U.S. Urban Centers:
„ Pred’s Model: describes the growth of cities during the period of initial
and rapid US industrialization, from approximately 1865 to 1915.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Borchert’s Transportation Epochs and the American Urban System
Borchert’s Transportation Epochs and the American Urban System
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Improved modes of transportation
were a driving force behind the
growth of U.S. cities. John Borchert
(1967) identified four epochs in urban
history, that characterized
fundamental changes in transport
technology. Each epoch created
changes in the spatial interactions
among urban areas and in the
internal arrangement of activities.
Horse and Wagon Epoch 17901830: All sizable urban areas were
located on the Atlantic coast or
navigable rivers. These cities served
as Atlantic ports with limited
hinterlands and strong economic ties
to Western Europe. Small, compact
centers based on walking and horses
and wagons.
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Regional Rail Network Epoch
1830-1870: The invention of the
steam-driven railroad and its rapid
expansion from the major population
centers into surrounding regions
created an initial advantage on the
largest urban centers of the prior
epoch. The emergence of the
steamboat greatly increased the
tonnage of goods hauled on the
Great Lakes and Ohio-MississippiMissouri river system. River cities
emerged with significant urban
growth.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Borchert’s Transportation Epochs and the American Urban System
Borchert’s Transportation Epochs and the American Urban System
National Railroad Network
Epoch 1870-1920: With the full
integration of the standardized
rail system after 1870, the
contemporary distribution of
major metropolitan areas was
emerging and being set in place.
The large industrial urban
centers of the Northeast and
Midwest continued to grow in
importance, and largely
maintained their position at the
upper end of the urban
hierarchy. The river cities of St.
Louis, Louisville, and New
Orleans decline as rail centers
such as Chicago, Atlanta, and
Dallas grow. Western cities, LA,
San Fran, Seattle, and Denver
begin to grow rapidly.
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Automobile-Airplane Epoch
1920-1960: The auto-air epoch
began with the decline of
railroads, coal-based energy, and
steam power and the rise of the
internal gasoline and diesel
engine. The result was an overall
internal dispersal of urban areas
into suburban and rural location,
and the regional and national
diffusion of population down the
metropolitan hierarchy.
Automotive technology and
incredible highway construction
also took place during this
period. Air travel increased as rail
travel declined.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Urbanization Process
Christaller’s Central Place Theory
„ An understanding of the urban system and the urban hierarchy forms a
„ Central Place Theory: is concerned with the optimal or ideal spatial
good foundation for a discussion of several urbanization process, that
is, the operation of urban growth and change over time.
distribution of settlements over the landscape. Developed by Walter
Christaller (1933, 1966) and August Losch (1938, 1954). The theory
seeks to explain the size, spacing, and functions of relatively small
urban settlements or central places. Five key principles:
„ Urbanization Curves: Plotting changes in urbanization over time
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typically produces an S-shaped curve. At first an area begins to
urbanize slowly. At some point in time, the urbanization process takes
hold, and urban areas grow rapidly. The fast growth phase is followed
by a slowing down of urban growth as high levels of urbanization are
achieved.
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1. Towns that provide the surrounding countryside with such fundamental
goods as groceries and clothing would develop where farmers specialized
in commercial agricultural production.
2. The farm population would be dispersed in a generally even pattern.
3. The people would posses similar tastes, demands, and incomes.
4. Each kind of product or service available to the population would have its
own threshold, or minimum number of consumers needed to support its
supply. Because such goods as luxury automobiles are either expensive or
not in great demand, they would have a high threshold, whereas a few
number of consumers would be required to support a small grocery store.
5. Consumers would purchase goods and services from the nearest
opportunity (store).
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Christaller’s Central Place Theory
Christaller’s Central Place Theory
„ When all the assumptions are considered simultaneously, they yield the
„ Centrality: The population of a central place is directly related to its
following results:
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A series of hexagonal market areas that cover the entire plain will emerge.
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There will be a central place at the center of each of the hexagonal market
areas.
The size of the market area of a central place will be proportional to the
number of goods and services offered from that place.
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„ Christaller reach two additional important conclusions.
„ First, towns of the same size will be spaced evenly, and larger towns will be
farther apart than smaller ones.
„ Second, the system of towns is interdependent. If one town were
eliminated, the entire system would have to readjust.
„ This theory holds up well when applied to agricultural areas and when
local considerations are factored in. It can also be used, when
combined with other concepts, to identify the location of industrialized
cities.
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centrality—the degree to which the place is centrally located to serve a
surrounding population.
„ Range of Goods: The range of a good is the maximum distance a
consumer is willing to travel to purchase a good or service. Thus, the
range of goods defines the outer extent of a central place’s trade area.
Lower order goods, bread, six pack, candy have small range. Higher
order goods, fine restaurants, cars, computers have a larger range.
„ Threshold: The threshold of a good is the minimum sales level
necessary to sell a good in order for the business to enjoy a profit. A
convenience store selling gasoline and handy food items can operate
with relatively low sales threshold compared to a Super Wal-Mart.
„ Hexagonal Trade Areas: If a single central place existed in isolation,
having no contact with other places, such a central place would
theoretically have a perfectly circular trade area. However, since central
places do not exist separately, they in fact compete with one another.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Hexagonal Trade Area
Rank Size Rule
„ The rank-size rule demonstrates the relationship among a system of
cities at the regional or national scale.
„ Zipf (1949) is credited for bringing the rank-size concept to the attention
of geographers and economists through his principals of least effort.
„ Principal of Effort: This principle holds that humans, all other things
being equal, will tend to behave in such a way as to minimize the
energy they utilized to achieve a given task. The result, as with Central
Place Theory, is that there will be a multitude of small centers and a
decrease in the number of large centers.
„ The rank-size rule enables us to predict the population size of any
given urban center by simply knowing the center’s rank within the urban
system and population size of the largest urban center.
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Metropolitan Population 2000
Significance of Cities
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Kontratiev Waves
Kontratiev Waves
„ The urban history of the U.S. largely follows a cycle of economic
expansion and contraction, known as Kondratieve Waves. The long
waves, or periods of economic dominance by one set of technologies,
last approximately 50 to 60 years. These periods of urban market
dominance (economic growth or long-wave peaks) are followed by
downturns as the once-dominant technologies become obsolescent.
„ There have been four complete Kontratiev waves, and we are now in
the beginning of the fifth wave.
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First Wave: The Industrial Revolution (1770 – 1815)
Second Wave: The Steam Engine (1840 – 1865)
Third Wave: Fordism (1890 – 1920)
Fourth Wave: Consumer Goods (1945 – 1980)
Fifth Wave: Digital Telecommunications (2000 – 2035)
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The Evolution of the American Urban System
The Evolution of the American Urban System
Contemporary Urban-Economic Restructuring
Contemporary Urban-Economic Restructuring
„ From 1790 to 1990 North American urban areas owed their population
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growth to manufacturing. By the 1970’s/80’s and most of all, the 1990’s,
urban theorist recognized that manufacturing was no longer the primary
instrument of metropolitan growth. In contrast, metropolitan economics
were being driven by advanced or producer services. These services
are knowledge-based service. Financial services, marketing,
advertising, and engineering.
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Empirical Examples: The agglomeration of services in the large cities—
nine cities account for nearly 60% of the total employment among the 500
largest law firms.
Amenities: Recent population growth has been fastest in high-amenity
locations. Amenities include temperate climate, proximity to the ocean
coast, live entertainment venues, restaurants per capita.
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Attracting Young Educated People: This is the “young and the restless
generation”, their numbers actually declining, constitute a desired urban
“creative class.” They are mobile and are attracted to urban areas that
already have a share of other young, educated, culturally sophisticated
people. Las Vegas, Charlotte, Austin, and Portland.
Recent Metropolitan Population Shifts: Approximately 31 percent, or 111
of the 361 U.S metropolitan areas, lost white population between 2000 and
2004. One reason, the influx of Hispanics into metro areas in the Sunbelt
and Western states. A second reason is the accelerated rate of “return
migrants,” that is blacks moving from old industrial urban areas in the North
to metro areas in the South.
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