Urbanization Trends

• Global Indicators

• Uneven global distribution of urbanization

• Shenzhen, China; Calcutta and Mumbai, India

• “…the urban system and its spokes form the structural skeleton of society.”

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Ancient Cities and Civilizations

• Egalitarian societies

• Southwest Asia (6,000 BC); increasing complexity

• Cities and States … the next logical step.

– Specialization political systems and gov.

– Ancient cities:

› three administrative levels

› dominant urban center

• The city…a recent invention (only 8,000 years)

• Formative era 7,000-5,000 BC (Mesopotamia)

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Ancient Cities and Civilizations (cont.)

• Location:

– proximity to farmland

– surface and ground water

– defense

– proximity to trade routes

• Functions:

– political centers

– religious centers

– economic centers

– cultural centers

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Ancient Cities and Civilizations (cont.)

• Size of early centers:

– 10,000-15,000

– determined by capacity of social and economic system

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Ancient Cities: Diffusion to Greece

• Mesopotamian Greece

• 3,000 BC Greece is highly urbanized

– 500 cities and towns

– 250,000 inhabitants

• Global impact of Greek cities

• Characteristics: Acropolis and Agora

• Underbelly: poor sanitation and slave labor

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Ancient Cities: Roman Cities

• Extensive settlement system

• Good transport and infrastructure

• Rectangular grid layout

• Military towns

• Characteristics: forum, stadium, high culture and architecture

• Underbelly: slave labor

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Ancient Cities: Other Rising Cities

• Xian, China

• Saharan trading cities

• Mayan urbanization

• Aztec capital of Teotihuacan > 100,000

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Sjoberg’s Preindustrial City

• folk-preliterate

• feudal - modest houses and unpaved streets

• preindustrial - religion/governmental core

• urban-industrial - economic core

• cities reflective of societal development

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Primate Cities

• dominant city in a settlement system

• “a country’s leading city is always disproportionately large and exceptionally expressive of national capacity and feeling.” - Mark Jefferson (1939)

• agricultural dominance

• colonial rule

• poor countries with distant colonial past

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Primate Cities

• dominant city in a settlement system

• “a country’s leading city is always disproportionately large and exceptionally expressive of national capacity and feeling.” - Mark Jefferson (1939)

• agricultural dominance

• colonial rule

• poor countries with distant colonial past

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization

Modern Western Cities

• Evolution

– Medieval cities

– mercantile city: commercial nodes; trading companies and merchants.

• Manufacturing City

– Origin in the British Midlands ‘black towns’

– unregulated jumbles of activity

– slums, poor sanitation, inadequate water, child labor

• Modern city: transportation, legislation, planning

• Postmodern city: The annihilation of space? Role of technology

Urban Geography: Civilization and Urbanization