A. Development and character of cities
- Origin of cities
- Rural–urban migration and urban growth
- Global cities and megacities
- Suburbanization and edge cities
B. Models of urban systems
- Rank-size rule, primate cities
- Central place theory
- Gravity model
C. Urban Models (internal city structure)
- Concentric zone model
- Sector model
- Multiple-nuclei model
- Changing employment mix
- Changing demographic and social structures
- Uneven development, ghettoization, and gentrification
D. Built environment and social space
- Neighborhoods, housing and density
- Transportation and infrastructure
- Political organization of urban areas
- Urban planning and urbanism
- Patterns of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status
Favorite Specific Resources for this Unit:
- WSJ: U.S. cities with larger economies than countries
- The Urbanophile: Providence, RI and the Virtue of Scale
- Interactive Game: Urbanology
- Infographic: The Rise of the Megacity
- NPR: Kabul, A City Stretched Beyond Its Limits
- Urban Trees Reveal Income Inequality
- BBC Interactive: Historical Geography of Urbanization, 1950-present
- TED Talk: Sustainable Urbanism
- Planning Video: Downtowns–How did we get here?
- NPR Special: Urban Life in the 21st century
- TED Talk: Public Places Worth Caring About
