North American city
The North American city is characterized by a particularly strong suburbanization process , increasing segmentation of its residents and, from the outside, by the typical skyline . The US has an urbanization rate of 77% and Canada one of about 79%. The two Anglo-American states are now among the most urbanized nations on earth.
Historical development
Urbanization began in North America on the east coast by the European colonial powers and immigrants in the 16th and 17th centuries. To the west, the process took place along development axes such as inland waterways and railways .
In the cities of North America there are no typical historical features of a European city such as city walls , castles or marketplaces .
Since the cities were built in a relatively short period of time, they lack architectural and urban planning diversity. They are seldom aligned with a central point, but characterized by a uniform, chessboard-like course of the road. This street system has its beginnings in the renaissance - classicistic layout of the colonial cities of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The only central point of the colonial cities is the county courthouse square as an administrative and commercial center as well as a social hub. This structure can be found in the southwest of the Spanish colonial cities such as Santa Fe with the central plaza , in the south of the French colonial cities such as New Orleans with the vieux carreé and in the northeast of the English colonial cities , such as New Haven with a central parade ground or common in different variations. However, this central square was rarely created in the cities that were created later.
From the end of the 18th century in the USA, and to a lesser extent in Canada, mainly public buildings based on the classical model were laid out. With industrialization in the 19th century, these were enclosed by log buildings, so-called walk-up buildings (with stairs, as there were no elevators). These were primarily built in larger cities, had up to four storeys and were designed monotonously. In smaller cities, outwardly low wooden log houses were built, which are still common today for single-family homes in North America.
The basic pattern of North American cities emerged from the middle of the 19th century. They are essentially divided into downtown , transition area and surrounding areas . Due to the constantly rising land prices and the lack of space in the city center, after the rise of building construction at the end of the 19th century, construction began on the first skyscrapers . The first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago , was built in 1885. This type of construction was made possible because there were no official restrictions on the construction of high-rise buildings. In addition, the technical prerequisites were given with inventions such as the steel frame construction and the electric passenger elevator.
In the following time, the appearance of the skyscrapers changed slightly. In 1916, new building regulations were issued to improve the lighting and ventilation of the streets. Therefore, the skyscrapers tapered towards the top. One example is the Empire State Building in New York City . After the Second World War , high-rise buildings with glass fronts and several wings as well as with mixed uses as residential, office and commercial buildings developed. The business center - also known as the Central Business District (CBD) - in which banks and insurance companies are located, for example , emerged in the core city area.
structure
Elevation
The accumulation of skyscrapers in the city center of a US city creates the characteristic skyline with a contrast between the high-rise buildings as a service and financial center in the city center, downtown , differently used buildings in the transition area and low residential buildings in the suburbs.
Layout
The Central Business District with its skyscrapers forms the central business area of the US city with mainly facilities in the service and financial sector . Due to the street system, the high-rise buildings usually have a floor plan of 100 by 100 meters. In the so-called CBD you will not only find service facilities, but also cultural facilities, leisure and sports facilities and shops. The CBD is located within downtown .
The downtown area is enclosed by a transition zone. A strong differential mix of functions is significant in this area. There are public service facilities, parking lots, train stations but also residential buildings in neglected condition. On the outskirts of downtown, slums of the socially disadvantaged classes of the population are emerging. In cities whose settlement area extends along one side of the river, the city directly opposite often takes on this function. Examples are East St. Louis across from St. Louis or Camden across from Philadelphia . Due to the lack of economic power of a CBD or new industrial settlements, these cities are often completely marked by decline.
The middle-class residential area is located further away from the city center in the transition area. This lives in apartment buildings with a small number of floors and on small plots.
The commercial strips are located along the major entry and exit roads . The basis for their creation was the separation of living and working space. The resulting shuttle traffic created numerous smaller and larger shops and service companies on both sides of the road, which are geared towards the high volume of traffic. The companies benefit from their quick accessibility and cheap parking. The appearance of such streets is characterized by large billboards.
Commercial strips vary greatly in size: they can only be a few hundred meters long, but they can also extend over several miles.
The surrounding area extends around the transition area. There are the suburbs with factories and office buildings along main roads and highways. These industrial and service companies have relocated from the city center to the surrounding area due to cheaper locations. This created an increasing number of jobs in suburban areas.
In addition, so-called gated communities develop when some of the new suburban settlements are closed off from the outside by a fence. Access is only granted through a gate and after ID control. The main reason for this exclusion of certain population groups is the fear of crime .
In the surrounding area are the often very spacious residential areas of the upper middle class and the upper class and therefore also diverse leisure facilities such as golf courses, tennis facilities or walking paths. In general, building density and average age decrease from the inside out, while the level of education and per capita income increase outwards.
In addition, edge cities are emerging . These are urban sub-centers with residential and, above all, office and service functions. They were created in the 1980s on the outskirts of American cities. A location at important traffic junctions, which enables good transport connections, is of great importance.
Structural change and problems
The defining change and at the same time the main problem of the North American city is suburbanization .
The causes for the sudden onset of rapid migration to the outskirts of the cities, especially after 1945, are very diverse. On the one hand, government organizations changed the conditions for lending. On the other hand, the process was favored by better transport connections to the suburbs; especially the government-funded metropolitan freeway system. Furthermore, the Great Depression and the Second World War prevented the construction of apartments. The need for housing in the suburbs was covered by the high density of settlements in the inner city area. In addition, moving to the suburbs was often cheaper for young families due to lower local taxes. The desire for a single-family home away from the narrow, dirty and dangerous inner cities could also be fulfilled by building housing in the surrounding area.
Just like the population, jobs and shopping opportunities also moved to the outskirts. As a result, many people no longer had to drive to the city center to work and shop. In this way, new smaller centers emerged on the outskirts of the cities - the edge cities .
Another process of restructuring in North American cities is gating, which began in the late 1980s and has since spread. It is understood to mean the fencing in or walling of communities in public suburban areas into so-called " gated communities ". The causes for the emergence of these settlement communities are different. On the one hand, the legal basis for the creation of such organizational structures was created. On the other hand, the development process was influenced by the market economy . In addition, a desire for security or exclusivity developed among the population. The gating has meanwhile spread from the upper class to the middle class to the lower class.
The socially weaker classes move to the city-center districts where the affluent population used to live. This leads to the development of slums with decaying buildings and a lack of facilities such as schools and hospitals . Due to their one-sided social structure, these slums are often refuge for immigrants and illegals.
As a result of the ongoing process of suburbanization, especially with the emergence of “gated communities” of the affluent strata of the population and the simultaneous decline of inner cities in poor neighborhoods, North American cities have developed into so-called “dual cities”.
Another process in the structural change in North American cities is decentralization . The commercial strips caused by the commuter traffic represent a shift of the service area to the outer areas of the city. As a result, the cities are also spreading further and an increasing urban sprawl can be observed as a negative phenomenon.
The construction of the skyscrapers is also problematic. On the one hand, the associated concentration of employment in the Central Business District is causing an increasing volume of traffic, which is particularly problematic at rush hour . On the other hand, the urban climate is influenced by the high-rise buildings. There are wind currents or road sections that are permanently in the shade.
In the dense road network of the colonial era, there is an intersection with four access roads every 100 meters. This road system already turned out to be problematic at the beginning of the automobile age; there are dangers to road users and obstacles to traffic. One attempt at a solution is the one-way system , which, however, can force the driver to make considerable detours.
See also
swell
- Geography Info Center: USA - Cities at www.klett.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The North American city ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Worksheet: The North American Urban System, p. 36 (3 of 9)
- ↑ The North American City ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), Colonial Cities: Basics of the Cityscape, p. 39 (6 of 9)
- ↑ a b c The North American city ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Identification of the elevation, p. 40 (7 of 9)
- ↑ a b The North American city ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Characteristics of the floor plan, p. 40 (7 of 9)
