2.6. Urban Form Flashcards
What is urban form?
The physical characteristics of built up areas, including the shape, size, density, make-up or configuration of settlements
It can be considered at different scales from street levels to an entire country
What is urban morphology?
The spatial structure and organisation of an urban area
What are the physical factors that can affect urban form?
- topography
- water
- natural resources
- land type
What are the human factors that affect urban form?
- land value
- infrastructure
- planning
How does topography affect urban form?
- physical features often influence growth of cities
- e.g. steep slopes are harder to build on and less accessible, so poorer housing
How does water affect urban form?
- the presence of lakes and seas limits urban growth in areas, while cities may grow along the course of a river
How do natural resources affect urban form?
- rich resources encourage growth
- e.g. coal and metal
How does land type affect urban form?
- some ground surfaces are more expensive or difficult to build on than others
- e.g. swamps and wetlands can limit urban growth
How does planning affect urban growth?
- urban expansion can be planned or unplanned
- e.g. a lot of urban growth in developing countries is caused by unplanned expansion of slums
How does infrastructure affect urban growth?
- new developments are often built along transport links leading to linear growth
How does land value affect urban growth?
- highest value land is often found in city centre, so profitable businesses normally locate there, while less profitable businesses may be found further from the city centre
What are the land use patterns in a developed city?
- inner city areas have high value so housing is typically high density; wages are often low so residents live in relative poverty
- land value is lower in rural and semi-rural area, so residential areas are less dense and have more open space
What are the land use patterns in developing cities?
- land value is highest in the city centre so luxury apartments and high cost housing
- surrounding high cost housing zone is medium-cost housing which may have started as an informal settlement but improved over time
- land value is very low on the outskirts of the city, so low cost and informal housing with limited access to services.
What is a megacity?
An urban area with over 10 million people living there
How many megacities were there in 1950?
2 - Tokyo and New York
