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Global news with a spatial perspective: Interesting, current supplemental materials for geography students and teachers. http://geographyeducation.org
Curated by
Seth Dixon
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Seth Dixon's insight:
There are many types of housing development patterns throughout the world. This article provides a summary of approximately 20 different housing patterns common in the United States with a visual example demonstrate the impact on the urban footprint (Pictured above is an example of new urbanism in Boulder, CO). Each neighborhood has distinct cultural amenities and attracts particular socioeconomic market segments. Questions to Ponder: What housing patterns are you drawn to? How come? What are the advantages for the residents to live in that type of community? What are the impacts that the housing pattern has on the physical environment and the urban system? What systems are most profitable for developers? How does the layout of the neighborhood alter the sense of place?
Tags: housing, urban, planning, density, urbanism, unit 7 cities. Delete the scoop?
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"Many of the original and innovative contributions to the field of urban sociology came out of the University of Chicago in the early 20th Century. Influenced by the natural sciences, in particular evolutionary biology, members of the Chicago School forwarded an ecological approach to sociology emphasizing the interaction between human behavior, social structures and the built environment. In their view, competition over scarce resources, particularly land, led to the spatial differentiation of urban areas into zones of similar use and similar social groups. Two of the major proponents of urban ecology were Ernest Burgess and Robert E. Park, professors at the University of Chicago, who together in 1925 published a book entitled The City."
Many students struggle with models when there isn't a corresponding example. The Concentric Zone Model and Chicago are a great marriage. Delete the scoop?
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HometownAnnapolis.com - A Web site for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Powered by Capital Gazette Communications and The Capital Newspaper.
This short article discusses the demographic shift in urban areas since the collapse of the housing bubble (explicitly referencing Burgess' Concentric Zone Model!). With higher gas prices discouraging long commutes, is the era of sprawl over? Some feel that suburban housing prices aren't in momentary decline, but that this represents a new normal as we reconceptualize the city and urban land values. For more on the decline of the Exurbs, see: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/04/05/growth-exurbs-falls-historic-low/WEsMHqBISD1n60T7WCJdTO/story.html ; Delete the scoop?
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These are great images that shows the can build historical and geographical empathy for those that were discriminated against during the era of redlining. These maps from the Home Owners' Loan Corporation mapped and shaped regions of urban disinvestment (but the maps were NOT widely circulated). This example of redlining in 1936 Philadelphia, links you to primary source documents if you click on the map. The documents are reports on the property values, resident demographics and descriptions of the residential zones. For more on the Philadelphia redlining research project, visit: http://cml.upenn.edu/redlining/intro.html Delete the scoop?
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George Monbiot: As the balance of the world's population tips from rural to urban, we need strict urban planning to keep cities from collapse... This article provides perspectives on the future of urbanization and the ecological framework within which we build our cities. 
Don Brown Jr's comment,
July 9, 2012 8:47 PM
This article makes me think about the organization of urban demographics in Rhode Island. It puts into question the significance of the invisible lines that separate the boarders of Cranston, Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence and East Providence today.
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Building more housing in cities will make them more dense, but everyone will benefit.
This is an interesting op-ed that focuses on urban density patterns and the economic structure of the jobs available in the city. Good to use when discussing economies of scale, market threshold, agglomeration, etc. Delete the scoop?
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Adapted from the book by Professor Susan Hanson...
This is an excellent review/summary of an edited volume that shows the value of geographic thought and its importance in the modern world. This review conveniently gives a one paragraph synopsis of each chapter. It does not need to be read chronologically, so you can pick and choose what you find relevant to your course. The top 10 are (in order of inclusion in the book): the Idea of the Map, the Weather Map, GIS, Human Adjustment, Water Budget Climatology, Human Transformation of the Earth, Spatial Organization and Interdependence, Central Place Theory, Megalopolis and Sense of Place. Delete the scoop?
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This is a great public Prezi that covers many (all?) of the models and theories that are a part of the AP Human Geography course. I love it when teachers digitally share their resources, so others can benefit from their class work. Delete the scoop?
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This is an excellent interactive map that allows the user to explore the various neighborhoods of New York City and analyze the housing market for a particular income bracket. I've discovered that trying to purchase a home or rent an apartment can be one of the best hands-on lessons in urban social geography. I envision a dynamic project that could be designed around this resource where several members of a group are given different demographic characteristics (for example: single income, 2 married adults, 3 children under 10 years of age) and income levels and a fixed workplace. Where would you live? What determines your choices? What would your personal geographies look like? Delete the scoop?
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What The Netherlands can teach us about child safety and mass protests as effective policy-benders.
Urban planning in the United States often focuses so much the automobile as the primary, essential mode of transportation, that we take it as a given that our cities must be built around current automobile usage patterns. Are there other ways to design cities? The Netherlands provide an informative counter-example to American "automotive-driven" urbanism. Follow the links for the 6 minute video. Delete the scoop?
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Why cities are the best cure for our planet's growing pains...
Debate the merits of this quote from Edward Glaeser: "There's no such thing as a poor urbanized country; there's no such thing as a rich rural country." Is this true? Are there exceptions? What explains these geographic patterns? Is there a causal link between urbanization and economic development? Delete the scoop?
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"A study of 339 present-day hunter-gatherer groups demonstrated that after 'every doubling of population, the home ranges of [those] groups increased by only 70 percent': Every additional person requires less land than the previous one."
This is a very quick, but scientific explanation of why living in dense configurations works. Not that it's without problems, but it's functionality in an era of population growth is clear. Delete the scoop?
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Questions to Ponder: What housing patterns are you drawn to? How come? What are the advantages for the residents to live in that type of community? What are the impacts that the housing pattern has on the physical environment and the urban system? What systems are most profitable for developers? How does the layout of the neighborhood alter the sense of place?
Planned Developments and their effects on geography
My favorite is the one with wide roads for your own airplane to get home.