Urban Places
Students learn about:
World cities
• the nature, character and spatial distribution of world cities
• the role of world cities as powerful centres of economic and cultural authority
• the operation of global networks
• the relationships of dominance and dependence between world cities and other urban centres and the changing role of regional centres and the demise of the small town.
Mega cities
• the nature, character and spatial distribution of mega cities in the developing world
• the challenges of living in mega cities such as housing, traffic infrastructure, water and power supplies, sanitation services, employment, and other social and health issues
• the responses to these challenges such as self-help projects, community self-government, cooperation from NGOs, urban protest and the operations of informal economies.
Urban dynamics
• the urban dynamics of change: suburbanisation, exurbanisation, counter urbanisation, decentralisation, consolidation, urban decay, urban renewal, urban village, spatial exclusion.
• a case study of the results of the urban dynamics in a large city selected from the developed world including its
– social structure and spatial patterns of advantage and disadvantage, wealth and poverty, ethnicity
– changing economic character, nature and location of residential land, commercial and industrial development
– culture of place as expressed in the architecture, streetscape, heritage architecture, noise, colour, street life, energy, vitality and lifestyles
– growth, development, future trends and ecological sustainability
• a case study showing one of the urban dynamics listed above, operating in a country town or suburb.
Students learn to:
investigate and communicate geographically by
• asking and addressing geographical questions such as
– what are the challenges of living in mega cities?
– what is a world city and why are they so important?
– what will the city be like in the future?
use geographical skills and tools such as
• calculating population density using maps of a large city
• constructing a transect to show land use change in a local area
• describing patterns, linkages, networks and change, using maps of large cities and other urban areas
• constructing and interpreting choropleth maps
• synthesising and evaluating fieldwork data about the dynamics of change in a country town or suburb
• interpreting trends from logarithmic and semilogarithmic data about the growth of mega cities
• analysing population pyramid data to investigate the implications on health and social issues of a rapidly growing city
• calculating the time of day when a photograph was taken and relating a photo to a map of a streetscape.
identify geographical methods applicable to and useful in the workplace such as
• using GIS, satellite imagery and aerial photography
• analysing maps including topographic, cadastral and land use maps
• collecting and analysing urban field data
• the relevance of a geographical understanding of urban places to a particular vocation such as: urban and regional planning, designing effective city infrastructure, planning the delivery of social services, monitoring environmental quality and sustainability, preserving heritage sites.
World cities
• the nature, character and spatial distribution of world cities
• the role of world cities as powerful centres of economic and cultural authority
• the operation of global networks
• the relationships of dominance and dependence between world cities and other urban centres and the changing role of regional centres and the demise of the small town.
Mega cities
• the nature, character and spatial distribution of mega cities in the developing world
• the challenges of living in mega cities such as housing, traffic infrastructure, water and power supplies, sanitation services, employment, and other social and health issues
• the responses to these challenges such as self-help projects, community self-government, cooperation from NGOs, urban protest and the operations of informal economies.
Urban dynamics
• the urban dynamics of change: suburbanisation, exurbanisation, counter urbanisation, decentralisation, consolidation, urban decay, urban renewal, urban village, spatial exclusion.
• a case study of the results of the urban dynamics in a large city selected from the developed world including its
– social structure and spatial patterns of advantage and disadvantage, wealth and poverty, ethnicity
– changing economic character, nature and location of residential land, commercial and industrial development
– culture of place as expressed in the architecture, streetscape, heritage architecture, noise, colour, street life, energy, vitality and lifestyles
– growth, development, future trends and ecological sustainability
• a case study showing one of the urban dynamics listed above, operating in a country town or suburb.
Students learn to:
investigate and communicate geographically by
• asking and addressing geographical questions such as
– what are the challenges of living in mega cities?
– what is a world city and why are they so important?
– what will the city be like in the future?
use geographical skills and tools such as
• calculating population density using maps of a large city
• constructing a transect to show land use change in a local area
• describing patterns, linkages, networks and change, using maps of large cities and other urban areas
• constructing and interpreting choropleth maps
• synthesising and evaluating fieldwork data about the dynamics of change in a country town or suburb
• interpreting trends from logarithmic and semilogarithmic data about the growth of mega cities
• analysing population pyramid data to investigate the implications on health and social issues of a rapidly growing city
• calculating the time of day when a photograph was taken and relating a photo to a map of a streetscape.
identify geographical methods applicable to and useful in the workplace such as
• using GIS, satellite imagery and aerial photography
• analysing maps including topographic, cadastral and land use maps
• collecting and analysing urban field data
• the relevance of a geographical understanding of urban places to a particular vocation such as: urban and regional planning, designing effective city infrastructure, planning the delivery of social services, monitoring environmental quality and sustainability, preserving heritage sites.
Rates of Urbanisation:
- More and more people are attracted to city centres globally.
- Two centuries ago less than 5% of the world’s population lived in cities and towns. Today that figure approaches 50%.
- The number of cities with a population over 1 million has increased from 2 in 1850, to 109 in 1970, and is expected to be 380 in 2010.
Urbanisation: Future State 2030 Infographic
World City: a city that has global and national significance
Mega city: a very large agglomeration of at least 10 million people
Urbanisation: an increase in the proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas.
- More and more people are attracted to city centres globally.
- Two centuries ago less than 5% of the world’s population lived in cities and towns. Today that figure approaches 50%.
- The number of cities with a population over 1 million has increased from 2 in 1850, to 109 in 1970, and is expected to be 380 in 2010.
Urbanisation: Future State 2030 Infographic
World City: a city that has global and national significance
Mega city: a very large agglomeration of at least 10 million people
Urbanisation: an increase in the proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas.
Websites
Sim City
Sim City is a computer game which allows you to build your own city. Choose one of the following tasks, and outline the challenges that you faced in completing your task:
- Reduce the car dependence within your city.
- Encourage more people into your city while increasing the amount of protected bushland.
- Reduce air pollution without discouraging economic development.
