Urban Geography
Defining Concepts
A city is a concentrated nonagricultural settlement.
Hinterland
Region which a city provides services/draws resources
Incorporation
Process of defining a city territory and establishing a gov.
Primate cities
Large city with majority of national population (i.e. Paris)
Urbanization
Process of concentrating population in cities
Conurbations – when cities grow and merge together into vast
urban areas
Megalopolis – Boston to D.C. route 1
Urban Geography
Three important topics
Functions of cities and economic role in
organizing territory
Study of urbanization
• Throughout history
• Different places
Internal patterns (distribution of housing,
industry, culture, etc. in a city)
Urban Functions
Early functions Economic bases
Government centers Basic sector – produces
Protection exports
Agglomeration – division of Non-basic sector – services
labor needs of the city
Multiplier effect - # basic
jobs multiplies # non-basic
Economy sectors jobs
Primary – extracts resources
directly from earth
Secondary – transforms raw
materials from primary sec.
Tertiary (service sector)
Locations of Cities
Site factors
Characteristics of location (i.e. defensive hilltops,
oases, rivers, and locations of minerals source)
Situation factors (cities may arise on an
unfavorable site due to the situation)
Building upon exising cities (Mexico City)
Transportation/trade routes (Deltas or Swamplands:
i.e., New Orleans, Shanghai, Calcutta)
Early Urban Societies
Holland - 17th century
Global shipping, banking
Supported by highly productive agriculture
Pre-industrial revolution
Britain
Occurred during industrialization
World’s first model of urbanization
• Terrible hardships – Oliver Goldsmith’s Rural Mirth , Dickens (Slums)
• Agr. Rev. – Reduced 3 of workers needed
• Migration to cities by displaced workers
• Labor Intensive – high ratio of workers to amount of capital invested in
machinery
• Domestic Servants (1/3 labor force in 1910)
• Emigration – Forced dislocation of criminals to Australia and Georgia
Models of Urban Form
Social Factors in Residential
Clustering
Congregation – when people decide to live with
people who have a similar ethnic background
Segregation – when people live together
because of segregation
