Kraal in Africa

Dispersed Rural Settlement

Each settlement has an economic base

• Basic Services create goods to be distributed outside of the community.

• Example:• big industries• Paper Mill• USAA Insurance• QVC

• Non-Basic Services: serve the community.

Example:• schools• Grocery stores• Doctors• DMV• restaurants

The Central Place TheoryWalter Christaller

• Market area of a service• Size of a market area–Range –Threshold

Gravity Model

Back to Central Place Theory Which shape to use?

Hexagon: Central Place

• Are the market areas the same size? • Are there concentrations of populations in

some of the areas, i.e. are the thresholds the same size?

• Would concentrations of population influence the locations?

• Would the locations of businesses with large work forces influence the range?

• Would demographics of population (specifically income) influence the range?

Advantages to Central Place Theory

• Does a “good enough” job of describing spatial patterns in urbanization

• Only theory to describe hierarchy of urban centers• Describes location of trade and service activity• Beneficial to city economic developers to identify

what types of services are necessary and will survive in a given community

Problems with Central Place Theory

• Large areas of flat land are rare and transportation networks often intentionally channel traffic in specific directions

• Government intervention can dictate the location of industry• Perfect competition is an unreal assumption• People vary in their shopping trends—personal

preference/sales• People and resources are not evenly distributed• Christaller did not account for changing functions of areas

over time

Central Business Districtsvs.

The SUBURBS!!!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Central Business Districts

- OriginalLocation

-Site

-Situation

Characteristics of CBDsCharlotte, NC

• -Vertical Geography

• -High Rents (bid rents)

• -Demography

• -Environmental Concerns

• -Cultural Amenities

• -Sense of Place

Services of CBDs: Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston

-Retail Services with a High Threshold

-Retail Services with a High Range

-Retail Services Serving Downtown Workers

-Business Services

Centralization in CBDs

1. Economic Advantages: -accessibility -location near transportation hubs -agglomeration, clustering of “like” services2. Social Advantages: -Historical momentum -Prestige -locate near work

Urban Renewal

•Gentrification•Revitalization•Zoning•Sense of Place?

Granville Island, Vancouver

Who lives in the inner city?• Single Yuppies, DINKS=want to be near amenities and

walk to work• Elderly, retired=want to be near amenities, can’t drive,

no kids, downsizing from big house in suburbs• Middle-aged, single career women• Gay population• People with unique careers can only find jobs in big cities • People who don’t want to be far from amenities• Affordable, high density housing• Don’t want to pay transportation costs to CBD jobs

Problems with Decentralization in CBDs

• Inadequate and run-down housing, redlining, filtering, ethnic and racial segregation

• Stores shut down• Homelessness, underclass,

cycle of poverty• Services are cut or taxes are

raised• Crime• Pollution• Lack of residents

http://www.juicygeography.co.uk/downloads/podmovies/ExeterCBD.movVideo made by a geography student in Exeter, England about the CBD

http://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html

Suburbs: The answer to decentralization

• -The commuter zone: Counterurbanization, Transportation Corridor

• -Early Policies that led to suburbanization A. Federal Road Act of 1916, Interstate Hwy Act 1956 B. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 1934 -single family homes -FHA loans for repairs were short and small C. GI Bill 1944 D. United States Housing Act 1937 -provides public housing for the poor E. Zoning Ordinances, Gated Communities

2 effects:1. Encouraged single family homes away from the central city2. Magnified segregation of residential areas

Suburbs: The Good Life?-Urban Sprawl-checkerboard development, in-filling-Placelessness-Better Schools-Safer Environment-Large Yards, single homes-Jobs have moved to the suburbs (suburbanization of business) Services have moved to the suburbs, office parks-Redlining, blockbusting-Master-planned communities

Ted Talks on Suburbshttp://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia.html

Who wants to live in the Suburbs?

• Married with families, affordable, single homes

• Divorced moms who get the family home

• Widowed women (older• People who want safety

(less crime), big yards, better schools

• People who work outside of the city

Urban Sprawl: Suburbs run amokhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/america-in-gridlock/video-nowhere-to-grow/3/

CBDs in Europe and Latin America

How are they similar AND

How are they different?

Resources• De Blij, Harm, J. (2007). Human Geography People, Place and Culture. Hoboken,

NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. • Domosh, Mona, Neumann, Roderic, Price, Patricia, & Jordan-Bychkov, 2010. The

Human Mosaic, A Cultural Approach to Human Geography. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.

• Fellman, Jerome, D., Getis, Arthur, & Getis, Judith, 2008. Human Geography, Landscapes of Human Activities. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

• Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic and Alex M. and Pulsipher, 2008. World Regional Geography, Global Patterns, Local Lives. W.H. Freeman and Company New York.

• Rubenstein, James M. (2008). An introduction to human geography The cultural• landscape. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.• Benewick, Robert, & Donald, Stephanie H. (2005). The State of• China Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press.