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Environmental effects of urbanization
Environmental effects of urbanization
Environmental effects of urbanization
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Regions around the world are urbanizing faster than ever. In the United States, urban growth will be most prominent in the Sun Belt region, which spans from Los Angeles to Miami. Unlike most regions in the world however, the majority of America’s “urban population” live in distant suburbs. This is especially true for metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, where just 10% of the region’s 6 million people actually live in the city. During the 1970s, much of Atlanta’s white population moved outward into nearby suburbs as the city’s population gained more black citizens. By 1990, Atlanta’s white population had deflated to 31% of the city’s population compared to 48% in 1970. The effects of white flight have contributed heavily to the overall suburbanization of the Atlanta region, which has proved to be problematic. White flight in Atlanta during the 1970s has created numerous problems for the region as it fueled much of the urban sprawl in Atlanta, which has negatively impacted numerous fields including the environment and landscape of former rural areas, the socioeconomics of neighborhoods, and the health of people living in these newly formed suburbs. In 1998, Metropolitan Atlanta was slammed with a court ordered moratorium on road projects …show more content…
This early pattern has created a larger trend of general growth in the northern counties of the Atlanta region. Unfortunately, this trend has created huge changes in the “many dimensions” of unbalanced growth (Pugh 7). These dimensions of unbalanced growth includes many of the different parts of socioeconomics that are often affected by sudden changes in the population. White flight, and later, urban sprawl has affected the Atlanta region’s socioeconomics in terms of racial segregation, income disparity, job clusters, and public transportation
Atlanta, GA, is one of the most exciting cities in the nation. Not only is it one of the most populated cities, but it has one of the largest metropolitan areas as well. This city is a fantastic option for those making the move to Georgia for a number of reasons. If you are considering a move to Atlanta, here are some things you will want to know.
Atlanta is the capital and largest city in Georgia, with a population of 472,522, and one of the fastest growing major cities in the United States.1 Originally, known as a railroad settlement, it was founded in 1837 as the end of the Western & Atlantic railroad line ( the name changed from Marthasville to Terminus, to finally Atlanta, the feminine of Atlantic). 10 In 1861, became one of the 11 states seceding from the Union over the issue of slavery.11 It was also the home front during the Civil War and a major producer of war materials, and the regional transportation and distribution center.11 Post-war, due to railroads, Atlanta continued to economically grow and diversify, along with its population.11 A large number of African-Americans were drawn to this booming city due to its opportunities for education and employment.11 By 1900, more than 40% of the total population comprised of Black/African-Americans.11 As Atlanta’s population grew, so did the racial tensions.11 Several riots broke off during the 1900’s, including the reemergence and formation of Ku Klux Klan headquarters in Atlanta.11Today, the city remains a transportation hub for the nation and the world, with the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.10 The city is considered a banking center and has the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation.10
The second wave of gentrification encompassed young urban, mostly white professionals moving into the city of Atlanta after the 1996 Olympics. The third wave of gentrifiers included Black middle and upper class professionals. I hypothesize that the third wave took place from 2000-2010. The third wave was comprised of middle and upper class Blacks who moved into the inner ring of the city of Atlanta. New construction and increased taxes accompanied the three waves of revitalization in Atlanta. Increases in taxes and property values ultimately forced out most of the long-time lower-income
Harlem, a historic capital of African-American culture, sadly appears to be losing its everlastingly rich black culture and sense of community. This is due to the uproar of the unfavorable and unaffordable “luxury” housing that has been invested into the community over the past decade. According to Merriam Webster, gentrification is “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents”. Coined by British sociologist, Ruth Glass in the 1960s, gentrification materialized following the implementation of post-World War II reconstruction programs where, in London, working-class residences were invaded by the influx of lower and upper middle-classes.
In White Flight, author Kevin Kruse studies white Atlantans’ movement away from the inner city to the suburbs. According to Kruse, this movement began as white flight and morphed into what he calls “suburban secession.” Kruse makes a convincing argument that white flight occurred as African-Americans were pressed by a shortage of housing in traditional black neighborhoods, and encouraged by the rising tide of the civil rights movement, to seek residence in traditionally white city neighborhoods. White residents at first resisted these movements and then retrenched in suburbs that made
In recent years Portland, Oregon has become one of the country’s most popular cities to live in. The influx of technology, creative marketing industries and environmental consciousness have all lead to the desirability of the area. Although the number of pull factors drawing people to Portland is high, Portland’s racial reputation is the main cause of gentrification in this area. Portland is becoming one of the United State’s worst example of displacement of Black residents, and the fastest gentrifying city. (Savitch-Lew, 2016) “Portland has experienced gentrification in more neighborhoods than any other of the nation’s fifty largest cities since 2000.” (Law, 2015) Portland neighborhoods are being hit hard by this. The popularity of the city
Gentrification is a highly important topic that has not only been occurring all over the United States, but especially closer than we may have thought. San Francisco is home to hundreds of thousands of people who have been a part of how amazing this city has become. San Francisco is one of the most visited places in the world with many of its famous landmarks, endless opportunities not only for daytime fun but also has an amazing nightlife that people cannot get enough of. People come for a great time and could not be done without the help of the people who have grown up to experience and love this city for what it truly is. The cost of living in such an important city has definitely had its affect of lower income San Francisco residents. For decades we have seen changes occurring in parts of San Francisco where minorities live. We have seen this in Chinatown, SOMA, Fillmore district, and especially the Mission district.
Two great internal migrations lie at the center of postwar history in the United States: the movement of rural southern blacks to cities in the North, South, and West, and the movement of whites to the suburbs. Though the roots of these migrations long preceded the postwar period, both population shifts were greatly accelerated by World War II. This relocation of people and resources remapped the racial, economic, and political geography of American cities. Postwar metropolitan growth followed a pattern of
In Ernest W. Burgess’s “The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project,” (1925), the author delves deep into the processes that go into the construction of a modern city or urban environment. Burgess lists its following qualities: skyscrapers, the department store, the newspaper, shopping malls, etc. (p. 154). Burgess also includes social work as being part of a modern urban environment. This is supported by his construction model based on concentric circles that divided Chicago into five zones. The first was called a center loop meant for a business district. Secondly, there was an area for business and light manufacture. Third, there was a “zone for working men’s homes” (p. 156). The fourth is the residential area of high-class apartment buildings. The fifth is where suburban houses are located.
In the 1990s, the federal government was concerned with increasing concentration of poverty in the inner city. Shroder and Orr report the government believed that gang activities and crack cocaine epidemic had resulted in a tenfold increase in the rate of homicide among African American teens since the late 1980s (2012). Especially, after the demolition of near 100,000 public housing units, the government urgently sought concentrations of poverty. This assumption that concentration of poverty is anchored in place have become popular, and MTO suited to illustrate the degree of harmfulness of concentrations of poverty. MTO moved randomly selected families living in high poverty neighborhood to low poverty neighborhoods as it aimed to provide
Sustainability has been widely acknowledged as a significant component of cities’ long-term development. Although scholars hold different views on the definitions of sustainability, however, the core pillars of sustainable development are generally classified as environment, economy and society (United Nations General Assembly 2005). These elements are equally important and mutually affected. Hence, a sustainable city is to make corporate development and sustainability in terms of environment, economy and society. Sustainable cities are basically planned and constructed aiming at these three objectives.
Urban growth for several planners, proponents and organizations are not always portrayed as harmful, on the other hand, it’s depicted as a sign of economic vitality and not as an ecological threat. Positive implication of urban growth includes higher economic production, opportunities for the underemployed and unemployed, better life because of better opportunities and better services, and better lifestyles. Urban growth can extend better basic services (such as transportation, sewer, and water) in the direction of other specialist services (such as better educational facilities, health care facilities to mention a few) to more people. However, urban growth is uncontrolled and uncoordinated in many instances, hence in the long run results to sprawl. As a result, the upside impacts vanish inviting the downsides.
The size of the city being examined could have an effect on the level of residential segregation in that area. Many think that due to historic reasons, bigger cities (specifically in the south) are “expected to have higher levels of segregation” (Roof, Van Valey, and Spain, 1976). Larger cities have developed to have more areas of concentrated racial
For thousands of years, humans have lived together in cities. The concept of urban entities predates recorded history. The role of cities in everyday life has changed throughout human history. This evolution has never appeared more evident than now. With the majority of the world’s population living in cities, they have taken a new prominence in the study of geography. Cities serve as cultural and economic hubs from which new ideas and businesses diffuse. Their control reaches far beyond the immediately surrounding areas. Some large cities, such as New York and London, are referred to as world cities because of the extensive control they possess over the world economy (Getis et al., 2014). Despite the prominence of cities and urban culture,
Urban sprawl does have major impacts that effects urban fabrication positively and negatively. These major impacts will be explored under the categories of housing affordability, suburban lifestyle and health. In this section, the literature reviewed is predominately studies of Australia, United Kingdom and United States of America. Within each of the section of the literature review positive and negative impacts of lifestyle will be explored.