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Land Section 2
Urbanization
• Increase in the ratio or density of people living in urban areas rather than in rural areas
• Developed countries- process slowed second half of the 20th century
• Many small towns have grown together; formed large metropolitan areas
– Ex: Washington D.C.-Baltimore
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Infrastructure
• Basic facilities of a country or region
– schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, sewers, railroads
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Slow growth affects on urbanization
• Areas relatively pleasant
– roads and public transportation adequate
– green spaces provide ecosystem services
• moderation of temperature
• infiltration of rainwater runoff
• aesthetic value
Land Section 2
The Urban Crisis
• Rapidly growing population overwhelms the infrastructure, living conditions deteriorate
– traffic jams, substandard housing, polluted air & water
Land Section 2
Urban Sprawl
• Rapid spread of a city into adjoining suburbs and rural areas.
– building of suburbs on the boundary of a larger town
– often built on former farmland
– new suburbs cover 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land/ year (United States)
Land Section 2
Development on Marginal Lands
• Many cities built with little room for expansion
– suburbs forced to built on marginal land
(land poorly suited for building)
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Other Impacts of Urbanization
• Cities generate and trap more heat than surrounding countryside
– Why? Roads and buildings absorb and retain heat longer then vegetation
• Heat island: area where air temperature is generally higher than the temperature of surrounding rural areas
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Heat Island affects
• Change local weather patterns- increase rainfall
• Moderated
– plant trees for shade
– install rooftops that reflect rather than retain heat
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Urban Planning
• Land-use planning: set of policies and activities related to potential uses of land, put in place before an area is developed
• Environmental impact required for many projects
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Intelligent Design
• Geographical information system (GIS): automated system for capturing, storing, retrieving, analyzing, manipulating, and displaying geographic data
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• Types of data
– locations of sewer lines, roads, and parks
• Each image a different combination of information
– allows a user to display layers of information about an area and to overlay these layers
(like overhead transparencies)
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Transportation
• Most cities in the United States are difficult to travel in without a car
– constructed after the invention of the automobile
– sprawl over large areas
• Most cities in Europe built before cars
– compact with narrow roads
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Mass Transit Systems
• Use buses and trains to move many people at one time
• Advantages
– save energy
– limit the loss of land to roadways and parking lots
– reduce highway congestion, air pollution
• Carpooling: an important alternative
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Open Space
• Land within urban areas set aside for scenic and recreational enjoyment
– include parks, public gardens, bicycle and hiking trails.
• In natural condition called greenbelts
– provide important ecological services
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Open Space Eco-services
• From Plants
– absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen
– filter out pollutants from air and water
– keep a city cooler in the summer
• From green areas
– reduce drainage by absorbing rainwater runoff from hardscape
– places for exercise and relaxation