Urban geography is the study of how cities develop, their internal structures, and their roles in a global economy. In AP Human Geography, Unit 6 explores the growth of cities, spatial models of urban structure, and the challenges faced by contemporary metropolitan areas.
Urbanization and Global Cities
What are megacities and metacities?
- Megacity: A metropolitan area with a total population of over 10 million people (e.g., New York, London, Cairo).
- Metacity: A massive urban agglomeration with a total population of over 20 million people (e.g., Tokyo, Shanghai, São Paulo).
Classic Models of Urban Structure
What are the main urban land-use models?
Geographers developed models to describe the internal layout and socioeconomic distribution within North American cities:
- Burgess Concentric Zone Model (1923): Describes a city as growing outward from a central area in a series of concentric rings:
- Ring 1: CBD (Central Business District).
- Ring 2: Zone of Transition (industry, low-income housing).
- Ring 3: Zone of Independent Workers’ Homes (working-class housing).
- Ring 4: Zone of Better Residences (middle-class suburban housing).
- Ring 5: Commuter Zone.
- Hoyt Sector Model (1939): Describes a city developing in wedge-shaped sectors radiating outward from the CBD along transportation corridors (railroads, highways). High-rent residential sectors develop adjacent to transport corridors, keeping factories and low-rent sectors on opposite sides.
- Harris-Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model (1945): Proposes that a city does not develop around a single CBD, but instead around multiple nodes of activity (e.g., airports, universities, port districts, shopping centers). Compatible activities cluster together, while incompatible ones stay away.
Contemporary Urban Issues
What is gentrification vs. urban sprawl?
- Gentrification: The process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class, owner-occupied area. While it brings investment and lowers crime, it leads to displacement of long-term residents.
- Urban Sprawl: The rapid, unrestricted growth of housing, commercial developments, and roads across large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. It leads to heavy car dependency, pollution, and loss of farmable land.
Unit 6 Practice Questions
Question 1
Which urban model describes a city developing in wedge-shaped sectors radiating outward from the Central Business District along major transportation corridors?
A) Concentric Zone Model
B) Multiple Nuclei Model
C) Sector Model
D) Galactic City Model
Question 2
The process by which low-income inner-city neighborhoods undergo revitalization, attracting middle-class residents and displacing original communities, is known as:
A) Suburbanization
B) Urban sprawl
C) Gentrification
D) Decentralization
Answer Key
- C — The Sector Model describes wedge-shaped sectors extending along transit lines.
- C — Gentrification involves the influx of capital and higher-income residents into run-down urban neighborhoods.