understanding urban places: why cities are where they are

Understanding

Urban Places:

Why Cities Are Where They

Are

Video Clip: Evolution of Cities across 10,000 Years!

What do you think is the most important historical factor for urbanization?

What is the most important modern factor?

What are some potential problems with city growth?

Cities: Why There?

Why do we choose to establish a community in a particular spot?

1) Primary Factors Access to Fresh Water and Fertile Land

Others factors were often involved as well

Cities: Why There?

• Community had a natural harbour deep, protected bay on a large lake or ocean

• Community lay along a river

• Community developed along a railway

• Community developed beside a major highway

• Community was close to natural resources

Communities Across Canada

Every major city in Canada progressed through the following urban hierarchy:

HAMLET VILLAGE TOWN CITY

TRIVIA TIME !

Sauble Falls, Ontario has the smallest population on the

official Ontario road Map. How many people live in this tiny

Hamlet?

No…I’m not kidding.

POOR GUY!

ONE!

THE HAMLETIn the early years, of Canada’s development, most people lived on farms in rural areas. Because they needed goods and services, small centres developed with a few businesses

The Hamlet The smallest type of settlement with about eight to ten buildings

Provides limited services ex. Gas Station

The Hamlet

The Disappearance of the Hamlet

Do you think any Hamlets remain in Southern Ontario? Why or Why not?

What problems might businesses in hamlets have run into as more and more families began to own cars?

Where might we find Hamlets in Canada?

THE VILLAGEAs more people came to settle in an area, some hamlets grew larger, with more people and more businesses

As they grew, some became villages

Typically has between 100 and 800 people

People travel to villages to buy items that they cannot find in their local hamlet

Considered rural

Villages in Ontario

Ontario has 11 villages that have a combined population of only 13,558

Canada’s smallest village is Thornloe with a population of 123 residents

The Village

THE TOWN

If a village were to grow in size, it may become a town

Towns are communities with a population of 1,000 to 10,000 people

Most towns have a main shopping area and provide all the main goods and services their residents need

Ontario Town, Parry Sound Population: 6,191

THE CITY

A town becomes a city when it has a population of 10,000 or more people

Most Canadians live in large cities

All cities provide more goods and services than towns do

Receiving Services: Where to go?

SERVICE HAMLET/VILLAGE

TOWN LARGE CITY

Buy a pack of cigarettes

Attend church

Get Plastic Surgery

Buy a Book

Buy Gluten Free, Gourmet Cookies

Go to a One Direction Concert

Buy a Ferrari

Rent a Movie

High-Order Goods and Services

A Hamlet, Village, or Town cannot support certain services, for example, a Rolls-Royce dealership, because there aren’t enough potential customers

HIGH-ORDER GOOD A good only available in cities

A Rolls-Royce is an example of a high-order good

HIGH-ORDER SERVICE A specialized health centre, or diet/detox spa

Low-Order Goods and Services

A good that is sold almost everywhere

Example: Bread Bread is something most people need, so it is sold even in very small centres

A hair stylist’s shop is an example of a low-order service

A City’s Economic Base

Industries located in a city are important because they bring money into the city

City’s Economic Base Industries and businesses that make the community thrive

When the economic base of a city increases in size, people go there to work and the city grows even more

Changing Cities

As cities age, they change:

1) Become more multicultural

2) Develop new functions

3) Grow in size

City Profile: Toronto

Toronto means “meeting place”

Now home to over 2.5 million people

One of the safest large cities in North America

Over 21 million tourists annually

Tourism generates $5 billion in revenue annually

Toronto’s Changing Economic Functions: Film + Television

Toronto “plays” big cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Vienna, Warsaw & Tokyo

It is cheaper for production in Canada due to value in Canadian and US dollars and tax incentives – 20%

What’s Been Filmed in Toronto?

John Q

Good Will Hunting

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Don’t Say a Word

Fantastic Four

How to Lose a Guy in 10 days

Suits (TV Show)

MetropolisThe dominant city or urban area of a country

The metropolis can dominate a country in various ways:

1) Where cultural decisions are made by national television networks, newspapers, and magazine publishers

2) Where economic decisions are made in the head office of major corporations and banks

3) Where political decisions are made by national and provincial governments

Megalopolis

Some cities grow so large that their boundaries touch the boundaries of other cities

When a number of cities grow together like this, they form a huge urban area called a megalopolis

Megalopolis: A group of cities that have expanded until they touch one another

Canada’s MegalopolisCanada’s only Megalopolis is located around the western edge of Lake Ontario

It swoops around Lake Ontario from Oshawa to St. Catherines

“Golden Horseshoe”

Modern City ProblemsAs more and more people move to cities, the cities have a hard time coping because of the extra strain on city facilities

Traffic gridlock

Air pollution

Public Transit overcrowding

Higher crimes rates

Overcrowding in schools

Housing Shortages

Homelessness

City Problems: What to do? You are the mayor of a Canadian City. Based on your assigned city and its major problem you

must:

1) Summarize your city’s problem and provide specific examples

2) Explain the primary causes of the problem

3) Describe how the problem affects Canada’s natural environment

4) Explain how the problem affects your city’s residents

5) Recommend three steps to reduce the seriousness of the problem