GGR124H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Louis Wirth, The Philadelphia Negro, Gentrification
7 May 2018
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21/01/2016
LECTURE 2
GOALS FOR THE COURSE…
1. To develop a better awareness and analysis of contemporary urban forms, and in
particular of the urban inequality that surrounds us.
Ex. Mumbai big differences between socio-economic classes, leads to challenges
• Slums lue oofs, soe high ises s. Atilla, the olds fist illio-dollar
home, built for only one family
• SLUM CLEARANCE involves moving lower income brackets to the suburbs
Ex. New York City racial division
• Central Park and the Upper East Side, the highest income bracket in America
contrasted with Harlem
• Harlem is being gentrified (GENTRIFICATION involves the displacement of lower
income/working class communities or communities of colour, and replacing
them with more professional groups that are mostly white)
• REZONING neighbourhoods, making the land values skyrocket because
communities who have lived there for generations can no longer afford the rent
Ex. Washington D.C.
• Used to be primarily black people, now it is the political centre of America
2. To understand the city as actively made and always in motion, rather than passively
emerging and static.
• The city is never static
• People are always moving, things are always developing
• Constant and vast change
Ex. Toronto
• individual income has changed drastically since 1970
• Scarborough changed a lot between 1980-2005, decline in income (used to be
middle income, now low/very low income), however they now have one very
high income neighbourhood
3. To better understand how urban space is key in producing and ot just Epessig
social relations, including inequality.
Ex. Dan Ryan Expressway, Chicago
• In 1961 this highway was built and cut right through an African-American
neighbourhood so that the white people could have easier private access to the
downtown
• people were displaced, and those who lived on either side of the highway could
no longer get to each side
• people stated allig U‘BAN ‘ENEWAL Nego ‘eoal
• Idea of RACE and SPACE being produced together
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
21/01/2016
4. To cultivate awareness and a better understanding of the many alternative urbanisms
that surround us (on a very local and larger scale).
Ex. Carracas, Venezuela
• No proper roads or transit, so planners and local government tried to address
serious accessibility issues that were deterring life expectancy
• Didt at to do the kid of daage that higha pojets i the Uited “tates
had lead to (uprooting homes and communities, affecting land value, etc.)
• Accessibility transforms land values
• Decided to run cable cars across all the hills, only land that would have to be
cleared were where the stations would go
• Became public transport and community centres through the informal
communities (including health clinics)
Learning Goals:
What is a city?
What is Urban Geography?
Some classic and recent interventions in urban theory
Questions:
How are cities defined and by whom?
What do cities do and how do they grow?
How have ideas about cities changed over time?
Why does it matter how we define urban places?
Go ad look at ities—no one seems to kno hat the ae. –William Morris Davis
WHAT IS A CITY?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary
• An inhabited place of greater size, population or importance than a village or town
• Any large centre of population, often distinguished from a village or town by the
diversity of economic and cultural activities within it
According to the United Kingdom Statistics Authority, 2001
• The taditioal oept of a to o it ould e a fee-standing built-up area with a
service core with a sufficient number and variety of shops and services, including
perhaps a market, to make it recognizably urban in character. It would have
administrative, commercial, educational, entertainment and other social and civic
functions and, in many cases, evidence of being historically well established. A local
network of roads and other means of transport would focus on the area, and it would
be a place drawing people for services and employment from surrounding areas. It
would often be a place known beyond its immediate vicinit.
According to Canada
• There must be an intuitive understanding of urban character
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 2: to develop a better awareness and analysis of contemporary urban forms, and in particular of the urban inequality that surrounds us. Mumbai big differences between socio-economic classes, leads to challenges: slums (cid:894)(cid:271)lue (cid:396)oofs, so(cid:373)e high (cid:396)ises(cid:895) (cid:448)s. (cid:862)a(cid:374)tilla(cid:863), the (cid:449)o(cid:396)ld(cid:859)s fi(cid:396)st (cid:271)illio(cid:374)-dollar home, built for only one family, slum clearance involves moving lower income brackets to the suburbs. Idea of race and space being produced together. 21/01/2016: to cultivate awareness and a better understanding of the many alternative urbanisms that surround us (on a very local and larger scale). Some classic and recent interventions in urban theory. Why does it matter how we define urban places? (cid:862)go a(cid:374)d look at (cid:272)ities no one seems to kno(cid:449) (cid:449)hat the(cid:455) a(cid:396)e. (cid:863) william morris davis. It would have administrative, commercial, educational, entertainment and other social and civic functions and, in many cases, evidence of being historically well established.
