Notes for doucheface and Philip?

Urban Geography V:
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities

Michael Mercier
School of Geography & Earth Sciences
Winter 2009

Outline
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

• Introduction
• Urban Issues: More Developed World
– Suburbanization & Urban Sprawl
– Gentrification
– Poverty & Homelessness
• Urban Issues: Less Developed (Developing) World
– Rapid Urbanization
– Urban Environment: pollution
– Squatter Settlements
• Some Examples
• Summary/Conclusion
• Reference: Ch. 13
Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

Cities are fantastic places (center for cultural changes; places of

Introduction
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

innovations; life-blood of modern economy)

• Cities are fantastic places Cities are horrible places (for many people; cities are centers of
misery)
• Cities are horrible places -cities are substantial producers of waste
– -cities are incubators of poverty, despair, and resentment (aside
–
of being centers of economy, it can be incubators of poverty)
–
-cities are unhealthy (Toronto could be healthier than some other
•
cities)
– Major issues
Cities are both good and bad
-major issues facing cities in both the More Developed World
(MDW) and Less Developed World (LDW)

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

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 Suburbanization..:
Urban Issues: More Developed World Cities
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-Urban decentralization - periphery vs centre

• Suburbanization (& Urban Sprawl): -Emergence of suburbs:
– Urban decentralization
-beginnings of cities
-post-WWII suburban housing boom
– Emergence of suburbs:
• Beginnings of cities -City walls
– -Transportation technology (the ability to commute long
distance have allowed the growth of suburbs)
•
-Today
– Today

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

Urban Issues: More Developed World Cities Suburbanization..

Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-Prevalent where
• Suburbanization (& Urban Sprawl): Cont’d
-land is readily available
– Prevalent where
-planning regulations are weak (private developers have
•
• more control of planning regulations than municipal
• governement; you see suburbanization)
• -populations are wealthy and can afford large homes
– Sprawl -levels of physical mobility are high
– Conurbations -sprawl (suburbanization on steroids; have more of an
• negative aspect)
-Conurbations (continusely built up areas; formed by
• e.g.
merging 2+ formally independent places)
– Impact?
-continuously built-up areas formed by bringing together
Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009 separate and expanding cities
-eg here; golden horseshoe
-impact? goobles up fertile cultural land; generates more
pollution due to commuting

Urban Issues: More Developed World Cities Gentrification (anti-urban sprawl?):

Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-the process of transforming formerly derelict or low quality

• Gentrification (Anti-Urban Sprawl?):
–
housing into wealthy or desirable areas (centralizing population)
– -
-neighbourhood decline
– Neighbourhood decline -positive effects: benefit for middle class who are moving in the
area; buying up properties that were run-downed (get a good
– Positive effects: price on it too); middle class also get to live close to the center
area (do not need to commute as much); better for the city
– Negative effects:
(being healthier)
-negative effects: costly (landlords charge higher rent); higher
taxes; bad for those who are poor

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

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 Urban Issues: More Developed World Cities Poverty
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

• Poverty -Rapid.. (emergence of significant area of poverty);

– Rapid expansion of urban industrial areas -The spatial.. (slums develop); neighbourhoods of poverty;
developed fully after the industrial era
– The spatial manifestation of poverty -slum clearance (major problem in the 19th century; replaced
these housing with apartments; this didnt hope the poor)
– Slum clearance
-poverty (low income; most pollution; worst physical health
status (mentally and physically);
– Poverty
Consider: homelessness (check on the textbook)

– Consider:

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

-Issues and problems facing...

Urban Issues: Less Developed World Cities
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-benefits outweigh the costs (despite the problems, people

• Issues and problems facing LDW cities continue to move to cities; people see there are more benefits;
people live in the world of perception instead of reality)
– Benefits outweigh the costs

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

Rapid Urbanization
Urban Issues: Less Developed World Cities
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-Urbanization (growth of the population in cities;)

• Rapid Urbanization -Consequences
– Urbanization
-Slums (19th century;)
-30-70% (depending on what country; 30-70% of urban
– Consequences
populations in the LDWC are living in slums; highly congested
– Slums with sub-standard housing, lacking any system of sanitation,
and plagued by ..
• 30-70%: -
– one billion people in the world are living in slums

• 2005 – 1 Billion

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

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 Urban Issues: Less Developed World Cities Urban Environment: pollution
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-polluting industries
• Urban Environment: Pollution
-employment.. but at what cost? (employment opportunities;
– Polluting industries
but they are pollution the environment; go to Walmart to get our
• Employment … but at what cost? shit, but the pollution is being generated somewhere else)
– -industrialization and urbanization (dirty industries are bringing
people to urban cities)
– Industrialization & urbanization -urban pollution (you get more people living in cities; but you
are also getting people making their own pollution/waste)
• Urban pollution

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

Urban Issues: Less Developed World Cities Squatter Settlements:

Human Geographies: Society & Culture

-slums on the periphery of the city

• Squatter Settlements:
-uncontrolled, low-quality, un-serviced, unsanitary, crowded,
–
settlements on the urban periphery
• Migrants -migrants (driven by people looking for employment in these
industries)
• Problems
-problems (health; social problems; lack of education;
– The crux of the problem: economic problems; political problems)
-the crux of the problem: these people have no ownership to
the land; no taxes; without paying taxes, the govn. doesnt pay
for services (such as schools, etc); no ability to improve the
– Spatial pattern of wealth & poverty
situation; no way to improve the problem of poverty

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009 Spatial pattern..
-the wealthy live in the periphery of the cities in well developed
countries; poor live in the central of the city (it is the opposite
for less developed countries)

Urban Issues: Less Developed World Cities Examples

Human Geographies: Society & Culture

• Squatter Settlements - Examples: -Mexico City:

• Mexico City: -Calcutta:
-Sao Paolo and Rio:
• Calcutta: -Favelas

*look in the textbook for more examples

• Sao Paolo and Rio:
– Favelas

Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009

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 Summary/Conclusion Issues
Human Geographies: Society & Culture

Global citizenship:
• Issues
-Your task (leave this class and leave the university and
become a global citizen; find a solution
• Global citizenship:

– Your task

• Next Class: Read – Conclusion

– Course Conclusions, Wrap-Up & Discussion about the
Exam
Urban Geography V: Urban Issues in Contemporary Cities – Apr 1, 2009