HGA | Urban Index

The Growth of a City
by Mary Frances Higuchi
Revised from Bernice Kihara's lesson (6/1997)
and Mary Frances Higuchi's lesson (5/13/1991)
July, 2000

PURPOSE: Where do people settle? Some cities seem to grow without limit while others don't expand as much. When the settlers first came to North America, how did they know where to settle? What did they look for, a site near water? resources? the terrain? possible transportation routes? What about recent residents, what do they look for? Many people first look for existing houses in a city. Eventually they move from the inner city to the suburbs. How does a developer decide where to build subdivisions? He/She will probably look for land that is closest to the city and seek a transportation link so people can commute to the city. The developer needs to be aware of water, electricity, and services, such as churches, schools, and shopping areas. In this unit students will explore the basic concepts of how cities grow, determine why some cities have grown and others have not, and examine possible problems that cities may face.

FOCUS QUESTIONS:
Why do people settle where they do? What are cities and why have some of them grown while others have not? What are some of the problems cities face and what can be done about them?

STANDARDS: The geographically informed student knows and understands:
3 How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places and environments on Earth's surface.
12 The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement

HAWAII CONTENT AND PERFORMNACE STANDARDS II:
1. Students use geographic representations to organize, analyze, and present information on people, places, and environments.
4. Students analyze how people organize their activities on earth through their analysis of human populations, cultural mosaic, economic interdependence, settlement, and conflict and cooperation.

GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS: Throughout the unit, students will use the following geographic skills.
Ask geographic questions
Acquire geographic information
Organize geographic information
Analyze geographic information
Answer geographic questions

OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to:


MATERIALS:

REFERENCES:
-Association of American Geographers, High School Geography Project. (Geography in an Urban Age, Unit 1 Geography of Cities.) Supported by National Science Foundation. Macmillan Company. 1965.
-Knox, Paul L. Urbanization an Introduction to Urban Geography. Prentice-Hall. 1994.
-Rubenstein, James M. An Introduction to Human Geography. Prentice-Hall. 1999.
-Rubenstein, James M. People, Places and Environment. An Introduction to Geography. 1996.
-"Cities and Urban Geography" section from Matt Rosenberg's Geography.About.Com website: http://geography.about.com/science/geography/msub9.htm

ASSESSMENT:
Throughout the unit, check for understanding. How well are students able to use the maps, graphs, charts, etc. to acquire, organize, and analyze intormation? How well are students able to apply the concepts learned about cities as reflected in their essays, maps, and visuals.

PROCEDURE:
1. Definition: What is a city?
  1. Show various pictures of cities, towns, villages, hamlets. Ask students, what is a city? Can they tell from the pictures? Students should work on a definition to carry them through the unit.
    (The legal definition of a city is an "urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent, self-governing unit." A city has local officials that are elected, responsibility for providing services, and the ability to raise taxes. --Pg. 450 An Introduction to Human Geography)

2. Getting to know the top 10-15 cities
  1. Distribute name cards of cities (top 10 - 15) of the United States and corresponding cards with latitude and longitude (one card per student). Have them circulate and find their "partner." (This will also determine the student's partner for the lesson.) have students place their cards with the names of the cities and exact location on a blank map of the United States. If students are unsure, have them check their work against an atlas of map.
  2. Discuss - Why were these cities established where they are? What do these cities have in common?
  3. Distribute information on each city. (Use AAA books and maps.) Chart information (physical features, industries, etc. ) on each city. Develop a generalization about the city using "geographic perspectives." Share the information with the class.

3. Factors influencing location and growth of urban sites
  1. Distribute copies of the worksheet "Site Diagrams" to each pair of students. Discuss each example. The students are to choose the best settlement site for each time period. Share and discuss. See "Possible Answers for Site Diagrams."

4. Looking at different models of urban structure
  1. Have each group refer back to the particular city they worked with from 2a. Look at the worksheet, "Possible Patterns of a City." Each diagram shows the original site of the settlement by a black dot. The dotted area shows the first 50 years and the striped areas show the second 50 years. Have students give examples of cities that resemble each pattern.
  2. Have students answer the following questions:
    1. Which patterns seem reasonable?
    2. Under what conditions might a city have grown in each of these patterns which you consider to be reasonable?
    3. What shape seems most sensible for a city? Why?

    Pattern A: May be unreasonable unless some physical or government restrictions excluded building on most of the area.
    Pattern B: will occur if no barriers to growth exist. Growth takes place evenly in all directions. This seems most sensible for a city, assuming that people want to live close to other people and services. This pattern does not usually happen. Transportation routes aren't always equally built.
    Pattern C: Might occur at the intersection of two major railroads or highways. Growth takes place faster and farther along the railroad or highway.
    Pattern D: Assumes some kind of barrier to the left of the original settlement. it could be a lake, a river, the ocean, a mountain, a railroad yard, or a political boundary.

  3. Have students look at their own city and choose the pattern that best describes their city and apply the questions in 4b. (Does the pattern that your city follows seem reasonable? Under what conditions might your city have grown in that pattern? What shape seems more sensible for your city? Why?

5. Distribution of People Within Urban Areas
  1. Have students look at "Three Models of Urban Structure." Where do people tend to live in urban areas. The three models are the concentric zone, sector, and multiple nuclei. Have students look at the city from 2a. Discuss. Can they apply the theories? Does the city follow any of the models?
  2. Have stduents apply the models to the city that they live in or is nearest to them. Have them sketch out how their city would look like following the models. Are they able to sketch their city following one model, or do they need to combine the models?

6. Images of Cities.
  1. Have students examine the positive and negative images of a city. What brings people to the city? Are there activities that draw you to the city? If so, what are they? Are there social, physical and economic problems? How do these affect the growth of a city? (A major physical problem of the inner-city neighborhoods is the poor condition of housing. The social problems can include homelessness, people with lack of job skills, crime, and ethnic and racial segregation. The economic problems usually include the cost of needed services for the people living there. Either public spending on services are decreased or taxes are increased. Unemployment is significant.)
  2. Have students think about their city. Have them list the positive and negative points. Discuss. As a whole, what do they think about their city?

7. What is a City -
Have students revisit their definition of a city from step 1. If they need to add to the definition, have them do it at this time. Have them look at other cities and see if the definition fits.

8. Assessment -
Use Honolulu as a case study. From what students have learned about cities and their growth, have them analyze the City of Honolulu. Have students use some of the models to base their observations. What observations, generalizations and conclusions can be made? Students should use maps, graphs, and other visuals to help them. Have students write a short essay about their findings. They should create maps and other visuals to further explain their essay.

9. Extension
  1. Have students look at growth maps of a city. Chicago is an excellent example. Students should look at the patterns of the urban sprawl. They should note the kind of linear patterns, if any, and why they are patterned in such a way. Could it be connections to transportation like freeways and railroads? What about small cities or suburbs? Are they in line with these linear patterns?
  2. Students can look at the age distribution in a city. Have them structure population pyramids and generalize information from these pyramids. Where are most of the children under ten with parents in their thirties living? What reasons would they give for the particular population distributions? Are the inner city population pyramids similar or different from the suburban areas? Why or why not?
  3. Have students further investigate urban planning and the New Urbanism. The New Urbanism includes projects like Walt Disney's "Celebration" in Orlando, Florida. Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins wrote a book, Celebration, U.S.A.: Living in Disney's Brave New Town. Students will be able to apply and explore what they've learned about cities with a place like Celebration.

© Hawaii Geographic Alliance. August, 2000. All rights reserved.