Collin Bonder

12/02/2024
Dr. Heil
GEO 336

Infrastructure is (what I believe) to be the key of urban geography as it is what branches out to
create the other concepts that we have been going over in class; it branches out to create larger
concepts such as urban metabolism and mobilities which creates concepts that are still very
important.

I’ve separated the chart into 3 separate groups that all go together to summarize the graph:

1.​ Rights’ to the city can help create sustainable development and urban metabolism by
creating groups of people who may work hard to help lead citizen actions to create
programs to fix cities
2.​ One of the most important concepts I believe that relates to infrastructure is mobilites, I
believe that sustainable development also heavily considers mobility in cities such as
public transportation such as trains and buses.
3.​ Mobilities also considers flaneur as we had the reading about women and how they feel
in public areas with children especially; and normative sexuality relates to carcerality with
the acts of sex work and sex-related businesses.
Definitions of Concepts

Infrastructure- Concept in which shows the physical surroundings and additions of a city in
which create and influence quality of life of those who live there. Water, housing, roads,
sidewalks, and other public goods are all good examples of what creates a good environment
for a rich infrastructure in a city
Mobilities- Concept in which helps us understand the transportation and movement of citizens
and goods within a city. Whether its a personal automobile, taxi, train, subway, or bike, these are
all modes of transportations that move people and cause people to travel within a city (or out of)
Mobilities can be heavily influenced by other key terms such as infrastructure
Carcerality- Concept which has to do with the imprisonment or punishment of people who have
seemed to have broken a law. However, carcerality has been pushed to an extreme extent in
the United States through racial discrimination and profiling, which targets minorities and
unjustly has caused minorities to be incarcerated at higher lengths than other races.
Flaneur- A term that is usually meant for a male in a large crowded area, usually a city. The
male is seen as an observer of people and things around him. Usually rather than being the
person who is observed or being ‘stared at’ you could almost say, the flaneur is the one who is
noticing things around them.
Right to the City- A concept which explains how citizens can and should be involved within a
city that contains 2 examples. The first one being ‘Right to Appropriate’, which ensures the
safety of citizens who want to occupy the city and take advantage of the benefits of it while
feeling and being safe. The second being ‘Right to Participate’, which helps make sure citizens
can peacefully help reshape and fix problems that have been ignored.
Normative Sexaulity- A term which defines what the society around you expects for sexual
behavior; whether this is cultural a collective choice within a society
Urban Metabolism- A concept which helps explain how different resources come in and out of
a city. For instance, cities figure out how to get water to an apartment complex, then after the
water is used, it is taken back to a treatment center and cleaned, ensuring the water stays clean
for generations in the future. This doesn’t just include resources, but also people and the way
they may travel to and from an urban area.
Sustainable Development- A concept which explains how cities are trying to be as eco-friendly
as possible for the generations of the present day, so that the generations of the future are able
to live sustainably with the same resources we had to use during our times. Examples of
sustainable development include tree canopies and urban greenspaces which have been
proven to increase the quality of life of people who live near them.
Essay 1: Right to the City and Sustainable Development

Right to the City and Sustainable development may not seem as connected as most would
think. However, with the right to appropriate and the right to participate, the ability of people to
come together and safely express their needs for change in order to create sustainable
development is a promising way of cities working with people. The Right to the City has two
specific components within it; the right to appropriate, and the right to participate. The right to
appropriate ensures that all citizens of a city, no matter their race, social status, or gender, can
benefit from the city without the fear of violence or exclusion. The right to participate ensures
that everyday citizens within a city can meaningfully manage it while helping shape the needs of
people around them. On the other hand, sustainable development is quite straightforward.
Sustainable development wants cities to look at the way in which resources are used within
them, it wants to make sure that people in urban centers aren’t overusing resources, so that the
sustainability of future populations isn’t threatened due to the lack of said resources. This can
include: land, water, roads, and even air quality. These two can work together in different ways
in order to shape a city. For instance, Paolo Castandea writes about this in her journal From the
Right to Mobility to the Right to the Mobile City: Playfulness and Mobilities in Bogotas Cycling
Activism. She explains how the bicyclists of Bogota came together to help change the mobility
of a city by creating an infrastructure that was more dependent on cycling, rather than cars
which is the case in most cities. While the article doesn’t directly state that it was done out of
fear of sustainability being threatened; creating a bike-dependent infrastructure creates an
extremely favorable environment for the future of the city, limiting emissions and pollution while
encouraging a healthy and outdoor lifestyle. With the citizens coming together safely and
successfully changing the dynamics of the city to create a new sustainable lifestyle, they are
also promoting the right to the city as well. As we also saw in class, a more direct approach to
sustainable development and right to the city could be the High Line in New York City. However,
there were many problems and learning points that could be taken from this particular instance.
The High Line itself is a great example of sustainable development as it introduces urban
greenspaces in the concrete jungle of NYC. However, citizens did not get a large enough input
on the project as they should have, as much of it was celebrity and politician endorsed, causing
a butterfly effect of problems on citizens nearby. While these people were still citizens, you need
to get a majority of citizens from all walks of life to truly create an all-around beneficial project for
all people, like in Bogota.
Essay 2: Normative Sexaulity and Carcerality

Normative Sexuality and Carcerality are two key concepts that go together quite well. In most
places many more taboo sexual practices such as prostitution or buildings such as brothels
have specific laws or zoning codes, and if these are broken, can mean hefty incarceration times
due to the scope of their practice being seen as outside the sexual norms in culture. Normative
sexuality is what is known as the norms around sexual relationships within a culture. For
instance in the US, most people have adapted to realize and accept that gay marriage is normal
and accepted. In the past however, gay marriage could lead to carcerality, as it was not legal
nationwide until 2014. Carcerality is essentially creating a punishment system by jail time which
causes many problems for many people, especially poor minorities who are unjustly persecuted
at higher extents. However, in this context, prostitution is what will be focused on. Prostitution is
heavily illegal in every state except for Nevada, more specifically Las Vegas. If women are
prosecuted for prostitution and sentenced to jail time, how are they supposed to bounce back to
a normal life after this? Well, many of them don’t and the cycle continues over and over. This
problem of sexual norms and carcerality is brought up many times within Time, space, and the
authorisation of sex premises in London and Sydney by Jason Prior and Phil Hubbard. They talk
about how cities such as London and Sydney have zoning laws and DO permit prostitution,
along with sex shops (which are legal here but only in certain spots). The zoning laws created
help create strict laws for brothels and prostitutes to follow, but as long as they are followed, no
one will be incarcerated. This lessens the cycle of carcerality due prostitution and brothels not
necessarily being a normative sexuality, but rather one that is accepted in certain places and
parts of a culture. In class we also discussed the idea of sex shops within Normal. Obviously,
prostitution is not legal in Illinois, so the focus was on zoning laws and sex shops. Zoning laws
absolutely prohibit any sex shops or adult stores within 2000 feet of a school and within uptown
Normal. If this is broken, you will be arrested and sentenced to jail time. This is due to the city
wanting to create a better overall image for itself, by having the most populous and visited part
of town very family friendly. This is what almost every city in the US strives for, however with it,
the cycle of incarceration for people who are most vulnerable such as prostitutes will continue.
Essay 3: Infrastructure and Mobilities

Infrastructure and mobilities go hand in hand with each other, as mobilities change or increase
within a city, the infrastructure must be adjusted or changed to keep up with different mobility
patterns, such as trains, personal vehicles, or automobiles. These changes ensure that people
can be safe when using their mode of transportation or that products can be moved in a safe
and efficient manner for businesses. Infrastructure refers to the physical makings of the cities,
such as roads, buildings, water lines, public transportation, etc. In most cases, a better
infrastructure of a city leads to a higher quality of life, as the environment is cleaner and people
feel safer with their daily lives in the city; whether it's traveling to work or drinking water at home.
Mobilities on the other hand, refers to the transportation of people and things within a city.
Whether this is by walking, biking, or driving (Usually driving); people continue to move in and
out of urban areas. The feasibility of creating mobility for all people in cities is heavily dependent
on the infrastructure of cities. For instance, as talked about in class, there have been different
eras in which different mobilities dominated the urban landscape. Starting off at horsecars which
helped shape city roads and the overall infrastructure of cities. Roads were very small and
narrow and towns were usually built around a town square; a place for meeting in a walkable
distance. Many European cities still have this infrastructure, but it would be rare to find a city in
the US with this type of infrastructure. This is due to a mobility shift over dozens of years that
now has the automobile as the main form of mobility and transportation. In most major cities in
the US outside of some such as Chicago and New York City, you will have a very hard time
walking anywhere. This is due to the drastic infrastructure change that caters to cars rather than
any other mobility. Highways and large interstates now stand where neighborhoods and stores
once existed, causing a huge shift in mobilities, since the only way to from one side of town to
another is through the highway in a car. Once again, Paolo Castandea writes about this in her
journal From the Right to Mobility to the Right to the Mobile City: Playfulness and Mobilities in
Bogotas Cycling Activism. As stated earlier in an essay, the infrastructure was changed in the
city to adapt to the rising cyclist population. This was a direct change in the infrastructure due to
changing mobility within an urban area. The car dependent infrastructure in the United States
has been very damaging to those without cars and in low income areas, where roads may not
be up to the highest standard and taken care of.