Strand 2 & 3 notes: Urban Form Flashcards
(20 cards)
Suburbanisation
Causes: Attraction if edge if city location. De-centralisation. De-industrialisation.
Consequences: can lead to decline of inner city areas as skilled people & buisnesses move away. Urban sprawl as the spreading of a city into the surrounding countryside, means more commuting from suburbs to city, requires more road & infrastructure.
Case study: Mumbai, India or Birmingham.
Counter-urbanisation
Causes: technological change led to growth of teleworking or electronic commuting. Improvements in roads/ motorway networks making commuting easier. Encourages the mvt out from cities.
Consequences: flood protection costing £8.8 million along the river Great Ouse. Mvt of families to St.Ives has changed its population structure, green belt land being built in where there’s more demand for house prices & house price increase.
Case study: St Ives Cambridge
Urban resurgence (the movement of people to live in old city areas that have been redeveloped).
Causes: growth in professional workers, white population. Closure of traditional shops/services for high-end coffee shops/ restaurants
Consequences: involves improving social, economic & environmental fabric of inner-city areas. Rising house prices, land- use changes & demographic changes.
Case study: Islington
Define De-industrialisation
Decline in imports of industrial activity for a place. Falling of a population who work in manufacturing e.g. Sheffield.
3 main factors: mechanisation, competition form abroad, as inner city areas declined; new investment went to edge of cities- decentralisation.
The service economy
Urban change in deindustrialisation, decentralisation or the rise of service economy.
What is urban policy & why is it important?
Strategies used by local or national government to develop urban areas & reduce urban issues.
Urban form
Relates to the physical characteristics that go towards making up an area. Incl. its shape & size, its population density & its land use patterns.
Physical & human factors of urban form
Physical: topography= eg. steep slopes are harder to build than less steep slopes. Land type= eg. Swamps & wetlands can limit urban grouting. Dry points = areas away from risk of flooding
Human: transport links = road, rail, sea & air connection important for residents. Trading centres = how areas run. Infrastructure = transport links
Land use
The way land is being utilised in urban areas. Incl:
1) residential (areas of housing/flats)
2) industry (areas of factories & warehouses)
3) businesses/ commerce (typically identified by high concentrations of shops/offices)
Positives & negatives of land-use models
Positives: good starting point to compare urban form between cities. Most western cities show some likeliness to these models. Helps us notice growth within a city.
Negatives: based on western cities so doesn’t take into account LIC/NEEs. Cities are far more complex. LIC cities don’t conform to conventional models due to differing processes at work.
Modern & post-modwestern cities
Modern: cities planned in fragments, focusing on aesthetic need rather than social needs. Industrial economy focusing on mass production & economies of scale. Divisions of class found within the city.
PMWC: a landscape dominated by very functional architecture. Dominant CBD centre & steady decline in land values away from the centre. A multi- nodal structure, containing hi-tech corridors & lost-suburban development. Edge cities may be evident
Key terms of the CBD
Inner city: the part of the urban area surrounding the CBD, Contains older housing & industry.
Residential: the building of houses & flats.
Science park: located near university sites, stimulate a culture of innovation & to grow associated knowledge-based businesses.
Out of town retail: large branch of retail chain often found at edge of a city/town in a retail park.
Good points- a large number of towns & cities follow this broad pattern. Easy to understand. Model = still relevant when identifying the reasons behind urban morphology of a city- helps to understand growth.
Bad points - doesn’t take any physical features into account. Commuter villages have developed some distance from edge of an urban area.
Post modern western city defined
An urban form associated with changes in urban structure, architectural design & planning.
Key features: service sector economy focusing on niche markets. A globalised economy. Dominated by functional architecture. Dominant CBD & a steady decline in land values away from the centre. Multi-modal structure, hi-tech corridors, open spaces planned for social needs.
Explain the PLVI & how it changes..
It’s the region within a settlement with the greatest land value & commerce. It’s usually located in the CBD (central business district) & has the greatest density of transport links such as road & rail.
Explain the Bid rent model..
A geographical economic theory that refers to his price & demand for real estate changes as the distance from the CBD increases.
New urban landscapes
Town centre mixed development: it’s designed to prevent CBD decline. Eg. Thinktank in Birmingham, or the cube or mailbox. Many cities encourage the development of attraction of centre.
Cultural/ heritage quarters: eg.Birmingham jewellery quarter. The presence of cultural production (making goods) or consumption (galleries, shows etc).
Define Gentrification
Process of changing the character of a neighbourhood through the influx of more affluent residents & investment. Poor urban area changed by wealthier people moving in improving houses & attracting new businesses.
Cause - family structure, rapid job growth, lack of housing, traffic congestion & public-sector policies.
Consequences- shifter life expectancy, higher cancer rates, more birth defects, greater infant mortality, higher incidence of asthma, diabetes etc..
Case study - Nottinghill: increased property value in areas, more opportunity for buisnesses, even more high prices so unaffordable & people moved into smaller apartments so less living space but still have to pay more because if the rising population in the area.
Gentrified areas - individuals purchase & renovate rundown property/industrial space to make it more valuable & appealing. Desirable as it reduces commuting time as new residents would live in the heart of the urban area.
Edge city
A concentration of buisnesses, shopping & entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district in what has previously been a suburban residential area. Edge cities have lower costs 5million ft2 of office space & more jobs than bedrooms.
Fortress landscape
Landscapes designed for security, involves deliberate segregation of people to keep others safe. Fortified buildings with CCTV, railings & fences around private spaces.
Example of cultural/ heritage quarter
Also in Islington, people would move to city centre with the desire to be close to work/ services & less commuting time. However house price & land uses may change with closure of traditional shops & introduction of high end coffee shops.
