C. Urbanization

CONTENTS
Urbanization + Urban Dynamics + Urban Management
Loh Zheng Yi 12S74

H2 Geography
C. URBAN ISSUES
& CHALLENGES
C. Urban Issues and Challenges
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
C1. Urbanization
1. Discuss the factors causing initial and subsequent growth of urban settlements/ urbanisation
2. Discuss the relationship between urbanisation and its relationship to urban growth
3. Distinguish between counter-urbanisation and sub-urbanisation and re-urbanisation
4. Discuss the economic and social factors resulting in different forms of decentralisation of
population in the DCs
5. Evaluate the economic, social and environmental consequences of decentralisation
6. Compare the urbanisation trends in LDCs and DCs
7. Discuss the characteristics and functions of world/global cities
8. Compare and account for the global growth of mega-cities
9. Compare the reasons and consequences of the growth of primate cities in LDCs and DCs
10. Compare the trends and characteristics between world cities, global cities and primate cities
C2. Urban Dynamics

11. Evaluate the usefulness of Bid Rent Theory in explaining urban zoning
12. Compare and account for the different land use zones in different cities
13. Compare the relative importance of historical forces, state planning, decentralisation and the
global economy in influencing the urban structure of cities
14. Discuss the changes of the central city over time
15. Compare and account for the location of the different functions in the central city
16. Assess the range of public and private initiatives used in urban regeneration
17. Assess the success of the re-imaging of cities
18. Discuss the reasons for and effects of gentrification
19. Use examples from selected cities to highlight the dynamic nature of the central city
C3. Managing Urban Environments

20. Discuss the nature and causes of inner city decline
21. Discuss the problems of homelessness in large urban areas
22. Analyse the problems arising from decline and decay in the inner zones and some suburbs
23. Analyse the relationship between social and demographic changes in urban areas and their
effects upon the size, type and location of housing developments
24. Assess the strategies used to manage housing problems in selected urban areas
25. Discuss the transport problems in urban areas
26. Compare the impact of transport problems in urban areas in LDCs and DCs
27. Assess the strategies used to manage transport problems in selected urban areas
28. Discuss the factors causing the segregation of social groups in urban areas
29. Compare the extent of social problems between urban areas in the LDCs and DCs
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C1. URBANISATION
1.1 CONCEPT OF URBANISATION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO URBAN GROWTH
1.1.1 DEFINITION OF URBANIZATION
 Urbanization: A process by which a society is transformed from essentially rural to predominantly urban
such that an increasing proportion of the total population lives in towns and cities.
 Associated with: Towns, Cities, Lifestyles
 Proximate factors driving urbanization
 Migration to urban areas
 High birth rates in urban areas
 High death rates in rural areas (push factor)
1.1.2 FACTORS DRIVING URBANIZATION
1. Initial advantage : Favourable environmental settings such as

 Rivers and Lakes
 Historically the sites of the births of the first civilizations (e.g. Ur, located near the Persian gulf)
 Provision of water supply
 Opportunities for trade (e.g. Singapore), acting as port cities
 Fertile Land
 Presence of raw resources (e.g. Iron)
2. Economic Advantages (presence of a larger population)
 Specialization and the division of labour
 Trading networks
 Agglomeration Economies (sometimes a corporate strategy)
 Linked economies help to save transport costs, etc.
 Attracts more investors
3. Social Advantages
 Complex organizational structures
 Governments  Policies which drive urbanization
 Social stratification
 Bright lights effect: Perceived benefits of living in a city i.e. better job opportunities, higher standards
of living
 Socialization opportunities
4. Multiplier Effect
 Benefits of urbanization in turn drives further urbanization
 I.e. Perceived advantages of urbanization  Agglomeration of people  Linked industries and
economic advantages  Increase employment  Setting up of government  Increased demand of
services  Expansion of economy  Attracts more people  Increased urbanization
 E.g. Development of Brasilia by the Brazilian government helped to stimulate the flow of foreign
investment  Increase in urbanization rates
1.1.3 HISTORICAL TRENDS OF URBANIZATION
 Emphasis on initial advantages
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The first cities tend to be set up at areas where the environment is highly favourable (e.g. Ur, Babylon
(Persian Gulf) , Giza (Nile) , Harappa (Indus Valley)
 Important milestones in urbanization
 1750s-1800s
 Increase in the use of technology and industrialization
 1800-1914 (Industrial Revolution)
 The use of steam engines revolutionised the transport system by introducing new transport
services such as trains, which bought people into cities
 Rise of the Industrial City – Setting up of new factories and growth of new cities around these
factories; Workers stayed near the factories
 Economies of scale increased productivity and heightened levels of output
 Need for ancillary services further drove people into cities to look for jobs
 Leading to increased pace of urbanization for DCs in the 19th -20th century
 E.g. In Cardiff (industrial city in Britain)
 1801-1901: Cardiff changed from a pre-industrial city of 1870 people to a post industrial city
of 163,333 people
 Located in South Wales – A leading region in iron and coal production
 Exporting of coal and iron drove ship building industries in Cardiff
 As trade and communications grew, more people started to work in the docks
 This attracted fleeing immigrants from Ireland.
 1500s -1900s (European Colonization)
 Colonization involved the setting up of colonial capitals and cities that served as the administrative,
military and commercial capitals in the region
 Development of steam ships further drew global sea trade and prompted the development of port
cities such as Singapore
 The growth of these cities (Urbnization) were led by rural-urban migration of locals to these cities
as well as the migration of Europeans to these cities
 Further development of electric trains.
 Late 19th century (Globalization)
 Increased urbanization in the USA, driven by industrialization, migration and transport
improvements
 E.g. New York, one of the alpha ++ cities in the world today, has achieved a high urban growth
through the development of technology-based industries, infrastructure, education, etc.
 Post 1970: Urban Population of LDCs > Urban Population of DCs
 1975: 3 megacities (city with > 10million) (London, New York, Tokyo)
 2008: Urban Population > Rural Population
 2011: 21 Megacities
 2050: 70% of the total population will be living in urban areas
1.1.3 RELATIONSHIP WITH URBAN GROWTH
 Urbanization first and foremost includes urban growth, which is the increase in population in urban areas
 However, urbanization also includes other subtle changes such as
 A rise in the urban lifestyle (cars, etc)
 A demographic change whereby fertility rate and mortality rates decrease
 A change in the structure of the economy accounting for the dominance of services and
manufacturing over primary industries such as mining and farming.
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1.2 URBANISATION TRENDS IN LDCS AND DCS
 Overall
 Growth of very large cities (e.g. Guang Zhou, Lagos, Mexico City)
 Overall increase in urban growth and urbanization (from 50% in 2009 to predicted 69% in 2050)
 Trends in LDCs
 Most LDCs experiencing urbanisation rates in excess of economic growth rates
 Sprawling area of slumps
 High urban primacy – high concentrations of people and investments in the single largest cities of
African nations (especially in Thailand, Bangkok)
 Cities in LDCs tend to include rural areas within their boundaries to gain access to vital urban needs,
such as water and energy. (such as Shanghai, which contains large amounts of rural farmlands in its
6km radius)
 Statistics
 High to very high urban growth rates that accelerated after WWII (2.2% growth in the 1990s)
 17% of LDCs experienced very high growth rates of >4% annually
 Growth of megacities largely in LDCs
 Asia will have 63% of the global urban population in 2050 (3.3 billion people)
 Declining annual urban growth rate (3.8% in 1960s to 2.6% today)
 Several cities in China grew more than 10% per annum due to pro-urbanization policies which
reclassified certain areas as cities or marked areas for economic development (Shen Zhen)
 Large amount of slums in many cities in LDCs (e.g. Manila, where more than 1/3 of the people live
in slums)
 However, rate of urban growth is slowly down
 Factors driving the trend in urbanization
 Shift in economic activities and employment structures from agriculture to industry and services,
prompting more people to leave the farmlands for the cities for jobs.
 Twin processes or high rates of natural increase along with rural-urban migration
 Modernisation of agriculture (e.g. Green Revolution) replaced manpower with machines, bringing
about higher rates of rural unemployment which drove people into the cities for jobs.
 Bright lights effect + improved transportation & communications
 Trends in DCs
 Moderate, even declining urban growth due to decentralization
 Most DCs have already achieved high levels of urbanization (crossed urban transition in 1950)
 Statistics
 500,000 new urban residents/month
 0.3% growth in the 1990s
 Nearly ½ of all cities grow at less than 1% annually
 40% of cities even experienced negative growth in the 1990s
 Factors driving the trend in urbanization
 Historically driven by the industrial revolution (1750-1850)
 Growth now driven by immigration of people from LDCs/rural areas, rather than natural increase
1.3 SUB-URBANISATION, COUNTER-URBANISATION AND RE-URBANISATION IN THE

DEVELOPED WORLD
 Decentralization: The relocation of people, employment and services from the inner and central areas of
cities towards margins of the built up area, leading to suburbs, urban sprawls and counter-urbanization
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1.3.1 SUBURBANIZATION
 Suburbs: A commuter belt/residential area located at the periphery of a city, within the commuting zone of
an urban area
 Suburbanization: The decentralization of people, employment and services from the inner part of the city
towards the margins of the built-up area.
 Took off in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
 Targeted at mainly affluent, middle class people with the ability to move
 Suburban population usually not counted as being part of the urban population (when answering DRQs)
 Factors driving suburbanization
 Social Factors
 Deterioration of the inner city regions leading to mass unemployment, falling standards of service
provision and a lack of community (inner city decay)
 Aspirations to escape the working-class life
 Economic Factors
 Drop in farmland prices made it cheaper to purchase buildings just outside the city region
 Rising wages increased the ability of the middle class to buy new housing
 Lower interest rates, better infrastructure in suburbs
 High land prices in the urban core
 Low mortgage interest rates
 Massive highway subsidies
 Transport
 Improvements in transport systems from the 1880s-1980s leading to railways, electric streetcars
and buses
 Trends
 Acceleration of sub-urbanization process after WWII especially in North America (50% of Americans
lived in Suburbs in 2000)
 Suburbanization of
 Residential Sector **
 Specific driving factors
 Increase demand for housing
 Public construction projects involving the building of highways and new houses
 Increasing automobile ownership further increased the accessibility of the city core from the
suburbs.
 Case Study: Los Angeles
 Description
 Suburban Metropolis where 14.5 million people stayed over 88000km 2 of suburbs
 1500 km of road networks threading through the suburbs
 Many drive-in establishments with wide streets
 Plenty of shopping centres
 Causes
 Congestion & pollution in the urban core
 Coincidence of city economic takeoff with the arrival of the automobile (forced public to
adopt the automobile)
 Availability of cheap land
 Lax planning controls
 Media promotion of the suburban dream
 Example: Stoneleigh, London
 Located southwest of London, consisted of 3 farms
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 Following the arrival of the railway in 1923, development intensified and by 1933 there was a
3,500 acre sites with 3000 homes.
 Further development took place with shops, schools, a cinema and post offices being built
 Retail Sector
 Residential flight to the suburbs
 New merchandising techniques
 Business opportunities in suburbs
 Moving of retailers to the suburbs in great numbers, resulting in large regional shopping malls being
set up (e.g. Walmart Hypermarts)
 Office Sector
 Lower rents in the suburbs
 Better access to transportation than in the congested inner city (e.g. expressways)
 E.g. General Foods, IBM, Reader’s Digest, Union Carbide left NYC for the suburbs where the
rents are lower and transportation more accessible.
 Results in the building of suburban office parks
 Manufacturing sector
 Lower rents than urban core
 Easy accessibility to major road networks
 Edge Cities: Perimeter cities created by the relocation of housing, industry and commerce to the outskirts
of the urban areas
 Main cause: An intensification of suburbanization
 Functionally independent of the urban core as it contains all the specialized functions of a city
 Boundaries determined by driving time
 Unplanned, loosely organized
 Defining feature: Huge regional shopping centre
 Example: Tyson’s Corner (Washington D.C.)
 An edge city built around an intersection of interstate highway 66, the Washington Beltway and
the access road of Dulles International Airport
 Since the 1960s, it has grown into a business district with an area of 2400 ha, 30000 residents and
75000 jobs.
 Classified as a rural region with little urban governance
 Example: Golders Green, London, UK
 Was once a rural location with little amenities
 Development was privately financed by an American syndicate which built a tram link between
Charing Cross and Golders Green. A railway from Hampstead to Golders Green was opened in 1907.
The underground line attracted 1.5 million passengers in 1908.
 Development was rapid during 1904-1906, where roads were lit and houses were slowly built.
 By 1925, the population had reached 13,400 and shopping complexes, church, banks, cinemas,
schools and a police station had been added to the district.
 Exurbs
 Boom towns that house the working class population when they are driven out of inner city areas due
to gentrification, etc.
 Located in remote areas and lack many amenities  long commute times
 However, many businesses are starting to move to the Exurbs following the information revolution and
the flexible economy.
 Cause
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 Highly affordable housing

 Exurbs became more popular when the cost of living in suburbs gradually increased due to the
suburban post war boom. Families also seek to escape high taxes, congestion and crime in the inner
city areas.
1.3.2 URBAN SPRAWLS & MEGALOPOLIS
 Urban Sprawls: Unplanned suburban growth with continuing outward development on the periphery of
urban regions and development of car-centred uses of space (e.g. Drive-ins , freeways, etc)
 Usually results in many productive farmlands being developed.
 E.g. Mexico City
 8000 people/km2
 High rates of natural increase and rural-urban migration
 Gradual extension of subway and road systems unable to keep up with urban growth, leading to
congestion, slums and air pollution.
 Megalopolis: Urban units with a minimum population of 25 million
 Formed due to expansion of sub-urban areas until the areas of various urban cities coalesce
 Polynucleated regions
 E.g. Guangzhou Region, Boston-Washington Corridor
1.3.4 COUNTER URBANIZATION
 Def: A process of population decentralization away from large urban settlements to rural areas/ smaller
towns, villages
 Results in a decline in the urban population with growth in the rural areas
 * Different from sub-urbanization, people do not commute back to the city to work
 E.g. Net migration from main metropolitan areas to the rest of UK average 90,000 people per annum
 In USA, people are increasingly moving to sunbelt states such as Florida and California from
metropolitan areas
 Driving Factors (similar to suburbanization)
 Social
 Inner city decay
 Economic
 Rising wages, increased mobility of the middle class
 Technological
 Mass production of automobiles
 Infrastructure development
 Environment
 Pollution in urban areas
 Rural areas perceived as open spaces with clean air
 Effects of counter urbanization
 Displacement of working class individuals in the rural areas due to cost of living being inflated
 Owners of small enterprises out-competed by large enterprises
 More dispersed pattern of urban settlements and the growth of smaller cities
1.3.5 IMPACTS OF DECENTRALIZATION
 Economic Impacts – Loss of economic dynamism

 Depletion of tax base and purchasing power of the inner city area
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 Suburbs usually not counted as part of the whole city, thus suburban residents get to avoid paying
taxes to the city government.
 The government is thus less able to afford public services such as sanitation, maintenance and
repair services due to a lack of income, resulting in properties that gradually decay.
 The movement of the rich out of the area leaves the poor behind, who are less able to purchase
goods and services than the rich.
 Resulting in a downward spiral of conditions
 Changes in employment opportunities
 Jobs in the service economy is gradually moved to the outskirts of the city, resulting in increased
unemployment in the inner city region
 Retailing and services
 Lower demand for local convenience stores
 Infrastructure and transport
 Increased expenditure for transport and water networks, resulting in more noise and air pollution
as well as traffic congestion
 Social consequences
 Social segregation and spatial polarization
 Fall in urban populations with mainly (white) middle class residents moving to the suburbs, leaving
behind more disadvantaged, less mobile minority groups in the inner city region.
 These minority and poor groups of people might cause crime rate to increase.
 Resulting in the disintegration of community life and identity
 Environmental consequences
 Land conversion
 Farmlands converted to residential areas
 Destruction of natural habitats
 Increased pollution due to increased traffic intensity
 Increased energy and water consumption
1.3.6 INNER CITY (DECAY)
 Geographical Def: An area of the city that is between the city centre and suburb
 Metaphorical Identity: An area with high density substandard housing that concentrates poverty and
deprivation, primarily associated with the working class and immigrant population
 Ghetto – An urban residential district that is almost exclusively the preserve of one ethnic or cultural
group
 May occur in regions that are prospering
 Causes
 Mainly by the impacts of decentralization, which causes property prices to drop and drive out more rich
people, leading to a drop in the investment of local authorities and a decline in the quality of services.
 Industrial causes
 Economic recessions (oil crisis in 1970, banking crisis in 2008) led to the closure of many
manufacturing plants  loss of jobs
 Decentralization of manufacturing due to obsolescence of infrastructure, inner city congestion, etc
 Political causes
 Inner city lacks government support, seen as unattractive to many companies
 Unintended urban renewal policies encouraged the decentralization of industrial functions, freeing
the industry from the inner city
 Poor urban planning that results in substandard construction of residential areas
 Characteristics/Problems
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 Economic decline and unemployment

 Contracting industrial base
 Closure of branch plants and small local firms, depressing the local economy
 Failure to attract new industries due to the high cost of industrial land, local taxes, crime,
undesirable environments, etc.
 Government investment funnelled to suburban areas rather than the inner city
 Underclass trapped in an unending cycle of socioeconomic problems
 Physical dereliction and absence of amenities
 Lack of continued investment, maintenance and improvements causes properties to decay and
become derelict.
 Aesthetically ugly landscape
 Prevalent socially disadvantaged groups
 High levels of unemployment with only low-wage jobs available
 Many elderly, odd job workers and ethnic minority groups
 Pervasive sense of decay and neglect
 High incidences of anti-social behaviour
 Disintegration of community life and identity
 Concentration of ethnic minorities in parts of the inner city
 Leads to discrimination of the inner city in jobs d housing markets
 Concentrates racial tension
1.3.7 REURBANIZATION – GENTRIFICATION
 Def: The movement of affluent, usually young, middle class residents into poor inner city areas (especially
business elites that play a major role in the service economy; excludes the working class)
 Established and extensive practice in many North American cities (such as Greenwich Village and Brooklyn
Heights in New York), Australian and European cities (Islington London)
 Commercial Gentrification – Redevelopment of inner city areas by real estate companies purely for profit
into residential zones.
 Causes
 High commuting costs
 Locational Advantage: Inner city areas closer to CBD district; services more readily in inner city
areas; Commuting from suburbs can be expensive
 Rent Gap – Difference between potential rent and the actual rent under present land use
 Many properties in the inner city seen as being below the market value, thus seen as good choice
for investment
 Conversion of multi-family housing units and derelict industrial spaces into luxury condominiums
and cooperative apartments
 Government/Local authority action
 Gentrification aided by government policies and activities which seek to drive urban regeneration
by reinvesting capital in the inner city region
 (+) Impacts of gentrification
 Social and Environmental
 Regeneration of inner city districts
 Increased investment in property improves the appearance of the local environment
 Neighbourhood upgrading by relatively affluent incomers who move into a poorer neighbourhood
 Economic
 Opportunities for local businesses as a result of increased wealth in the district
 (-) Impacts of gentrification
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 Social
 Social disharmony of existing working class residents as new groups enter the community
 Working class residents are displaced as house prices rise
 Sharp transition
 Economic
 Higher rental and purchase prices inflate overall cost of living in inner city locations
 E.g. Lower East Side in New York; Islington in London
 Loss of businesses for local traditional low order shops
 Environmental
 Higher car ownership increases congestion on local streets as a result of a lack of parking space.
 Did not reverse the trend of decentralization – For every family that moved into the inner city, 8 moved
out.
1.3.8 REURBANIZATION – URBAN RENEWAL
 Definitions
 Re-imaging – Remodelling of the perception of settlements by countering the negative aspects of the
physical environment and providing new functions, services to attract investment, retailing, etc.
 Regeneration – Long term process that seeks to reverse social & economic decline while creating
sustainable communities
 Rebranding = Re-imaging + Regeneration
 Aims
 Increase attractiveness of city to tourists and to foreigners to live and work in and to provide the city
with a new economic infrastructure, compete for investment
 Counters decentralization, may focus on an entire city or simply the CBD area (2.2.2)
 Change the perspective that people have on the city, creating a brand identity
 Usually initiated by the government due to increasing unemployment and widening social polarization as a
result of urban city decay
 Strategies for urban renewal
 Public-Private Partnerships involving Flagship Projects
 Projects are kickstarted by local governments and then later worked on by private developers.
 E.g. Pittsburgh’s golden triangle
 Governments become co-developers in more risky redevelopment projects
 Cornerstone of economic development strategies in almost all US cities
 Assembly of finance, land, building materials and labour to produce or improve buildings for
occupation and investment purposes
 Mainly commercial, residential projects
 E.g. London Docklands Development Corporation
 Flagship project of the Urban Development Corporation’s inner city policy
 E.g. Regeneration of King’s Cross area, London
 St Pancras station had its platform extended to take in Eurostar trains; Midland hotel was
refurbished as a luxury hotel; P&O properties redeveloped Regent’s quarter into shops, hotels,
restaurants, bars along with a few arts facilities
 E.g. Regeneration in Liverpool
 Liverpool City Council, the Northwest Development Agency and the European Regional
Development Fund helped to reimage the city
 2 billion pounds from the public and private sector were used for flagship projects such as
Liverpool One retail and Office Development, Kings Waterfront and expansion of John Lennon
International Airport.
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 Liverpool subsequently moved from 17th to 5th in UK’s retail hierarchy, attracting over 3 billion
pounds of investment. Unemployment fell to 4% and the population increased.
 Cultural Industries and Heritage Reconstruction
 Relies on the use of the knowledge economy and creative industries (activities such as printing,
publishing, film production, radio, sports, fashion, tourism, etc) to catalyse urban regeneration
 Heritage Tourism
 Developed to preserve old monuments and heritage while increasing their economic value
 E.g. In the UK, many brownfield sites have since been refurbished into tourism sites where
tourists can try to understand UK’s industrial past. This has generated £244m in profit.
 Includes attractions of natural history, agriculture/industrial, transport, military, landscape,
artistic, historical figures
 E.g. In Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority has preserved 4 major conservation
areas: Civil District, Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India, and presented it as selling
points for heritage tourism
 E.g. Cheongyecheon – Heritage tourism (redevelopment of past urban landscapes as heritage areas)
 8.4km public recreation development project , costs $900 billion won
 The Cheongyecheon stream attracted over 120 million visitors to Seoul.
 E.g. Guggenheim Museum, located in Bilbao (flagship project in the overall urban renewal attempt)
 A museum of modern and contemporary art, one of the best designed museum in the world.
Along with other policies that helped revitalise Bilbao’s economy, it helped Bilbao’s population
to grow by 600 people since 2000 and reversed the trend of depopulation.
 The Guggenheim museum earned more than 144 million in one year, more than its start-up
cost.
 Urban tourism and downtown development/24hr cities
 Development of tourism and leisure facilities to attract tourists and foreigners to live and work in
a city
 Development of 24hr cities
 Traditional perception of city centres: Unsafe, only used for work and services
 Policies directed to remove this perception and create a new image for city centres as places
where workers can relax
 Building of new bars, nightclubs, restaurants
 Setting up of night transportation services
 More police patrols and surveillance to increase safety
 Promoting street life (e.g. encouraging street cafes, street markets (night markets), street
performances)
 Disadvantaged multicultural districts on the fringes of the city centres have been redeveloped
and marketed as new destinations for leisure and tourism
 E.g. Clerkenwell, London
 Regeneration efforts spurred a wide variety of commercial functions into the area, such as
high-end bars and restaurants aimed at the urban elite; new-style offices with high design
specifications to attract media and advertising industries; Designer shops; Digital printer shops;
Most brownfield sites have been converted into residential estates
 + New functions have increased the area’s vitality and buzz, serving as magnets for young
professionals and the urban elite
 - Social changes have taken place, forcing some older and more established families out of the
area
 - Some places have become hotspots for noise and nuisance to local residents
 E.g. Singapore
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 Shophouses have been converted into the Boat Quay complex; an agglomeration of bars,
restaurants aimed at city employees and foreign elites
 + Increases the city’s vitality and makes night life more vibrant
 - Replacement of the popular and lively local population with a rich middle/upper class
 - Questionable functions such as the flea market that lack spontaneity
 - Bland development of condominiums at Robinson Quay
 Advantages of urban renewal
 Advertising the city as a tourist destination and engaging promotion events (Olympics, World Fairs, etc)
to attract footloose economic activities. Multiplier effect can result in the generation of new businesses.
 E.g. 1992 Olympics game at Barcelona helped to catalyse urban regeneration by spurring the
construction of flats, restaurants, shops and commercial facilities at brownfield sites, effectively
extending the CBD eastwards
 Locals can make use of new facilities available to tourists
 Availability of low-skilled and management-level employment
 The Cheongyecheon project included the support of businesses in the Cheongyecheon district via
grants and subsidies.
 Improved environmental conditions
 The Cheong ye Cheon project resulted in the removal of an aesthetically unappealing highway and
regeneration of the Cheong ye Cheon stream that helped to beautify the city.
 Improvement of transport facilities
 The Cheong ye Cheon project included extra traffic flow measures that provided extra parking,
reduced parking fees and improved the loading and unloading systems
 Disadvantages of urban renewal
 May subject a city to seasonal variations of tourism (e.g. Olympics)
 Diversion of funds to aesthetic projects rather than benefiting residents
 City may subsidize loss-making visitor attractions for benefits of private businesses
 The newly developed areas experience the same problems as gentrification as land prices increase and
poor residents are forced to evict the area.
 Traditional jobs and commerce are forced to evict the area, leading to a loss of heritage in the face of
modernization
 The Cheongyecheon project led to the closure of the Cheongyecheon flea market, one the largest
street markets in Seoul. More than 60,000 shops were closed as well.
CASE STUDY: PITTSBURGH RENAISSANCE (MAJOR URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT THAT

INVOLVED THE WHOLE CITY)
 Strategies
 Private-Public Partnerships
 Pittsburgh Renaissance led by Mayor David Lawrence and the Allegheny conference on community
development.
 Civic leaders with ties to the business community donated more than $50 million to the University
of Pittsburgh
 Property-led regeneration
 Renewal of Pittsburgh’s golden triangle (downtown area) by building new highways and the
Gateway centre towers and the Point state park
 Building of Nine Mile Run (redevelopment of old industrial areas), Pittsburgh Technology centre,
South Side works
 Cultural Industries/Urban reconstruction
 Investment in the University of Pittsburgh by building a new medical school
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 Building of Pittsburgh convention centre, world’s first green convention centre

 Advantages
 Economic revival by diversifying the economy
 8 fortune 500 companies based in Pittsburgh
 Provided a more livable city for people to live in (29th most livable city)
 Disadvantages
 Displacement of the poor, working class people
 Destroying Lower Hill District forced out 1239 families, most of which were blacks
 Several districts were sacrificed to help the whole city renew
 East Liberty district was completely bypassed with the building of the new highways, causing more
than 80% of the business to be lost in 20 years.
CASE STUDY: LONDON CBD AREA
 Strategies
 Public-Private Partnerships involving Flagship Projects
 “More London” development scheme has helped Southwark establish a foothold in finance,
professional business services and legal firms such as Norton Rose and Ernst & Young
 Development of former rail and industrial land at King’s cross by London & Continental Railways
and the London Mayor & Greater London Authority. Repopulation of derelict warehouses and
factories by creative arts firms. Opening of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link to bring in more traffic
into the area.
 Canary Wharf developed to create a new business centre
 Michael von Clemm, former chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), came up with the
idea to convert Canary Wharf into back office. The project was sold to Olympia & York and
construction began in 1988
 Cultural Industries and Urban Reconstruction
 Growth of creative arts sector has contributed significantly to growth in London’s business service
employment in recent years. Many creative arts businesses have relocated to Canary Wharf and
Wapping from Fleet Street. Areas on the city fringe such as Clerkenwell occupied by publishing
firms.
CASE STUDY: SINGAPORE CBD AREA
 Strategies
 Public-Private Partnerships involving flagship projects
 Designation of an office district, with retail relocated to orchard road. Land Development
corporations such as Capitol Land are then called in to develop certain areas.
 Concept plan that acts as a guiding framework for Singapore’s physical development over the
next 50 years
 Building of many new high-end condominiums near Marina Bay such as The Sail @ Marina Bay
that caters to foreign expatriates and foreign professionals
 Cultural Industries and Urban Reconstruction
 Adaptive reuse-cum-conservation efforts (e.g. Lau Pa Sat)
 Iconic cultural infrastructure (e.g. Esplanade)
 Urban tourism and downtown development
 Development of an efficient transport system to serve downtown Singapore (e.g. Circle Line)
 Introduction of night-time commercial activities such as hotels and pubs
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 Bayfront development – Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay – which serve to create a vibrant
new 21st century downtown around the Marina Bay and reinforce Singapore’s global city image
MEASURING & ASSESSING THE SUCCESS OF RE-IMAGING
 Fieldwork for measuring the success of re-imaging

 Primary
 Place Check
 Photographic Evidence
 Blog sites
 Land use surveys
 Environmental Quality surveys
 Interviews
 Pedestrian and traffic flow
 Secondary
 Local newspaper
 Developers’ websites
 Census Data
 Shop occupancy rates
 Digitised health and crime maps
 Benchmarks for assessing success
 Sustainability
 Environmental Impact
 Public Participation
 Equity (winners and losers)
1.4 CITY TYPES
1.4.1 WORLD/GLOBAL CITIES
 Range = The limit of a city’s sphere of influence

 City = A urban settlement that has the whole range of functions (Finance – Housing) in one settlement,
providing higher order of services than in smaller settlements
 World Cities: Cities that lie at the top of the global urban hierarchy; Cites of power defined through their
positioning in global networks based on trade, innovation, political strength and communications
 Global Urban Hierarchy: The ranking and classification of cities based on the size of the population
and the range and importance of the functions performed by the city (E.g. Finance, Culture,
Manufacturing, Politics, Housing)
 Driven by the New International Division of Labour (NIDL) such that world cities get the most high-end
functions
 E.g.
 Finance – New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Seoul, Sydney,
Zurich, Taipei
 Culture – Beijing, Paris, Los Angeles, Bueno Aires, Istanbul, Vatican City
 Political Centre – Washington D.C., Beijing, Moscow, Brussels, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Berlin
 Education (universities) – London
 Other functions: Centres of creative innovation; news, fashion; culture industries; management,
planning and control centres of corporations and NGOs
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2nd tier world cities – Cities that are playing increasingly important roles in the global economy; seen
as attractive to investors due to less intense competition and less urban problems (e.g. Harbin)
 GaWC Inventory of World Cities
 Assessment of cities based on their advanced producer services (e.g. accounting, finance, insurance);
measure of how deeply a city is integrated into the world city network
 Alpha ++  London, New York
 Alpha +  Highly integrated cities that complement London & New York, mostly located in Asia
pacific and providing advanced services
 Alpha, Alpha –  Important world cities that link major economic regions and states into the world
economy
 Beta  Important world cities that link their region or state into the world economy
 Gamma  World cities linking smaller regions or states into the world economy/world cities with
functions other than advanced producer services
 Cities with sufficiency of services  Cities that have sufficient services such that they are not overly
dependent on world cities
 Characteristics of World Cities (see urban management)
 Urban Problems
 Stark Socio-Economic polarization + Income stratification due to high concentrations of wealth
 Transport problems
 Housing issues
 High competition
 World cities tend to compete with each other to attract foreign professionals, foreign investment
and tourists
 Within the city, many local SMEs and TNCs also compete with each other for market share and
profits
 High level of urbanization and development
 Dominant tertiary, budding quaternary industry
 Strong financial sector with stock exchange
1.4.2 MEGACITIES & PRIMATE CITIES
 Megacity: City with more than 10 million people

 Arbitrary definition as the boundaries of any city can constantly change
 Mostly located in LDCs (except Osake-Kobe, Tokyo, London, New York)
 Driven by concentrated growth (growth of economy, politics and technology in 1 place, driven by the
globalization of economic activity), natural increase and migration
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 Primate City: A large city that disproportionately dominates a country or region in terms of both
population and the range and importance of the functions performed by the city (population of primate
city is twice as large as the next largest city)
 E.g.
 LDCs: Mexico City, Bangkok, Bueno Aires, Cairo, Tehran
 DCs: Seoul, Athens, London, Paris
 Indicates
 Imbalance in national/regional development with a progressive core and a lagging periphery
(core-periphery effect). Positive feedback cycle causes the primate city to receive even more
investment, causing an increase in the degree of primacy.
 Driven by
 Spatial Biasness in allocation of resources (either materials or monetary)
 Tendency for government to improve existing infrastructure than build new ones due to a
lack of government capital.
 A lack of government capital also forces governments to allocate resources in a way that will
have the largest impact; that means investing in cities that already have the foundational
infrastructure.
 Governments that cannot ensure a more equal distribution of developmental rates across
the country will tend to focus on developing only 1 city, leading to primacy.
 Sometimes, the rest of the country is covered in land with little resources (e.g. desert) and
cannot be developed easily.
 Growth pole development
 Due to spatial biasness and other reasons, a growth pole is developed that causes cities
receiving inward investment to be more attractive than surrounding cities. The attraction of
more foreign direct investment by these primate cities reinforce the disparity.
 Due to the “backwash effect”, areas surrounding the primate city tend to be ostracized and
not given sufficient resources for development.
 The primate city becomes a growth pole and attracts even more rural migrants and
investment, reinforcing a positive feedback cycle that leads to even higher levels of primacy
 Colonial Reasons
 Colonial powers tend to centralize the administrative body into 1 specific city in the country.
When these colonies gain independence, such cities tend to be the seat of the new
government due to existing administrative structures.
 Furthermore, colonies tend to have export-based economies that cause most functions to be
concentrated in cities that are easily accessible by boat or train.
 E.g. Dhakar (Senegal), Luanda (Angola)
 Globalization of Economic Activity
 TNCs deliberately allocate certain cities to host their HQ and other important functions,
leading to some cities experiencing higher primacy.
 Primacy in LDCs
 More prevalent due to colonial reasons and spatial biasness in the allocation of resources due to
low GDP.
 High rural-urban migration rates with most migrants going for the largest city due to perceived
opportunities
 Many LDCs do not even have any other prominent cities apart from the primate city
 Greater social and environmental awareness in DCs
 Lower national inequality
 Primacy in DCs
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 Less prevalent as most areas are already urbanized and developed, with a large proportion of
people living in urbanized areas. DCs also tend to have high levels of GDP, allowing them to control
development rates and develop the country evenly.
 Low rural-urban migration rates
 Greater social and environmental awareness in DCs
 Lower national inequality
 Impacts of primacy
 Consequences
 Brain drain from rural areas due to increased rural-urban migration from the rural areas to
primate cities
 Drains resources from areas that need to be developed, resulting in uneven development and
a reduction in growth prospects for other parts of the country.
 Socio-economic polarization on a national scale
 Advantages
 Primacy may also aid a country in promoting a certain city to a world/global city
 Multiplier effect more evident in primate cities due to more people and the concentration of
major functions.
 The presence of many upper-class residents helps to create niche markets that results in a
more diversified market place
CASE STUDY: BANGKOK (KIV URBAN MANAGEMENT)
 Background
 Largest city in Thailand, 5.7 million inhabitants (69% of total urban inhabitants or 10% of total
population)
 Important centre of politics (seat of government and the King), education (8 out of 11 universities)
and economics (responsible for ½ of the country’s GDP)
 Concentrated infrastructure (80% of the telephones, 72% of all cars)
 Problems
 Traffic Congestion
 Due to high levels of private car ownership coupled with a poorly developed road network (Only
8.5% of Bangkok’s roads
 More than 2.6 million vehicles drive through Bangkok everyday
 Housing Problems
 1200 slum settlements with 240,000 households that lack proper sanitation and clean water
 Socio-economic Polarization
 Large informal economy consisting of a dominant prostitution sector that feeds sex tourism
 Up to 1 million prostitutes from Northern Thailand, Laos or Myanmar
 Up to 200,000 children are involved
 Solutions
 Encouraging pedestrianism
 Building of a 23km Skytrain system
 Excise tax on products and services that harm the environment
 Bangkok Agenda 21 – Seeks to increase public awareness on environmental pollution
 Forced Resettlement – up to 37,000 slum households were evicted in 1998 but not given new
places to live
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 Relocation Housing – Creation of 2 new housing programs (Baan Mankong & Baan Eur-Ah-Torn)
to target slum dwellers and help them secure long-term land leases as well as to provide
affordable housing with basic infrastructure and service areas.
CASE STUDY: PARIS (KIV URBAN MANAGEMENT)
 Background
 Largest city in France, 11.7 million inhabitants (Next largest city, Lille has 1.8 million inhabitants)
 Seat of the France Government
 Causes
 Historical: French power and monarchy is historically centralized in Paris, with the national road and
rail systems built in a radial pattern with Paris as the hub.
 Geographic: Paris is strategically located on the Seine River, providing an important trade road in
historical times.
 Globalization of Economic Activity: Concentration of high-quality luxury fashion and cosmetic items in
Paris. It is also the country’s leading centre of tourism, engineering, metal manufacturing and light
industries.
 Problems
 35% of all daily commuters use cars with a low occupancy rate (1.25 people for every 4.5 seats)
 Lack of affordable housing, up to 5000 homeless people
 More than 100000 families waiting for 12,000 houses
 Socio-economic Polarization
 Within the peripherique (ring road), housing in urban areas is expensive and aesthetically
appealing, but in the suburban zone (beyond the peripherique), housing is cheap and mainly
occupied by poor migrants.
 High unemployment rate of migrants, with 14% of migrants unemployed compared to 9% of
French. 26% unemployment rate for North African migrants.
 When a 14 000 m2 area outside the gated community of Villa Montmorency was proposed to be
used to build subsidized housing, many upper-class residents rebelled with arguments from
xenophobia to ecological factors.
 Solutions
 Velib Scheme (see Urban management)
 Discouraging car usage by improving public transportation, resulting in traffic volumes in central
Paris falling by 20%.
 Creation of Traffic Free Zones
 Imposing a speed limit of 30km/hr in some districts to keep traffic away from the Lourve and
narrow major roads in the heart of Paris
 Forced Resettlement – up to 37,000 slum households were evicted in 1998 but not given new
places to live
 Relocation Housing – Provision of subsidized housing; 7 million euros put into producing 1270
hostel beds
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C2. URBAN DYNAMICS

2.1 BID RENT THEORY (LAND VALUE MODEL)
 Bid Rent Theory – An economic model of land use which provides the basis for other urban zoning models;
states that rent prices is inversely proportionate to the distance from the city centre
 In a free market, the highest bidder that can afford to pay the rent will obtain the land
 Bid Rent – The value of land that different functions are willing to pay, dependent on the profitability
of the function relative to the rent of the of land used
 Bid-Rent Curve – A visual representation of this theory that shows the overlay of different bid-rent
curves; functions which can pay more than other functions for land at a certain location will obtain the
land, resulting in different urban functional zones at different distances away from the CBD
 Cause – The city centre is generally regarded as the most accessible area within the whole city due to
the confluence of transport networks and human traffic. The differing needs of such high accessibility
for different functional zones has resulted in differing land uses.
 Applicability to different zones
 Commercial Zones
 Commercial activities tend to be located in the CBD due to the prestige factor of locating in the city
centre, the ease of access to clients and the proximity of ancillary services such as banking
 As more businesses vie for the limited space, there is an increased competition for space in city
centre, leading to higher prices.
 Residential Zones
 Less applicable as residents take into account not just accessibility, but also other factors such as
crime and congestion which reduces the attractiveness of the centre city
 Residents that are richer tend to be located further away as they can afford to commute to work
 Industrial Zones
 Require less accessibility than commercial zones thus located further away
 Implications
 Establishment of Urban Density Gradient – Land use intensity being directly proportional to bid-rent
 Distinct belts of residential, commercial and industrial zones following distance from city centre
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 Limitations
 Limited definition of accessibility – With the advent of the internet, even places in the suburbs can be
considered accessible if the function of a certain zone can be carried out through telecommuting (e.g.
call centres)
 Less accessible central city as compared to previously – Nodal points out at the edges of cities, with the
centre being blocked by traffic congestion, high human traffic.
 Favouring of peripheral locations – Increased car ownerships and dispersion of population to suburbs
help to draw in both businesses and residents.
 Exclusion of other factors in determining locations – Other factors such as quality of life, presence of
internet, crime (recall that the inner city may be near the centre, but property prices are generally
depressed) may cause certain functions to relocate away from the city centre
 Does not consider any governmental initiatives to determine specific zones of specific functions.
2.2 FUNCTIONAL ZONING: THE CHANGING NATURE OF THE CENTRAL CITY AND
INDUSTRIAL LOCATION WITHIN URBAN SETTLEMENTS (MANUFACTURING AND
SERVICES)
 Functional Zoning – The division of a city’s area into specific zones for specific functions
 Commercial Zone
 Found at the CBD area and in small pockets throughout the suburbs
 Residential Zone
 Low class working residential zone  Inner city
 Middle Class/Upper Middle Class residential zone  Suburban Zone
 Upper Class residential zones  Gated communities within the Inner city (gentrification)
 Industrial Zone
 Historically located in the Inner City area, have since been moved out to the suburbs and other
specialized industrial zones.
 Occupied by a mixed area of traditional, old industries and low class residential districts (bunks,
etc for workers)
 The working class stays near the industrial zones to minimize transport costs and save $
 Usually not high-rise as factories tend to occupy single floors and bunks tend to be below 5 floors
to save building costs.
 **Zone of Transition
 Not formally a zone, but generally defined as the area between the CBD and the Inner City
2.2.1 ZONE-IN-TRANSITION
 Definition
 Most decaying yet most dynamic area found
just outside the CBD
 Characteristics
 Usually occupied by brownfield sites (old
manufacturing areas & railways) or old housing
estates (products of de-industrialization), but
tends to be more diversified today following
efforts of urban renewal and regeneration.
 Current changes
 Increasing percentage of commercial functions as the CBD expands outwards into the zone of
transition due to limited land space.  Directly leads to a decline in traditional functions
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 Zone-in-transition are important areas with a high potential for revitalizing a city.
 Diversification occurring as commercial activities overflow from the CBD.
 Examples of urban regeneration in ZITs
 Clarkwell, London (Primarily Urban Rebranding)
2.2.2 CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
 Varying definitions depending on different factors, such as

 Rental Values or Land Values – CBDs tend to be located at the area with the highest land values (see
bid-rent curve)
 Building Heights – Due to limited land space, vertical development in CBDs tend to result in tall
buildings
 Building Functions – CBDs tend to be disproportionately occupied by commercial functions such as
banking, retailing, trading, etc.
 CBD Types
 Pre-industrial CBD (simple
clustering of functions)
 E.g. in North Africa, the
medina area of cities in
Tunisia are still retained
despite urbanization
 Core & Frame
 Core contains more
important functions and those that can afford to pay the rent
 Frame contains less important functions, or important functions that cannot afford to pay the
core rent.
 Polycentric CBDs
 Located in most of the world’s cities, have many cores that may be specialized in a certain
function (e.g. finance)
 E.g. In London, although the nation’s main financial district lies in the old city of London district,
several banks such as HSBC and Citigroup have relocated to the Docklands, forming a secondary
financial core. Westminster is the area of government and the South Bank an area of mixed city
functions.
 Characteristics of CBDs (some are assumptions)
 Intensive use of land
 Dense packing of skyscrapers, vertical segregation of skyscrapers into different commercial
functions, intensive vertical development
 Nucleus of urban area
 Centre of commercial functions
 Contains most administrative functions (governmental buildings)
 High traffic (both pedestrian and vehicles)
 Reversed phenomenon at night
 High accessibility
 Intersection of major metro lines and roads
 Lack of permanent residential populations
 Most of the CBD area is dedicated to commercial functions
 Few residents can afford the rents there
 Agglomeration of industries (commercial industries)
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 I.e. Banks and trading companies are usually located close to each other for the benefits of
agglomeration, such as the rapid circulation of capital, commodities and labour
 Reasons behind land use in the CBD
 Bid-Rent Theory
 Only certain functions would choose to be located at the CBD as some are able to do without the
benefits provided by the CBD. (hence only commercial functions are located there)
 Causes the CBD to be located at the area of Peak Land Value Intersection
 Only commercial facilities that require the centrality and can pay for it will get the land
 Small ring of CBD functions that require centrality but cannot afford to pay rent – Transport
terminals, Newspaper offices, Broadcasting Studios
 Industrial Linkage
 Forces several companies that deal with each other to stay in close proximity to each other.
 Usually involves those selling financial products
 Challenges facing CBDs
 Centrifugal forces caused by suburbs that are getting increasingly more attractive
 Limited accessibility due to traffic congestion, peak hour rush
 More widespread car ownership – Suburbs get more attractive as long distances are less of a problem
as compared to before.
 Structure and Land Use Pattern over time
1. Centralization
 Accessibility
 Transport accessibility
 Accessibility to a large concentrated labour market allows employees to match job vacancies
with specialized workers easily
 Agglomeration & Industrial Linkages
 Critical mass of specializations in the area (skills, knowledge, inputs, markets) encourages
growth and innovation
 Personal face-to-face interactions greatly increases individuals’ abilities to persuade and
interact  Cross pollination of ideas
 Benefits of economies of scale
 Knowledge spillovers – The sharing of new knowledge (e.g. information on market trends,
market predictions, potential clients, etc) is a form of competitive advantage
2. Decentralization (Decline of Industrial City, Rise of Suburban towns and Edge Cities)
 Negative Externalities of CBD areas & Inner City
 Crime & Anti-social behaviour
 Exponential increases in Bid-rent resulting in inflation and loss of competitive edge
 Traffic congestion, environmental pollution
 Concentration seen as a liability rather than an asset
 Loss of jobs in the CBD and inner city as manufacturing moves into the suburbs
 Positive Externalities of Peripheral (edge cities) and Suburban Zones
 Refer to Suburbanization (1.3.1)
 Industrial Shift to services from manufacturing
 Causes the industrial city to decline as manufacturing is no longer profitable in the city
centre.
 Unskilled functions delocalized into rural areas
 Information Technology  Causes distance to be a less important factor
3. Recentralization (1.3.7-1.3.8)
 Gentrification
 Urban Renewal
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2.3 INFLUENCES ON URBAN MORPHOLOGY
2.3.1 HISTORICAL FORCES (E.G. COLONIAL CITIES)
 A city’s history often leaves its legacy on the city in terms of urban layout
 Colonial Cities
 Present day cities once part of European colonies show functional zoning that mimics that of the
European way of functional zoning.
 E.g. In Nairobi (Kenya), the de-facto status during European colonial times was that wealthy European
colonists and immigrant Asians will live on the ridges of highlands to the north and west of the town
centre. Today’s functional zones reflect this status quo, with Europeans concentrated in Murthaiga and
wealthy Asians and Africans located in Parklands and Westlands (secondary core). People are still living
by colour and status, and generally keep their own space and only interact with members of their own
community.
 E.g. In Singapore, a previous British Colonial City, old districts which were created during the colonial
era such as Chinatown, Little India and the Civic District have been preserved today in the city’s layout
as a mark of heritage.
 Historically significant cities
 Many historical cities show their historical legacies in their urban layout
 E.g. Beijing, while state planning dominates the urban layout, the entire city is still centred around the
Forbidden City, with 6 ring roads located around the Forbidden city and an arterial 8-lane road that cuts
across the Forbidden City. Furthermore, the centre of the city is still dominated by political uses such
as The Great Hall of the People and the Zhong Nan Hai Area containing the headquarters of the China
Communist Party, maintaining the status quo of the past.
 E.g. Paris still retains the road network that was built in historical times, with the old city area still
centred around Champs-Elysees that runs from La Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe. Most of the road
network in the old city area remains tiny and unsuited for high traffic. This is in contrast to the Defense
area in Greater Paris, which is a planned city area.
 E.g. Kyoto (Japan) Kyoto was built in AD 794 as a planned imperial capital using a grid system that still
remains today with major east-west streets having numbers as names (e.g. 4th Street)
 Industrial Cities
 The cities of many DCs tend to have brownfield sites which are a result of the city’s industrial past.
Industrial cities also tend to have a ring of urban decay surrounding the city centre due to
decentralization and the outward movement of the middle class.
 E.g. Detroit; Following globalization, many car makers moved their factories to cheaper maquiladoras
in Mexico, resulting in large numbers of abandoned structures such as the Packard Motor Car plant,
whose ruins have been a symbol of Detroit’s urban decay.
2.3.2 STATE PLANNING (E.G. PLANNED CITIES)
 Planned City: A community that has been carefully planned from its inception, typically constructed in a
previously undeveloped area.
 The state often wields massive power in determining the functional zones within a city
 Intervention occurs frequently in urban regeneration (Private-Public Partnerships, etc)
 Models of Urban Planning
 Grid Planning – Organization of functional zones based on streets that are perpendicular to each other
 Current urban planning usually involves the functional zoning of urban districts around a central
residential area or CBD district
 Establishment of secondary urban nuclei around the main CBD area
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 Case Study: Singapore

 Highly centralized planning (Government, specifically URA and SLA) with relatively consistent policies
in terms of directions and aims
 Concept Plan 1971
 Aims
 Increased accessibility to public transport
 Ease congestion in the central area through relocation and construction of self-contained
estates
 Simultaneous decentralization and urban re-imaging vital to the success of the redevelopment
program
 Agencies
 HDB – Made possible the decentralization of the population, provided quality accommodation
 URA – Rejuvenate the old core of the city by making better economic use of the land through
redevelopment
 Acts
 Compulsory Land Acquisition Act – Allowed the government to take charge of land for large-
scale redevelopment
 Concept Plan 2011
 Aim: Ensure that there is sufficient land to meet long-term population and economic growth while
providing a good quality living environment; meet global standards and be attractive to investors
 Challenge: Management of different land use (water catchment, military, residential, etc) in a land
scarce area
 Master Plan 2013
 Western areas such as Tuas, Pioneer and Jurong West will be maintained as industrial estates
 Opening up of new residential areas in Punggol with accompanying parks, transportation,
educational institutions and mix land uses (both commercial and residential) to accommodate
increase in population
 Development of eco-corridors along major green areas
 Usage of functional water bodies such as reservoirs, canals and drains for recreation
 Expansion of the transport network such that 80% of all homes are within 10mins walk to an MRT
(Subway) Station
 Case Study: Britain
 Greenbelt Policy
 Restrictions on urban development beyond a certain distance from the centre city area
 New Town Policy (Refer to regional management of housing issues)
 Established new urban cores around a central city area
 Case Study: Canberra
 Canberra was selected to be the capital of Australia following discussions by the 6 Australian States
 Canberra is a fully planned city, being built on farming land, indigenous settlements and forest
 Designed by Walter Burley Griffin, Canberra is centred on a wheel-and-spoke pattern with most inner
cities laid out geometrically. The entire city layout was designed to be aesthetically appealing, with
areas enclosed by three key avenues known as the Parliamentary Triangle
 Urban districts are organized around town centres where commercial and social activity is focused
 Example: Navi Mumbai (World’s largest planned city)
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2.3.3 DECENTRALISATION (E.G. COMMUTING, TELECOMMUTING AND THE RISE OF

SUBURBAN OFFICE)
In recent years, the attractiveness of the suburbs and the physical dereliction of inner city areas coupled with
the high cost of living in city centres has accelerated the decentralization of residential, commercial and
industrial sectors to the suburban areas.
 Main factors driving suburbanization (of all sectors)

 Increased car ownership
 Reduces the impact of long transportation times from the suburban areas to the city centre, making
the suburban areas ripe for residential development
 Telecommuting – Development of high-tech communications network that allows people to work from
home, thus increase flexibility
 Increases the accessibility of suburban areas as networking between businesses can also be done
through the internet apart from physical contact.
 Overpopulation in prime urban areas
 LDCs face massive problems in controlling rural-urban migration and need to redirect urban growth
to other urban areas to better distribute the nation’s resources and avoid urban problems in major
cities.
 Reduce pressure caused by centralizing forces on overpopulated urban regions
 Results of decentralization on urban morphology
 DCs
 Development of green belts in UK– areas of open and low density land use surrounding existing
settlements where further urban extension is strictly controlled
 New Towns – E.g. Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire; Singapore’s regional centres
 Extension of nearby cities – Incheon (near Seoul, South Korea), Yokohama (near Tokyo)
 LDCs
 Development of new capitals to redirect growth from overpopulated urban areas, as well as
providing alternate growth poles to balance economic development throughout the country – E.g.
Gaborone in Botswana; Brasilia in Brazil; Naypyidaw in Myanmmar
 Case Study: Singapore
 Details
 Singapore ONE – National high-speed broadband network to reach all parts of Singapore, linked to
an overseas network
 IT2000 plan – Examine how IT can give Singapore a competitive advantage and enhance the quality
of life in SG.
 Decentralization of businesses to the North Coast Innovation Corridor and Woodlands Regional
Centre
 Development of peripheral industrial estates such as Jalan Bahar and Seletar West
 Effects
 Eased traffic congestion, sped up decentralizing forces
 Work at home seen as an increasingly realistic and able choice
 Case Study: North American Cities
 Most cities in the United States are built around the concept of the automobile, with major freeways
and large amounts of spaces dedicated to cars, such as drive-ins and large suburban shopping malls.
 E.g. Los Angeles
 Suburban Metropolis where 14.5 million people stayed over 88000km 2 of suburbs
 1500 km of road networks threading through the suburbs
 Many drive-in establishments with wide streets
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 Plenty of shopping centres

 E.g. Detroit, the city which was founded on the rise of the automobile, contains extensive suburbs,
freeways and functional zones with low-intensity land uses.
2.3.4 GLOBAL ECONOMY (E.G. MULTIMEDIA CORRIDOR, MEGA DEVELOPMENTS,

MEGALOPOLIS)
 Global Economy: Concepts of NIDL, Role of State in Economic Development

 Transition from concentric and sector models to planned cities with major commercial and residential
zones
 Competition between cities for FDI
 DCs: Deindustrialization has accelerated the dereliction of the inner city regions and aggravated the
need for cities to develop new areas to catalyse urban growth and regeneration.
 Emergence of urban areas dedicated to specialized functions located in suburbs to speed up
national development in areas such as scientific research and finance – Tsukubu Science City in
Japan/M14 corridor of growth
 LDCs: Cities worldwide have begun building major economic zones near cities and started developing
secondary developments alongside cities. Other cities have begun investing in mega developments to
attract FDI and build up industries such as tourism.
 Case Study: Malaysia Multimedia Super Corridor
 Joint development by corporations and state
 Unrestricted employment of local and foreign talents
 Exemption from local ownership requirements
 Initiated in 1996, used as experimental centre for information society and economy with direct high
capacity links to Japan, USA and Europe
 2 new intelligent cities – Putrajaya (federal admin centre) and Cyberjaya (technopole)
 Case Study: China’s Megalopolis
 Development of major industrial zones centred around multiple nuclei; Bohai Economic Rim, Pearl River
Delta; Yangtze River Delta designed to boost Chinese competitiveness and provide important
comparative advantages such as industrial agglomeration and lower costs.
 Guangzhou Megapolis
 Development of Guang Zhou Megapolis (fusion of 9 major cities in southeast China) to facilitate
industrial development and trade between cities.
 Addition of 29 railway lines to connect the 9 cities
 Unity of various special economic zones
 Yangtze River Delta
 Merger of major urban areas in the area, with urban cores Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing
 Leading area of Chinese economic development
 Related Examples
 Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Focus on mega urban projects that concentrate multiple functions into a
single building, such as the Burj Khalifa which contains residences and corporate suites. Other major
projects include the Palm Islands, artificial islands meant to promote tourism and improve the standing
of the city in the world.
 Paris, France: Building of La Défense, the new CBD of Paris which comprises of a network of modern
skyscrapers and office buildings
 Incheon, Seoul, South Korea: Building of Songdo International Business District, a new smart city with
computers built into the house, streets and offices. Largest private development in history. Building of
universities catalyse economic development in the area.
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2.3.5 THE FUTURE FORM OF CITIES AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS
 Concepts for future development (Key: Emphasis on Sustainable Development of Urban Communities)
 Cities as solutions to overpopulation and environmental problems
 Cities may appear to be large pollution factories, until the alternative is considered – spreading the
pollution; from an ecological standpoint, it will be disastrous to advocate a back-to-land ethic
 The only way forward is to increase urbanization with efficient urban planning
 Per capita, urban dwellers consume much less space and resources than rural dwellers, especially
in highly dense and concentrated cities in LDCs
 Increased urban density
 Reductions on all transport forms, including cars and public transport; promoting walking as a
viable form of transport between different functional zones
 Details the need to set up large numbers of secondary cores within cities such that distance
between an individual’s residence and workplace is effectively reduced
 This also frees up large amounts of spaces that are currently dedicated to car-related functions
such as carparks and drive-ins
 Denser cities have been shown to have lower emissions because people simply do not drive as
much as facilities are mostly within walking distance
 Increasing density of urban functional zones through
 Infill development (developing of land within urban areas)
 Urban Retrofitting (upgrading of urban infrastructure/changing the way certain space is used)
 Multi-function urban zones
 The use of urban space itself as a kind of service (renting out spaces)
 Utility of a single urban space for multiple functions such as residential and commercial usage.
 24hr usage of space to ensure that even on the temporal scale, space usage is maximized
 Allocation of certain areas to green spaces
 Green spaces (parks) not only help to build communities by providing a space for recreation, but
also improve a city’s aesthetic appeal. They can also be used for recreational activities and allow
residents to get in touch with nature.
 Public space itself can be used to transform the way people experience the city
 Integration of transport systems
 Future cities will need transport systems that are integrated together so that time required for
transfers can be minimized; ideally relying on one or at most two different forms of transport
 Allocation of certain areas to cultural and ethnic highlights
 Cities are ultimately settlements of people and require certain ethnic landmarks and cultural
buildings to preserve the uniqueness of the city and generate sentimental value for inhabitants
 Case Study: Tianjin Eco City
 Emphasis on green transport by encouraging trips on public transport & the use of bicycles and walking
 Green network comprising of a green lung at the core of the Eco-city and green-relief corridors
emanating from the lung to other parts of the Eco-City
 Case Study: Curitiba
 Planned transport system with major roads dedicated for public transport. Buses stop at designated
elevated tubes with disabled access. Integrated transport network with a fixed fare for any trip
 Curitiba Master Plan: Strict controls on urban sprawl; reduction in traffic; integration of public transport;
preservation of Curitiba’s historic sector
 Trinary Road system which gave priority to express buses and discouraged driving
 E.g. Manhatten old railway line being converted into a skypark
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C3. MANAGING URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

3.1 HOUSING PROBLEMS
3.1.1 HOUSING AS A L IMITED RESOURCE
 Housing
 A spatially uneven resource of variable cost & quality; A form of shelter, refuge, welfare service
 Availability depends on
 Need: Housing provision as an element of social policy
 Ability to Pay/Access: Housing policy geared towards market principles (i.e. supply & demand)
 Social Discrimination: Effected by individuals, institutionalized within public housing allocation
systems
 Availability reflects upon
 Social Inequality – Expensive housing means that several low income individuals will be rendered
homelessness
 Homelessness
 Social Exclusion – People without permanent homes, often due to long term unemployment/social
discrimination
 In DCs
 Direct consequence of inner-city decay (1.3.6)
 Indirect consequence of
 Dismantling of the welfare-state in times of recession
 Collapse of government-supported affordable housing programmes
 Massive economic restructuring due to deindustrialization
 Driving up of housing prices/cost of living as a result of rapid development and high costs of
living, exacerbated by rich investors and housing speculators
 In LDCs
 Direct consequence of rapid urbanization, coupled with high rural-urban migration
 Rural migrants are often unable to find jobs or proper shelter
 Formation of shanty towns and squatter settlements, with more than 40% living in squatter
settlements
 Indirect consequence of
 Weak urban planning policies that did not take into account high rural-urban migration due
to the bright-lights effect
 Weak job market which does not provide sufficient jobs for unskilled rural migrants
 Types of homelessness settlements
 Squatter settlements/shanty towns – Illegal settlements, areas of apparent chaos and squalor where
people settle on lands in which they have no rights to
 Locations
 Often found adjacent to the city centre, or on the edge of the city
 At highly undesirable zones in land of poor quality, vacant land or areas near buildings due to
be demolished
 At zones traditionally considered to be squatter areas
 Functions
 Provide accessible and affordable housing to the lowest classes of society
 Highly self-contained areas consisting of their own markets & shops
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 Network of social support for new migrants

 Source of votes and support for politicians in democratic countries
 Slums – Legal settlements within the inner city, derelict & overcrowded, can be gentrified
 Found in the inner city area
 Provide temporary refuge to unemployed individuals/poor people who cannot afford proper
housing in a city with high costs of living
3.1.2 LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING ISSUES
 Goals of slum management

1. Support the livelihood of the urban poor by ensuring easy access to jobs
2. Supply sufficient and affordable serviced land for the gradual development of economically appropriate
low-income housing
 Trend
1. Governments are increasingly recognizing the slum as a place that cannot be simply be erased off
2. More governments are advocating positive policies rather than negative ones to garner votes
1. Relocation Housing
 Details
 Rehousing of slum residents to low-cost public housing
 E.g. Inner city in Caracas, Venezuela
 97 blocks were built to rehouse 180 000 slum dwellers
 E.g. Hong Kong Public Housing Policy
 On Christmas Day 1953, a fire occurred in one of the squatter settlements and made 53,000
homeless. Subsequently, the government carried out an ambitious resettlement policy that
relocated 1 million people into government housing by 1965. Today, nearly ½ of the population
lives in government-subsidized housing.
 E.g. BLISS housing scheme in Manila, Philippines
 Advantages
 Improved sanitation, clearing up of land for better use
 Improved social facilities and basic amenities
 Limitations
 Inability of squatters to find work caused them to sublet rooms to rural migrants, encouraging
rural-urban migration
 No maintenance work carried out, numerous design faults in hastily built buildings threatened to
turn the area into a slum
 Rampant crime and prevalence of illegal squatters in empty flats
 Cost of new flats unaffordable to slum dwellers
2. Self-Help housing programmes
 Overview
 Relies on the principle of co-investment by recognizing that the opportunity for self-improvement
exists within the slums itself. Rural migrants are granted legal status of their land in the early stages
and encouraged to work to improve their own dwellings and community.
 Types
 Upgrading Infrastructure
 Basic form of self-help where slums are upgraded by the government
 E.g. Bangkok City, where the Thai government has invested in the provision of walkways, land
drainage and water supply to slums.
 Site & Services
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 Authorities first plan out plots of land and install basic amenities such as water and sanitation
facilities. The slum dwellers are then expected to build their own houses on these plot of lands
 Provides basic public services for self-help building
 E.g. Mexico City
 Squatter areas Sector Popular, Santo Domingo and Isidro Fabela benefited from the
program
 Squatters found time & capital to build their own community
 Owners of the new houses are now subletting rooms to rural migrants and making a small
profit
 Core-housing scheme
 Provision of a basic house to the slum residents, who are expected to build the rest of the
house themselves
 E.g. Dandora Nairobi, Large-scale core-housing scheme involving about 100 000 residents
 Advantages
 Most realistic alternative policy as the government does not need to provide copious amounts of
aid.
 Cheaper alternative as it involves the work of rural migrants while the government provides basic
infrastructure, amenities, economic opportunities and social services
 Adds responsibility and meaning into the place migrants live
 Allows the poor to participate in the decision-making process
 Limitations
 Provides an excuse for authorities to contribute limited resources to helping the urban poor while
waiting for them to construct their own housing.
 Assumes that migrants are resourceful and would improve their own houses through the self-help
scheme
 Core-housing scheme buildings might be unattainable to the poor if certain standards need to be
met
 Schemes can encourage further rural-urban migration, resulting in more squatters
 Site & Services schemes may be held up by red tape. Furthermore, the poorest are often
discriminated against and not given sufficient help. Standardization is also an issue as every family
can build their own different house.
3. Forced Resettlement
 Details
 Forced eviction of slum dwellers by government demolition teams
 E.g. Forced Resettlement in Phnom Penh
 In 1990, 310 families who had been living on temple land for 10 years were loaded into trucks
at short notice and relocated
 E.g. Forced Eviction in Lagos, Nigeria
 The Lagos municipal government hired thugs and demolition teams to demolish large slums
such as Ojota and Badia East, instantly making up to 10,000 homeless with nothing to survive
on. Although regional governments have insisted that almost nobody lived in the slums,
international aid organizations have estimated that up to 2/3 of the city’s population lived in
these slums and squatters.
 Advantages
 Clears land quickly for development
 Clears settlers off hazardous and dangerous lands where new infrastructure cannot be installed
 Limitations
 Surrounding area of relocation is often poorly chosen with no amenities and employment
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 No welfare aid is often provided, resulting in another shanty town formed at the new area
 Removes the current housing of the locals
3.1.2 REGIONAL MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING ISSUES
1. Policies that encourage decentralization (new towns, development of rural areas)

 New Towns (Urban areas built from scratch with the express purpose of providing an overspill area for
large cities such as London)
 Case Studies
 E.g. New Towns in Britain
 Response to many socioeconomic problems faced by Britain during that time such as the
post-war baby boom and the urban degradation caused by WWII and haphazard industrial
development.
 Phase 1 development (1940s-50s): 8 new towns were created in southern England around
Central London at Basildon, Bracknell, Crawley, Harlow, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead,
Stevenage and Welvyn)
 Phase 2 development (1960s-): 9 more new towns were built in peripheral areas, with the
primary purpose of helping to even out regional disparity and create new jobs. There were
private developments and home ownerships along with greater variety in architecture
and creativity
 2 million people were housed in 500,000 homes and 1300 foreign companies were
attracted to cheaper suburban greenfield sites, creating 1 million jobs. New towns also
had outstanding environmental amenities and recycling schemes
 Catered only to a small and exclusive group of White middle income earners. Poor
accessibility between homes and social amenities. High costs of maintenance.
 E.g. Singapore
 Aims to tackle severe housing shortage in the central area while coping with the rapid
population growth.
 Building of new towns such as Queenstown, Mountbatten, Ang Mo Kio, Camenti, Bedok
 Emphasis on quality housing with recreational facilities and unique architecture to cater
to the needs of middle and upper middle income earners.
 Up to 80% of Singaporeans now live in these government created new towns that have
superseded international standards.
 Not economically sufficient, residents still need to commute to the CBD area for work.
 Advantages
 Rehoused many individuals into housing estates with good social amenities
 New jobs are created along the way, helping to even out regional disparities
 Limitations
 Not economically independent, still requires external support
 New Capitals/Regional Cities
 E.g. Building of Brazil’s new capital, Brasilia in the Amazon area to encourage development.
 Advantages
 Aids in the development of economic backwaters
 Draws rural migrants away from richer but more populated cities
 Limitations
 Requires large amounts of capital and foreign investment to be successful
2. Policies that slow down centralizing forces (restricting rural-urban migration, creating jobs in rural
communities, etc)
3. Policies that reduce the cost of housing in the city
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3.2 TRANSPORT PROBLEMS
3.2.1 TRANSPORT PROBLEMS IN DCS AND LDCS
 Traffic Congestion: Massive traffic jams in inner city and CBD areas
 Beijing: Average number of cars now 4.7 million, up from 2.6 million in 2005, resulting in massive
gridlocks in key central areas that increase commuting times by up to 1hr.
 Jakarta: Road networks expand at a much slower pace (0.01%) as compared to the number of new cars
(9.5%). Massive traffic jams cost the government up to $4.1 billion yearly.
 Urban Pollution
 Pollution of air due to the emission of traffic fumes
 Beijing: 2/3 of all cities fail to meet air standards due to excessive PM2.5 emission by cars; Air
Quality Index has been hitting record highs of up to 425, showing that air pollution is hazardous
enough to cause health problems; > 100 flights cancelled due to bad weather
 Noise pollution due to heavy traffic
3.2.2 CAUSES OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS
 Proximate Cause: Increasing Affluence & Car Ownership

 DCs
 Increasing volumes of private cars, public transport and commercial traffic have caused
congestions in many urban roads, especially older city centres where street patterns have not
changed since the 19th century.
 LDCs
 Many roads in the inner city areas of Southeast Asia are composed of a mesh of narrow streets
accessible by only using motorbikes and bicycles. Rapid development and the rise of the middle
class has led to a proliferation of western vehicles and cars that are unsuitable for such streets.
 Many vehicles in LDCs still involve carts that are driven by animals such as cows. Such vehicles tend
to travel slowly, clogging up the roads.
 LDCs often tend to have lax regulation of traffic laws, resulting in excessive flouting of rules which
may cause accidents and contribute to slow traffic flow.
 Proximate Cause: Inadequate Public Transport Network
 Overpopulation in large urban cities tend to overload the public transport system such that trips are
long and uncomfortable.
 Rising private car ownership places stress on public transport companies by discouraging people from
taking public transport. In response, public transport companies may raise fares and decrease
frequencies.
 This problem is often compounded in LDCs due to rapid urbanization and an influx of rural migrants
 Even if adequate during peak hours, public transport during off-peak hours may be extremely low in
frequency, encouraging car ownership which leads to traffic congestion.
 Ultimate Cause (LDCs): Conflicting Developmental Needs
 Applies mainly to LDCs where limited resources have to be spread across different parts of development
such as housing, transport and economic investment. As a result, transport needs are often neglected
due to the utilitarian approach in which government investment is made.
 Roads and traffic infrastructure are often poorly maintained and neglected, resulting in high levels of
congestion.
 Ultimate Cause (LDCs): Rapid Urbanization coupled with high Rural-Urban migration
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 Rapid rural-urban migration has led to the growth of many urban cities. Due to the low income of these
rural migrants, most are forced to use public transport, which causes the public transport system to
overload.
 The sprawling megacities in LDCs where many areas are underserved by public transport also forces
many residents to take private transport, resulting in increased ownership of cars.
 Ultimate Cause (LDCs): Poor emissions control
 Most LDCs have lax regulation on the emissions of the vehicles, resulting in excessive pollution
 Furthermore, most cars that operate in LDCs tend to be old used cars from DCs that have obsolete
emission control systems. As a result, even if there are less cars on the roads in LDCs, pollution problems
tend to be more acute than those in DCs due extremely pollutive cars.
 E.g. Jeepneys and buses in Manila are very old and pollutive.
3.2.3 IMPACT OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS
 Economic Impact: Loss of time & productivity

 Traffic congestion can cause many people to idle on the roads, taking up to 3hrs away. Amplified on the
scale of time, this can lead to losses of up to millions of dollars a year due to late delivery of services.
 In addition, traffic problems can depreciate the value of housing near main roads.
 Monetary resources are often required to alleviate traffic problems and provide better infrastructure
 Furthermore, large numbers of parking lots need to be built to accommodate the increased car
ownership
 Effect is more severe in DCs due to the prevalence of the service economy and its emphasis on
punctuality in the delivery of services.
 Environmental Impact: Air & Noise Pollution
 Exhaust from traffic can cause respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis, along with the
petrochemical smog that envelopes cities such as Los Angeles and Beijing commonly.
 Noise pollution can negatively impact the mental health of humans and wildlife
 Problems are more acute in LDCs due to lax enforcement on environmental laws or lax pollution control
standards. Penalties for non-compliance are often not harsh enough to deter offenders
 Social Impact: Increased accidents
 A greater proportion of serious accidents occur in urban areas, with roads in built up zones displaying
an accident rate 3 times greater than roads in other categories. 95% of pedestrian accidents in Britain
are recorded in urban areas
3.2.4 LOCAL STRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE TRANSPORT PROBLEMS
 Investment in additional road capacity

 Overview: Building of additional roads and expressways to divert traffic from frequently congested
roads.
 Examples
 Singapore: Building of Pan-Island Expressway, East coast Parkway, Central Expressway
 Beijing: Building of 3rd, 4th, 5th ring roads around city centre
 London: Building of M25 motorway
 USA: Synchronizing green lights in San Francisco to improve traffic flows
 Advantages
 Reduces congestion in inner city roads and CBD areas during peak hours
 Limitations
 Requires large amounts of labour and monetary resources – not easily afforded by LDCs
 Requires space that may not be present in many DCs which are already densely urbanized
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 Roads built often get congested as well due to unchecked increases in car ownership
 Restricting Car Ownership
 Overview: Restricting car ownership by implementing quotas or by increasing car taxes.
 Examples
 Singapore: Requirement of every car owner to purchase a certificate of entitlement (expires in 10
years) through a bidding process. There are limited certificates.
 Shanghai: Issuing of 8500 license plates that each cost 42,500 CNY
 Advantages
 Stems the rapid increasing ownership of cars while discouraging ownership of cars through
increased prices
 Limitations
 Does not ultimately stop the ownership of cars
 Unless applied in unison with other solutions, such a strategy is likely to be unsuccessful as the
roads are still vulnerable to congestion and rural areas still inaccessible by public transport
 Lax regulation in LDCs stymie the effectiveness of such a strategy
 Road Pricing & Restriction of cars on alternate days
 Overview: Charging of car owners for the use of roads vulnerable to congestion; Preventing certain cars
from being driven on certain days by enforcing certain traffic laws
 Examples
 Singapore: Use of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system to charge car owners for driving on
certain roads in the CBD or expressways during weekdays.
 London: Requirement of motorists to pay £8 for entering the CBD area
 Zurich: Addition of more traffic lights, blocking of underpasses for cars, traffic light system that is
biased to public trams; limitation of speed to a snail’s pace
 Mexico: “Don’t drive today” program forces certain motorists off the roads on certain days, thereby
reducing the total number of cars on the road at any one point in time.
 Beijing during Olympics: Odd numbered cars and even numbered cars could only be driven on
alternate days.
 Advantages
 Generates tax revenue for the government
 Discourages the public from driving cars; Reduces the total number of cars at any point of time,
decreasing the risk of congestion
 Limitations
 Channelling of traffic from congested roads to other roads might cause the other roads to be
blocked
 Road pricing is technologically advanced and may not be available for LDCs to follow
 Affluent families can buy more than 1 car to circumvent the law on restricting car owners from
driving on certain days
 Lax enforcement of laws might decrease the effectiveness of these measures
 Encouraging public transport
 Overview: Through the use of fare subsidies and the development of the public transport network by
widening its spatial and monetary accessibility, governments can encourage people to stop driving cars
and take public transport instead. Bus lanes are also drawn and expanded to give priority to buses
during peak hours.
 Examples
 Britain: Cities such as Sheffield, Manchester and Newcastle now have the Light Rapid Transit
systems. Tramways systems extend all the way from the city centre to its fringes. Cities such as
Leeds have high occupancy lanes in which only cars with more than 2 passengers can drive on.
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 Singapore: Implementation of the “distance-based” fare in which passengers do not get charged
for transferring between bus and train services. Recently, the government also announced plans
to subsidize train transport for those who take train into the CBD areas before peak hours.
 Advantages
 One of the few solutions that can actually lead to a decrease in car ownership
 Improves the accessibility of transport to the urban poor, thereby improving efficiency
 Limitations
 Excessive government subsidies for public transport can cause public transport companies to be
bloated and clogged with inefficiency.
 Rapid development and the introduction of more bus services can also clog up the roads.
 Requires large amounts of monetary subsidies from the government; unsustainable in LDCs
 Encouraging Cycling
 Overview: Implementation of pavements specially for cyclists to travel on; provision of stations for
renting bicycles citywide; Campaigns to encourage cycling
 Examples
 Singapore: Building of many pavements for cyclists to cycle on
 Paris: Velib Scheme – Users pay a subscription fee to access 1400 bike-rent stations throughout
Paris and rent bicycles; Short trips are encouraged as the rent becomes higher the longer users
hold on to the bikes.
 Advantages
 By encouraging the population to cycle rather than driving, noise and air pollution is effectively
reduced
 Bicycles occupy a much smaller space compared to cars and can be parked easily
 Limitations
 Unless special pavements reserved for cyclists are introduced, cyclists can be exposed to increased
risk of accidents with cars
 Bicycles cannot be used to access areas that are far away efficiently.
3.2.5 REGIONAL SOLUTIONS TO ALLEVIATE TRANSPORT PROBLEMS
 National Plans for Sustainable Urban Development in conjunction with public transport development
 Overview: Advocates a greater use of public transport and an integration of transport considerations
directly onto land-use planning, thus enabling individuals to sustain their mobility but with fewer trips.
Most of the time, this involves the integration of many local solutions with decentralizing initiatives
including those that revolve around housing
 Examples
 Stockholm
 The building of satellite communities linked to the urban core by a regional-rail system
 Targeted population growth into rail-served new towns
 Tokyo
 Linking of mass transit to new town development
 Simultaneous use of many local solutions such as encouraging public transport (USD 500
transport subsidy per month for employees) and restricting car ownership (purchase tax,
annual registration tax)
 Singapore
 1991 Revised Concept plan aims to reduce transport duration from outer fringes to CBD to less
than 60 mins.
 Development of high-density new towns that are equipped with transport facilities such as bus
interchanges and train systems.
C35
 Advantages
 Only way to achieve sustainable transport development through the integration of decentralization
policies with transport policies
 Ensures that the population is able to access efficient transport systems even in new towns, thus
encouraging decentralization without compromising mobility and accessibility.
 The building of new towns that are self-sustaining is the only conclusive way to reduce transport
issues. This is done through the relocation of commercial areas to those near residential areas
 Limitations
 Requires coordination between many government agencies on a large scale – only countries with
strong central governments will be able to pull off such a feat
 Requires massive sums of monetary resources that LDCs probably cannot afford
3.3 SOCIO-ECONOMIC POLARIZATION
 Socio-Economic Polarization (Social Inequality) – Increase in difference in the standard of living between
various groups in society, resulting in spatial segregation of the rich and the poor. [NOT focused on why
income inequality exists, but why people are spatially segregated]
 Concentration of poverty geographically into enclaves (ghettos) and inner city areas where deprived
groups live while affluent groups tend to live in high-end districts
 The rich tend to live in affluent suburban communities or gentrified inner city gated communities while
the poor tend to live in the inner city areas + zone of transition or at the fringes of the city
 Effects in LDCs is significantly higher than that of DCs
 Larger Magnitude of problems: LDCs tend to have primate cities that generate overwhelming amounts
of rural-urban migration
 Lack of resources in LDCs: LDCs tend to be poorer and are less able to deal with social inequality and
marginalization of minorities. In contrast, DCs have more resources and stronger governments that can
implement social safety nets to aid the poor.
 Segregation: Includes both the processes of social differentiation and the spatial patterns that result
3.3.1 CAUSES OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC POLARIZATION
 Proximate Cause: Migration

 Filtering (More prominent in DCs)
 Def: Occupation of deteriorating housing by groups lower down in the socioeconomic hierarchy
after more affluent people have moved out
 Leads to changes in the social nature of residential areas
 The poor will tend to occupy slums and low quality housing in inner city areas, while the rich tend
to occupy higher-end housing in the suburbs
 Note: While gentrification is the opposite of filtering, it does not counter its effects as the poor are
still spatially separated from the rich, who live in gated communities
 E.g. Due to filtering, distinct social groups are now living separately in London, with the rich living
in Chelsea and the poor living in Islington
 Rural-Urban migration (More prominent in LDCs)
 Migrants who move from the rural areas into the urbanized areas tend to be at a disadvantage due
to their low financial status and their inability to communicate with city dwellers. They are usually
openly discriminated against, causing them to agglomerate in inner cities with cheaper housing.
 In addition, they may form large shanty towns at the fringes of the city as the government is unable
to provide sufficient subsidized housing for the migrants
C36
 Most immigrants faced racial discrimination from the white community and found it hard to obtain
jobs, resulting in many being trapped in the cycle of poverty. As a result, areas traditionally settled
by immigrants remained high in poverty.
 Proximate Cause: Gentrification
 Gentrification causes the price of living of the local area to rise to unaffordable levels, which spreads
 Proximate Cause: Inner City Decay
 More prominent in DCs when TNCs move their manufacturing centres out to NIEs, causing unskilled
labourers to lose their jobs and livelihood. This can breed discontent among the working class towards
their employers (upper-middle class)
 Ultimate Cause: Education level & Employment opportunities
 Educated professionals tend to land high income jobs in the service sector and become part of the
urban elite, while those that are uneducated tend to work low paying jobs or become involved in the
informal economy. This results in dualism which reinforces socio-economic polarization.
 Dualism/Dual Economy: A distinct division between the rich and the poor due to the presence of a
large informal economy coupled with unemployment and underemployment of the poor
 Informal Economy: Economic activities, transactions and assets (usually illegal) that is not recorded or
tracked by the authorities. (thus it is usually untaxed)
 Details
 Usually includes common goods and services such as day care, tutoring, black market
exchanges, street hawkers, etc.
 Generally easy to enter and uses local or recycled material inputs
 Involves poor, unskilled migrants or residents who have problems entering the formal
economy.
 Problem is more acute in LDCs due to large scale rural-urban migration
 Common in shanty towns and slums
 Advantages: Provides employment for the unskilled and uneducated; Provides services that would
otherwise not be provided
 Limitations: May result in exploitation of the poor, illegal activity; Affects the image of the city;
Deprives the government of tax revenue; Low wages stymie social mobility, reinforces socio-
economic polarization
 Unemployment & Underemployment
 Unemployment: Occurs when there are no jobs for those seeking to work
 Underemployment: occurs when people work below their optimal capability, such as in redundant jobs
or skilled workers working unskilled jobs. Involves part time unemployment, usually with low wages
 When people get unemployed or underemployed, they are usually denied opportunities to advance the
social ladder. This can cause them to earn low wages and force them to live in decrepit conditions,
leading to socio-economic polarization if the government does not aid them.
 Unemployed individuals also do not have the ability to choose where they want to live, unlike those
with jobs and the monetary resources.
 Problem is acute in LDCs due to high rural-urban migration and insufficient jobs in the formal sector
 Even in DCs, such a problem is beginning to become a serious issue due to the increasing prevalence of
the knowledge economy and the inability of the education system to provide sufficient people who
have the academic knowledge to participate in this economy. People who cannot be employed in either
the knowledge or service economy tend to be unemployed (manufacturing economy in DCs is almost
very small)
 E.g. In Brazil, companies used to hire an “ascensorista”, whose sole job is to stay in lifts and help people
press the lift buttons. Even so, such underemployed individuals enjoy higher social status than those
that work in the informal economy or are unemployed
C37
 Ultimate Cause: Age

 The elderly tend to be cast aside when companies are hiring due to poor health and their inability to
work most jobs which require knowledge on modern technology.
 Problem is more acute in LDCs, where welfare is non-existence, forcing the elderly to work in the
informal sector
 Ultimate Cause: Ethnicity
 Ethnic minorities that came over to DCs as migrant workers are often forced to live with discrimination.
Many also start their lives in the lowest rank on the social hierarchy. As a result, they tend to be spatially
displaced and have low incomes.
 E.g. Blacks in US who have been economically displaced since the abolishment of slavery and
deindustrialization of the South are largely caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, with many living in
ethnic enclaves (ghettoes) in inner city areas.
3.3.2 SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN URBAN AREAS
 Increased Crime Rates

 Social conditions such as high unemployment rate, poverty and a lack of basic necessities may compel
and perpetuate people to participate in theft, smuggling or even organized crime. Many teenagers for
hooligan gangs and attack pedestrian
 Limited Access to Services
 People living in urban slums or shanty towns often lack access to basic services such as fresh water,
electricity and sanitary facilities. A lack of firefighting and police units nearby usually results in increased
risks of crime and fire breakouts.
 Social Segregation
 Minority groups are often segregated by ethnicity into ethnic enclaves. This is due to the ability of
minority groups to quickly establish social networks within these enclaves as compared to the rest of
the city.
 Enclaves also tend to be breeding grounds for subversive culture which would lead to further
marginalization and discrimination by the majority. For example, the marginalization and exclusion of
ethnic minorities in the UK culminated in the bombing of the London Subway
 Economic Deprivation
 Def: A condition in which the individual lives with a lack of housing availability, employment or services
 Underclass: Poor people being forced out of the labour market by the post-industrial society
 Involves a continuous process which transmits relative poverty from one generation to another, thus
limiting the social mobility of individuals. Due to a capitalistic economic system, households with low
incomes can only afford subpar education, food, housing which in turn leads to low education levels
and low income jobs. Poverty is reinforced and perpetuated through generations in the household. This
is often the case for many immigrants.
 At the same time, the neighbourhood becomes even more run-down due to the inability of deprived
households to pay their taxes. An adverse image is created and filtering results, inevitably leading to
socio-economic polarization.
CASE STUDY: NEW YORK, USA
 In New York, certain areas such as Nassau, Manhatten and Queens are generally better-off than areas such
as Brooklyn (Kings) and Bronx. These poorer areas are also located adjacent to many CBD sites.
 In 1930 over 90% of the blacks lived in their own isolated communities. Black adolescents are 9 times more
likely to be murdered than their white counterparts
C38
 In America, “White Flight” can occur when whites pull their houses out of the city in response to decreasing
property prices caused by an influx of blacks.
 Causes: Immigration (Rural-Urban), Gentrification and Inner City Decay
 During 1900-2000, immigrants from many countries flooded into New York. These immigrants tend to
settle in their own communities, with Brooklyn being home to large Indian, Chinese and Arab
communities. Hispanic Americans and African Americans (from the Great Migration) settled in droves
in Bronx. A lack of proficiency in the English language limited the ability of many immigrants to interact
with the American population, which in turn limited their employment opportunities.
 Areas that are poor are located adjacent to CBD areas, suggesting that these areas are probably less
well-off inner city districts based on the core-frame model.
CASE STUDY: BRADFORD, UK
 Economic Deprivation is especially common in inner city wards such as Manningham University Ward and
fringe wards such as Holmewood Estate
 Causes
 Inner City Decay due to Global Industrial Shifts: In 1961, 60% of the workforce was employed in
manufacturing. After the UK lost the manufacturing jobs to NIEs, unemployment began rising at a rapid
scale, up to 13% during 1993 due to a decline in the manufacturing industry. Extensive areas of 19 th
century housing that are associated with the industrial towns are also deteriorating due to neglect and
dereliction. Large stretches of vacant industrial land are present due to the closing of more than 60%
of the factories.
 Immigration: Large proportion of residents are ethnic minorities (Asians at 15%). Ethnic minorities are
more likely to experience socio-economic polarization due to the poverty cycle and their inability to
communicate well in fluent English (Even if they can, many are still discriminated against). A large
proportion of minority groups such as the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and African-Carribean minorities live
in areas of multiple stresses such as Little Horton, University and Tong.
 Effects
 High Crime Rates: Highest crime rates occur in inner city areas of multiple stress such as Little Horton,
University and Tong.
 High fertility rates perpetuating the poverty cycle: Average family size in the inner city areas is 5.1. A
large family size places stress on services, housing and limited monetary resources.
 Deprivation (all higher than average):
 24.4% of households have more than 1 person per room
 68.9% of households do not own a car
 51.0% of households have no heating appliances during winter
 47.5% of households are eligible for government support
GENERAL EXAMPLES OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC POLARIZATION
 France
 Paris: 15% of the population live in large peripheral social housing estates called grand ensembles,
housing 10,000 dwellings. These areas tend to concentrate ethnic minority groups and the unemployed.
The Sarcelles estate (a grand ensemble) was poorly liked to the city centre, with badly designed housing
and inadequate maintenance
 Lyon: A series of large-scale peripheral housing was developed to house the underclass in the city. North
African Youths from “Les Minguettes”, one of such estates, rioted and fought with the police during the
1980s.
C39
 Britain
 London: Northcote ward in London contains 90% of its population as ethnic minorities
 Lincoln: Monks road that lies within the zone in transition suffers from a range of socio-economic
problems, as well as decaying housing. ¼ of the area is under the government, with terraced housing in
various states of disrepair and council buildings requiring modernization and renewal. ½ of the
population have no cars. (Cause = Ageing population (14%); Decline in manufacturing sector (28% in
manual jobs))
 Brazil (Rio De Janerio)
 Cause: Rapid Rural-Urban migration increased the population from 800 000 in 1900 to 10 million in
1991.
 Urban Structure
 Rural-Urban Fringe: Contains large numbers of Favelas (shanty towns) that lack formal organization
and basic services. 17% of the population lives in these areas where Individuals do not own the
land. Rocinha is the largest Favela with 80 000 people.
 District Conjuntos habitacionais: Government-subsidized low cost housing for low paid workers.
Approximately 1 million live here in conditions similar to favelas due to the slow decay of such
housing and increased migration.
 Central area and high-end suburbs: Received the bulk of infrastructure investment. Coastal stretch
reserved for the spread of high class suburbs with beach access and pleasant environments. Gated
communities built near shanty towns and slums.
C40

C. Urbanization

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CONTENTS

Urbanization + Urban Dynamics + Urban Management

Loh Zheng Yi 12S74

C2. Urban Dynamics

C3. Managing Urban Environments

1.1.1 DEFINITION OF URBANIZATION

1.1.2 FACTORS DRIVING URBANIZATION

1. Initial advantage : Favourable environmental settings such as

1.1.3 HISTORICAL TRENDS OF URBANIZATION

 Emphasis on initial advantages

1.1.3 RELATIONSHIP WITH URBAN GROWTH

1.2 URBANISATION TRENDS IN LDCS AND DCS

1.3 SUB-URBANISATION, COUNTER-URBANISATION AND RE-URBANISATION IN THE

 Highly affordable housing

1.3.2 URBAN SPRAWLS & MEGALOPOLIS

1.3.4 COUNTER URBANIZATION

1.3.5 IMPACTS OF DECENTRALIZATION

 Economic Impacts – Loss of economic dynamism

1.3.6 INNER CITY (DECAY)

 Economic decline and unemployment

1.3.7 REURBANIZATION – GENTRIFICATION

1.3.8 REURBANIZATION – URBAN RENEWAL

CASE STUDY: PITTSBURGH RENAISSANCE (MAJOR URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT THAT

 Building of Pittsburgh convention centre, world’s first green convention centre

CASE STUDY: LONDON CBD AREA

CASE STUDY: SINGAPORE CBD AREA

MEASURING & ASSESSING THE SUCCESS OF RE-IMAGING

 Fieldwork for measuring the success of re-imaging

1.4 CITY TYPES

1.4.1 WORLD/GLOBAL CITIES

 Range = The limit of a city’s sphere of influence

1.4.2 MEGACITIES & PRIMATE CITIES

 Megacity: City with more than 10 million people

CASE STUDY: BANGKOK (KIV URBAN MANAGEMENT)

CASE STUDY: PARIS (KIV URBAN MANAGEMENT)

C2. URBAN DYNAMICS

2.2.2 CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

 Varying definitions depending on different factors, such as

2.3 INFLUENCES ON URBAN MORPHOLOGY

2.3.1 HISTORICAL FORCES (E.G. COLONIAL CITIES)

2.3.2 STATE PLANNING (E.G. PLANNED CITIES)

 Case Study: Singapore

2.3.3 DECENTRALISATION (E.G. COMMUTING, TELECOMMUTING AND THE RISE OF

 Main factors driving suburbanization (of all sectors)

 Plenty of shopping centres

2.3.4 GLOBAL ECONOMY (E.G. MULTIMEDIA CORRIDOR, MEGA DEVELOPMENTS,

 Global Economy: Concepts of NIDL, Role of State in Economic Development

2.3.5 THE FUTURE FORM OF CITIES AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS

C3. MANAGING URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

3.1.1 HOUSING AS A L IMITED RESOURCE

 Network of social support for new migrants

3.1.2 LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING ISSUES

 Goals of slum management

3.1.2 REGIONAL MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING ISSUES

1. Policies that encourage decentralization (new towns, development of rural areas)

3.2 TRANSPORT PROBLEMS

3.2.1 TRANSPORT PROBLEMS IN DCS AND LDCS

3.2.2 CAUSES OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS

 Proximate Cause: Increasing Affluence & Car Ownership

3.2.3 IMPACT OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS