Urban Planning and City Development: A Comprehensive Overview
What elements define a place as a city?
A city has a large number of inhabitants, its main economic activities are related to the secondary and services sector, it has tall buildings and people’s attitudes tend mainly towards speed and mobility.
What is a hamlet?
A hamlet is a small village.
Give some examples of dormitory towns in Spain.
Sample answer: Móstoles, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Guecho, Castilleja de la Cuesta, Badalona, etc.
What are the predominant functions in the following cities:
- New York: commercial and tourist
- Rome: tourist, and cultural and religious
- Frankfurt: commercial, political and administrative
- Salamanca: tourist, cultural and religious
- Madrid: commercial, and political and administrative
- Sevilla: tourist, cultural and religious
What are the characteristics of a radial plan?
In a radial plan, we can clearly distinguish the central core from which several roads branch out like spokes on a wheel. In turn, these roads are intersected by other streets that form concentric rings.
Give two examples for each of the urban plan types mentioned on this page.
Sample answer:
- Grid: Barcelona (Spain) and Salt Lake City (USA)
- Linear: Quito (Ecuador) and Nice (France)
- Radial: Moscow (Russia) and Delhi (India)
- Irregular: Ávila and Córdoba (centre) (Spain)
What are the advantages of a city with a grid urban plan?
Sample answer: In this type of urban planning, where the streets intersect at right angles and the space is divided into blocks, one of the main advantages is that it allows the easy subdivision of a large parcel of land.
What parts can we distinguish within a city? What functions do they fulfil?
There are three parts: city centre, peri-urban areas and the outskirts. The city centre is where the main business, financial and commercial areas are found. The residential function is also important. The main function of the peri-urban areas is residential. The outskirts, having emerged more recently as a result of the city’s expansion, have industrial areas and commercial areas.
What are the characteristics of working-class neighbourhoods?
These areas are characterised by large blocks of apartments near industrial areas. They do not have many urban services or green spaces.
What were the main differences between the cities of Ancient China and Ancient Rome?
The first cities emerged some 7 000 years ago in Ancient China, and they were structured around the palace of the priest or king, the temple or the market, and were surrounded by a wall for defence. Roman cities were structured according to regular planning, organised around a square or forum. Two main roads started here, known as the cardo and the decumanus, which organised the city into a grid plan. Roman cities also had urban facilities like water pipes, sewers and paved roads.
Why were cities in Antiquity and the Middle Ages walled?
Because city walls were an important part of the city’s defences.
What changes in urban planning did the Modern Age bring?
New urban planning during the Modern Age was based on geometric shapes, which were predominant in the designs; a rational distribution of spaces and their embellishment with main squares, gardens and new roads; fortifications that evolved to suit the needs of the artillery, which was widespread at the time.
What new urban areas appeared during the Industrial Revolution?
Working-class neighbourhoods and ensanches.
What were the main problems of the industrial city?
The main problems of the industrial city were that hygiene conditions were very poor, adding to the overcrowding of industrial workers in appalling conditions and in uninhabitable houses.
What new planning measures were adopted during the Industrial Revolution?
In some cities, the walls limiting their expansion were demolished. Additionally, the economic and political power of the bourgeoisie led to the construction of new residential neighbourhoods known as the ensanches.
Why are capitals considered national metropolises?
Because they are capitals of a state or the most important cities in a country.
What differences exist between concentrated urban networks in rich and poor countries?
In rich countries, the urban network is balanced by communications with the metropolis. By contrast, in poor countries, this network is deficient, as most national services and activities are concentrated in the big city.
What is the difference between a metropolitan area and a conurbation?
A metropolitan area consists of a large city or metropolis and the towns and cities around it. A conurbation is also a large urban area, but one that is a result of the merging of two or more cities of a similar size.
Why are there no old towns in the United States?
Because the cities of the United States grew very fast, so the neighbourhoods of these cities are relatively new.
Why is the urbanisation level in Africa lower?
Because most of Africa consists of developing countries.
What types of urban contrast exist in cities in developing countries?
There is a strong contrast, as the residential neighbourhoods of the upper classes coexist alongside slums