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AnOverviewofUrbanGeography

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Urban Geography
AnOverviewofUrbanGeography
ByAmandaBriney

Geography

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Urbangeographyisabranch
ofhumangeography
concernedwithvarious
aspectsofcities.Anurban
geographer'smainroleisto
emphasizelocationand
spaceandstudythespatial
processesthatcreate
patternsobservedinurban
areas.Todothis,theystudy
thesite,evolutionandgrowth,
andclassificationofvillages,
AftonAlmaraz/Stone/GettyImages
townsandcitiesaswellas
theirlocationandimportanceinrelationtodifferentregionsandcities.Economic,political
andsocialaspectswithincitiesarealsoimportantinurbangeography.

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Inordertofullyunderstandeachofthese
aspectsofacity,urbangeography
representsacombinationofmanyother
fieldswithingeography.Physicalgeography
forexampleisimportantinunderstanding
whyacityislocatedinaspecificareaassite
andenvironmentalconditionsplayalarge
roleinwhetherornotacitydevelops.
Culturalgeographycanaidinunderstanding
variousconditionsrelatedtoanarea's
people,whileeconomicgeographyaidsin
understandingthetypesofeconomic
activitiesandjobsavailableinanarea.
Fieldsoutsideofgeographysuchas
resourcemanagement,anthropologyand
urbansociologyarealsoimportant.

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DefinitionofaCity

geographyisdefiningwhatacityorurban

urbangeographersgenerallydefinethecityasaconcentrationofpeoplewithasimilar

wayoflifebasedonjobtype,culturalpreferences,politicalviewsandlifestyle.Specialized
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Dr.BatrasHomeopathy
http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/urbangeography.htm

onecityfromanother.
Inaddition,urbangeographersalsoworkto
differentiateareasofdifferentsizes.
Becauseitishardtofindsharpdistinctions
betweenareasofdifferentsizes,urban
geographersoftenusetheruralurban

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Anessentialcomponentwithinurban
areaactuallyis.Althoughadifficulttask,

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3/7/2015

AnOverviewofUrbanGeography

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geographersoftenusetheruralurban
continuumtoguidetheirunderstandingand
helpclassifyareas.Ittakesintoaccount
hamletsandvillageswhicharegenerally
consideredruralandconsistofsmall,
dispersedpopulations,aswellascitiesandmetropolitanareasconsideredurbanwith
concentrated,densepopulations.

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ByDerrickM
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ByAdamBur
ClassicLitera

HistoryofUrbanGeography
TheearlieststudiesofurbangeographyintheUnitedStatesfocusedonsiteandsituation

VIEWMOREINEDUCATIO

.Thisdevelopedoutofthemanlandtraditionofgeographywhichfocusedontheimpact
ofnatureonhumansandviceversa.Inthe1920s,CarlSauerbecameinfluentialinurban
geographyashemotivatedgeographerstostudyacity'spopulationandeconomic
aspectswithregardtoitsphysicallocation.Inaddition,centralplacetheoryandregional
studiesfocusedonthehinterland(theruraloutlyingaresupportingacitywithagricultural
productsandrawmaterials)andtradeareaswerealsoimportanttoearlyurban
geography.
Throughoutthe1950sand1970s,geographyitselfbecamefocusedonspatialanalysis,
quantitativemeasurementsandtheuseofthescientificmethod.Atthesametime,urban
geographersbeganquantitativeinformationlikecensusdatatocomparedifferenturban
areas.Usingthisdataallowedthemtodocomparativestudiesofdifferentcitiesand
developcomputerbasedanalysisoutofthosestudies.Bythe1970s,urbanstudieswere
theleadingformgeographicresearch.
Shortlythereafter,behavioralstudiesbegantogrowwithingeographyandinurban
geography.Proponentsofbehavioralstudiesbelievedthatlocationandspatial
characteristicscouldnotbeheldsolelyresponsibleforchangesinacity.Instead,changes
inacityarisefromdecisionsmadebyindividualsandorganizationswithinthecity.
Bythe1980s,urbangeographersbecamelargelyconcernedwithstructuralaspectsofthe
cityrelatedtounderlyingsocial,politicalandeconomicstructures.Forexample,urban
geographersatthistimestudiedhowcapitalinvestmentcouldfosterurbanchangein
variouscities.
Throughoutthelate1980suntiltoday,urbangeographershavebeguntodifferentiate
themselvesfromoneanother,thereforeallowingthefieldtobefilledwithanumberof
differentviewpointsandfocuses.Forexample,acity'ssiteandsituationisstillregarded
asimportanttoitsgrowth,asisitshistoryandrelationshipwithitsphysicalenvironment
andnaturalresources.People'sinteractionswitheachotherandpoliticalandeconomic
factorsarestillstudiedasagentsofurbanchangeaswell.

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ThemesofUrbanGeography
Althoughurbangeographyhasseveraldifferentfocusesandviewpoints,therearetwo

VIEWMORE

majorthemesthatdominateitsstudytoday.Thefirstoftheseisthestudyofproblems
relatingtothespatialdistributionofcitiesandthepatternsofmovementandlinksthat
connectthemacrossspace.Thisapproachfocusesonthecitysystem.Thesecondtheme
inurbangeographytodayisthestudyofpatternsofdistributionandinteractionofpeople
andbusinesseswithincities.Thisthememainlylooksatacity'sinnerstructureand
thereforefocusesonthecityasasystem.
Inordertofollowthesethemesandstudycities,urbangeographersoftenbreakdown
theirresearchintodifferentlevelsofanalysis.Infocusingonthecitysystem,urban
geographersmustlookatthecityontheneighborhoodandcitywidelevel,aswellashow
itrelatestoothercitiesonaregional,nationalandgloballevel.Tostudythecityasa
systemanditsinnerstructureasinthesecondapproach,urbangeographersaremainly
concernedwiththeneighborhoodandcitylevel.

JobsinUrbanGeography
Sinceurbangeographyisavariedbranchofgeographythatrequiresawealthofoutside
knowledgeandexpertiseonthecity,itformsthetheoreticalbasisforagrowingnumberof
jobs.AccordingtotheAssociationofAmericanGeographers,abackgroundinurban
http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/urbangeography.htm

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3/7/2015

AnOverviewofUrbanGeography

geographycanprepareoneforacareerinsuchfieldsasurbanandtransportation
planning,siteselectioninbusinessdevelopmentandrealestatedevelopment.

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