Chapter 9 Outline

When and why did people start living in cities?

The hearths of Urbanization
- The first agricultural hearth was the area of southwest Asia
called the fertile crescent
- An agricultural surplus allowed cities to stabilize and grow
- The priest/kings controlled the recources
- The six urban hearths are related to agriculture
- 1.Mesoptannia ,3500 BCE
- 2.Nile River Valley ,3200 BCE
- 3. Indus River Valley , 2200 BCE
- 4. Huang He Valley, 1500 BCE
- 5. Mesoamerica , 1100 BCE
- 6. Peru , 900 BCE
the role of the ancient city in Society
- these cities served as economic centers and where the focal
points of power, authority, and change
diffusion of urbanization
- People migrated out of the hearth diffusing their knowledge of
agriculture and urbanization
- Greece is the secondary hearth of urbanization
- Diffused from Greece to Rome Empire
- The site of a city is its absolute location, often chosen for its
advantages in trade or defense, or as a center for religious
practice
Urban growth after Greece and Rome
- Europes middle ages
- Urbanization continued vigorously outside of Europe
Site and situation during European Exploration
- Interior trade routes changed the exploration of overseas
colonilzation
- trade powers including slave trade brought wealth to medieval
cities
A second agricultural revolution
- during the late 17th century and into the 18th century
- diffused from Great Britain
- cities became unregulated jumbles of activity
- living conditions were horrible
Where are cities located and why?
Rank size rule
- The pop of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its
rank in the hierarchy
- Dose not apply to countries with dominant cities

Central place theory

- Walter Christaller
- The surface of the ideal region was flat with no physical
barriers
- Soil fertility would be the same everywhere
- Pop and purchasing power would be evenly distributed
- The region would have a uniform transportation network to
permit travel form one settlement to the other
- From any given place a good or service could be sold in all
direction out to certain distances
How are cities organized and how do they function?
Models of the city
- Functional zonation
- Globalization has created common cultural landscapes
- Regional models of cities help us understand the processes
that impact of modern linkages and influence now change
cities
- Central city
- Concentric zone
The south American city
- Griffin-Ford model
- Blend of traditional elements with globalization forces
- CBD anchors the model
The African city
- Imprint of European colonialization
- Center are essentially westeren
- Consist of 3 CBDs