THE GEOGRAPHY OF URBAN PLACES

INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY (GEOGRAPHY 101)
TOPIC 10—THE GEOGRAPHY OF URBAN PLACES
EXERCISE 10—THE CITY AS A HUMAN PLACE
Cites are great human accomplishments but also compelling contradictions. They are places of
enormous productive energy, creativity, history and heritage, and collective accomplishment. But
they are also places where our growing economic, social, political, and environmental ills are
most concentrated. When viewed through geographic perspectives, our urban places help us to
understand who we are and what we are becoming.
As part of this exercise, we travel to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh on the northern edge
of the Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal). This city is considered by urban geographers to be the
fastest growing urban place in the developing world, and it is a great example of how our cities
represent awesome human achievements but also how they are increasingly the focus of very
serious global problems. Dhaka is a place where we are startled to discover some of the “hidden
costs” of our voraciously consuming society on the other side of the planet (more about this in
Topic 11).
INSTRUCTIONS
Reflect upon and imagine a city that you know or that you know about. In a brief narrative,
respond to the following questions—
1. What makes this place a “city?” (Why do you think of it as a city—what does this mean
to you?)
2. What are its attractions? (In what way is this city important to you; what does it offer?)
3. What are its problems?
Be sure to identify your city. Submit your work to SafeAssign at a time discussed in class.
References are not required but you may certainly use them to enhance your work.

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Topic Summary
INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY (GEOGRAPHY 101)
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

TOPIC 10 – THE GEOGRAPHY OF URBAN PLACES
Urban geography is the study of the spatial nucleation of human populations, their activities, and
cultural characteristics in towns and cities. Some geographers use methods of location analysis to
study the spatial relationships between urban places (such as Central Place Theory). Geographers
also investigate the conditions of people’s lives in urban places (such as health, poverty,
occupation, housing, and crime). In this topic, we will focus on two complementary geographic
perspectives on the “city.” It is a place of history and symbolizes the genius of the humanconstructed world but it is also the focal point for emerging economic, environmental, and
societal crises.

The most relevant National Standards are Element 2 (characteristics of places) and
Element 4 (human settlement).
TOPIC GOALS

Learn the basic definitions and scales of spatial nucleation
Examine the modern growth of urban places and populations and future trends
Visit some of the great “mega-cities” of the world
Appreciate the rich and diverse history of the city and its basic characteristics
Learn about how urban geographers think about the city
IMPORTANT PLACES AND FEATURES (BE ABLE TO LOCATE ON A WORLD MAP)
For the exams, you must be able to draw a boundary around the country or region or draw the physiographic feature
in its proper location on the world map; small places may be marked with a dot.

Mumbai, India
Shanghai, China
Tokyo, Japan
South Korea

Bangladesh
Philippines
Mexico City
New York City

IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS (BE ABLE TO DEFINE AND EXPLAIN IMPORTANCE)
Anything marked with and asterisk (*) may be covered primarily in the readings .

The Locational or Spatial Tradition
Urban geography
Spatial nucleation
Definitions of city
Global urban growth

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Promises and problems of the modern city
“Informal settlements” (slums) such as in
Mumbai or Dhaka
*Walter Christaller: Central Place Theory

READINGS AND RESOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities
“City” (Wikipedia)
Gain an overview of the concept of a “city” and the history and nature of urban places
across the world.
http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/67
“Walter Christaller: Hierarchical Patterns of Urbanization” (Center for Spatially Integrated
Social Science)
The German geographer, Walter Christaller, was one of the early practitioners of the
spatial study of urban places. His work is a good example of the analytical nature of early
urban geography, which focused on the study of the location of places and their
functions. Today, urban geography is equally focused on the quality of urban places and
the human experience of them.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/03/shanghai/larmer-text
“Shanghai Dreams,” National Geographic, March 2010
An article about one of the largest urban places in China and east Asia’s great “gateway”
city that links its rich hinterland to the rest of the world.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text.html
“Dharavi: Mumbai’s Shadow City,” National Geographic, May 2007
An exploration of one of the great urban “slums” of the world (also know as “informal
settlements), where perhaps 30% of all urban inhabitants in the world live.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/city-solutions/kunzig-text
“The City Solution,” National Geographic, December 2011
An interesting and optimistic perspective on urban population growth and the role of
cities in our future.

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Explanation & Answer

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