GRMD 3305 Transport Geography

Lecture 5
Urban Transport I

Prepared by Scarlett Jin

02/07/2024
 Today’s Plan

01 Urbanization 02 Transport and

urban form
Urbanization
1. What is an urban place?
2. What is urbanization?
3. How to measure urban changes?
1. What is an urban place?
 1. Define urban places
1. Demographics (population)
o Sweden:

https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/environment/land-use/localities-and-urban-areas/

o U.S.:

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural/2010-urban-rural.html
 1. Define urban places
1. Demographics
2. Economic base
o % of the population
employed in non-agricultural
work

https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization#how-is-an-urban-area-defined
 1. Define urban places
1. Demographics
2. Economic base
3. Administrative criteria
o Municipal boundaries
o Difficult to make international comparisons
1. Define urban places
1. Demographics
2. Economic base
3. Administrative
criteria
o Municipal
boundaries
o Difficult to make
international
comparisons
https://www.visualcapit
alist.com/ranked-the-
worlds-largest-cities-
by-population/
Prefecture-
level cities
地級市

Contains
both urban
and rural
areas

http://smzt.gd.gov.cn/
qhgk/gsqh/2022%E5%
B9%B4%E5%BA%A6/in
dex.html
State of
Ohio is
divided into
counties

Columbus City

Columbus
Metropolitan
area
1. Define urban places
1. Demographics
2. Economic base
3. Administrative
criteria
o Municipal
boundaries
o Difficult to make
international
comparisons
https://www.visualcapit
alist.com/ranked-the-
worlds-largest-cities-
by-population/
1. Define urban places

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 2. What is urbanization?
Urbanization is
the process by
which large
numbers of people
become
permanently
concentrated in
relatively small
areas, forming
cities.
 3. How to measure urban changes?

a) Level of urbanization

b) Distribution of population between different sizes of

urban places

c) The stages of urban development

Source:
Champion, T. (2001). Urbanization, suburbanization, counterurbanization and reurbanization. In R. Paddison (Eds.), Handbook
of urban studies (pp.143-161). London: Sage.

14
 a) Level of urbanization
Percentage of the
population living in urban
places
Simple calculation:
# 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
× 100%
b) Population Distribution

https://www.visua
lcapitalist.com/cp/
3d-mapping-the-
worlds-largest-
population-
densities/
b) Population Distribution

https://www.visua
lcapitalist.com/cp/
3d-mapping-the-
worlds-largest-
population-
densities/
 c) Urban Development Stages
 Urbanization,
suburbanization,
disurbanization, &
reurbanization
o Concentration and
deconcentration
o Urban core and rings
(suburbs)

Van den Berg L, Drewett R, Klaasen L, et al. (1982) Urban Europe: A study of
growth and decline. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Urbanization
Suburbanization
Disurbanization
Shrinking Cities in the US

Population trend
estimated from US
census population
data from 2000,
2010 and 2020.
Sutradhar, U., Spearing, L. & Derrible, S.
Depopulation and associated challenges for
US cities by 2100. Nat Cities 1, 51–61 (2024).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-023-00011-7
Shrinking Cities in China

Scarlett Ting Jin & Daniel Zhi Sui (2020): Do central state
interventions cause
urban shrinkage in China?, Journal of Urban Affairs, DOI:
10.1080/07352166.2020.1730696
 c) Urban Development Stages
 Urbanization,
suburbanization,
disurbanization, &
reurbanization
o Concentration and
deconcentration
o Urban core and rings
(suburbs)

Van den Berg L, Drewett R, Klaasen L, et al. (1982) Urban Europe: A study of
growth and decline. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
 3. Measure Urban Changes

a) Level of urbanization Cities vs. rural areas

b) Distribution of population between different sizes of

urban places The largest cities vs. the smaller cities

c) The stages of urban development

Urban core vs. suburbs
Urban growth vs. shrinkage
Source:
Champion, T. (2001). Urbanization, suburbanization, counterurbanization and reurbanization. In R. Paddison (Eds.), Handbook
of urban studies (pp.143-161). London: Sage.
Transport and
Urban Form
Urban Form & Urban Spatial Structure

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Urban Spatial Structure

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 Urban Spatial Structure

Management Warehousing, manufacturing, Residential and

and consumption wholesaling, transportation local services

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 Transport & Urban Spatial Structure

Completely Weak
motorized Center

Strong Traffic
center limitation

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 Transport & Urban Spatial Structure

Completely
motorized

o Low to average land use density

o Automobile-oriented network
o Infrastructure servicing the automobile:
highways, on-street parking, parking lots

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Transport & Urban Spatial Structure

Weak
Center

o Average land use density

o Concentric pattern
o Transit services oriented along major
corridors
Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)
 Transport & Urban Spatial Structure
o High land use density
o High accessibility to urban transit
o Radial roads and ring roads
o Secondary centers

Strong
center

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Transport & Urban Spatial Structure
o Traffic control & modal preference
strategies
o Central area is dominated by public
transit
o Individual transportation in periphery

Traffic
limitation

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Urban Street Patterns

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Grid Patterns
Grid Patterns
Grid Patterns
Cur-de-Sac Patterns
Cur-de-Sac Patterns
 Grid vs. Cur-de-Sac
 Why did urban spatial structure shift from the grid pattern
to the cul-de-sac pattern?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the grid
and cul-de-sac patterns?
 Find answers in this Vox video:
https://youtu.be/vWhYlu7ZfYM?si=fgi8uH7TyOJ8kWNG
Activity
Finding grid and cul-de-sac
patterns in Hong Kong with
Google Earth or Street View
Is there unique patterns in Hong Kong?
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1blwZWhpkQ9zYsVveb-
xM5GkeehH4MLPSVM1Uw34PGkM/edit?usp=sharing
 Unique Patterns in HK
 Grade separation
o i.e. footbridge or subway
o Uninterrupted walking path &
minimizes disruption to vehicular
traffic.
 Breezeways / Air Path

https://www.pland.
gov.hk/pland_en/te
ch_doc/hkpsg/full/p
df/ch11.pdf
Grade Separation
Air Path
Air Path – Street Grids
Air Path – Street Grids
Air Path – Street Widening
Air Path – Waterfront
Air Path – Height Profile
Air Path & Shades – Pedestrian
 Urban Sprawl Urban expansion of Las Vegas

1984
 Urban sprawl refers to the rapid
expansion of the geographic
extent of cities and towns
o Low-density residential housing 1999
o Single-use zoning
o Increased reliance on the
private automobile
o Common in U.S. cities, but not an 2009
exclusively American problem
 Urban Sprawl
 A short video:
https://youtu.be/tXNJa86tErQ?si=SE6bknI5ORanc7th
 Hong Kong vs. Shenzhen:
https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/
 What is the difference between urban expansion and
urban sprawl?
Urban Sprawl

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Debate
Is urban sprawl good?
Urban Sprawl

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

End of Lecture