The changing structure of urban settlements Flashcards
(46 cards)
How cities can be ranked economically
Corporate HQs for MNCs, international finance institutions, law firms, conglomerates, stock exchanges with influence on world economy
Significant financial capacity / output
Stock market indices / market capitalisation
Financial service provision
Costs of living
Personal wealth e.g. number of billionaires
How cities can be ranked culturally
International first name familiarity
Renowned cultural institutions such as notable museums, galleries, opera, orchestras, film and theatre centres
Lively cultural scene with music, nightlife, film festivals, street performers
Influential media outlets with international reach e.g. BBC, NYT
Strong sporting communities, ability to host international events e.g. Olympics
World heritage sites
Tourism
Education
How cities can be ranked infrastructurally
Transport systems with large mass transit systems offering multiple modes of transport e.g. TfL
Major international airports
Advanced communications infrastructure e.g. WiFi, mobile phone services
Health facilities
Skylines / skyscrapers
Global cities index
Ranking is based on 27 metrics across 5 dimensions which are:
Business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, political engagement
Top 5 ranked cities in 2024 were NYC, London, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore
Causes of growth of world cities
Demographic tends - natural increase and in migration, large population clusters offer potential in terms of both workforce and markets
Economic development - emergence of major manufacturing and service centres along with development of transport nodes in global trade, importance as a global financial centre
Cultural / social status - cultural facilities attract FDI and tourism
Political importance - many global cities are the main seat of government, benefiting from high investment and global connections
Changing landscape of cities
New industrial zones with different groups of people who grew up in different parts of cities
Greater polarisation between the rich and the poor within cities created a greater range of housing types
Suburbs and urban sprawl extended over much greater areas than ever before
Drift of population away from CBD
Increased immigration from greater distances led to more ethnic diversity
Burgess Model
Based on 1924 Chicago by EW Burgess
Dominated by concentric circles which reflect the outward growth of cities
Commercial core at centre with highest land values, then zone in transition with factories and poor housing with increasingly lower density residential zones beyond
Hoyt’s Model
Based on 40 US cities in 1939 by Hoyt
Sectors dominate, but they depend upon residential segregation
Industry may be concentrated along a river, canal or road to form a zone of industry
Attracts low-class housing, but repel high-class residential land use
Better fits London which is centred around the Thames with lower class housing close to centre, with higher quality housing further away from centre
Harris Ullman Model
Attempted to describe a more fragmented city
Commercial, industrial and residential functions have examples of out of town districts
Urban redevelopment
Complete clearance of existing buildings and site infrastructure and constructing new buildings, often for a different purpose, from scratch
Urban renewal
Keeps the best elements of the existing urban environment (often because they are safeguarded by planning regulations) and adapts them to new usages
Urban regeneration
This involves both redevelopment and renewal and is far more common in recent years
Examples are London Docklands, Nine Elms, Lower Lea Valley
Property led regeneration schemes
In-movement by people as part of large scale investment programmes aimed at urban regeneration in a wider social, economic and physical sense
Urban development corporation
Set up to regenerate areas that contained large amounts of derelict land
Preferred to rely upon market-led redevelopment rather than using considerable government funding
In reality, it costs the government e.g Docklands where government spend £1.5bn through tax concessions
City challenge
Announced in 1991 and represented a major switch of funding mechanisms towards competitive bidding
Local authorities came up with imaginative projects and only winners would gain financial assistance to undertake projects
Meant to encourage an integrated approach and aimed to include economic development, housing, training, environmental improvement and social prorgrammes
Homes and community agency aims
Bringing about sustainable growth and renewal as they are linked to economic development which relies on a good balance between job creation, leisure facilities and affordable homes
£8.4bn invested between 2008 and 2011, funding 180,000 new affordable homes
Creates new communities instead of changing existing ones
Bid Rent Theory
In a free market, the highest bidder will obtain the use of the land
Highest bidder is likely to be the one who can obtain maximum profit from that site so can pay highest rent
Sometimes, land doesn’t go to highest bidder due to government ownership ensuring certain things are built (e.g. schools, hospitals)
Most expensive sites are in CBD
Rents will be cheaper further away from CBD but higher on main routes out of cities or on ring roads
Factors affecting changing location of manufacturing in cities
Physical factors - steep slopes of a mountain hem in urban growth e.g. Ulaanbaatar
Transport routes - building spreads out along major roads
Main industrial areas are located near points on the coast as islands limit growth e.g. Singapore
Low lying marshy land unsuitable for habitation due to disease and insects so occupied by shanty towns and industry e.g. Lagos
Changes in manufacturing location
From the industrial revolution many cities have become industrial cities with industry close to the centre
This was due to: industries associated with sea ports were at the centre, industries were close to railways or canals running into the centre and before public transport and cars, industries were located next to the workers’ housing
Now, factors changing location are: land prices and changing requirements for space, contamination and costs to develop brownfield vs greenfield sites, access to skilled labour and planning restraints
UK deindustrialisation
Decrease in manufacturing due to growth in tertiary and quarternary sectors
Tradition industries of shipbuilding and textiles have declined
This is because of the global shift in manufacturing to LICs and MICs like China where wages are lower and working hours are longer as well as mechanisation
Retailing
In mid-19th to late-20th century almost all retailing occurred in CBDs of HICs
This is because of: high footfall in cities, high income in cities, lack of cars so shops were clustered around where public transport was to increase accessibility
Brent Cross (first out of town shopping centre) opened in 1976 with 86 shops and 5,000 parking spaces
Since, 15 million have shopped there and car park has extended to 8,000 spaces
Caused 1/10th of shops being empty in UK town centres
Surburban CBDs
As urban areas increase in population size and urban sprawl occurs, more people find themselves at a considerable distance from the CBD
Suburban retail and business centres develop to satisfy this demand
Retail parks
These entities are characterised by retail units requiring very large floor space and a large area for car parking
They are invariably located along key arterial and ring roads
Urban superstores
These single-owner retail units (very large supermarkets) are located at points of high accessibility and consumer demand
