Key idea 1: a growing percentage of the world’s population lives in urban areas. The nature of urbanisation

Unit B6: Urban environments

• Review

Key idea 1: A growing percentage of the world’s population lives in urban areas.

• The nature of urbanisation (including suburbanisation and counterurbanisation);

• The problems associated with rapid urbanisation including congestion, transport, employment, crime and environmental quality.

• Mapping of the changing global distribution of megacities.

• Environmental quality survey (fieldwork opportunity).

Key idea 2: The urban environment is characterised by the segregation of different land uses and of people of different economic status and ethnic background.

• Factors encouraging similar land uses to concentrate in particular parts of the urban area (eg locational needs, accessibility, land values).

• Reasons for, and consequences of, the segregation of different socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

• Shanty towns (squatter communities): location, growth, problems and mitigating strategies (including self-help).

• Land use transects plotting (fieldwork opportunity

• A case study of one city to show the land use patterns and the distribution of social/ethnic groups.

• where was this?

• A case study of shanty town management in a LIC city.

• where was this?

Key idea 3: Changes occur as urban environments age and the needs of people change.

• The nature of, and reasons for, the changes taking place at the edge of HIC cities (eg retail complexes, business parks and industrial estates). The ‘greenfield’ versus ‘brownfield’ debate.

• Areas of social deprivation and poverty in HIC cities: symptoms and locations. The changing fortunes of inner-city areas.

• The roles of managers (planners, politicians, property developers and industrialists) in urban regeneration and re-imaging.

• Annotated sketches of urban change based on the analysis of photographs and maps.

• A case study of one named urban area in an HIC to explain how and why changes are taking place.

Those of you who were around in week 7 will recall that …

• We never got to complete the unit fully.

• So while there is a review of all sections on this presentation, we will likely to not see it all, as the missing piece is going to be looked at first - including the last case study.

Cities are always changing

• Using Manchester as an example:

• Stage 1: it became a centre of the cotton industry once the Manchester ship canal had been completed. Cotton from India was easily imported. There was a good supply of coal that fuelled the steam engines that powered the factories. The damp atmosphere was perfect for cotton production.

• The factories were built close to the city centre which was close to the main rotes in and out of Manchester.

• Once electricity became widely available and the steam engine went out of use, the port, the climate and the trained workers kept the industry going.

Cities are always changing

• Using Manchester as an example:

• Stage 1 continued

• Between WW1 and WW2, more cotton was turned into cloth in India and so less was imported from there, but there was still enough to keep this very important industry going.

• During WW2, the local engineering skills were put to good use for the war work, aeroplanes and weapons in particular.

• This made Manchester a target for the Luftwaffe and much of the inner city was destroyed.

• In 1948 India gained independence, starting mass producing its own cotton cloth, far cheaper than that made in Manchester.

Cities are always changing

• Using Manchester as an example:

• So where does this leave Manchester?

• With a very old centre and inner city, much of it destroyed, and that which was still there was not of any real use.

Cities are always changing

• So, in the first half of the C20 the CBD was the hub of the town with shops, offices and public buildings.

• By 1950s the centres were suffering from congestion, pollution, noise and overcrowding.

• Stage 2: The redundant buildings were cleared to make way for redevelopment. Older building were replaced by skyscrapers. Main shopping streets were pedestrianised. Inside shopping centres were developed. Multi-storey car parks were provided as part of the redevelopment.. Where the old narrow streets remained, one-ways systems altered the flow of traffic.

• An alternative was to permit out-of-town shopping centres, so if they were not to loose out completely, CBDs has to change fast.

The CBD

• Begun in 1972, on completion in 1979 the Arndale was the largest covered town shopping centre in Europe, encompassing some 12 hectares (30 acres – big!!) in the old city centre, with over 200 shops, major department stores, restaurants and fast food outlets with over 75,000 shoppers a day!

• The Centre had an 1,800 space multi-storey car park, shopping malls on two levels, office space in the tower, residential flats, and a bus station.

Signs of social deprivation and poverty

• The inner cities also needed attention. There were large areas of waste ground – some due to war damage and others due to the loss of Victorian factories.

• Many of the small rows of terraces were boarded up and unused.

• Empty buildings were a target for vandalism, squatting and spray paint. It was all very decayed.

• Those who could afford to move out did, leaving the unemployed and those on low wages.

• Crime rates were high.

• The number of old or single parent families and immigrants was well above average.

1955 - 75

• The first wave of redevelopment was in the 1960s and 1970s.

• Over 90,000 of the worst houses were demolished and replaced by tower blocks in the inner city and ‘overspill’ communities in the suburbs.

• The feeling at the time was to provide as many units as possible in a new clean and modern environment.

• Tower blocks were seen as the answer. The case for tower blocks was pretty clear from the start: slum clearance.

• It allowed high density (on average 200 people per acre) and the saving of urban land, which even 40 years ago was scarce.

• A British dwelling that offered better light, an inside toilet and bath, central heating, electrical fittings, cleaner circulating air - all within a dry building set on a landscaped green - might, even now, seem like a thing worth having.

Architects decreed that the sun, not the streets, should determine the orientation of homes. But they made too little allowance for the way people actually live indoors, especially when occupying closed buildings with shared lifts and other amenities.

• Architects decreed that the sun, not the streets, should determine the orientation of homes. But they made too little allowance for the way people actually live indoors, especially when occupying closed buildings with shared lifts and other amenities.

• Very soon, those who had wrapped ribbon around their first set of inside bath taps on the day they'd moved in, wanted out - and preferably to somewhere not unlike the place they'd left so triumphantly a short while before.

• Looking out from a central stair well killed the sense of community. Soon enough gangs set fire to the stairwells, sprayed front doors and went joyriding on top of the lift, shouting abuse and terrorising old people.

• The surrounding shops and pubs were closed or fortified in the face of serial robberies.

The planners began to see the error of their ways.

• The planners began to see the error of their ways.

• They began to think that the design caused the problems, that the particular type or shape of new blocks might, itself, encourage vandalism.

• But what did the people say?

How did it all go wrong in the 1960s?

• As we see, the aims put in place by the politicians and made into a realizable form by the designers is where it went wrong.

• They aimed to improve the physical circumstances, while ignoring the social ones

• But this happened all over the world in the 60s and 70s.

• It was not until later that slowly people began to see that this simply did not work

One of the worst horrors in Manchester

Cities are always changing

• So with an unpopular city centre and disastrous public housing, high unemployment, a large immigrant population, something needed to happen -- and it did

• We move onto Manchester stage 3

The CBD

• As luck would have it the IRA blew a big hole in part of it in 1996 – and this redevelopment was far more attractive

The CBD is not the only place that has changed….

• Within 20 years many of these tower blocks have been replaced by low rise accommodation, in attempt to take more notice of the people’s need for community as well as good facilities.

• Some of tower blocks that remain have been upgraded with internal security from a caretaker and an entry phone system.

• Young professional people who work in the CBD and some retired folks find them attractive and safe and compact.

As we have said cities are always changing. Where there are major schemes, these take many years to plan and implement. They usually involve many different types of project, shops, offices, industry, housing and transport. These are known as urban renewal or regeneration.

• As we have said cities are always changing. Where there are major schemes, these take many years to plan and implement. They usually involve many different types of project, shops, offices, industry, housing and transport. These are known as urban renewal or regeneration.

• These 2 words are used interchangeably.

• They both mean the revival of old parts of the built-up area by either installing modern facilities in old buildings (known as ‘improvement’) or opting for redevelopment. (knock down and start again).

However, some cities take this even further. Where there is widespread need for modernisation, and where the city feels it is known not for the good things about it, it attempts to change the perception of how the city is seen through it regeneration. This is called re-imaging.

• However, some cities take this even further. Where there is widespread need for modernisation, and where the city feels it is known not for the good things about it, it attempts to change the perception of how the city is seen through it regeneration. This is called re-imaging.

• A well know example of this has been the re-imaging of the London Docks.

• It was known to be old and decaying, a good place for criminal gangs to operate, where life was short and hard.

• Now when we think of the London Docks, we think of it as a very select area where you do not live without serious money, the centre for National Newspapers and other high-tech industries and as a financial centre – all in about 30 years!

Manchester in 1960-80 was a city in decline. They were no longer able to compete with many industries which produced much cheaper in the MICs and LICs.

• Manchester in 1960-80 was a city in decline. They were no longer able to compete with many industries which produced much cheaper in the MICs and LICs.

• There was a recession in the UK (just like now – they happen every so often).

• The Trafford Area, in the 1880s one of the first UK industrial parks, was loosing companies at an alarming rate, declining from several thousands to a few hundred.

• The docks on the Manchester Ship canal which joined it to the big port of Liverpool, finally closed and lay derelict.

It was made an Enterprise zone, with all the grants and development help government that came with that status, but little happened.

• It was made an Enterprise zone, with all the grants and development help government that came with that status, but little happened.

• It then became an Urban Development Corporation in 1987 and things moved much faster.

• Opportunities were made for industrial, residential, commercial and leisure facilities.

• It has become a major area of finance and the arts (Lowry Centre) in an attractive landscape along the old ship canal (in a similar way as Docklands in London).

Re-imaging often applies to areas within a city

• Good transport and excellent facilities have been important features of Manchester’s success.

• Motorways link Manchester to the rest of the UK. It has a rail-freight terminal.

• It has the metrolink system for travel within the city.

• It also has a large international airport for links to the continent and USA.

More re-imaging

• In the 1990s Manchester put in for a bid for the Olympic games for 2000. As part of its application, it chose an area of East Manchester as a potential site for sporting facilities. Even though it failed to win, it built The Velodrome as a centre for British cycling.

• However, it did win a bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and built the City of Manchester Stadium to house it. This was handed over to Manchester City Football club after the games were finished. East Manchester gained a lot of prestige form hosting the games and several nationally acclaimed sports venues are now sited there.

• In addition new housing and new community and business facilities were built. The new investment created jobs and an estimated 1/3 million visitors annually.

More re-imaging

• In the inner city there have been a number of innovative housing schemes, e.g. turning old mills into apartments, with prices up to £2 million each! This one however is cheaper – only £650 a month for a 2 bed apartment in the roof!

Hulme ‘Design out crime’

• This is south of the ring road a little to the west of the university area- similar to Rusholme

• The jewel in the M15 housing crown, this is a delightful area with a seamless blend of terraced houses and three or four storey apartment blocks.

• Everything is light in colour, the place abounds in young trees and other floral touches, roads are short, many graciously curved, and the street plan deters any rat-run possibilities.

• The residents' pride in their properties is evident, and a common sight throughout Hulme is a balcony groaning under the weight of its own private jungle.

• The houses also boast their own tiny gardens and some have driveways, and community gardens and allotments enhance the pleasant ambience.

• The northern half of West Hulme has Hulme Park as its focal point, facing south to the local high street of Stretford Road.

Pictures of Hulme and Hulme Park

The way the park evolved shows another way in which planning has changed

• Local people were involved in the development of Hulme Park, a large area of green space and sports facilities which connects Hulme to Manchester city centre. Designed by Landscape Projects.

• The new 16 hectare park extends the vitality of the city centre into the previously neglected area of Hulme, provides an off-street route for pedestrians and cyclists into the city centre.

• Its green space is close to community, sports and leisure uses, and within its clearly defined edges are themed gardens, professional sports provision and informal planted areas, as well as a performance space.

• The park's design and completion took place only after successful public consultation process, during which major adjustments were made to the layout and content of the park.

• Everyone working together created the genuine sense of ownership now expressed by local residents, and its value to the community is reflected in the rise in house prices in the area since its creation.

So today we have looked at…

• Why there needed to be redevelopment

• Who was involved and what they were trying to achieve in the early days.

• What happened then and the mistakes that were made.

• In what ways has it been put right since

• How a city changes its image

• And lastly just how much ideas have been changed about how to redevelop – gone is the "Defending Jobs, Improving Services“ attitude and in has come “People and community first”

Review of the parts covered before

Urbanisation is the process by which more and more people move from rural areas into towns and cities.

• Urbanisation is the process by which more and more people move from rural areas into towns and cities.

• What pattern do you see in 2005?

This is another way to look at it -Urban centres 2007

But as we have seen, the pattern does change with development

• So what do you think are the typical features of each stage?

The history of urbanisation

• Urban first appear as a result of agglomerisation – that is the concentration of people and economic activities at favourable locations – and these might be?

• As towns expand, people move from near the centre outwards in a process of suburbanisation – which city did we use as an example of this? What were the push/pull factors that encouraged this?

• Agglomerisation + suburbanisation can lead to conurbations – the joining of several urban areas to form one huge sprawling. Can you name one?

The history of urbanisation

• As an urban area prospers and grows, other factors come into play. People may move out of the city they work in to live in smaller more rural settlements - dormitory settlements. They then commute to the city to work and so still make use of the city services.

• Over time, a different process sets in – people move further out into the country and often take their businesses with them – this is counterurbanisation.

These processes can be linked back to the urbanisation pathway diagram

• Agglomeration and suburbanisation go hand in hand with stage 1 and 2, while dormitory towns and commuting come with Stage 3 and counterurbanisation are relevant to stage 4.

• Urban regeneration could be added to stage 3 – that is the re-using of older parts of the city, that no longer serve the purpose that was designed for, such as old factories and poor housing. – we will return to this later. The upmarket version of this is called re-imaging, in it simplest form means not just re-using it but making sure everyone is aware of what a great place it is! Classic example – London Docklands.

• Urbanising the suburbs is another part of development pathway – Stage 3/4. Originally suburbs had wide roads, big gardens etc – but now the push for brownfield development means that in-filling between houses, adding houses to large old back gardens etc

Key ideas about million cities

• Until 1800 there were none and by 1900, the book says only London and Paris had a million – however, other sources reckon that Beijing was already a million in 1800 and that by 1900 there were 12 in total! So I think you need to include Beijing for 1800 and for very few including London and Paris for 1900! The current estimate is about 400!

• As they have become so common, then we need a name for the next biggest – megacities have over 10 million – in 1970 there were just 4 – now are 24 of them! UN estimates say there will be 30 by 2015, over half in Asia.

Classic question: What are the reasons for the growth of megacities?

• Make sure you include these 4:

• Economic development
• Natural population growth + migrants
• Economies of scale
• Multiplier effect

• Most expansion takes place in centres where is easiest to get the goods and services needed to succeed – these 2 can be grouped under economic development and economies of scale.

• Cities attract the young – as the cool place to be, where there is plenty going on – young people go on to have families.

• The multiplier effect is that business brings jobs, that bring money that have need of basic services and with additional prosperity, luxury services.

The downside of mega cities

• Is there enough good quality housing for all the new arrivals?

• Are there enough basic services to give a decent quality of life to everyone living there?

• Are there enough roads and public transport to move people around efficiently?

• Is there enough health case? Education?

• Answer no to any of these and you have a down side!

The downside of mega cities

• Additionally – if there are not enough jobs in the formal economy*, then there are likely to be crime and/or job issues.

• This can lead to gang culture and possibly gun crime.

• But there are disadvantages for the country containing the megacity – it acts as a magnet for all resources, economic activity – making it a core (like a big magnet), and so creates a periphery around them – an area of deprivations as it e little investment or improved services.

One last mention of cites (and a new one on me, BTW)

• A global or a world city – this has no minimum size - thus far 31 have been so defined.

• They have high status as

• Economic world centres – have important stock exchanges, banking centres etc
• Politically they are most often capital cities and are often centres of political organisations e.g UN, World Bank
• Transport hubs, air road and rail
• Cultural centres – big theatre, museums etc

A map showing world/global cities

Look at any built up area and …

• You will find a number of recurring features

• A CBD (Central Business District)

• A variety of residential districts

• Small shopping centres (or parades)

• Industry etc.

• See over

Similar activities cluster together because …

• They have the same location needs – close to main roads, space to spread (industry & warehousing for example)

• They can afford similar land values

• So retailing, offices cluster around the centre together with other commercial services, e.g. entertainment.

• Land is cheaper towards the outer ring, so houses become more spacious.

Segregation by ethnic origin in the USA - Miami

• A whole data set for cities created by Bill Rankin

• Red is white

• Blue is black

• Orange is Hispanic

• And any green you can see is Asian!

Why does segregation by ethnic groups occur?

• The textbook (page 157) has a neat table that shows many of the reasons why this occurs.

• They call the factors ‘internal’ [i.e. those due to behaviour of the ethnic group]

• And ‘external’ [i.e. due to behaviour of the resident majority]

Factors encouraging ethnic segregation in cities

• Internal factors

• Mutual support – family shops, religion etc

• Encouraging friendship/marriage within their group – reducing outside influence

• Protection against antagonistic behaviour

• Increasing political influence

• Use of native language

• Base for militants

A case study of one city to show the land use patterns and the distribution of social/ethnic groups.

• Manchester

We looked at this in Manchester

• Recall the transect from the CBD of Manchester right out as far as Didsbury

• Watch out for the internationally famous curry mile – see the knife and fork on the map

• Please explore esp now google maps has street level all the way!

• http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=114294639013811556926.00046fa36e0cfa8e7cc73&z=12

We also explored ethnicity in Manchester

Problems in Manchester from ethic concentrations

• Which groups are involved in these activities?

We also looked at economic segregation

• Historically in HICs, houses are of better quality the further out you move.

• We looked at the reason for this –

• the concentration of businesses that was near the centre,
• with the older industry grouped around it, for access to the railway for example for transportation,
• the poor housing for the workers was nearby to allow people to walk to work
• And increasingly better housing the further out from the centre you went.

CBD; zone of transition; lower, middle, upper class housing – which is which and where?

• Central Manchester, Rusholme, Fallowfield, Withington, Didsbury,

We also looked at economic segregation

• But some changes have, as you may have noticed been made

• The zone of transition where old industry and housing is being replaced by universities, museums and other commercial and non commercial enterprises – TV studios, entertainment etc.

• But remember too, after the initial growth of urbanisation, then there is the process of urbanising the suburbs – the movement outwards of low and middle value housing, in-filling between the ‘places’ – with their huge gardens and space for servants – where there were council estates built post WW2 to house those displaced as the inner-city slums were knocked down.

Colshaw Farm Estate

• An overspill from central Manchester built in the 1960s

• But we come back to that again in the next week or 2.

But we need to move on to look at Shanty towns

• Shanty towns (squatter communities): location, growth, problems and mitigating strategies (including self-help).

• A case study of shanty town management in a LIC city.

Just one point tho’

• Those of you who have and use the book, I feel they have been just plain lazy over the example they have used of Sao Paulo.

• The specification says:

• A case study of shanty town management in a LIC city.

• The chief examiner and co-author of the book did say that he accepted that Brazil would rightly be unhappy about being used as an example on an LIC.

• The reason why Sao Paulo has been used, is clearly, that it is a straight lift out of the textbook for the old exam!

• So while if you use that you could not be faulted

Land use in LIC/MIC urban areas

• The central business district is still at the centre

• But this time much of the nicer housing in grouped around it, so that they have access for all the shops and cinemas and banks and offices.

• In addition, more nice housing takes over the best land spreading outwards along a hillside or close to a beautiful part of town.

• The industry needs good transport so tends to develop in wedges along the main routes to the city.

But MICs/LICs the pattern of land use is different

• But once urbanisation really took off, people arrived from the rural areas, made shacks wherever they could, often in areas prone to flooding for example or subject to other forms of pollution that no-one else wanted, using whatever materials were around.

The poor housing, lack of fresh water and sanitation, no electricity and unmade up roads are obvious problems.

• The poor housing, lack of fresh water and sanitation, no electricity and unmade up roads are obvious problems.

• Why did they occur? The people arrived faster than the city could cope – and in the early days, many cities were unwilling to try too hard.

• Then there was employment issues.

• The migrants from rural areas thought that they would be much better off in the city, where there were lots of well-paid jobs – or so they believed.

• However, while there were jobs for the trained and educated, these rural people lacked the skills to make them employable in any of the available roles.

• So they are often left trying scratch a living from the informal economy (jobs that do not appear on government statistics and are often very hard and can be dangerous as there is no legal protection) as street vendors and cleaners or working in sweatshops down to picking up rubbish to recycle from the city tips.

Some could not make enough feed their families and so turned to crime, pick-pocketing in the CBD or prostitution or dealing drugs.

• Some could not make enough feed their families and so turned to crime, pick-pocketing in the CBD or prostitution or dealing drugs.

• Hence crime was a big problem in some of the shanty towns.

• As we have mentioned there are few made-up roads in this area so public transport has to manage with narrow, muddy rutted roads.

• Once the buses are on their way into the city, the roads are crammed with every sort of vehicle wanting to get into the centre - congestions and polluted air are common place.

• However, this has become a major issue for the UN Millennium goals.

• Also the countries themselves see it in their own interests to have a healthier, better educated, law abiding population, and while such an enormous problem cannot be solved overnight, by joining with the people in these areas, a lot has been achieved, in some areas at least. We will look at some examples of this in a later section.

Case Study: the shanty town Kibera, outside Nairobi, the capital of Kenya

1. Shanty towns are on the edge of the city (except Mathare Valley) where there is space to build on.

• 1. Shanty towns are on the edge of the city (except Mathare Valley) where there is space to build on.

• 2. Shanty towns are close to rivers. Water is needed for drinking and cooking. Sometimes it is marsh land where diseases and illness can spread. In 1972 a deadly Cholera epidemic spread.

• 3. Shanty towns are close to main roads so people can get to the CBD where they can find work.

What is it like?

• The CBD of Nairobi looks fairly modern.

• A busy urban centre

But out in Kibera …

• As you can see – this is the wet season – the river valley is fairly flooded

• Not much rubbish collection

• No made up roads

• You cannot see power lines – so no electricity

But out in Kibera …

• Water comes from private standpipes – they pay up to x10+ the amount for water that the better class places with running water in the houses pay.

• The other picture shows you the public sewer

• The only solution in some parts are ‘flying toilets’

• Have any spare plastic bags?

• They do say goats will eat anything!

• But it is not all bad - there are many examples of small businesses, such bakers, beauty salons, music shops etc

A case study of shanty town management in a LIC city.

• Management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives.

• So to look at the management of a shanty, first you need to decide on desired goals and objectives.

• If we go back to slide 64, you can see what the problems are, and so you can think of ideas that help solve these problems – pick out 3 really good examples of solutions to 3 different problems

The problems that need solving

• Housing, transport, education ,clean water, sanitation, health care, crime, job creation.

• So management would include one or more the above:

• Housing: UNHabitat + KENSUP are building blocks of flats into which people will move temporarily while their own home areas are redeveloped. They will be supplied with water and electricity, and the latest blocks also contain health and education facilities together with workshops for people to start businesses in - after many delays and problems of affordability, it is now progressing well.

• Job creation and combating crime: Caroline for Kibera (see over) started Trash is Cash (Swahili: Taka ni Pato). They collect the rubbish and sort it, and then produce new materials: they produce fuel bricks from card, paper and sawdust. From plastic, they make bags and other fashion items. Employed 55 youths.

The problems that need solving

• Housing, transport, education ,clean water, sanitation, health care, crime.

• Healthcare: The Tabitha Clinic sprouted from the dreams of Tabitha Festo. A resident of Kibera and a widowed mother of three, Tabitha was given$26 to start a vegetable selling business. The money she earned would go to found a clinic in her own home. After her death, this has been taken on by an NGO, Carolina for Kibera celebrated the official opening of Tabitha Health Clinic. The new clinic has solar-heated water tanks, an open air space, a waiting room and education area combined, intake and triage rooms, a children’s play area, 8 examination rooms, a better lab, a pharmacy and staff conference area.

• Water: In general the water is very unsafe. The hoses and pipes used to carry it are often damaged and lay over the filthy open sewers and waste in the streets. The faulty pipes allow the filth to creep into the water and actually contribute to the water-caused illnesses.

• To try and improve the dire situation in the slum, the Kenya Water for Health Organisation (KWAHO) project has been installed.

• KWAHO aims “To provide clean, safe water within reasonable distance and to improve the community’s living standards by providing proper sanitation with a view to reducing waterborne diseases.”