Geography Urban Environments

The characteristics of urban places are: 1) , 2) , 3) activities, 4) an .

Factors for a good site for early settlement: readily available , freedom from and other , /levels to , local , , good and land, potential for , .

Land use: , , , , , .

(Land Use in New York) area occupies less than % of the city's land. There are two main areas, midtown and downtown Manhattan. Manhattan, the (Fifth Avenue), (Broadway), , (Empire State Building and Rockefeller Centre). Manhattan is the centre for and , containing and the . Most of New York's million jobs are in commercial areas.

(Land Use in New York) occupy % of the city's land. It includes and . It is found primarily in , along either sides of in Brooklyn and , and along the western shores of and .

(Land Use in New York) residences, the largest use of city land, are found mostly in , eastern , southern and north-eastern and eastern . In contrast, to residential buildings (3+ dwelling units) contain more than of New York's housing units, but occupy only % of the city's land. The highest-density residences are found in . Four to twelve storey high apartment houses are common in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. This shows that the the distance from the CBD (Manhattan), the the density in residences. As are higher when closer to the CBD, zoning is commonly used in residential buildings near the CBD.

(Land Use in New York) and such as , , , places of worship, police stations and court houses, are spread throughout the city, occupying % of New York's land. % of the city's open space is occupied by uses, such as , , and amusement parks. % of New York's land is classified as . has the most vacant land of more than 2100 hectares. has the least, with less than 162 hectares.

(Generalisations of settlement hierarchy) There are usually more settlements than settlements. Towards the of the hierarchy, a limited range of -order goods are provided to number of people (threshold) living in the village and surrounding . In contrast, towards the of the hierarchy, urban area provide a large number of and order goods to number of people, drawn from a area.

Megacities, cities with population of million, grow as a result of , and of increase. Their age structure is usually dominated by , who migrate to cities in search for . Thus the city grows not only through but also because of the high rates associated with the younger population. As cities grow, they up nearby towns and cities, becoming . Some megacities have population than the population of countries. They grow at relatively rates about % per year, slower than medium-sized cities. By 2020, most megacities will be located in regions, 12 of them are in .

Issues with Megacities: High , uncontrolled expansion, severe deficits, inadequate supply and , strain and overload, pollution, poor housing , increasing , high rate, traffic , social problems (e.g. increased rate).

There is a clear between urban and development, but one does not necessarily cause the other. Urban places perform a number of important functions in the process of development: , , , , .

Ways urban places help development:
Commercially: more , which leads to growth; markets and converting goods into .
Industrially: more , more goods produced resulting to higher ; provide a stimulus for , by and paying wages for worker and attracting other .
Politically: can provide a focus for civic and , allowing (however, cultures might start ).
Administratively: larger urban areas provide economies of for activities such as and .
Socially: provide opportunities and can contribute to many of the above.

Factors that affect the size, growth and function of a settlement are: environments, factors, accessibility.

The is used to explain the pattern of urban activities in cities. It shows that value of varies for the different . The land in the centre is the most , as it is most to public transport and only small amount of land available. Land prices decrease away from the most area. There might be secondary peaks at of main roads. However, transportation has made areas far away from the centre area more .

(Retail Land Use) superstores and retail parks, built on sites with plenty of space and good . are large outlets close to areas with over square metres of shopping space, ample and good access. A is a cluster of , and superstores. Modern retailing sees the in these kind of retail stores.

(Retail land use) goods in shops and shops, located in areas: department stores, stores, shops, malls. They sell mainly high-order goods. They have large , and sphere of .

(Retail land use) At the of the hierarchy are small, outlets, selling a variety of goods ( goods) such as , and confectionery, in stores and . Shopping parades are of shops, including small , an off-licence, a and other low-order serving nearby areas. They are “convenient” on account of their opening hours and the of products they carry.

This retailing revolution has focused on , hypermarkets and shopping precincts, and people shopping frequently. A number of factors explain this change in shopping habits: 1) change e.g. falling population and more people 2) and counter- of more affluent households 3) change 4) change e.g. car ownership 5) congestion and land prices 6) increased of areas 7) changes e.g. more women with paid work. As a result, there are smaller high street shops and government policies are focusing on shopping areas and schemes, which may lead to redevelopment.

(Commercial land use) The () is the and core of a city. It is the area most to public , and the location with the land values. It has zoning (clustering of similar types of business).

Characteristics of CBD: - development, concentration of , , , zoning, , low , high flow, traffic , CBD moving towards zone and leaving a zone.

Industrial activities are located in inner-city areas, close to , for import/ export. Also in suburban areas close to .

factors, land , , urban residential are factors that affect the of urban residential areas.

(Urban residential areas - physical factors) Wealthier people often live in residential areas from and may have nice . Meanwhile, people often live in residential areas with risk of hazards. Similarly, HICs building generally take into account the associated with the site of housing, while in areas of population growth and informal housing (mostly LICs), individuals may have to use any site and may not be able to protect against the risk of hazards.

(urban residential areas - land values) In most HIC cities, residential in the city centre is usually because of land values. However, with increasing from the city centre, residential density . This reflects the greater availability of land in the .

(Urban residential areas - ethnicity) Some groups may choose to live close , forming . This is a form of positive , whereby ethnic groups gain by being located in one place. On the other hand, segregation is where certain groups are from particular areas.

Indicators of deprivation:
Physical indicators: quality of , levels of , incidence of , , graffiti.
Social indicators: (reported and fear of); levels of and access to care; standards of ; proportion of population on (unemployment, disability, free school meals); proportion of -parent families.
Economic indices: access to ; unemployment and underemployment; levels of
Political indices: opportunities to and take part in community organisation.

The UN defines a slum household as one or a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area, lacking one or more of the following five amenities:
1) housing 2) space 3) access to water 4) access to improved 5)

The economy of the world city consists of a economy, complete with offices, factories and commercial buildings, and an economy, consisting of servants, gardeners, maids, cleaners, taxi drivers, prostitutes and a variety of other occupations. The informal economy is scale, owned and intensive. It is often divided into two: a traditional economy and a economy.

sector can be a valuable way of relieving the economic problems of the poor by using their , together with small-scale or , to try to help them their circumstances. Informal economy can also allow even more of the poor by the rich. For example, the entrepreneurs who own the equipment or the capital necessary for the operation of a business are often quite wealthy people who work in the formal sector. In addition, the sector those in the sector, since it keeps prices . Hence it reduces the price that those in employment (the formal sector) have to for their .

When the rate is higher than the rate in a country or place, it is called the natural . This often occurs in cities because of its age structure. In contrast, the areas that they leave behind develop more of an population, which means that rural birth rates are likely to . On the other hand, the social and cultural pressures on women to have children are less in urban areas than in more traditional rural areas, thus birth rates and fertility rates are low in some urban areas.

– migration refers to the movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities. The reasons for this movement can be explained with and pull factors.

Rural factors are the features that cause a person to move away from rural area, e.g. un, lower housing, can't pursue , lack of institutes, lack of services and facilities, supply of resources, natural disasters, not convenient to travel to other places.

Urban factors are the attractions (whether real or imagined) that exist at an urban place, e.g. lots of job , many institutions, better , advanced , sanitation, better .

is the reinvestment of capital into inner-city areas, increasing the and improve areas. However, it may affect residents, such as social of poor people.

Re-/ urban is a (give new life) of areas and a movement of people back into these areas.

isation is the outward expansion of towns and cities, mainly in Europe, North America and Australia, largely thanks to improvements in systems. Reasons for this boom in private housebuilding includes very low rates, willingness of local authorities to provide , such as sewers, , gas and water, improved .

-isation is a process involving the movement of population away from urban areas to urban areas, new towns, new estates, commuter towns or villages on the or just beyond the city / the – fringe. Reasons include: high prices, congestion, pollution, high rates, lack of , declining services.

is the growth of urban areas at their edges.

is the long-term, absolute in in the sectors of an economy. It refers to a loss of rather than a decline in productivity. The decline of certain industries or areas is due to a number of factors, including: the exhaustion of , the increasing of raw materials, automation and new technology, the introduction of a rival product, fall in demand, overseas competition from NICs, rationalization, a rise in costs, the removal of a subsidy, lack of capital.