What is a city? (Model of excavated Pompeii)

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What is a city? (Model of excavated Pompeii)
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What is a city?

• Louis Wirth three characteristics
• size (large population)
• density (tightly packed population)
• heterogeneity (much diversity)

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A physical presence

• Pre-industrial cities
• Wall and gates
• narrow, congested streets (also wide
  thoroughfares)
• multi-story buildings 3-4 stories tall
• temple, granaries, palace
• exterior gardens
• fortress-like houses
• by a river
• divided into quarters and ghettos (interior walls
  and gates)
• Modern (American) city
• endless roads
• shopping malls, power centers and strip malls
• skyscrapers (downtown areas)
• developments
• airports
• slums
• factory districts

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What else?

• A concentrated population -- always people,
  people, people
• Some amount of political autonomy
• A different quality of life from that of the
  countryside

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The modern city what is it?

• No wall
• No a fortress a place to make money and
  transform for money
• Desire for speed, openness, flexibility
• The boundary ragged, and there are holes in it
  unincorporated land and municipalities it
  surrounds (see maps at bottom)
• FYI
• Rock Hill incorporation map (provided by the city
  of Rock Hill)
• http//www.rhmaps.ci.rock-hill.sc.us/rh_maps/MapGa
  llery_files/RH_Annexation20History.pdf
• Wikipedia map of Charlotte
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageCharlotte_Meckl
  enburg.png
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• Wikipedia map of LA
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageLA_County_Incor
  porated_Areas_Los_Angeles_highlighted.svg
•  

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How does the US Census Bureau define a city?

• Urban Place incorporated place with 2,500
  people (8,500 of these in the US in the 1990
  Census)
• Central City incorporated with 50,000 people
  (500 in US in 1990 Census)
• 2,500-50,000 town 50,000 city
• Central cities housed 1/3 of US population
• Standard Metro Areas (Metro Statistical Areas),
  central cities plus county and surrounding
  counties, if substantial ties to each other
• 362 in 2000 (some are consolidated into really
  huge areas)
• http//www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t3/t
  ab03.xls
• These hold three-quarters of US population (40
  in central cities. 60 in the ring and urban
  fringe)
• In 1990, 26,000,000 metro residents were
  designated as rural
• Metropolitan Atlanta 29 counties (most of
  northern Georgia!)
• Ring counties
• Urban fringe unincorporated, but right up
  against the central city and built up
• Standard Consolidated Statistical Area (126 in
  2006)
• (a) largest, NY-NNJ-Long Island, with 18,000,000
  in 1990, about 21 mil today.

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The era of big central cities may be over

• Only two central cities with pops over 500,000 in
  1950 have grownHouston and LA.
• Many have shrunk dramatically.
• Atlanta, Atlanta, 331,000 in 1950, 497,000 in
  1970, 438,000 in 1990, 470,000 in 2000
• St. Louis, 857,000 to 348,000 (59 drop)
• Cleveland, 915,000 to 478,000 (48)
• Pittsburgh, 677,000-350,000 (48)
• Detroit, 1,850,000 to 887,000 (in 200552
  decline)
• US people living in big central cities (500,000)
  dropped from 18 to 12
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• The era of the big Central City, roughly
  1860-1960. Some say over now. The era of
  spread-out suburbs is now.

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What makes city people different?

• Louis Wirth Urbanism as a way of life
• In theory, a city will have effects on people who
  live there
• city populations will be more liberal and
  cosmopolitan (sophisticated, cooler)
• there will be much more in the way of
  dysfunction in cities (less family life, more
  cold, impersonal people)
• much more crime, mental illness, alcoholism in
  the centerin theory

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Maybe not! Herbert Gans (The Urban Villagers)

• where you live has little direct effect on your
  personality
• cities have
• more unconventional people (who choose the city
  for anonymity and subculture activities)
• more young professionals, YUPPIES and DINKS
• trapped populations of poverty-stricken, often
  unemployed people
• more ethnic minorities
• fewer standard middle class families

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Lyn Lofland (A World of Strangers) people in
cities arent as cold as they seem

• they act differently when they are alone around
  strangersto keep from being bothered or harmed.
• This gives the incorrect impression that city
  people are cold and uncaring.
• Six major things she finds people do. Do you do
  any of them?
• Minimize expressivity
• Minimize body contact
• Minimize eye contact
• Look before you sit!
• When in doubt disattend
• When in doubt flee