Geography 352

1

• Geography 352
• Urbanization in the Global South
• Jim Glassman
• Lecture 1, January 6

2
Course Requirements

• Attendance, class participation
• Readings (books and packet)
• Mid-term (February 5, due February 12)
• Writing assignment (due March 26)
• Final (April 2, due April 16)

3
Basic Conceptual Questions

• What is a city?
• What population does a place have to have to be a
  city?
• How big does the area of the place have to be to
  be a city?
• What distinguishes cities politically and
  economically?
• How are Global South cities different from Global
  North cities?

4
Conceptual Issues

• Definitions of cities (minimum population and
  maximum area) vary widely and influence the
  degree to which countries are seen as urbanized
• Cities have often been defined in terms of
  political and economic functions, instead of
  strictly in terms of demographics (thus we speak
  not just of demographic primacy but of functional
  primacy)

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• The Global South is generally seen as less
  urbanized than the Global North, indicating the
  degree to which Global North status is defined in
  relation to urban-industrial transformation (note
  differences among Global South countries in
  levels of urbanization)
• Global South countries are generally seen as
  having greater levels of urban primacy or a less
  balanced urban hierarchy, to some extent the
  legacy of colonialism

6

• Global South cities are now being transformed by
  globalization in ways that somewhat weaken their
  relationships with sub-national agrarian regions
  and strengthen their relationships with other
  cities

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The approach to urbanization taken in this course

• Emphasis on process of urbanization, within
  various Global South contexts, rather than just
  on cities per se (thus on agrarian as well as
  industrial transformation, on migration, etc.)
• Emphasis on various shared characteristics of
  Global South countries in the process of
  urbanization that differentiate them as a group
  from Global North countries

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• Emphasis on differences among Global South
  countries in their processes of urbanization that
  differentiate them from one another
• Emphasis on how changing relationships in the
  global geo-political economy affect and are
  affected by changes in patterns of urbanization
• Theoretical focus purpose of the course is not
  to memorize facts about various cities but to
  understand different approaches to analyzing
  urbanization in the context of development

9
Life and livelihoods in cities of the Global South

• Employment issues
• Housing issues
• Transportation issues
• Environmental sustainability issues

10
Employment Issues

• Factory, construction, and other jobs
• working conditions
• socio-cultural issues (migrants and ethnicity)
• Work in the informal sector
• economic issues (pay taxes exploitation)
• gender issues surrounding work

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Housing issues

• Lack of decent affordable housing
• disincentive to in-migration?
• spur to private initiative in development of
  housing?
• Lack of urban amenities
• sewerage and water treatment
• controls on use of land (e.g., unregulated
  factories)

12
Transportation issues

• Accessibility of affordable transportation
• Transportation systems and public space
• The politics of public transportation
• Transportation and sustainability issues

13
Environmental sustainability issues

• Problems of air quality in major developing
  cities
• Problems of water quality and availability in
  developing cities
• Problems of waste stream management in major
  developing cities
• Problems of geological stability in major
  developing cities

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World Music Sidebar Course

• A sidebar not covered on exam!
• Not a sidebar central to themes of the course
• World music as example of globalization
• World music and urbanization
• World music and cultures of globalization
• World music and sub-Saharan Africa