THE CULTURAL EBOOK

422 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

Renewed Attraction of Computer manufacturing is an example of an industry
Traditional Industrial Regions that has concentrated in relatively high-wage, high-skilled
communities of the United States (Figure 11-45). Even
Learning Outcome 11.4.3 the clothing industry has not completely abandoned the
Explain reasons for renewed attraction of traditional Northeast. Dresses, woolens, and other "high-end" cloth-
industrial regions. ing products are still made in the region. They require more
skill in cutting and assembling the material, and skilled
Given the strong lure of low-cost labor in new industrial textile workers are more plentiful in the Northeast and
regions, why would any industry locate in one of the tradi- California than in the South (Figure 11-46).
tional regions, especially in the northeastern United States
or northwestern Europe? Two location factors influence
industries to remain in these traditional regions: availabil-
ity of skilled labor and rapid delivery to market.

PROXIMITY TO SKILLED LABOR IComputtr tmi,laymtnt (numb" o1tmployltS)
. 5.00011\-0 1.~.99, 9dow • 000
Henry Ford boasted that he could take people off the street
and put them to work with only a few minutes of training. • FIGURE11-45 COMPUTERANO PERIPHERAELQUIPMENT
That has changed for some industries, which now want MANUFACTURINGManufacturersof computingequ;pmenst eekaccessto
skilled workers instead. The search for skilled labor has skilledworkersto performprecisiontasks.Theassemblywork that requires
important geographic implications because it is an asset lower-skilledworkersis doneabroad,mostlyin Asia,asshownin the caseof
found principally in the traditional industrial regions. the iPhone{Figure11-46).

Traditionally, factories assigned each worker one spe- •-el,..-,Cullin;andsewing ct efflllloyeesJ
cific task to perform repeatedly. Some geographers call this
approach Fordist production, or mass production, because S.000aodabo;e I ,oolH,999 Bel""I IIOO
the Ford Motor Company was one of the first companies
to organize its production this way early in the twentieth .AFIGURE11-46 THEAPPARELINDUSTRYWhat'sleftof the U.Sa.
century. At its peak, Ford's factory complex along the River industryis concentratedin Californiaandthe Northeast.
Rouge in Dearborn, Michigan, near Detroit, employed
more than 100,000. Most of these workers did not need
education or skills to do their jobs, and many were immi-
grants from Europe or the southern United States.

Many industries now follow a lean, or flexible, produc-
tion approach. The term post-Fordist production is some-
times used to describe lean production, in contrast with
Fordist production. Another carmaker is best known for pi-
oneering lean production-in this case, Toyota. Four types
of work rules distinguish post-Fordist lean production:

• Teams. Workers are placed in teams and told to figure out
for themselves how to perform a variety of tasks. Com-
panies are locating production in communities where
workers are willing to adopt more flexible work rules.

• Problem solving. A problem is addressed through con-
sensus after consulting with all affected parties rather
than through filing a complaint or grievance.

• Leveling. Factory workers are treated alike, and manag-
ers and veterans do not get special treatment; they wear
the same uniform, eat in the same cafeteria, park in the
same lot, and participate in the same athletic and social
activities.

• Productivity. Factories have become more productive

through introduction of new machinery and processes.
Rather than requiring physical strength, these new ma-
chines and processes require skilled operators, typically
with college degrees.

Chapter 11: Industryand Manufacturing 423

JUST-IN-TIME DELIVERY orders placed primarily over the Internet or by telephone.
In some cases, just-in-time delivery merely shifts the bur-
Proximity to market has long been important for many den of maintaining inventory to suppliers. Wal-Mart, for
types of manufacturers, as discussed earlier in this chap- example, holds low inventories but tells its suppliers to
ter. This factor has become even more important in recent hold high inventories "just in case" a sudden surge in de-
years because of the rise of just-in-time delivery. As the mand requires restocking on short notice.
name implies, just-in-time is shipment of parts and mate-
rials to arrive at a factory moments before they are needed. Just-in-time delivery means that producers have less
Just-in-time delivery is especially important for delivery of inventory to cushion against disruptions in the arrival of
inputs, such as parts and raw materials, to manufacturers needed parts. Three kinds of disruptions can result from
of fabricated products, such as cars and computers. reliance on just-in-time delivery:

Under just-in-time, parts and materials arrive at a fac- • Labor unrest. A strike at one supplier plant can shut
tory frequently, in many cases daily or even hourly. Sup- down the entire production within a couple of days.
pliers of the parts and materials are told a few days in A strike in the logistics industry, such as a strike by
advance how much will be needed over the next week or truckers or dockworkers, could also disrupt deliveries.
two, and first thing each morning, they are told exactly
what will be needed at precisely what time that day. To • Traffic. Deliveries may be delayedwhen traffic is slowed
meet a tight timetable, a supplier of parts and materials
must locate factories near its customers. If given only an by accident, construction, or unusually heavy volume.
hour or two of notice, a supplier has no choice but to Trucks and trains are both subject to these types of de-
locate a factory within 50 miles or so of the customer. lays, especially crossing international borders.

Just-in-time delivery reduces the money that a manu- • Natural hazards. Poor weather conditions can afflict de-
facturer must tie up in wasteful inventory. In fact, the per- liveries anywhere in the world. Blizzards and floods can
centage of the U.S. economy tied up in inventory has been close highways and rail lines. The 2011 earthquake and
cut in half during the past three decades. Manufacturers tsunami in Japan put many factories and transporta-
also save money through just-in-time delivery by reduc- tion lines out of service for months. Carmakers around
ing the size of the factory because space does not have to the world had to curtail production because key parts
be wasted on piling up a mountain of inventory. Leading had been made at the damaged factories. Superstorm
computer manufacturers have eliminated inventory alto- Sandy, which hit the East Coast of the United States in
gether. They build computers only in response to customer 2012, severely disrupted transportation and delivery of
goods and energy in the most densely population re-
gion of the country (Figure 11-47).

► FIGURE11-47 NATURALHAZARDS:

SUPERSTORSAMNDYSuperstormSandy,
whichhit the EastCoastofthe UnitedStates
in 2012, disruptedtravelfor severaldays.In
NewYorkCitys,ubwaysand tunnelswere
closedbecauseof floodingP. eoplewalked
acrosstheBrooklyBn ridgeto get to work.
whileprivatecars,taxis,and deliverytrucks
sat bumper-to-bumpoern the bridge.

424 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

A GLOBAL INDUSTRY: WHAT IS -- ...._,,,.,......
AN AMERICAN CAR?
Honda Civic
Distinctions between "American" and "foreign" j
motor vehicles have been blurred for the past three 20 40 60 80
decades. Popular media have delighted in showcas- p.,cent U.S. asaembly
ing examples of "American" vehicles produced by
the Detroit 3 (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors) .._FIGURE 11-48 "AMERICAANN"D"FOREIGNCA" RSThex axisshowsthe
that have lower U.S.content than those produced percentageof thesevehiclessoldin the UnitedStatesthatwereassembledin
by "Japanese" carmakers such as Honda and Toy- the UnitedStatesin 2011.Theyaxisshowsthe percentageof U.S.-madpearts
ota. The U.S. government distinguishes between in thesevehicles.
domestic and foreign vehicles in three ways:
• BMW's X3 was assembled in the United States wit!
• For measuring fuel efficiency, the U.S. En- parts mostly imported from Germany.
vironmental Protection Agency considers a
vehicle domestic if at least 75 percent of its • Honda Civics were assembled either in the United Stat(
content comes from North America, orig- with mostly U.S.-made parts, assembled in Canada wit
inally defined as the United States and Canada, and, mostly U.S.-made parts, or imported from Japan wit
after enactment of the North American Free Trade mostly Japanese-made parts.
Agreement (NAFTA),including Mexico.
Pause and Reflect 11.4.3
• For setting import tariffs, the U.S. Department of Trea- Why might weather conditions encourage companie
sury Customs Service considers as domestic a vehicle to locate factories in the U.S. South rather than the
having at least 50 percent U.S. and Canadian content. North?

• For informing consumers, the American Automobile CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE4
Labeling Act of 1992 considers a vehicle domestic if
at least 85 percent of the parts originate in the United Why Are Situation and Site Factors
States and Canada; a part is counted as domestic if at Changing?
least 70 percent of its overall content comes from the
United States and Canada. ✓ Industry is moving from the North to the Sout
within the United States; in many cases, lowe
According to data derived from Labeling Act reports, cost nonunion labor is the principal factor.
vehicles built by foreign-owned carmakers at assembly
plants located in the United States have around 60 percent ✓ Low-cost labor is also inducing firms to locate
domestic content. Domestic content for the Detroit 3 is 76 in countries that are not part of the tradition,
percent. The lower domestic content for foreign carmak- industrial regions.
ers masks differences among individual companies. Honda
and Toyota have a level of U.S. content comparable to that ✓ On the other hand, some industry is attracter
of the Detroit 3. German-ovmed carmakers such as BMW to traditional industrial regions because of
and Daimler-Benz have much lower percentages. the need for skilled labor or rapid delivery tc
consumers.
After opening assembly plants in the United States
during the 1980s, Japanese-owned carmakers convinced
many of their Japanese-owned suppliers to build factories
in the United States. The gap in domestic content has also
narrowed because the Detroit 3 bought more foreign parts.
'More than one-fourth of all new vehjcle parts are im-
ported. Mexico has become the leading source of imported
parts, and China has been increasing its share rapidly.

Figure 11-48 shows the extent to which several popular
vehicles are "American." The x axis shows the percentage
of these vehicles sold in the United States that were as-
sembled in the United States in 2011. They axis shows the
percentage of U.S.-made parts in these vehicles.

• GM's Chevrolet Malibu was assembled entirely in the
United States with all but a handful of U.S.-made parts.

• Toyota's Prius was assembled in Japan with Japanese-
made parts.

• Ford's Fusion was assembled in Mexico with about one-
half U.S. parts.

Chapter 11; Industry and Manufacturing 425

Summary

1KEY ISSUE

Where Is Industry Distributed? THINKINGGEOGRAPHICALLY11.1: What are the principal manu-
facturers in your community or area? How have they been af-
The concept of manufacturing goods in a factory originated \'\'ith fected by increasing global competition?
the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom.
GOOGLE EARTH11.1: Coalbrookdale, England, is considered the
LEARNINGOUTCOME11.1.1: Describe the locations oi the princi- birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, because a factory here was
pal industrial regions. the first to produce high-quality iron using coal. What structure,
\·isible in 3D, was the first io the world to be made of cast iron?
• ~fost of the world's industry is clustered in the three regions:
Europe, North America, and East Asia.

Key Terms Bulk-reducing industry p 3981 .\n mdu\t'V 111which the ttnal product
weigh, h:ss or ~ompri~.:sJ lower ~olume tl1.1nth..-mouts.
,\cid depo~ition p. -t 1-tl \ul ur ox1Lh:SJnd 111trog1mo;,.1d1tsl',Olttltd by
burrting fos~Hlucl,, that enter th<: atmosphere-" hue th-:~ rnmltns Chlorofluorocarbon (CfC) !p 413 A gas u,ed as a ,olvent a
\,·11hon gen and w.iter to form sc11fu~.tand JIH.l nit11t .iad- ,md propellant in acrosnh, a refngtrant, and in pla,tk foams and fire
rerurn to Carth's surface. extinguhher~
Acid precipitation 1p. -I I•ti Conversion of ,ultur o.xidd and nitrogen ox- Cottage ,nc!ustry (p. 3951 \lanufaLluring ba,cJ in homes ratht!r tl1an 111
ide, to actJ, thlt return tv Furth a~ •Jin. ,now. or h~ flct rh!s. common!\ fow1d p: or to the lm.lu~trial Revolution.

Air pollution 1p. -I 12)Concentration of tract"substance,. such a~,arlmn Perrous <p. 1981 Metah, includ ng iron, that are uti,i£ld 111 the produc-
mono\1dL sulfur dioxide nitr ge,1 oxide~.h~Or"' arl>on, l" - > Id • 01 of :ron ,md \t,:d
partKulates at a gre.1ter level than occur, m average air
App,,rel (p. 110> \n 1r ick nf l o,hi"lg Fon.list produltion <p. .;22 .\ torm of mass prudurnon i11\\'hich ,;ad1
1,orke, i, .i.ss1gnc'I.oIn\' ,pclitic ta,!,; to perform repeJtt,Jly.
Biochemical o,-ygen demand (BOD) (p. -117)The amount of oxygen rt:·
q11ircdby aquatiL bactcr.a to dc<.:ompnsea given load oi organic \\JStc: Grc"nhouse effeo 1p. -11? Ihe antidpated mcrease 1n l:.arth's t.:mpcra-
a measur~ of water pollution tur.: LJused hy Larbon Jioxide 1emitted b> burning loss·1 tll'bl crap-
ping some ,-,fthe radiation em:tteJ by the surface.
Break-of-bulk point (p. -102)A location where transter 1spo1sible from
one mode of lramport.ition to another Industrial Rc1·olution (p. 395) A 5eries oi unprowmu1ts n muu,trial
tech•1oiogv fiat trar>sfurmed the proces, of manufacturing goo<ls.
Bulk-gaining industry (p 400) An industry in which the final product
weighs more or comprises.111reatervo,ume t'lar t'le mpu•~ Just-in-time delivery (p. 423 ~hipment of parts and material, to arn\·e
at a factor: momenh before they are needed.

Labor-intensive industry (p -!ORIAn indus•ry for which labor co~ts
comprise a high pctLentage of total expcmes.

426 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE2

Why Are Situation and Site Factors Important? LEARNINGOUTCOME11.2.6: List the three types of site factors

Manufacturers select locations for factories based on assessing a • The three site factors are labor, capital, and land.
combination of situation and site factors.
• A labor-Intensive industry has a high percentage of labor
LEARNINGOUTCOME11.2.1: Identify the two types of situation the production process.
factors and explain why some industries locate near inputs.
LEARNINGOUTCOME 11.2.7: Explain the distribution of texti
• Situation factors involve minimizing the cost of shipping and apparel production.
from sources of inputs or to markets.
• The clothing industry is a labor-intensive industry.
• A location near sowces of inputs is optimal for bulk-reducing
industries. • Three steps in production are spinning, weaving, and Se'l'.ia
Most spinning and weaving occur in low-wage countries, b
• Industries that extract a large amount of minerals tend to be some sewing occurs in developed countries near consum11rs
bulk-reducing industries.
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY11.2: To induce Kia to build its U
lEARNINGOUTCOME11 .2.2: Explain why some industries locate production factlity in Georgia, the state spent $36 million to bu
near markets. the site; S25 million to prepare the site, including grading; B

• Bulk-gaining industries, single-market manufacturers, and per- million to provide road improvements, including an interchanj
ishable products companies tend to locate near markets.
off 1-8S; $6 million to build a rail spur; S20 million to constntct
LEARNINGOUTCOME11.2.3: Explain why industries use different training center; S6 million to operate the center for five yeah;
types of transportation. million to develop a training course; S76 million in tax credi
S14 million in sales tax exemptions; and $41 million in trainl
• Trucks are most often used for short-distance delivery, trains equipment. Did Georgia overpay to win the Kia factory? Explai
for longer trips within a region, ships for ocean crossings, and
planes for \·ery high-value packages. GOOGLE EARTH 11.2: The largest steel works in the Unl
States, the US Steel complex at Gary, Indiana, sits at the so,
• Some firms locate near break-of-bulk points, where goods are end of Lake Ylichigan. How many modes of transport deliver
transferred between modes of transportation. raw materials to the plant can you see?

LEARNINGOUTCOME11.2.4:

Describe how the optimal location for steel production has
changed.

• Steel production has traditionally been located near inputs,
but the relative importance of the two main inputs-coal and
iron ore-has changed.

• Some steel production, especially rninimills, is now located
near the markets.

• Industries that extract a large amount of minerals tend to be
bulk-reducing industries.

LEARNINGOUTCOME11.2.S:

Explain the distribution of motor vehicle production.

• Because they are bulk-gaining products, most motor vehicles
are assembled near their markets.

• The distribution of motor vehicle production has changed be-
cause the distribution of buyers has changed.

Maquiladora{p. Hi1Af,cto~ huiltb\ at· s ,c,mp.inv 111:,,.1e,K, n.:..r Photochemical smog p. -11-l \n ,1tmusphe11ccondition forn
the 1· S. l rdcr '.o tdke ad\'antag~ of the muLh lower IJhor c<',ts !n thr ,rgh 3 c ,r1! inauon ol weather cundiu11n, and pollution
'.\lexko dallv from motor vehide cmis,ion,

New ,nternational di\ i5ion of labor p -l2LJ rrJmler of ,omc type, of Point-sourLe pollution Ip .; lb1 Pollution that enter~ ,1 bod)
jobs e,p,..:1al.} :.'lO>~r, cuiririg I ,w-pa1d, less-sklll,•d worker, from fr r1.: )[ <:eii.c ~our~e.
mor. de\'cloped to less de\·eloped o>untrit>s.
Post-I ordi)t production <p.-1221Adopt;on b}' .:n!ll"l'1ic) .f
'\'onferrom Ip. 3981 \letab utilized to make µrodu,t~ other th,,n iron work rules. ~uch as the allocation of \\l>rker) to teams l11atpc
and )tt>el. Vilrl<'ty of t.isk~.

'.llonpoint-source pollution p. -1161Pollution that ori6inate, from a Right-to-1~ork law (p. .Jlbl \ U.S.law that pre\·ents a urnor
larg,, Jifh11ca·ea. compJn) from negoliatin~ a contract that r~-qum.:sworker,
union as a condition of employment.
Outsourcing 1p -±20 \ decision by a corporarion to turn over much of
the re\pon~ibilily for producrion to independent suppliers. Sanitary landfill (p 4141 ,.\place to deposit solid waste, whe
earth 1shullJozt:d over garbage earn day to reduct: emimor
Ozone (p. 413) i\ gas that ab,orbs ultraviolet solar radiation, found rn th~ a:1d odors from the dtcaylng tra,h to mi'1im1ze hrcs and I
stratosphere a zone 15 to 51 kilometer, \9 to 30 mile,• aboH: Earth~ age \ermin.
surface

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 427

KEY ISSUE 3 KEY ISSUE4

/IJhyDoes Industry Cause Pollution? Why Are Situation and Site Factors Changing?

lndustry is a major polluter of air, land, and water. lndustry is on the move within developed countries, as well as to
emerging developing countries.
LEARNING OUTCOME 11.3.1: Describe the causes and effects of
global warmlng and damage to the ozone layer. LEARNINGOUTCOME 11.4.1: Explain reasons for changing distri-
bution of industry within the United States.
• Air pollution occurs at global, regional, and local scales.
• Industry is moving from the Xorth to the South within the
• At the global scale, the principal pollution is global warming, United States.
caused primarily by burning of fossil fuels in factories and
vehicles. • Lower labor costs and absence of unions are major factors in
the migration.
LEARNING OUTCOME 11.3.2: Describe the causes and effects of
regional and local-scale air pollution and solid waste pollution. LEARNING OUTCOME 11.4.2: Explain reasons for the emergence
of new industrial regions.
• Acid deposition is a major form of regional-scale air pollu-
• Some jobs have been transferred to low-wage countries as part
tion. Sulfuric acid and nitric acid generated by burning of fos-
sil fuels fall into bodies of water. of the new international division of labor.

• Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and particulates are the • The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China} are ex-
major forms of local-scale air pollution. pected to be the top industrial powers by the middle of the
hventy-first century.
• Solid waste is typically placed in landfills or incinerated.
LEARNING OUTCOME 11.4.3: Explain reasons for renewed attrac-
LEARNING OUTCOME 11.3.3: Compare and contrast point and tion of traclitlonal industrial regions.
nonpoint sources of water poJlution.
• Traditional industrial regions attract and retain indmtries
• Point-source pollution originates from a specific place, such as that need skilled labor.
a pipe, generated principally by factories and sewage disposal.
• Just-in-time delivery has increased the attraction of locating
• Nonpoint sources are generated primarily by agricultural runoff. near consumers.

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY 11.3: What are the major pollut- THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY 11.4: What have been the ben-
ers in or near your community? efits and costs to Canada, Mexico, and the United States as a re-
sult of !\ATTA?
GOOGLE EARTH 11.3: The world's largest electronics manufac-
turer, FoxConn, has a large complex in Longhua, Shenzhen, GOOGLE EARTH 11.4: rf you fly to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, sev-
China. How many different FoxConn buildings are labeled in eral maq11i/adomplants can be seen on the northern edge of the
Longhua? city, near the U.S. border, along the Rio Grande River (Rio Bravo
in Spanish). What is the distance from the maq11iladoracomplex
to the nearest border crossing?

Site factors 'P· 398) Location factor~ relakd 10 th~ costs ol ~ac~orsof MasteringGeography™
production inside a plant, \uLh as lant.l. lahor, and capital.
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• l LIIII I

Servicesand

Settlements

Whyare thesefarm fields long andnarrowrather than square
Page449

KEY ISSUE KEY ISSUE 2

Where Are Where Are
Services Consumer
Distributed? Services
Distributed?

More and More Servicesp. 431 Servicesfor Peoplep. 434

Mostjobs-and most of the growth in jobs-is in services. Servicesfor peopleare locatedwherethe peopleare.

428

I 437 J' A Needto haveyour computerfixed?Correcta
mistakeon yourcreditcard bill?Changeyour plane
.) ... ~ reservation?Thecompanywhosename is o.nthe
computer,credit card,or airplanemaynot actu•
-araJnCaY&, 4' allyemploythe personwho answeredyourcall.
a.11,p.4 Instead,the call-answeringjob mayhavebeen
contractedout to another companyknownas a call
center.Callcentersare one of the fastest-growing
servicesinthe globaleconomy.Manyof them are
located in India,includingthis one in Kolkata.

Cayman Islands, p.

Keoya,p.448

KEYISSUE3 KEY ISSl!JE4

Where Are Why Do Services
Business Services Cluster in
Distributed? Settlements?

Servicesfor Businesseps. 442 A World of UrbanServicesp. 448

Mostbusiness servicesare invery large settlements. Settlements can be ruralor urban;the urban ones are growing.

429

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~t : • II I I ••I !1 tI ' I
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1i I 11j I ~I' ~ I
II ll r I I II l I ! • [ I" I I'
I I rJ ' r ;I • l' I f II
' I• I f

Introducing

Services and
Settlements

In developed countries, most peo-
ple work in such places as shops, of-
fices, restaurants, universities, and
hospitals. These are examples of
the tertiary, or service, sector of the

economy.

A service is any activity that fulfills a human want

or need and returns money to those who provide

it. A smaller number of people work on farms or in

factories, the primary and secondary sectors. A ~IGURE 12-1 CLUSTERING OF RETAIL SERVICES

In sorting out where services are distributed in space, ge- Retaisl ervicesclusterat placess, uchas freewayexits,thatmaximizaeccessibility

ographers see a close link between services and ,ettlements forconsumers.
because ser,ices are located in settlements. A settlement is

a permanent collection of buildlngs where people reside,

work, and obtain services. Settlements range in size from

tiny rural villages with barely 100 inhabitants to teeming Services cluster in developed countries because more peo-
cities with 20 million people. They occupy a very small per- ple able to buy services live there. Within developed coun-
centage of Earth's surface, well under l percent, but settle-
tries, larger cities offer a larger scale of services than do

ments are home to nearly all humans because few people small towns because more customers reside there.

live in isolation. Every urban settlement in the Uni.ted States above a
Explaining why services are clustered in settlements is
certain size has a branch of a large retail chain, 5LIChas a

at one level straightforward for geographers. ln geographic 1',lcDonald's restaurant, and the larger cilie~ have several. ln
terms, only one locational factor is critical for a service- England, every city above a certain size has a Tesco super-
proximity to the market. The optimal location of indmtry,
market, and the larger cities have several. In a developed

described in Chapter 11, requires balancing a number of country, the demand for many types of services produces
site and situation factors, but the optimal location for a regular co1111ectio1a1msong settlements.

service is simply near its customers. 1• KEY ISSUE divides services-consumer, business, and
On the other hand, locating a service calls for far more
public-and discusses changes in employment in lhese
precise geographic skills than locating a factory. TI1e op- main types of services.

timal location for a faclory may be an area of several 2• KEY ISSUE examines wliere services targeted primar-

hundred square kilometers-such as Honda's factory, de- ily to consumers arc located.

scribed in the Contemporary Geographic Tools box in • KEYISSUE 3 looks al the distribution of services lar-

Chapter l 1-whereas the optimal location for a service may
be a very specific pince, such as a street comer (Figure 12-1).

Service providers often say that the three critical factors geted primarily to businesses. Within developed coun-

in selecting a suitable site are "location, location, and lo- tries, fast-food restaurants may be located in every scttle-
cation." Although geographically imprecise, the expression menl, but business services cluster in particular locations.

is a way for nongeographers to appreciate that a successful
service must carefully select its precise location. [ndustries
4I
• KEYISSUE explains wl,y a disproportionately large

I can locate in remote areas, confident that workers, water, share of services cluster in large settlements. As in other
and highways will be brought to the location if necessary. economic and cultural features, geographers observe

The distribution of services must follow to a large extent the trends toward both globalization and local diversity in

distribution of where people live, within a city, country, or the distribution of services. ln terms of globalization,

the provision of services is increasingly uniform from

one urban settlement to another, especially within

veloped countries. At the same time, local diversity i
r

delI
world region.
alive and well in a settlement's distinct mix of services
However, if services were located merely where people

lived, then China and India would have the most, rather

than the United States and other developed countries.

430

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 431

KEY ISSUE 1 ConsumerServices

Where Are Services - Retail&Wholesale
Distributed? Heatth& social

■ Three Types of Services -Education
■ Rising and Falling Service Employment Leisure& hospitality
OtherU.Sj.obs

Services generate IJlOiethan two-thirds of GDP in most de-
veloped countries, compared to less than one-half in most
developing countries (Figure 12-2). Logically, the distribu-

tion of service workers is opposite that of the percentage of
primary workers (refer to Figure 10-6).

Three Types of Services

The service sector of the economy is subdivided into three
types-consumer services, business services, and public
services. Each of these sectors is divided into several major
subsectors.

CONSUMER SERVICES

The principal purpose of consumer services is to provide l
services to indlvidual consumers who desire them and can
afford to pay for them. Nearly one-half of all jobs in the 4. FIGURE 12-3 U.S. CONSUMER SERVICES Mostconsumerservicejobs
United States are in consumer services. Four main types of are in retailand restaurants,
consumer services are retail, education, health, and leisure
(Figure 12-3):

• Retail and wholesale services comprise about 14 percent • Education services comprise about 15 percent of all U.S.
of all U.S. jobs. Department stores, grocers, and motor jobs. Figure 12-3 shows only 9.5 percent in education
vehicle sales and service account for nearly one-half of

these jobs; another one-fourth are wholesalers that pro- services, because it does not include public school teach-
vide merchandise to retailers. ers, who are shown separately in Figure 12-5.

• Health and social services com-

T FIGURE 12-2 PERCENTAGE OF GDP FROM SERVICES Servicesaccountfor morethan two-thirds prise about 14 percent of all

of GDPin developedcountriesc, omparedto lessthanone-halfin developingcountries. U.S. jobs. One-third are in hos-

pitals, one-half in other health

care services, such as doctors'

offices and nursing homes, and

one-sixth in social assistance.

"O' • Leisure and hospitality services

PACIFJC comprise about 9 percent of all
U.S.jobs. Three-fourths of these
OCEA.n jobs are in restaurants, bars, and
lodging; the other one-fourth
... are the arts and entertainment.
20''--,----,---:----

O'--t----~,-,['•
180' 1•0'

PercenGt OP 2f/'
from services

• 70andabove 100' 8(1 I
50-69 O' !O' 60' BO' 100' 120' 1-IO' 160' 180'
Selow50
nodata

-. '

.

432 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

BUSINESS SERVICES PublicServices

Learning Outcome 12.1.1 • Governmewntorkers
Describe the three types of services and changing Olherservices
numbers of types of jobs.
• OtheUr .S.Jobs

The principal purpose of business services is to facilitate A FIGURE12-5 U.S. PUBLICSERVICESMostpublicservicejobsare in loc
the activities of other businesses. One-fourth of all jobs in government.
the United States are in business services. Professional ser-
vices, financial services, and transportation services are the PUBLIC SERVICES
three main types of business services (Figure 12-4):
• Professionaslervicescomprise about 11 percent of all U.S. The purpose of public services is to provide security ar
protection for citizens and businesses. About 10 percent 1
jobs. Technical services, including law, management, all U.S. jobs are in the public sector (Figure 12-5). Excludir
accounting, architecture, engineering, design, and con- educators 1 one-sixth of public-sector employees work f1
sulting, comprise 60 percent of professional services the federal government, one-fourth for one of the SOsta
jobs. Support services, such as clerical, secretarial, and governments, and three-fifths for one of the tens of tho
custodial work, account for the other 40 percent. sands of local governments (Figure 12-5). The census cla
• Financialservicescomprise about 7 percent of all U.S. sifies another 5 percent of jobs as "other services" becau
jobs. This sector is often called "FIRE," an acronym for they don't fall logically under the categories of consumt
finance, insurance, and real estate. One-half of the fi- business, and public services.
nancial services jobs are in banks and other financial
institutions, one-third in insurance companies, and the Pause and Reflect 12.2.1
remainder in real estate. In which sectors of the economy do you or members
• Transportationand information servicescomprise about of your family work? If in the service sector, in which
7 percent of all U.S. jobs. Transportation, primarily types of services are these jobs?
trucking and warehousing, account for 60 percent of
these jobs. The other 40 percent are in information ser-
vices such as publishing and broadcasting, as well as
utilities such as water and electricity.

BusN1e-sSservice.
• Prof,!>!ionat

Tral\SPortatio&nInformation
-FlsMcial

OU-.eJSU,JoDS

Rising and Falling Service
Employment

The service sector of the economy has seen nearly all tl
growth in employment worldwide. It is also the sector th
has been impacted the most by the severe recession th
began in 2008.

A FIGURE12-4 U.S. BUSINESSSERVICESMostbusinessservicejobsare CHANGESIN NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
in professionaslervices.
Figure 12-6 shows changes in employment in the Unit
States between 1972 and 2010. All the growth in emplc
ment in the United States has been in services, wherE

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 433

140 ~--------------- employment agencies. Jobs grew more slowly in finance
and transportation services because of improved effi-
120 ()=<Government "'Cl) "O ciency-fewer workers are needed to run trains and answer
phones, for example.
100 -•eCr:
On the consumer services side, the most rapid increase
v, 80 ~ () has been in the provision of health care, including hos-
pital staff, clinics, nursing homes, and home health-care
,.Q0., 0the!'servlces programs. Other large increases have been recorded in edu-
cation, entertainment, and recreation. The share of jobs in
C: Health and 0 --i retailing has not increased; more stores are opening all the
private educatron 0 time, but they don't need as many employees as in the past.
~ ::, Ct>
Leisure and SERVICES IN THE RECESSION
:E60 hospitality Cl> ;}.
C: The service sector of the economy has been the engine of
Retail -<0) growth in the economy of developed countries, even as
3 industry and agriculture have declined. But it was the ser-
Cl> vice sector that triggered the severe economic recession
~ that began in 2008. Principal contributors to the recession
~ were some of the practices involved in financial services
Cl> and real estate services, including:
Q
,r<Ct> • A rapid rise in real estate prices, encouraging specula-
tors to acquire properties for the purpose of reselling
(D them quickly at even higher prices.
Cl>
• Poor judgment in lending by financial institutions, es-
40 co pecially by offering "subprirne" mortgages to individuals
20 whose poor credit history made the loans highly risky.
C:
o '------------- Cl> • Invention of new financial services practices, such as de-
1975 1980 rivatives, in which investors bought and sold risky assets,
5 with the expectation that the value of the assets would
continually rise.
Ct>
• Decisions by government agencies to reduce or elimi-
~ nate regulation of the practices of financial institutions.

0, • Unwillingness of financial institutions to make loans
once the recession started.
(1)
The early twenty-first century recession was also distinc-
< tive because it rapidly affected every other region of the
world. At the same time, the impact of the global recession
ff varied by region and locality.
ig
The early twenty-first century recession resulted in an
Manufacturing }"'~(1) () absolute decHne in world GNI for the first time since the
Construction ~g 1930s (Figure 12-7). GNI grew by an annual average of
0..,-"C<.' 3. 7 percent between 1960 and the start of the recession ln
2008. Only twice in that time did GNI grow at a rate of less
1985 1990 1995 ..... --4-,-prlmary sector than 1 percent per year.
Year 2000 2005 2010 (Agriculture

and Mining)

.& FIGURE12-6 CHANGES IN U.S. EMPLOYMENT Jobshaveincreasedin
the servicesector.

employment in primary- and secondary-sector activities
has declined.

Within business services, iobs expanded most rapidly in
professional services (such as engineering, management,
and law), data processing, advertising, and temporary

10
-world

- Developincgountries

- Developedcountries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE1

Years Where Are Services Distributed?

A FIGURE12-7 GNI CHANGEGNIpercapitadeclinedduringthe severe ✓ Three types of servicesare consumer,business,
recessionthat beganin2008. and public.

✓ The fastest-growingconsumerserviceis health
care, and the fastest-growing businessserviceis
professional.

I"' I' " ' I l .-)·'I'I
,l, ·•1I ·I1 I I I' , I II' ,111j ,1,.1'1 ' I t j I 1·' I.r I I I,, 11 ,1'1 1'I I; r I' r,.. , . 1l ) I ~ 1r.1, ' 111'
Il I• 1I
41 I j I HI Ii J' [ .. I l
II 'I I
!' ' 'l I I: I II I' I' I ' ' I J, .
II Lf
II

434 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE 2 Central place theory was first proposed in the 1930s by
German geographer Walter Christaller, based on his stud-
Where Are Consumer ies of southern Germany. August Losch in Germany and
Brian Berry and others in the United States further devel-
oped the concept during the 1950s.

Services Distributed? MARKET AREA OF A SERVICE

■ Central Place Theory A central place is a market center for the exchange of
■ Hierarchy of Consumer Services goods and services by people attracted from the surround-
■ Market Area Analysis ing area. The central place is so called because it is centrally
located to maximize accessibility. Businesses in central
learning Outcome 12.2.1 places compete against each other to serve as markets for
Explain the concepts of market area, range, and goods and services for the surrounding region. According
threshold. to central place theory, this competition creates a regular
Consumer services and business services do not have the
same distributions. Consumer services generally follow a pattern of settlements.
regular pattern based on size of settlements, with larger The area surrounding a service from which customers
settlements offering more consumer services than smaller
ones. The next Key Issue will describe how business ser- are attracted is the market area, or hinterland. A market
vices cluster in specific settlements, creating a specialized area is a good example of a nodal region-a region with a
pattern. core where the characteristic is most intense. To establish
the market area, a circle is drawn around the node of ser-
Central Place Theory vice on a map. The territory inside the circle is its market
area.
Selecting the right location for a new shop is probably
the single most important factor in the profitability of Because most people prefer to get services from the
a consumer service. Central place theory helps to ex- nearest location, consumers near the center of the circle
plain how the most profitable location can be identified. obtain services from local establishments. The closer to
the periphery of the circle, the greater the percentage of
250 consumers who will choose to obtain services from other
D 250 500KJOmeters nodes. People on the circumference of the market-area cir-
cle are equally likely to use the service or go elsewhere.
The United States can be divided into market areas based
on the hinterlands surrounding the largest urban settle-
ments (Figure 12-8). Studies conducted by C. A. Doxiadis,

Brian Berry, and the U.S. Depart-
ment of Commerce allocated the 48
contiguous states to 171 functional
regions centered around commut-
ing hubs, which they called "daily
urban systems."

To represent market areas in
central place theory, geographers
draw hexagons around settlements
(Figure 12-9). Hexagons represent
a compromise between circles anti
squares. Like squares, hexagons
nest without gaps. Although all
points along the hexagon are not
the same distance from the cen-
ter, the variation is less than with
a square.

.l FIGURE 12-8 DAILYURBANSYSTEMSTheU.SD. epartmenotfCommercdeividedthe48 contiguous Pause and Reflect 12.2.1
statesinto"dailyurbansystems,d"elineatedbyfunctionatlies,especiallcyommutintgo thenearest
metropolitaanrea.Thisdivisionofthecountryintodailyurbansystemsdemonstratetshateveryonien What occurs in nature in the shape
theUnitedStateshasaccesstoserviceisnat leastonelargesettlementC. ompartehisinformatiotnothe of hexagons? Google "naturally
informatioonnTYmarkeat reasinFigure1-18. occurring hexagons." Infer why
human economic activities also
create a hexagonal pattern.

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 435

range of a service must be deter-

mined from the radius of a circle

•• that is irregularly shaped rather
than perfectly round. The irreg-

ularly shaped circle takes in the

•• •• territory for which the proposed
site is closer than competitors'

sites.

The range must be modi-

.& FIGURE 12-9 WHY GEOGRAPHERS USE HEXAGONS TO DELINEATE MARKET AREAS (left) The fied further because most peo-

problem with circles. Circlesareequidistantfromcenterto edge,buttheyoverlapor leavegaps.An ple think of distance in terms

arrangemenot fcirclesthat leavesgapsindicatesthat peoplelivinginthe gapsareoutsidethemarketareaofany of time rather than in terms of
servicew, hichisobviouslynottrue.Overlappincgirclesarealsounsatisfactoryfo,roneserviceor anotherwillbe a linear measure such as kilo-
closera,ndpeoplewilltendto patronizeit.(center)The problem with squares. Squaresnesttogetherwithout
gaps,buttheirsidesarenotequidistantfromthe centerI.fthemarketareaisa circlet,he radius-the distance meters or miles. If you ask peo-
fromthecenterto theedge-can be measuredbecauseeverypointarounda circleisthe samedistancefromthe ple how far they are willing to
center.Butina square,thedistancefromthe centervariesamongpointsalonga square.(right)The hexagon
compromise. Geographerussehexagonsto depictthe marketareaof a goodor servicebecausehexagonsoffer travel to a restaurant or a base-

a compromisbeetweenthe geometricpropertiesofcirclesandsquares. ball game, they are more likely
to answer in minutes or hours
than in distance. If the range of

a good or service is expressed in travel time, then their-

RANGE AND THRESHOLD regularly shaped circle must be drawn to acknowledge
OF A MARKET AREA that travel time varies with road conditions. "One hour"
may translate into traveling 90 kilometers (60 miles)

The market area of every service varies. To determine the while driving on an expressway but only SOkilometers

extent of a market area, geographers need two pieces of (30 miles) while driving congested city streets.

information about a service: its range and its threshold

(Figure 12-10). THRESHOLD OF A SERVICE. The second piece of geo-

RANGE OF A SERVICE. How far are you willing to drive graphic information needed to compute a market area is
the threshold, which is the minimum number of people
for a pizza? To see a doctor for a serious problem? To watch needed to support the service. Every enterprise has a mini-
mum number of customers required to generate enough
a ball game? The range is the maximum distance people sales to make a profit. So once the range has been deter-
mined, a service provider must determine whether a loca-
are willing to travel to use a service. The range is the radius tion is suitable by counting the potential customers inside
the irregularly shaped circle. Census data help to estimate
of the circle (or hexagon) drawn to delineate a service's the potential population within the circle.

market area. How expected consumers inside the range are counted
depends on the product. Convenience stores and fast-
People are willing to go only a short distance for ev- food restaurants appeal to nearly everyone, whereas other
goods and services appeal primarily to certain consumer
eryday consumer services, such as groceries and pharma-
groups:
cies. But they will travel longer distances for other services,
• Movie theaters attract younger people; chiropractors
such as a concert or professional ball game. Thus a con- attract older folks.

venience store has a small range, whereas a stadium has • Poorer people are drawn to thrift stores; wealthier ones
might frequent upscale department stores.
a large range. In a large urban settlement, for example,

the range of a fast-food franchise such as McDonald's is

roughly S kilometers (3 miles); the range of a casual din-

ing chain such as Steak 'n Shake is roughly 8 kilometers

(5 miles), and the range of a stadium is J 00 kilometers

(60 miles) or more. ·

As a rule, people tend to go

t1 t to the nearest available ser- • Amusement parks attract families with children; night-
t t SERVICEt vice: Someone in the mood clubs appeal to singles.
(or a McDonald's hamburger
is likely to go to the nearest Developers of shopping malls, department stores, and
McDonald's. Therefore, the large supermarkets may count only higher-income peo-
ple, perhaps those whose annual incomes exceed $50,000.
◄ FIGURE 12-10 MARKETAREA, Even though the stores may attract individuals of all in-
comes, higher-income people are likely to spend more and
RANGE,AND THRESHOLD The purchase items that carry higher profit margins for the
marketareaisthe areaofthe hexagon,

therangeistheradiusa, ndthethreshold retailer.
isa sufficienntumberofpeopleinside

theareato supportheservice.

11 ' 11•.1 r,r. 11·r. -r1I 1I ··r .• ,. -·r11 "; ·r1,11t II '111111111•1·1111:,1,1 I·1 C \ "f I l'II1'I
_,, 1 ~• 1 'I,) 1 11 I1 1 1; 1 1 "r I 1 'I 1, • I I,
II I 11 J I I: I I !1 II l t
I' l
~: I'~ I I JI • • II
r,1 • 1
1 t f If f 1 1
, II

436 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Hierarchy of Consumer
Services

Learning Outcome 12.2.2

Explain the distribution of different-sized
settlements.

Only consumer services that have small thresholds, short ..
ranges, and small market areas are found in small settle-
ments because too few people live in small settlements to /
support many services. A large department store or spe-
cialty store cannot survive in a small settlement because ;y.l~e . . . Q . .
the threshold (the minimum number of people needed)
exceeds the population within range of the settlement. I . City 0 Town Village Hamlet

Larger settlements provide consumer services that .._FIGURE 12-11 CENTRAL PLACE THEORY Accordintgo centralplace
have larger thresholds, ranges, and market areas. Neigh- theory,marketareasare arrangedina regularpattern.Largermarketareas,
borhoods within large settlements provide services that basedinlargersettlementsa,re fewerinnumberandfartherapartfromeach
have small thresholds and ranges. Services patronized by a otherthansmallermarketareasandsettlementsH. owevelra, rgersettlements
small number of locals ("mom-and-pop stores") can coex- alsoprovidegoodsandserviceswithsmallermarketareasc; onsequentlyla, rgE
ist in a neighborhood with services that attract many from settlementshavebothlargerand smallermarketareasdrawnaroundthem.
throughout the settlement. This difference is vividly dem-
onstrated by comparing an on-line business directory for a followed a regular pattern. He identified seven sizes c
small settlement with one for a major city. The major city's settlements (market hamlet, township center, count
directory is much more extensive, with more services and seat, district city, small state capital, provincial head cap
diverse headings showing widely varied services that are tal, and regional capital city). ln southern Germany, tr
unavailable in small settlements. smallest settlement (market hamlet) had an average pop1
lation of 800 and a market area of 45 square kilomete
We spend as little time and effort as possible in obtain- (17 square miles). The average distance between mark
ing consumer services and thus go to the nearest place that hamlets was 7 kilometers (4.4 miles). The figures we
fulfills our needs. There is no point in traveling to a distant higher for the average settlement at each increasing lev
department store if the same merchandise is available at a
nearby one. We travel greater distances only if the price is in the hierarchy. Brian Berry has documented a similar r
much lower or if the item is unavailable locally.
erarchy of settlements in parts of the U.S. Midwest.
NESTING OF SERVICES Across much of the interior of the United States, a re

AND SETTLEMENTS ular pattern of settlements can be observed, even if n
precisely the same as the generalized model shown
According to central place theory, market areas across a Figure 12-11. North-central North Dakota is an exam]'.
developed country would be a series of hexagons of vari- (Figure 12-12). Minot-the largest city in the area, wi
ous sizes, unless interrupted by physical features such as 41,000 inhabitants-is surrounded by:
mountains and bodies of water. Developed countries have
numerous small settlements with small thresholds and • 7 small towns of between 1,000 and 5,000 inhat
ranges and far fewer large settlements with large thresh- ants, with average ranges of 30 kilometers (20 mil
olds and ranges. and market areas of around 2,800 square kilomet
(1,200 square miles)
The nesting pattern can be illustrated with overlapping
hexagons of different sizes. Four different levels of market • 15 villages of between 100 and 999 inhabitants, w
area-hamlet, village, town, and city-are shown in Fig- ranges of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and market areas
ure 12-11. Hamlets with very small market areas are repre- around 1,200 square kilometers (500 square miles)
sented by the smallest contiguous hexagons. Larger hexa-
gons represent the market areas of larger settlements and • 19 hamlets of fewer than 100 inhabitants, with ran
are overlaid on the smaller hexagons because consumers of 15 kilometers (10 miles) and market areas of aroL
from smaller settlements shop for some goods and services 800 square kilometers (300 square miles)
in larger settlements.

ln his original study, Walter Christaller showed that
the distances between settlements in southern Germany

Settlements Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 437

-City ◄ FIGURE 12-12 CENTRAL PLACE THEORY
•smalllown
• Village IN NORTH DAKOTA Centralplacetheoryhelps
•Hamlet explainthe distributionof settlementsof varying
sizesinNorthDakotaL. argersettlementsarefewer
and fartherapart,whereassmallersettlementsare
morenumerousand closertogether.

N

RANK-SIZE DISTRIBUTION Instead, it may follow the primate city rule, in which the
OF SETTLEMENTS largest settlement has more than twice as many people as
the second-ranking settlement. In this distribution, the
In many developed countries, geographers observe that country's largest city is called the primate city. Mexico is
ranking settlements from largest to smallest (popula- an example of a country that follows the primate city dis-
tion) produces a regular pattern. This is the rank-size tribution. Its largest city, Mexico City, is five times larger
than its second-largest city, Guadalajara.
rule, in which the country's nth-largest settlement is 1/n
The existence of a rank-size distribution of settlements
the population of the largest settlement. In other words, is not merely a mathematical curiosity. It has a real im-
the second-largest city is one-half the size of the larg- pact on the quality of life for a country's inhabitants. A
est, the fourth-largest city is one-fourth the size of the regular hierarchy-as in the United States-indicates that
largest, and so on. When plotted on logarithmic paper, the society is sufficiently wealthy to justify the provision
the rank-size distribution forms a fairly straight line. of goods and services to consumers throughout the coun-
Jn the United States and a handful of other countries (Fig- try. Conversely, the absence of the rank-size distribution
ure 12-13), the distribution of settlements closely follows in a developing country indicates that there is not enough
the rank-size rule. wealth in the society to pay for a full variety of services.
The absence of a rank-size distribution constitutes a hard-
If the settlement hierarchy does not graph as a straight ship for people who must travel long distances to reach an
line, then the country does not follow the rank-size rule. urban settlement with shops and such services as hospi-
tals. Because most people in developing countries do not
50,000.000 have cars, buses must be provided to reach larger towns.
A trip to a shop or a doctor that takes a few minutes in
20,000,000 the United States could take several hours in a developing
10,000,000 country.

.,C: 5.000,000

0
0)
2,000.000
3
0.
0
fl. 1,000,000

500,0000 Pause and Reflect 12.2.2

200,000 According to the rank-size rule, the second-largest
city in a country should have one-half the population
100,000 2 3 45 10 50 of the largest city, and the tenth-largest city should
1 have one-tenth the population of the largest city.
Rank Does Peru follow the rank-size rule or the primate
city rule? Google "most populous cities in Peru."
.t. FIGURE 12-13 RANK-SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF SETTLEMENTS IN THE

UNITED STATESAND MEXICO Thesizeofsettlementsfollowsthe rank-size
ruleintheUnitedStatesandthe primatecityruleinMexico.

•1· 1 fr,',, ,··~"T'I '',.,,'I,"1,,,·I,,' ''....'. i , . i' I., i ., I I ,, •i 1r1' ·1' 1i.,,·,, 1i ·•I,i'·.~1r t··'rr·· i i it.,,,,' 1,( ' '1 ·', I
i, ' •I I, ,,I •r •
•1 I ' i •I ' , • ,· ' I , Ii , l iI ' "I I.
t- Ir
' i If i ,

i,, 'I IL I I l), I I •• ' I l I I I

438 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Market Area Analysis 2. Compute the threshold. A department store typi-
cally needs roughly 250,000 people living within a
Learning Outcome 12.2.3 IS-minute radius.
Explain how to use threshold and range to find the
optimal location for a service. 3. Draw the market area. Draw a circle with a 15-minute
travel radius around the proposed location. Count the
Geographers apply central place theory to create market number of people within the circle. If more than 250,000
area studies that assist service providers with opening and people are within the radius, then the threshold may
expanding their facilities. And in a severe economic down- be high enough to justify locating the new department
turn, market area analysis helps determine where to close store in your community. However, your store may need
facilities. a larger threshold and range to attract some of the avail-
able customers if competitors are located nearby.
Manufacturers must balance a variety of site and situa-
tion factors, as discussed in Chapter 11. In contrast, service The Contemporary Geographic Tools feature shows how
providers often say that the three most important factors geographers might use this process to determine the best
in determining whether a particular site will be profitable locations for supermarkets in a region.
are "location, location, and location." What they actually
mean is that proximity to customers is the only critical The threshold must also be adjusted because the further
geographical factor in locating a service. customers are from the service, the less likely they are to
patronize it. Geographers have adapted the gravity model
The best location for a factory is typically described as a from physics. The gravity model predicts that the opti-
region of the world or perhaps a large area within a region. mal location of a service is directly related to the number
For example, auto alley-the optimal location for most of people in the area and inversely related to the distance
U.S. motor vehicle factories-is an area of roughly 100,000 people must travel to access it. The best location will be
square kilometers. For service providers, the optimal loca- the one that minimizes the distances that all potential cus-
tion is much more precise: One corner of an intersection tomers must travel to reach the service.
can be profitable and another corner of the same intersec-
tion unprofitable. According to the gravity model, consumer behavior re-
flects two patterns:
PROFITABILITY OF A LOCATION
1. The greater the number of people living in a particular
A large retailer has many locations to choose from when place, the greater is the number of potential custom-
deciding to build new stores. A suitable site is one with the ers for a service. An area that contains 100 families
potential for generating enough sales to justify using the will generate more customers than a house contain-
company's scarce capital to build it. Would a new depart- ing only one family.
ment store be profitable in your community (Figure 12-14)?
The two components of central place theory-range and 2. The farther people are from a particular service, the
threshold-together determine the answer. Here's how: less likely they are to use it. People who live 1 kilo-
meter from a store are more likely to patronize it than
1. Compute the range. You might survey local residents people who live 10 kilometers away.
and determine that people are generally willing to
travel up to 15 minutes to reach a department store. Geographers apply the gravity model to find the best
location in an area, following these steps:
• Macy'sroce
Medianhousehold 1. Identify a possible site for a new service.
Incomoever
S50,000 2. Within the range of the service, identify where every
potential user lives.
_. FIGURE12-14 MACY'S DEPARTMENTSTORESNEARDAYTON
3. Measure the distance from the possible site of the new
Storesareinareaswithhigherincomes. service to every potential user.

4. Divide each potential user by the distance to the po-
tential site for the service.

5. Sum all of the results of potential users divided by
distances.

6. Select a second possible location for the new service,
and repeat steps 2, 3, 4, and 5.

7. Compare the results of step 5 for all possible sites. The
site with the highest score has the highest potentia
number of users and Is therefore the optimal locatior
for the service.

Pause and Reflect 12.2.3

When you order a pizza for carry out or delivery, do
you get it from the nearest place? Why might you
get it from a more distant location?

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 439

CONTEMPORARGY EOGRAPHICTOOLS

Locatinga New Supermarket

Alarge retailer has many locations to 2. Estimate the range. Based on the geographer identifies one or more
choose froru when declding to build zip codes of credit-card custom- existing stores in locations that
new stores. Asuitable site is one with ers, geographers estimate that the he or she judges to be compa-
the potential for generating enough range for a large supermarket is rable to the location of the pro-
sales to justify using the company's about a 10-minute driving time. posed store. The geographer then
scarce capital to build it. Major U.S. applies the market share of the
supermarkets, department stores, 3. Estimate the threshold. The comparable stores to the pro-
mall developers, and other large re- threshold for a large supermarket is posed new store.
tailers employ geographers to deter- about 25,000 people with appropri-
ate lncome levels who live Within Information about the viabil-
mine the best location to build new the IS-minute range. Walmart typ-
stores. Here are the steps for a large icallyis attracted to areas of modest ity of a proposed new store is de-
supermarket: means, whereas supermarkets such picted through Geographic Infor-
as Kroger,Publix, and Safeway pre- mation Systems (GIS). One layer
1. Define the market area. Tbe first fer to be near higher-income peo- of the GIS depicts the trade area
step in forecasting sales for a pro- ple. In the Dayton, Ohio, area, for of the proposed store. Other lay-
posed new retail outlet is to define example, Kroger has more stores ers display characteristics of the
the market or trade area where in the relatively affluent south and people living in the area, such as
the store would derive most of its east, whereas Walmart has more distribution of households, av-
sales. Analysis relies heavily on stores in the relatively poor north erage income, and competitors'
the company's records of its cus- and west (Figure J2,-15).
tomers' credit-card transactions stores.
at existing stores. Wbat are' the 4. Predict the market share. The The ability of tbe retajJ geog-
zip codes of customers who paid proposed new supermarket will
by credit card? The market area have to share customers with rapher is judged on tbe accuracy
of a department store is typically competitors. Geographers typical- of the forecasts. After a new store
defined as the zip codes where ly predict market share through i.s open for several years, how
two-thirds to three-fourths of the the so-called analog method. The dose to the actual sales were the
customers live. forecasts that the geographer
made several years earlier?

\I"'

~

Medianhousehol·d
incomeover f
$50,000

.A FIGURE 12-15 WALMART AND KROGER STORES NEAR DAYTON (left)Walmarsttoresareinoutersuburbsbecausethat
iswheremostofWalmart'csustomerlsive(.right)Krogesrtoresaremorenumeroutso thesouthandeastwheremostKroger
customerlsive.

440 TliE CULTURALLANDSCAPE

PERIODIC MARKETS

Learning Outcome 12.2.4
Understand the role of periodic markets in the
provision of services in developing countries.

Services at the lower end of the central place hierarchy may A.FIGURE12-17 BRINGINGFOOD TO THE PERIODICMARKET Meatis
be provided at a periodic market, which is a collection of carriedto the periodicmarketat Gongtan,China.

individual vendors who come together to offer goods and • Rural China. According to G. William Skinner, rural
services in a location on specified days. A periodic market China has a three-city, 10-day cycle of periodic mar-
typically is set up in a street or other public space early in kets. The market operates in a central market on days
the morning, taken down at the end of the day, and set up 1, 4, and 7; in a second location on days 2, S, and 8; in
a third location on days 3, 6, and 9; and no market on
in another location the next day (Figure 12•16). the tenth day. Three 10-day cycles fit in a lunar month.

A periodic market provides goods to residents of devel• • Korea. Korea has two 15-day market cycles in a lunar
oping countries, as well as rural areas in developed coun- month.

tries, where sparse populations and low incomes produce • Africa. In Africa, the markets occur every 3 to 7 days.
purchasing power too low to support full•time retailing. Variations in the cycle stem from ethnic differences.
A periodic market makes services avaUable in more vil-
lages than would otherwise be possible, at least on a part- Pause and Reflect 12.2.4
time basis. In urban areas, periodic markets offer residents Identify an example of a periodic market in
fresh food brought in that morning from the countryside developed countries.

(Figure 12-17).
Many of the vendors in periodic markets are mobile, driv-

ing their trucks from farm to market, back to the farm to
restock, then to another market. Other vendors, especially
local residents who cannot or prefer not to travel to other vil-
lages, operate on a part-time basis, perhaps only a few times
a year. Other part-time vendors are individuals who are capa-
ble of producing only a small quantity of food or handicrafts.

The frequency of periodic markets varies by culture:

• Muslim countries. Muslim countries typically conform
to the weekly calendar-once a week in each of six cit-
ies and no market on Friday, the Muslim day of rest.

T FIGURE12-16 PERIODICMARKET 'Theweeklymarketat Bati is
consideredthe largestin Ethiopia.

CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 2

Where Are Consumer Services
Distributed?

✓ Central place theory helps determine the most
profitable location for a consumer service.

✓ A central place is surrounded by a market area
that has a range and a threshold.

✓ Market areas of varying sizes nest and overlap.
✓ Regular patterns of settlements that provide

consumer services can be observed, especially
in developed countries.

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 441

SUSTAINABILITYAND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

UnequalSpatial Impacts
of the SevereRecession

The severe global recession that the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Chrysler and GM were based. But
began in 2008 hit some communities Anica. Those countries are the most most of the hardest-hit communities
harder than others. As Figure 12-7 peripheral to the global economy. were in the South and West, regions
shows, developed countries were that had been the most prosperous.
more severely impacted by the global Within the United States, the Those communitic, were especially
recession. GNl declined more sharply recession hit some communities affected by declines in services,
harder than others (Figure 12-18).
in developed countries than in devel- especially real estate and finance
oping countries. The countries least Some of the hardest-hit communi- (Figure 12-19).
affected by the global recession were ties were industrial centers in the
Midwest, where bankrnpt carmakers

T FIGURE 12·18 IMPACTOF SEVERE
RECESSION Theimpactof therecession
wasespeciallystrongin Florida,the
Southwesta, ndtheGreatLakesarea.

Performancein 2008-09 Recession

• Stronggrowth
Weakgrow1ohr decline
Severdeecline
Non•metropohtarneas

T FIGURE 12-19 IMPACT OF SEVERE

RECESSION ON 100 LARGEST U.S.

METROPOLITAN AREAS Californiaand
Floridahadthe largestnumberof the
weakestperformingcities.

0 •• •
00

¾• .•• CityperformanIcne2008-2009Recession

\ ~-~ • Strongest o Seconwd eakest

• Secondstrongest o Weakest

• Middle Weakecrityregions

l'. If:II' I'I II '11111I 11',;I I' I·.
lI
I
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I ' II ', I • l I
II I I '' ' ,, . I t·i ( 'I II I 1"
I I ' I"~ I I
I I I II t I I I I' I I J "1 • I•. fl 'I
II
I I I l' I 'I

442 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE3 anticipate changes in taste and to help shape tho;
changes.
Where Are Business
Services Distributed? • As centers for finance, global cities attract the hea1
quarters of the major banks, insurance companies, ar
■ Hierarchy of Business Services specialized financial institutions where corporatio1
■ Business Services in Developing obtain and store funds for expansion of production.

Countries Global cities are divided into three levels: alpha, bet
■ Economic Base of Settlements and gamma. These three levels in turn are further subc
vided (Figure 12-20). A combination of economic, poli'
Learning Outcome 12.3.1 cal, cultural, and infrastructure factors are used to identi
Describe the factors that are used to identify global global cities and to distinguish among the various ranks
cities.
• Economic factors. Economic factors include number
Every urban settlement provides consumer services to headquarters for multinational corporations, financi
people in a surrounding area, but not every settlement of institutions, and law firms that influence the glob
a given size has the same number and types of business economy.
services. Business services disproportionately cluster in a
handful of urban settlements, and individual settlements • Political factors. Political factors include hosting hea
specialize in particular business services. quarters for international organizations and capit,
of countries that play a leading role in internation
Hierarchy of Business Services events.

Geographers identify a handful of urban settlements • Cultural factors. Cultural factors include presence of 1
known as global cities (also called world cities) that play an nowned cultural institutions, influential media outle
especially important role in global business services. Global sports facilities, and educational institutions.
cities can be subdivided according to a number of criteria.
• Infrastructural factors. Infrastructural factors includf
BUSINESS SERVICES IN GLOBAL CITIES major international airport, health-care facilities, a1
advanced communications systems.
Global cities are most closely integrated into the global
economic system because they are at the center of the The same hierarchy of business services can be us
flow of information and capital. Business services, in- within countries or continents. In North America, for E
cluding law, banking, insurance, accounting, and adver- ample, below the alpha++ city (New York) and the alph
tising, concentrate in disproportionately large numbers city (Chicago) are 4 alpha cities, 5 alpha- cities, 11 beta c
in global cities: ies (including+ and-), and 17 gamma cities (includin~
• Headquarters of large corporations are clustered in and-) (Figure 12-21).

global cities, and shares of these corporations are bought New forms of transportation and communicatio
and sold on stock exchanges located in global cities. were expected to reduce the need for clustering of servic
Obtaining information in a timely manner is essential in large cities:
in order to buy and sell shares at attractive prices. Ex-
ecutives of manufacturing firms meeting far from the • The telegraph and telephone in the nineteenth centi:
factories make key decisions concerning what to make, and the computer in the twentieth century made it pt
how much to produce, and what prices to charge. Sup- sible to communicate immediately with coworkers, ,
port staff also far from the factory accounts for the flow ents, and customers around the world.
of money and materials to and from the factories. This
work is done in offices in global cities. • The railroad in the nineteenth century and the mol
vehicle and airplane in the twentieth century mad€
• Lawyers, accountants, and other professionals cluster possible to deliver people, inputs, and products quicl<
in global cities to provide advice to major corporations
and financial institutions. Advertising agencies, mar- To some extent, economic activities have decentraliz1
keting firms, and other services concerned with style especially manufacturing, but modern transportation a
and fashion locate in global cities to help corporations communications reinforce rather than diminish the f
macy of global cities in the world economy. Transpor
tion services converge on global cities. Global cities te
to have busy harbors and airports and lie at the junction
rail and highway networks.

Pause and Reflect 12.3.1

Listthe alpha, beta, and gamma citiesthat are neares

to you. How would you expect an alpha city such as
Chicago to differ from Houston (beta) and Phoenix
(gamma)?

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 443

• FIGURE12-20 GLOBALCITIESGlobalcitiesarecentersfor the provisionof servicesIn the globaleconomyL. ondonand NewYork,the two dominantglobal
cities,are rankedasalpha++.Otheralpha,beta,andgammaglobalcitiesplaysomewhatlesscentralrolesin the provisionof servicesthan the two dominant
globalcities.Citiesrankedalpha++ andalpha+arelabeledonthe map.

CONSUMER AND PUBLIC SERVICES libraries, museums, and theaters. London presents more
IN GLOBAL CITIES
plays than the rest of the United Kingdom combined, and
Because of their large size, global cities have retail services
with extensive market areas, but they may have even more New York nearly has more theaters than the rest of the
retailers than large size alone would predict. A dispropor-
tionately large number of wealthy people live in global United States combined. Leisure services of national sig-
cities, so luxury and highly specialized products are espe-
cially likely to be sold there. Global cities typically offer the nificance are especially likely to cluster in global cities, in
most plays, concerts, operas, night clubs, restaurants, bars,
and professional sporting events. They contain the largest part because they require large thresholds and large ranges

and in part because of the presence of wealthy patrons.

Global cities may be centers of national or international

political power. Most are national capitals, and they contain

mansions or palaces for the head of state, imposing struc-

tures for the national legislature and courts, and offices for

the government agencies. Also clustered

in global cities are offices for groups hav-

ing business with the government, such

as representatives of foreign countries,

trade associations, labor unions, and

professional organizations. Unlike other

global cities, New York is not a national

capital. But as the home of the world's

major international organization, the

United Nations, it attracts thousands of

diplomats and bureaucrats, as well as em-

ployees of organizations with business at

the United Nations. Brussels is a global

• Alpha- city because it is the most important cen-

J(J,1, • Bela+ ter for European Union activities.
l20'W • Beta

•PACIFIC -. o·· • Beta-

m Gamma+ ◄ FIGURE12-21 GLOBALCITIESIN NORTH
Gamma
OCEAN p ,2so Gulf of Mexico Gamma- AMERICA Atopthehierarchoyf businesserviceasre
r,rw NewYorkandChicago.
( 11~·':

1· r I' ''I· 'I'' j ' .·:: f 'I ' "I r II ' I I!,"111,·

I \ ,, •

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I' II II I I I ' ' I I, I I ' I
I \ J I ,.
' I ' ' II 1
l I I'
I I 1, II
I t,f ( I •1 I I ••f
II

444 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Business Services in • Privacy.Bank secrecy laws can help individuals and busi-
Developing Countries nesses evade disclosure in their home countries. People
and corporations in litigious professions, such as a doc-
Learning Outcome 12.3.2 tor or lawyer accused of malpractice or the developer
Explain the two types of business services in of a collapsed building, can protect some of their assets
developing countries. from lawsuits by storing them in offshore centers, as
can a wealthy individual who wants to protect assets in
In the global economy, developing countries specialize in a divorce. Creditors cannot reach such assets in bank-
two distinctive types of business services: offshore finan- ruptcy hearings. Short statutes of limitation protect off-
cial services and back-office functions. These businesses shore accounts from long-term investigation.
tend to locate in developing countries for a number of rea-
sons, including the presence of supportive laws, weak reg- The privacy Jaws and low tax rates in offshore centers
ulations, and low-wage workers. can also provide havens to tax dodges and other illegal
schemes. Bydefinition, the extent of illegal activities is un-
OFFSHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES known and unknowable.

Small countries, usually islands and microstates, exploit The International Monetary Fund, the United Nations,
niches in the circulation of global capital by offering off- and the Tax Justice Institute identify the following places,
shore financial services. Offshore centers provide two im- among others, as offshore financial services centers
portant functions in the global circulation of capital: (Figure 12-22):
• Taxes. Taxes on income, profits, and capital gains are
• Dependencies of the United Kingdom, such as Anguilla,
typically low or nonexistent. Companies incorporated Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the British Virgin
in an offshore center also have tax-free status, regard- Islands in the Caribbean; Guernsey/Sark/Alderney, Isle of
less of the nationality of the owners. The United States Man, and Jersey in the English Channel; and Gibraltar,
loses an estimated $70 billion in tax revenue each year off Spain.
because companies operating in the country conceal
their assets in offshore tax havens. • Dependencies of other countries, such as Cook Island
and Niue, controlled by New Zealand; Aruba, Cura~ao,
and Sint Maarten, controlled by the Netherlands; and
Hong Kong and Macau, controlled by China.

• Independent island countries, such as The Bahamas,
Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts& Nevis, St. Lucia,

=160' \JI)' 120' 100' 80' _60' r- 40' 20' O' 20' 40' bO' 8il' 100' l'lO' 140' 160' ll!O'
....,..
80'- . ..,.:,, ' .~..~.-.=..~.-..:~.:.;-~--,..,. .".'.-,-1:, ..... , \-~-- -w
-:!;.-1:-c-~:"-
?--~• JI,, -0; • ARCTIC ,!( ~ ~, :-i-
~o.-.-~.·.··-.-;-;---~✓
> oc1AN _ .--:; _;:._, '___~. --. , .. ...__
,.... rt

,..,.,
-.;.. ,""'o;-t<_..;,7;:i, .. ;t~~-

,..- ~- ,, ...: :1~· . . c· .\>.. . -'.. ,_
-.~,,:·1,;-:.'.,"',,..?.•,.:',·,.7,.·..--1~r..,s;1·eo-fr,I,Gaune,JrenIrrseseelayytIn::dt.,e..·,(' 'r--...,;:.~,t •
, tsry·~,u~~f!!lfOurg ,-.--.v,. ,. ~ -60"

d,o-- ----- >'Ii/,.~, ~wtfetzne~rla~nd1n .:,, "'-~"'\... -:;i/ •
rt=- -
PACIFIC AndorraJ. sanJaJ1nO ~r £ ""-
} .f r . ' I I r Monaco?', -~•- - ......... /L :f' 40'

I· ' ~ .,..
i iS. f1.·-- --~-4-- ..s· ~20' •
•· Bahamas,.,, Turk~& Caicos Gibraltar• , Cyprus4t,.J:!llianon Jc->,. .J."H' dfigKongMacau

OCEAN , ea"'.L~ Y, / BptishVirginIs. ,• I -~ • • (Chia) •
, ~111alsn.I\. -- ,.,.. .. !1i1M_<!f!Jten-.- .Biihram ·, _
:...1 •unite·d Arab ,-.-.,,;1 ..1.. r~.!.'~E~~----
-- - - -, --- - ;--- ..-},--._.. Emirates
...., - _·f" ,,,__• .. .

BarbadosD, ominicaG, renada, ..,,.. ..., ,-.~,-,i-..t 9) P•rh-1llppmes
'Bellze·e•·-. .:-(Netherlands)- PACIFIC 20-

~" ........ . • 1 , ~ ..__;
• .___,_ Monserrat '
OCEAN

St. Kitts,&Nevis,St.Lucia, c1•d'•sPtaaRnai~~aflr'u(Nba-"e-t-h=Cer-ul-ara-n~-d-as-o)Liber,i;a,.• • _, Jf>-.,?'I~( - . ' " 11 ' · Marshalls.
St.Vincen&t theGrenadines . M•alay--s'~,.•a'• •,,_·,ru'"n!~e,_;,·•
1 -. 'r [ · -,. Equat~ ·ll'
I'/' SeychellesSmgapor.e•
Naurt.1

1 ATLANTIC r'-.. , IND/AN > --.;_~, .,'' ~_,. '"":\
~-f OCEAN C:---~~_~_~_~_!__.._,.__ 'J~,- ___• M' ·1
Cooklsla(ld,Niue ~~
-~N~~-z~~l~:d!_________
J
160' 140' 120' 100' OCEAN • r -. -4 ,' Vanuatu.

Offshorefinanciasl ervicecenters r..,t--- _± o: 2ll'

rropl<clCaPliCom• Samoa

e/.U ~~

• DependencoietstheUnitedKingdom 40'~ F" -r1 -~- __ ___,. ~-~-------~--,--• ~9 -~
1 \L·•? 10 2-~,
• Dependencoiefsothercountries ••,oooM,··-, / ._·. Ne"-":-Zea~land

Independemntlcrostales -..:..,•.., 1,000 ,◄,coo 1<110ms1er,

• OtllerIndependecnotunlries 80' 60' 41!' 20" ll' 20' .~ 60' 80' ,&,, l20' l<D' 160' 160'

.AFIGURE12-22 OFFSHOREFINANCIALSERVICECENTERSOffshorefinanciasl ervicecentersinclude
microstateasnddependencieosf othercountries.

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 445

St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Turks & Caicos in Traditionally, companies housed their back-office staff
the Caribbean; the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Samoa, in the same office building downtown as their manage-
and Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean; and Mauritius and ment staff, or at least in nearby buildings. A large percent-
Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. age of the employees in a downtown bank building, for
example, would be responsible for sorting paper checks
Other independent countries. such as Andorra, Cy- and deposit slips. Proximity was considered important
prus, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, San to assure close supervision of routine office workers and
Marino, and Switzerland in Europe; Belize, Costa Rica, rapid turnaround of information.
Panama, and Uruguay in Latin America; Liberia in
Africa; and Bahrain, Brunei, Lebanon, Malaysia, New Rising rents downtown have induced many business
Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United services to move routine work to lower-rent buildings else-
Arab Emirates in Asia. where. In most cases, sufficiently low rents can be obtained
in buildings in the suburbs or nearby small towns. How-
A prominent example is the Cayman fslands, a British ever, for many business services, improved telecommuni-
rown Colony in the Caribbean near Cuba. The Caymans cations have eliminated the need for spatial proximity.
>mprise three main islands and several smaller ones total-
g around 260 square kilometers (100 square miles), with Selected developing countries have attracted back of-
),000 inhabitants. Several hundred banks with assets of
ore than $1 trillion are legally based in the Caymans. fices for two reasons related to labor:
ost of these banks have only a handful of people, if any,
:tually working in the Caymans. • Low wages. Most back-office workers earn a few thou-
sand dollars per year-higher than wages paid in most
In the Caymans, it is a crime to discuss confidential other sectors of the economy, but only one-tenth the
1siness-defined as matters learned on the job-in public. wages paid for workers performing similar jobs in de-
;sets placed in an offshore center by an individual or a cor- veloped countries. As a result, what is regarded as me-
)fation in a trust are not covered by lawsuits originating nial and dead-end work in developed countries may be
. the United States, Britain, or other service centers. To get considered relatively high-status work in developing
those assets, additional lawsuits would have to be filed in countries and therefore able to attract better-educated,
1eoffshore centers, where privacy laws would shield the more-motivated employees in developing countries
.dividual or corporation from undesired disclosures. than would be possible in developed countries.

USINESS~PROCESSOUTSOURCING • Ability to speak English. Many developing countries
offer lower wages than developed countries, but only
1.e second distinctive type of business service found in a handful of developing countries possess a large labor
~ripheral regions is back-office functions, also known as force fluent in English. In Asia, countries such as India,
lSiness-process outsourcing (BPO). Typical back-office Malaysia, and the Philippines have substantial num-
mctions include insurance claims processing, payroll man- bers of workers with English-language skills, a legacy
iement, transcription work, and other routine clerical of British and American colonial rule. Major multina-
:tivities (Figure 12-23). Back-office work also includes tional companies such as American Express and Gen-
'.nters for responding to billing inquiries related to credit eral Electric have extensive back-office facilities in
1rds, shipments, and claims, or technical inquiries re- those countries.
ted to installation, operation, and repair.
The ability to communicate in English over the telephone
is a strategic advantage in competing for back offices with
neighboring countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand,
where English is less commonly used. Familiarity with
English is an advantage not only for literally answering
the telephone but also for gaining a better understanding
of the preferences of American consumers through expo-
sure to English-language music, movies, and television.

Workers in back offices are often forced to work late at
night, when it's daytime in the United States, peak demand
for inquiries. Many employees must arrive at work early
and stay late because they lack their own transportation,
so they depend on public transportation, which typically
does not operate late at night. Sleeping and entertainment
rooms are provided at work to fill the extra hours.

HSP Pauseand Reflect12.3.2
ll'.l'i,q~F.I:S,.. ..
When it is 3 P.M.on a Tuesdaywhere you live,what
3!ll.CIlll\ ionesMt time and day isit at a callcenterin India?Referto
Figure1-11.
,84161Q

FIGURE12-23 CALLCENTERYoungIndiansarerecruitedto workin call
nters.

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II I •I I l lI I J
• l l. iI
l! II ~1 ' I

446 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

Economic Base of Settlements SPECIALIZATION OF CITIES IN DIFFERENT
SERVICES

Learning Outcome 12.3.3 Settlements in the United States can be classified by their
type of basic activity (Figure 12-24). Each type of basic activ.
Explain the concept of economic base. ity has a different spatial distribution. The concept of basic
industries originally referred to manufacturing. Some com.
A settlement's distinctive economic structure derives from
its basic industries, which export primarily to consum- munities specialize in durable manufactured goods, such as
ers outside the settlement. Nonbasic industries are en-
terprises whose customers live in the same community- steel and automobiles, others in nondurable manufactured
essentially, consumer services. A community's unique goods, such as textiles, apparel, food, chemicals, and paper.
collection of basic industries defines its economic base. Most communities that have an economic base of manufac-
turing durable goods are clustered between northern Ohio
A settlement's economic base is important because and southeastern Wisconsin, near the southern Great Lakes.
exporting by the basic industries brings money into the Nondurable manufacturing industries, such as textiles, are
local economy, thus stimulating the provision of more clustered in the Southeast, especially in the Carolinas.
nonbasic consumer services for the settlement. New basic
industries attract new workers to a settlement, and these In a postindustrial society, such as the United States,
workers bring their families with them. The settlement increasingly the basic economic activities are in business,
then attracts additional consumer services to meet the
needs of the new workers and their families. Thus a new consumer, or public services. Geographers 6 hUallachain
basic industry stimulates establishment of new super-
markets, laundromats, restaurants, and other consumer and Reid have documented examples of settlements that
services. But a new nonbasic service, such as a supermar- specialize in particular types of services. Examples of settle-
ket, will not induce construction of new basic industries. ments specializing in business services include:

A community's basic industries can be identified by • General business: Large metropolitan areas, especially
computing the percentage of the community's workers Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
employed in different types of businesses. The percentage
of workers employed in a particular industry in a settle- • Computing and data processing services: Boston and
ment is then compared to the percentage of all workers in Sanjose.
the country employed in that industry. If the percentage
is much higher in the local community, then that type of • High-tech industries support services: Austin, Orlando,
business is a basic economic activity. and Raleigh-Durham.

• Military activity support services: Albuquerque, Colo-
rado Springs, Huntsville, KnoxviJle, and Norfolk.

• Management-consulting services: Washington, D.C.

Examples of settlements speciali;,:ing in consumer services
include:

• Entertainment and recreation: At-
lantic City, Las Vegas, and Reno.

• Medical services: Rochester,
Minnesota.

Examples of settlements specializing
in public services include:

70W • State capitals: Sacramento and
Tai lahassee.

• large universities: Tuscaloosa.

• Military bases: Arlington.

.• .l..tr, ATLANTIC Although the populations of cit-
OCEAN ies in the South and West have
D~, ~•
30,,, \.. grown more rapidly in recent years, 6

•PACIFIC s I'\~ hUallachain and Reid found that cities
OCEAN ~Gulf of Mexico in the North and East have expanded
120"W 95'W 90'W a;w their provision of business services
1$ Ii IIS'W more rapidly. Northern and eastern
cities that were once major manufac-
Primarysector Secondarsyec!Dr Ccmsumseer rvices Businesservices Publicservices turing centers have been transformed

0 Mining '\ Construction D,Retatilrade '• Financein,surance, 6 Publicservices ◄ FIGURE12-24 ECONOMICBASEOFU.S.
realestate
Iii Manufacturing-- 111Wholesatlreade CITIESCitiesspecializeindifferenteconomic
durablegoods ,!J,,.,Transportation,
hi Personsael f'li<:i!s oommunicatlon, activities.
d Manufacturing- andpublicutilHies
nondurabgleoods

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 447

co business service centers. These cities have moved more Richard Florida. Individuals with special talents gravitate
gressively to restructure their economic bases to offset toward cities that offer more cultural diversity.
arp declines in manufacturing jobs.
Steel was once the most important basic industry of Florida measured talent as a combination of the percent-
eveland and Pittsburgh, but now health services such age of people in the city with college degrees, the percent-
hospitals and clinics and medical high-technology re- age employed as scientists or engineers, and the percentage
1rch are more important. Baltimore once depended for employed as professionals or technicians. He used three
measures of cultural diversity: the number of cultural
economic base on manufacturers of fabricated steel facilities per capita, the percentage of gay men, and a
oducts, such as Bethlehem Steel, General Motors, and "coolness" index. The "coolness" index, developed by POV
estinghouse. The city's principal economic asset was its Magazine, combined the percentage of population in their
,rt, through which raw materials and fabricated prod- 20s, the number of bars and other nightlife places per cap-
ts passed. As these manufacturers declined, the city's ita, and the number of art galleries per capita (Figure 12-26).
anomic base turned increasingly to services, taking ad- A city's gay population was based on census figures for the
ntage of its clustering of research-oriented universities, percentage of households consisting of two adult men. Two
peciallyin medicine.The city is trying to becomea center adult men who sharea housemay not be gay,but Floridaas-
r the provision of services in biotechnology. sumed that the percentage of adult men living together who
were gay did not vary from one city to another.
ISTRIBUTION OF TALENT
Florida found a significant positive relationship between
dividuals possessing special talents are not distributed the distribution of talent and the distribution of diversity
1iformly among cities. Some cities have a higher per- in the largest U.S.cities. In other words, cities with high cul-
ntage of talented individuals than others (Figure 12-25). tural diversity tended to have relatively high percentages of
, some extent, talented individuals are attracted to the talented individuals. Washington, San Francisco, Boston,
:ies with the most job opportunities and financial incen- and Seattle ranked among the top in both talent and di-
res. But the principal enticement for talented individu- versity, whereas Las Vegaswas near the bottom in both. At-
; to cluster in some cities more than others is cultural tracting talented individuals is important for a city because
ther than economic, according to research conducted by these individuals are responsible for promoting economic
innovation. They are likely to start new businesses and in-
fuse the local economy with fresh ideas.

• 20 andabove CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 3
below20
Where Are Business Services Distributed?

✓ Business services cluster in global cities.

✓ Developing countries provide offshore financial
services and business-process outsourcing.

✓ Communities specialize in the provision of
particular services; the specialized services
constitute a community's economic base.

I
I

I

• 6-10 ••
-j
e 0-5

FIGURE12-25 GEOGRAPHYOF TALENTSomecitieshave A FIGURE12-26 GEOGRAPHYOF CULTURALDIVERSITY
ncentrationosfscientistasndprofessionals.
Themapisbasedona "coolnessi"ndexdevelopebdyPOV Magazine.

II rI ' "I .I I ' I IIr '1 II'
.L"f 1I· 1il.· l I : h'I' • ~ 1' I. ' ' ' . nw t . I rI ◄• t .I. l 41 I I •,. In11'I I' I\ I 1. I ' 11 ~ 1
'," ti
, I I !I I • 'I r I II
11: ' il , • ' ,! i :', • • , , 1 '
1 l, ·, : 1 11
1

I, tf

448 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

established nearby. This was possible because not all land

KEY ISSUE4 was under cultivation.
Homes, public buildings, and fields in a clustered rural
Why Do Services
settlement are arranged according to local cultural and
physical characteristics. Clustered rural settlements are

often arranged in one of two types of patterns: circular or

Cluster in Settlements? linear.

■ Services in Rural Settlements CIRCULAR RURAL SETTLEMENTS. Circular rural settle-
■ Urbanization ments comprise a central open space surrounded by
structures. The following are examples:
• Kraal villages in sub-Saharan Africa were built by the

Learning Outcome 12.4.1 Maasi people, who are pastoral nomads. Women have
Describe the difference between clustered and the principal responsibility for constructing them. The
dispersed rural settlements. kraal villages have enclosures for livestock in the cen-
ter, surrounded by a ring of houses. Compare kraal to
the English word corral(Figure 12-27).

Services are clustered in settlements. Rural settlements are • Gewandorf settlements were once found in rural
centers for agriculture and provide a small number of ser- Germany. von Thi.inen observed this circular rural pat-
vices. Urban settlements are centers for consumer and busi- tern in his landmark agricultural studies during the
ness services. One-half of the people in the world live in nineteenth century (refer to Figure 10-52). Gewandorf
rural settlements and the other half in urban settlements. settlements consisted of a core of houses, barns, and
chu1ches, encircled by different types of agricultural ac-
Services in Rural Settlements tivities. SmaU garden plots were located in the first ring
surrounding the village, with cultivated land, pastures,

Rural settlements are either clustered or dispersed. A clus- and woodlands in successive rings.
tered rural settlement is an agricultural-based community
in which a number of families live in close proximity to LINEAR RURAL SETTLEMENTS. Linear rural settlements
each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses comprise buildings clustered along a road, river, or dike
and farm buildings. A dispersed rural settlement, typical to facilitate communications. The fields extend behind
of the North American rural landscape, is characterized by the buildings in long, narrow strips. Long-lot farms can
farmers living on individual farms isolated from neighbors be seen today along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec
rather than alongside other farmers in settlements.
(Figure 12-28).
CLUSTERED RURAL SETTLEMENTS In the French long-lot system, houses were erected

A clustered rural settlement typically includes homes, along a river. which was the principal water source and
barns, tool sheds, and other farm structures, plus con- means of communication. Narrow lots from 5 to 100 kilo-
meters (3 to 60 miles) deep were established perpendicular

sumer services, such as religious structures, schools, and
shops. A handful of public and business services may also 'f FIGURE 12•27 CIRCULAR RURAL SETTLEMENT A kraal village,Kenya.

be present in a clustered rural settlement. 1n common lan-
guage, such a settlement is called a hamlet or village.

Each person living in a clustered rural settlement is al-

located strips of land in the surrounding fields. The fields
must be accessible to the farmers and are thus generally
limited to a radius of l or 2 kilometers (1/2 or 1 mile) from
the buildings. The strips of land are allocated in different

ways. In some places, individual farmers own or rent the
land. In other places, the land is owned collectively by
the settlement or by a lord, and farmers do not control the

choice of crops or use of the output.
Farmers typically own, or have responsibility for, a col-

lection of scattered parcels in several fields. This pattern

of controlling several fragmented parcels of land has en-

couraged living in a clustered rural settlement to mini-

mize travel time to the various fields. Traditionally, when

the population of a settlement grew too large for the ca-

pacity of the surrounding fields, new settlements were

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 449

l.

as the church and school, around the
common. In addition to their houses,
each settler had a home lot of ½ to 2
hectares (1 to 5 acres), which contained
a barn, a garden, and enclosures
for feeding livestock. New England
colonists favored clustered settlements
for several reasons:

• They typically traveled to the New
World in a group. The English gov-
ernment granted an area of land, in
New England perhaps 4 to 10 square
miles (10 to 25 square kilometers).
Members of the group then traveled
to America to settle the land and
usually built the settlement near the
center of the land grant.

FIGURE 12-28 CLUSTERED LINEAR RURAL SETTLEMENT Quebeclonglots. • The colonists wanted to live close
together to reinforce common cul-

tural and religious values. Most

came from the same English vil-

the river, so that each original settler had river access. lage and belonged to the same church. Many of them

1iscreated a linear settlement along the river. These long, left England in the 1600s to gain religious freedom.

mow lots were eventually subdivided. French law re- The settlement's leader was often an official of the Pu-

1ired that each son inherit an equal portion of an estate, ritan Church, and the church played a central role in

, the heirs established separate farms in each ctivision. daily activities.

)ads were constructed inland parallel to the river for ac- • They clustered their settlements for defense against at-
·ss to inland farms. In this way, a new linear settlement tacks by Native Americans.
nerged along each road, parallel to the original riverfront
tt!ement. Each villager owned several discontinuous parcels on
the periphery of the settlement to provide the variety of

_USTERED SETTLEMENTS IN COLONIAL AMERICA. land types needed for different crops. Beyond the fields,
ew England colonists built clustered settlements the town held pastures and woodland for the common use
·ntered on an open area called a common (Figure 12-29). of all residents. Outsiders could obtain land in the settle-
·ttlers grouped their homes and public buildings, such ment only by gaining permission from the town's resi-
dents. Land was not sold but rather was awarded to an

individual when the town's residents felt confident that

the recipient would work hard. Settlements accommo-

FIGURE 12-29 CLUSTERED COLONIAL AMERICANSETTLEMENT dated a growing population by establishing new settle-
wfane,Vermont,includesa courthouseandchurchbuildingsclusteredaround ments nearby. As in the older settlements, the newer ones
.entralcommon. contained central commons surrounded by houses and

public buildings, home lots, and outer fields.

The contemporary New England landscape contains

remnants of the old clustered rural settlement pattern.

Many New England towns still have a central common

surrounded by the church, school, and various houses.

However, quaint New England towns are little more than

picturesque shells of clustered rural settlements because

today's residents work in shops and offices rather than on

farms.

Pauseand Reflect12.4.1

How might the presehceof clusteredrural
settlementsin New Englandhave contributedto
the region'sdistinctivedialectof Englishnoted in
Chapter57

450 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

DISPERSED RURAL SETTLEMENTS alone and claim farmland on the frontier. In addition, the
cultural bonds that had created clustered rural settlements
Learning Outcome 12.4.2 were weakened. Descendants of the original settlers were
Explain the types of services in early settlements.
less interested in the religious and cultural values that had
unified the original immigrants.

Dispersed rural settlements were more common in the DISPERSED RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED
American colonies outside New England. Meanwhile, in
New England and in the United Kingdom, clustered rural KINGDOM. To improve agricultural production, a
settlements were converted to a dispersed pattern. number of European countries converted their rural land-
scapes from clustered settlements to dispersed patterns.
DISPERSED RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED Dispersed settlements were considered more efficient for
agriculture than clustered settlements. A prominent ex-
STATES. The Middle Atlantic colonies were settled by ample was the enclosure movement in Great Britain
more heterogeneous groups than those in New England. between 1750 and 1850. The British government trans~
Colonists came from Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, formed the rural landscape by consolidating individu-
Scotland, and Sweden, as well as from England. Most ally owned strips of land surrounding a village into a
arrived in Middle Atlantic colonies individually rather than single large farm owned by an individual. When nec-
as members of a cohesive religious or cultural group. Some essary, the government forced people to give up their
bought tracts of land from speculators. Others acquired former holdings.
land directly from individuals who had been given large
land grants by the English government, including William Owning several discontinuous fields around a clustered
Penn (Pennsylvania), Lord Baltimore (Maryland), and Sir rural settlement had several disadvantages: Farmers lost
George Carteret (the Carolinas). time moving between fields, villagers had to build more
roads to connect the small lots, and farmers were restricted
Dispersed settlement patterns dominated in the in what they could plant. With the introduction of farm
American Midwest in part because the early settlers came machinery, farms operated more efficiently at a larger scale.
primarily from the Middle Atlantic colonies. The pioneers
crossed the Appalachian Mountains and established dispersed The enclosure movement brought greater agricultural
farms on the frontier (Figure 12-30). Land was plentiful and efficiency, but it destroyed the self-contained world of vil-
cheap, and people bought as much as they could manage. lage life. Village populations declined drastically as dis-
In New England, a dispersed distribution began to replace placed farmers moved to urban ~ettlements. Because the
clustered settlements in the eighteenth century. Eventually enclosure movement coincided with the Industrial Revo-
people bought, sold, and exchanged land to create large, lution, villagers who were displaced from farming moved
continuous holdings instead of several isolated pieces. to urban settlements and became workers in factories anc
services. Some villages became the centers of the new
The clustered rural settlement pattern worked when the larger farms, but villages that were not centrally locatec
population was low, but settlements had no spare land to to a new farm's extensive land holdings were abandonec
meet the needs of a population that was growing through and replaced with entirely new farmsteads at more strate
natural increase and net in-migration. A shortage of land gic locations. As a result, the isolated, dispersed farmstead
eventually forced immigrants and children to strike out unknown in medieval England, is now a common featur
of that country's rural landscape .
.. FIGURE 12-30 DISPERSED RURAL SETTLEMENT Wisconsin.
SERVICES IN EARLY
SETTLEMENTS

Before the establishment of permane1
settlements as service centers, peop

lived as nomads, migrating in smz

groups across the landscape in search ,
food and water. They gathered wild be
ries and roots or killed wild animals f
food (see Chapter 10). At some poir
groups decided to build permanent sc
tlements. Several families clustered t
gether in a rural location and obtain
food in the surrounding area. What s,
vices would these nomads require? W
would they establish permanent sett
ments to provide these services?

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 451

Women used these materials to manufacture household
objects and maintain their dwellings. The variety of con-
sumer services expanded as people began to specialize.
One person could be skilled at repairing tools, another at
training horses. People could trade such services with one
another. Settlements took on a retail-service function.

IGURE 12-31 EARLYSETTLEMENT KarainCave,TurkeyE. videnceof EARLY PUBLIC SERVICES. Public services probably fol-
1ansettlementhasbeenfoundin the cavedatingback150,000-200,000 lowed religious activities into the early permanent
rs. settlements. A group's political leaders also chose to live
permanently in the settlement, which may have been
No one knows the precise sequence of events through located for strategic reasons, to protect the group's land
1ich settlements were established to provide services. claims.
sed on archaeological research, settlements probably
ginated to provide consumer and public services. Busi- Everyone in a settlement was vulnerable to attack from
ss services came later. other groups, so for protection, some members became
soldiers, stationed in the settlement. The settlement likely
.RLY CONSUMER SERVICES. The earliest permanent was a good base from which the group could defend nearby
tlements may have been established to offer consumer food sources against competitors. For defense, the group
vices, specifically places to bury the dead (Figure 12-31). might surround the settlement with a wall. Defenders were
chaps nomadic groups had rituals honoring the deceased, stationed at small openings or atop the wall, giving them
:luding ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of a great advantage over attackers. Thus settlements became
leath. Having established a permanent resting place for citadels-centers of military power. Walls proved an ex-
~ dead, the group might then install priests at the site to tremely effective defense for thousands of years, until war-
rform the service of saying prayers for the deceased. This fare was revolutionized by the introduction of gunpowder
iu!d have encouraged the building of structures-places in Europe in the fourteenth century.
·ceremonies and dwellings. By the time recorded history
gan about 5,000 years ago, many settlements existed, EARLY BUSINESS SERVICES. Everyone in settlements
ct some featured temples. [n fact, until the invention needed food, which was supplied by the group through
skyscrapers in the late nineteenth century, religious hunting or gathering. At some point, someone probably
ildings were often the tallest structures in a community. wondered: Why not bring in extra food for hard times,
Settlements also may have been places to house fam- such as drought or conflict? This perhaps was the origin of
!S, permitting unburdened males to travel farther and transportation services.
ter in their search for food. Women kept "home and
arth," making household objects, such as pots, tools, Not every group had access to the same resources be-
d clothing, and educating the children. These house- cause of the varied djstribution of vegetation, animals,
ld-based services evolved over thousands of years into fuel wood, and mineral resources across the landscape.
1ools1 libraries, theaters, museums, and other institu- People brought objects and materials they collected or
,ns that create and store a group's values and heritage produced into the settlement and exchanged them for
d transmit them from one generation to the next. items brought by others. Settlements became warehousing
People also needed tools, clothing, shelter, containers, centers to store the extra food. The settlement served as
~I,and other material goods. Settlements therefore be- neutral ground where several groups could safely come to-
me manufacturing centers. Men gathered the materi- gether to trade goods and services. To facilitate this trade,
needed to make a variety of objects, including stones officials in the settlement provided producer services, such
: tools and weapons, grass for containers and matting, as regulating the terms of transactions, setting fair prices,
imal hair for clothing, and wood fqr shelter and heat. keeping records, and creating a currency system.

Through centuries of experiments and accidents, resi-
dents of early settlements realized that some of the wild
vegetation they had gathered could generate food if delib-
erately placed in the ground and nursed to maturity-in
other words, agriculture, as described in Chapter 10. Over
time, settlements became surrounded by fields, where peo-
ple produced most of their food by planting seeds and rais-
ing animals rather than by hunting and gathering.

Pause and Reflect 12.4.2

Infer what functions caves might have served for
early humans, in addition to burying the dead.

-'

452 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Urbanization

Learning Outcome 12.4.3
Identify important prehistoric, ancient, and medieval
urban settlements.

Settlements existed prior to the beginning of recorded his- A FIGURE 12-33 PREHISTORIC URBAN SETTLEMENT: UR Theremainsof
tory around 5,000 years ago. With a few exceptions, these Ur,inpresent-dayIraq,provideevidenceof earlyurbancivilizationA.ncientUr
were rural settlements. Asrecently as 1800, only 3 percent wascompactp, erhapscovering100hectares(250acres),andwassurrounded
of Earth's population lived in urban settlements. Two cen- bya wall.Themostprominenbt uildingt,he steppedtemple,calleda ziggurat,
turies later, one-half of the world's people live in urban was originallyconstructedaround4,000yearsago.Thezigguratwas originally
settlements. a three-storystructurewitha basethat was64 by46meters(210by150feet}
and the upperstoriessteppedback.Fourmorestorieswereaddedinthe sixth
EARLIEST URBAN SETTLEMENTS centuryB.CS. urroundintghezigguratwasa densenetworkof smallresidences
builtaroundcourtyardsandopeningonto narrowpassagewaysT.heexcavation
Settlements may have originated in Mesopotamia, part of
the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia (see Figure 8-10), and sitewasdamagedduringthetwowarsin Iraq.
diffused at an early date west to Egypt and east to China
and to South Asia's Indus Valley. Or settlements may have
originated independently in each of the four hearths. In
any case, from these four hearths, settlements diffused to
the rest of the world.

PREHISTORIC URBAN SETTLEMENTS. The earliest Athens, the largest city-state in ancient Greece (fig-
urban settlements were probably in the Fertile Crescent of ure 12-34), made substantial contributions to the devel-
Southwest Asia and North Africa (Figure 12-32). Among opment of culture, philosophy, and other elements of
the oldest well-documented urban settlements is Ur in Western civilization, an example of the traditional dis-
Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). Ur, which means "fire," tinction between urban settlements and rural. The urban
was where Abraham lived prior to his journey to Canaan settlements provided not only public services but also a
in approximately 1900 B.C., according to the Bible. concentration of consumer services, notably cultural ac-
Archaeologists have unearthed ruins in Ur that date from tivities, not found in smaller settlements.
approximately 3000 B.C. (Figure 12-33).
The rise of the Roman Empire encouraged urban settle-
ANCIENT URBAN SETTLEMENTS. Settlements were ment. With much of Europe, North Africa, and Southwest
first established in the eastern Mediterranean about Asia under Roman rule, settlements were established
2500 B.C. The oldest settlements include Knossos on the as centers of administrative, military, and other pubJic
island of Crete, Troy in Asia Minor (Turkey), and Mycenae services, as well as retail and other consumer services.
in Greece. These settlements were trading centers for the Trade was encouraged through transportation and util-
thousands of islands dotting the Aegean Sea and the eastern ity services, notably construction of many roads and aq-
Mediterranean and provided the government, military ueducts, and the security the Roman legions provided.
protection, and other public services for their surrounding
hinterlands. They were organized into city-states- The city of Rome-the empire's center for administra-
independent self-governing communities that included tion, commerce, culture, and all other services-grew to at
the settlement and nearby countryside. least 250,000 inhabitants, although some claim that the
population may have reached 1 million. The city's central-
t;atalhoyO~ ◄ FIGURE 12-32 LARGEST ity in the empire's communications network was reflected
in the old saying" All roads lead to Rome."
•60008.C. TellBrak URBAN SETTLEMENTS IN
eS000-4000B.C. With the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century,
PREHISTORIC TIMES The urban settlements declined. The empire's prosperity had
Med~erranean '-"'1<>¾\ ~ ~J earliestknownlargeurban rested on trading in the secure environment of imperial
Sea settlementswerein theFertile Rome. But with the empire fragmented under hundreds of
,~ N Crescenot f SouthwesAt siaand rulers, trade diminished. Large urban settlements shrank
Egypt. or were abandoned. For several hundred years, Europe's
•Jericho -I> cultural heritage was preserved largely in monasteries and

70008.C. Ur• isolated rural areas.
• Memphis 3000-
MEDIEVAL URBAN SETTLEMENTS. Urban life begar,
-z 2000B.:,.C. 2000B.C. to revive in Europe in the eleventh century, as feuda·

,-$1

•Thebes 250 SOOMiles
1000B,C.. o

o 250 500~1om~m

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 453

I,

:1GURE 12-34 ANCIENT URBAN SETTLEMENT: ATHENS Dominating

skylineof modemAthensisthe ancienthilltopsiteofthe city,theAcropolis. .i. FIGURE 12-35 MEDIEVALURBANSETTLEMENTC:ARCASSONNEMe-
:ient Greeksselectedthis highplacebecauseit wasdefensiblea,ndthey
dievalEuropeancities,suchas CarcassonniensouthwesternFrancew, ereoften
,se it as a placeto erectshrinesto theirgods.Themostprominensttructure surroundedby wallsfor protectionT. hewallshave been demolishedin most
theAcropoliissthe Parthenonb,uiltinthe fifthcentury8.C.to honorthe
places,buttheystillstandaroundthemedievacl enterof Carcassonne.
idessAthenaT. hestructureinthe foregroundistheHerodesAtticusOdeon,

,eater builtin 161A.DB. ehindthe Odeonis thePropylaeaw, hichwasthe

:raneegate to theAcropoliTs.othe rightofthe Parthenoni,nthe background.

he ChapelofSt.Georgeb, uiltinthe nineteenthcenturyatop Mount

abettus,the highestpointinAthens. in,,* ·•-""' 'r--_A---T-,LA9N-.T-I~C---,---~--~- ..-.4.0('-E-l----::::~-=--<c-:-----:---:::-=--.----o----,-1-o=o-o1.,.0.02.0,,0.0.0,K' Iiom2,e0t0e0r,Milos

?GEAN •

rds established new urban settlements. [°" -) \l. __,,r. ,
-GOf['N).-"- ,_,,t1:1>--- ..._,_ ,) /( --
1e lords gave residents charters of rights
ith which to establish independent cities y < { ,;:~ ,..J1.._t:.;
:m:~-~,. ondon.,.. )
exchange for their military service. Both 1;,;. :,1
.e Iord an d th e urb an rest·ctenst benet·It ed
)m this arrangement. The lord obtained \_ f · '\.. - -;;p _...F ,(t'
~opleto defend his territory at less cost than r"' ;.;.__--..,,,,7~y li.W,llR.·l"O~~Oo~,m~e•~~'~,c~o-rn/5s-f.iK<mtroinool:l~.)·1e."-)~-";.i ,r
r- ae1J1ng i. ,

100K0_a1i1foenog\ •120'"-11..8.-.()0 :ffr,-y-.IO"tl
/ · _ Chan!l'a~(Xiaaj•?.\,, 1-:!&;1::'•rokyo
,J -~ ~ , _600--90.Q--.:""JltRangzhopuoop

aintaining a standing army. For their part, 1:\)\ / \ '"\ ·,, ~· i (N~:::;ft120~-~300
·ban residents preferred periodic military (?too ~o·N
J ,, ',

· .•
rvice to the burden faced by rural serfs, who ~/ ./;>-t.; I!~"I.-.i-' /, I~.,_, PAC f/C
\..\'1 OCEiAN
'-'/'
--r-.._,, .rmed the lord's land and could keep only a 6 'E i./o•E
8 •E
l_ • ._

oall portion of their own agricultural output. .i, FIGURE 12-36 LARGEST SETTLEMENTS SINCE 1 A.D.

With their newly won freedom from the ThelargestcitieshavebeeninChinaformostof thepast 2,000years.

lentless burden of rural serfdom, the urban

,vellers set about expanding trade. Surplus

om the countryside was brought into the city for sale or massive churches and palaces surviving. Modern tourists

:change, and markets were expanded through trade with can appreciate the architectural beauty of these medieval

:her free cities. The trade among different urban settle- churches and palaces, but they do not receive an accurate

tents was enhanced by new roads and greater use of riv- image of a densely built medieval town.

·s. By the fourteenth century, Europe was covered by a After the collapse of the Roman Empire, most of the

~nse network of small market towns serving the needs of world's largest urban settlements were clustered in China

uticul~ir lords. (Figure 12-36). Several cities in China are estimated to have

The largest medieval European urban settlements served exceeded 1 million inhabitants between 700 and 1800

; power centers for the lords and church leaders, as well as A.D., including Chang'an (now Xian), Kaifeng, Hangzhou,

1ajor market centers. The most important public services Jinling (now Nanjing), and Beijing. London grabbed the

:cupied palaces, churches, and other prominent build- title of world's largest urban settlement during the nine-

1gsarranged around a central market square. The tallest teenth century, as part of the Industrial Revolution. New

1d most elaborate structures were usually churches, many York held the title briefly during the mid-twentieth cen-

f which still dom1nate the landscape of smaller European tury, and Tokyo is now considered to be the world's largest

,wns. In medieval times, European urban settlements were urban settlement.

sually surrounded by walls even though by then cannon-

alls could destroy them (Figure 12-35). Dense and compact Pauseand Reflect12.4.3
·ithin the walls, medieval urban settlements lacked space
>rconstruction, so ordinary shops and houses nestled into Medieval walled cities were constructed near
1e side of the walls and the large buildings. Most of these political boundaries. How far is the medieval walled
1odest medieval shops and homes, as well as the walls, city of Carcassonne,France,from an international
ave been demolished in modern times, with only the boundary?

454 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

RAPID GROWTH OF URBAN for fewer farm workers has pushed people out of rural
SETTLEMENTS areas, and rising employment opportunities in manufac-
turing and services have lured them into urban areas. Be-
Learning Outcome 12.4.4 cause everyone resides either in an urban settlement or a
Explain the two dimensions of urbanization. rural settlement, an increase in the percentage living in
urban areas has produced a corresponding decrease in the
percentage Jiving in rural areas.

The process by which the population of urban settlements INCREASINGNUMBEROF PEOPLEIN URBANSETTLEMENTS.
grows, known as urbanization, has two dimensions: an Developed countries have a higher percentage of urban
increase in the number of people living in urban settle- residents, but developing countries have more of the very
ments and an increase in the percentageof people living in large urban settlements (Figure 12-38). Eight of the 10 most
urban settlements. The distinction between these two fac- populous cities are currently in developing countries: Cairo,
tors is important because they occur for different reasons Delhi, Jakarta, Manila, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Seoul, and
Shanghai. New York and Tokyo are the two large cities in
and have different global distributions.
developed countries. In addition, 44 of the 50 largest urban

INCREASING PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN URBAN settlements are in developing countries. That developing
SETTLEMENTS. The population of urban settlements countries dominate the list of largest urban settlements is
exceeded that of rural settlements for the first time in remarkable because urbanization was once associated with
human history in 2008 (Figure 12-37). The percentage economic development. In 1800, 7 of the world's 10 largest
of people living in urban settlements had increased from cities were in Asia. In 1900, after diffusion of the Industrial
3 percent in 1800 to 6 percent in 1850, 14 percent in 1900, Revolution from the United Kingdom to today's developed
30 percent in 1950, and 47 percent in 2000. countries, all 10 of the world's largest cities were in Europe
and North America.
The percentage of people living in urban settlements re-
flects a country's level of development. ln developed coun- In developing countries, migration from the country-
tries, about three-fourths of the people Jive in urban areas, side is fueling half of the increase in population in urban
compared to about two-fifths in developing countries. The settlements, even though job opportunities may not be
major exception to the global pattern is Latin America, available. The other half results from high natural increase
where the urban percentage is comparable to the level of de- rates; in Africa, the natural increase rate accounts for three-
veloped countries. The higher percentage of urban residents fourths of urban growth.

in developed countries is a consequence of changes in eco-

nomic structure during the past two centuries-first the In- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN URBAN

dustrial Revolution in the nineteenth century and then the AND RURAL SETTLEMENTS
growth of services in the twentieth. The world map of urban
percentages looks very much like the world map of percent- A century ago, social scientists observed striking differences
age of GDP derived from services (see Figure 12-2). between urban and rural residents. Louis Wirth argued dur-
ing the 1930s that an urban dweller follows a different way
The percentage of urban dwellers is high in developed of life than does a rural dweller. Thus Wirth defined a city
countries because over the past 200 years, rural residents as a permanent settlement that has three characteristics:
have migrated from the countryside to work in the facto- large size, high population density, and socially heteroge-
ries and services that are concentrated in cities. The need
neous people. These characteris-
O' 21J W _W.. . 1.8..0.'. tics produced differences in the

social behavior of urban and rural

...... . residents .
LARGESIZE. If you live in a rural

~ ~J,' TriYC t ¥'11;(_! _ settlement, you know most of the
-21l' other inhabitants and may even
be related to many of them. The
I PJ.CIFtC people with whom you relax are
OC£/IN probably the same ones you see in
local shops and at church.
L.w·~ O-
In contrast, if you live in an
160' 140' 120' T
f'.-Jl::i.r--....,,.'-2··0'
Percenut rban

75andal>oie urban settlement, you can know

50-74 00- 60' ◄11'irJ'O ~ 2~ ·~~ only a small percentage of the
Below50 2.o-00 other residents. You meet most of
nodata <11,dIoCo.leomtMrs them in specific roles-your su-

60' ea' 100 12"' 140'

A FIGURE12-37 PERCENTAGLEIVINGIN URBANSETTLEMENTSDevelopedcountrieshavehigher pervisor, your lawyer, your super-
percentageosf urbanresidentsthando developingcountries. market cashier, your electrician.

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 455

J60' 140' 120' 100" l!O 60' 40' ?O O'

C$z,-,, .-.-,._~

.,;> f) /'f Lagos
• \..✓. c•Kinshll.$a" ~

,.. ~---f. ;..,......,.,.,•.~, -~ ~
C~!ca•go ' •f Luanda•
:voil<

' udo<ina
ttNewSanft1ncl,co•

los Angeles•
• F<0r~t, 1,,..

ATLANTIC

-- .... ---,--'- -- OCEAN

- 20'

MexicoCity

PACIFIC
OCEAN

• ..

" 1211' Sa,i11g0 .a.o~ Johannesb• (,rg

rbansettlementswith ,,..-- • • Rlo..di.Jaru,!ro "
: least2 millionpopulation • SaoPaulo

10.0millionandabove ? ATLANTIC

! &JenoAsires OCl:AN

5.0million-9.9million

3.0mllllan-<1.m9illion l,000 •.000Kllomoters

2.0mllliort-29 mlllion 100 0(/ 11' 20' 6C' 100' 120' lCO' 1&.l'

IGURE 12-38 URBAN SETTLEMENTSWITH AT LEAST 2 MILLION INHABITANTS
,t of the world's largesturbansettlementsarein developingcountriese, speciallyin EastAsia,SouthAsia,and
nAmerica.

>sl of these relationships are contractual: You are paid Wirth's three-part distinction between urban and rural
ges according to a contract, and you pay others for settlements may still apply in developing countries. But
ods and services. Consequently, the large size of an in developed countries, social distinctions between urban
Jan settlement produces different social relationships and rural life have blurred. According to Wirth's defini-
rn those formed in rural settlements. tion, nearly everyone in a developed country now is
urban. All but 1 percent of workers in developed societ-
GH DENSITY. High density also produces social ies hold "urban" types of jobs. Nearly universal ownership
nsequences for urban residents, according to Wirth. The of automobiles, telephones, televisions, and other modern
ly way that a large number of people can be supported communications and transportation has also reduced the
a small area is through specialization. Each person in an differences between urban and rural lifestyles in developed
ban settlement plays a special role or performs a specific countries. Almost regardless of where you live in a devel-
;k to allow the complex urban system to function oped country, you have access to urban jobs, services, cul-
1oothly. At the same time, high density also encourages ture, and recreation.
cial groups to compete to occupy the same territory.
CHECK-IN: KFV IS<;UE/J
KIAL HETEROGENEITY. The larger the settlement,
e greater the variety of people. A person has greater Why Do Services Cluster in Settlements?
?edom in an urban settlement than in a rural settlement
pursue an unusual profession, sexual orientation, or ✓ Settlements are either rural or urban; rural
1ltural interest. In a rural settlement, unusual actions settlements, which specialize in agricultural
ight be noticed and scorned, but urban residents are services, may be clustered or dispersed.
ore tolerant of diverse social behavior. Regardless of
tlues and preferences, in a large urban settlement, ✓ Few humans lived in urban settlements until
dividuals can find people with similar interests. But the nineteenth century.
!spite the freedom and independence of an urban
ttlement, people may also feel lonely and isolated. ✓ Developed countries have higher percentages
~sidents of a crowded urban settlement often feel that they of urban residents, but developing countries
·e surrounded by people who are indifferent and reserved. have most of the very large cities.

456 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Summary KEY ISSUE2

1KEY ISSUE Where Are Consumer Services Distributed?

Where Are Services Distributed? Consumer services generally follow a regular pattern, based o
size of settlements.
Most jobs are in the service sec.tor, especially in developed LEARNINGOUTCOME12.2.1: Explain the concepts of market area
countries. range, and threshold.
LEARNINGOUTCOME12.1.1: Describe the three types of services
and changing numbers of types of jobs. • The market area is the area surrounding a service from whic
customers are attracted.
• Three types of services are consumer, business, and public.
• Jobs are growing in the service sector rather than in agricul- • The range is the maximum distance people are willing to
travel to use a service.
ture and industry.
• The threshold Is the minimum number of people needed t
THINKINGGEOGRAPHICALLY12.1:What evidence can vou find in support a service.

your community of economic ties to developing countries? LEARNINGOUTCOME12.2.2: Explain the distribution of different-
GOOGLEEARTH12.1: The Pentagon is the world's largest public-
sector building. Fly to the Pentagon. How many concentric sized settlements.
pentagons does the structure contain? • Larger settlements provide consumer services that have larg
thresholds, ranges, and market areas.
Key Terms
regu• ln many developed countries, settlements follow a

hierarchy.

LEARNINGOUTCOME12.2.3: Explain how to use threshold an
range to find the optimal location for a service.

• The gravity model predicts that the optimal location of a ser
vice is directly related to the number of people in the area ani
inversely related to the distance people must tr.avel to access i1

LEARNINGOUTCOME12.2.4: Understand the role of periodi
markets in the provision of services in developing countries.

• A periodic market provides goods where sparse population
and low incomes produce purchasing power too low to suf
port fulJ-time retailing.

THINKINGGEOGRAPHICALL1Y2.2: ln most communities, the larj
est employers other than local government are consumer service
What are the largest consumer services in your community? Yo
can Google "largest employers (your community]" to find out.

GOOGLEEARTH12.2: West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton,
Alberta, is the largest mall in North America. How does it com-
pare In area with Jungle Jim's, shown in Google Earth 10.2?

Basic indust,ries (p. 446)Industries that sell their products or servicespri- Economic base (p. 446) A communit)"s collection of basic industrie
marily to consumers outside the settlement. Enclosure movement (p. 450)The process of consolidating small la1
Business services {p.43:Z)Servicesthat primatily meet lhe needs of holdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during ti·
other businesses, including professional, financial, and transportation eighteen th century.
Gravity model (p. 438) A model which holds thal the potential use
services. a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of
CenLral place (p. 434) A market center for the exchange of services by people in a location and inversely related to the distance people mu
people attracted from the surroundi.cg area.
Central place theory (p. 434) A theory that explains the distribution of travel to reach the service.
services based on the fact U1atsettlements serve as centers of market Market area (or hinterland) (p. 434lThe areasurrounding a central pl
areas for services; larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than from which people are attracted to use the place's goods and servicei
smaller settlements and provide services for a largernumber of people
who are willing to travel farther. Nonbasic industries (p. 446) Industries that sell their products prirna
City-state (p. 452) Asovereign state comprising a city and its lmmecliate to consumers in the community.

hlnterland.
Clustered rural settlement (p. 448) A rural settlement in which the
houses and farm buildings of each family are situated dose to each

other, with fields surrounding the settlement.
Consumer services (p. 431) Businessesthat provide services-primarilyto
individual consumers, including retail services and ~ducation, health,

and leisure services.
Dispersed rural settlement (p. 448)Arural settlement pattern character-
ized by i~olated farms rather than clustered villages.

r

Chapter 12: Services and Settlements 457

EYISSUE 3 KEY ISSUE4

nere Are Business Services Distributed? Why Do Services Cluster in Settlements?

\iness services disproportic,mately cluster in a handful of U!ban Services cluster in rutal and urban settlements.
:lements.
LEARNING OUTCOME 12.4.1: Describe the difference between
1RNING OUTCOME 12.3.1: Describe the facto:rs that are 11sedto clustered and dispersed rural settlements.
ntify globa1 cities.
• A clustered rural settlement i.s an agricultural-based settle-
Global cities (or world cities) are the centers of the global
flows of information and capital. ment in which houses are close together.
• A dispersed rural settlement has isolated individual farms.
Several tiers of global cities offer varying levels of business
serv:ices. LEARNINGOUTCOME12.4.2: Explain the types of services in early
settlements.
\RNING OUTCOME 12.3.2: Explain the two types of business
vices in developing countries. • The earliest settlements provided consumer services, espe-
cially as places to bury and honor the dead. Early settlements
Somesmall eountries offer offshorefinancial services,which
werealsoplacesof educationand productionof tools.
attract investors because of low taxes and extreme privacy.
• Early public services included governance and protection of
Developing countries also specialize in back-office ope'ratldns, dependents.
also called business-processing outsourcing.
LEARNING OUTCOME 12.4.3: Identify impmtant prehistoric, an-
\RNlNG OUTCOME12.3.3: Explain the concept ,ofecono.mic base. cient, and medieva1 urban settlements.

Basic industries export primarily to consumers outside the • Urban settlements may ha¥e miginated in Southwest Asia, or
settlement; they are the principal source of growth and they may have originated in multiple hearths.
wealth for a settlement.
Some settlements attract a disproportionate share of talented • Few people lived in urban settlements until modern times.
individuals.
LEARNING OUTCOME 12.4.4: Explain the two dimensions of
INKING GEOGRAPHICALLY12.3: Your community's economy is urbanization.
Janding or contracting as a result of the performance of its basic
ployment. Two factors can explain this performance. One is • Urbanization involves an increase in the percentage of people
1t the sector Is expanding or contracting nationally. The second living in urban settlements. Developed countries have higher
hat the sector is performing much better or worse in the commu- percentages of urban residents than do developing countr.ies.
y than in the country as a whole. Which of the two factors better
Jlains the performance of your community's basic employment? • Urbanization also involves an increase in size of settlements.
Most very large settlements are in developing countries.
OGLEEARTH12.3: Several hundred banks are registered in
orge Town, Cayman Islands, but their only presence is mail- THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY12.4: Rural settlement patterns
x.esin the Central Post Office. How far is the Central Post along the U.S. East Coast were influenced by migration during
ice from the nearest wharf, where wealthy people might be the Colonial era. To what extent have distinctive rural settlement
.e to dock a yacht? patterns elsewhere in the United States resulted from interna-
tional or internal migration?

GOOGLEEARTH12.4: Fly to Ur, Iraq. Turn on 3D and drag to
ground-level view. What is the only structure in 3D in the
excavations?

1mate city (p. 437) The largest settlement in a country, if it has more MasteringGeography™
in twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement.
Looking for additional review and test prep materials?
lmate city rule (p. 437) A pattern of setllernents in a country such Visit the Study Area in MasteringGeography™ to
H the largest settlement has more than twice as many people as the enhance your geographic literacy, spatial reasoning
:ond-ranking settlement.
blic services (p. 432) Servicesoffered by the government to provide skills,and understanding of this chapter's content by
:urity and protection fur Citizensuntl businesses. accessing a variety of resources, including MapMaster'M
nge (of a service) (p. 435) The maximum distance people are willing interactive maps, videos, RSSfeeds, flashcards, web
travel to use a service. links, self-study quizzes, and an eText version of

nk-size rule (p. -137)Apattern of settlements in a country such that the The Cultural Landscape.
, largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largestsettlement.
www.masteringgeography.com
rvice (p. 430) Any activity that fulfills a human wanl ur need and re-
ins money to those who provide it.

ttlement(p. 430JApermanent collection of buildings and inhabitants.

1.reshold(p. 435)The minimum number of people needed to support a
-vice.

banization (p. 454) An increase in the percentage of the number of
ople living in urban settlements.

--··-------- ...

~~~~~ . ' I II I •

Chapter

Urban Patterns

Why do British suburbs look different from American Whywere these buildingsblownup? Page491
suburbs? Page481

1KEY ISSUE--- 2KEY ISSUE

WhyDo Where Are People
Services Cluster Distributed
Downtown? Within Urban
Areas?
The Centerof it All 461
, tl'M'JINt.'f<tst~irl'<I
Downtownis the most distinctivearea of mostcities. 2m01_,.,s::,oc,

458 -' l~d~t..01rnd&"Q1
!iCc-lf,n;!d1,~

Rings,Wedges,and Nodes 466

Threemodelshelpto explainwhere differentgroupslivewithin
a city.

Parts, p. 470-471, 473 A These two passengers on a NewYorkCitybus
,epresent the c;ontrastsand diversityof a largecity.
fc.s, p. t75 The well-dressedwoman in front uses her smart
phone whilethe simplydressedwomanbehindher
., clutchesher walker.Whenyou are in a city,you are
morelikelythan whenyouare ina smalltownto sit
next to people who are differentfrom you,but do
the other passengerssmileat you and chat, or do
they mindtheir own business?

Y ISSUE 3 KEY ISSUE4

'hy Are Urban Why Do Cities
reas Expanding? Face Challenges?

---,, .
IX

prawling into Suburbs 476 Decline and Renewal 490

ties have spread out far into the countryside,along highway Cities display physical, social, and economic challenges and
rridors. accomplishments.

459

• 3KEY ISSUE looks at suburban expansion. If you were

Introducing transported to a suburban residential neighborhood
you would have difficulty identifying the urban area'.

Urban Patterns Suburban houses, streets, schools, and shopping cen-
ters look very much alike from one American city to

another.

When you stand at the corner of Fifth Ave- • KEY ISSUE 4 looks al distinctive physical, social, and

nue and 34th Street in New York City, star- economic geography issues of urban areas. In this sec-
ing up at the Empire State Building, you tion, the causes and consequences of today's evolving
know that you are in a city (Figure 13-1). urban patterns are examined. Although different inter-
nal structures characterize urban areas in the United

When you are standing in an Iowa corn- States and elsewhere, the problems arising from current
spatial trends are similar. Geographers describe wily
field, you have no doubt that you are in the different types of people live in various places within

country. urban areas.

Geographers help explain what makes city and country- It
side different places. In a small town everything may be
within easy walking distance, but in a large city your des- A FIGURE13-1 YOU KNOWYOU AREINA CITYStaringattheEmpirSe
tination may be too far to walk. How would you get some- BuildingN, ew'(ork
where if you didn't have a car, or if the city were too con-
gested to use it? Hitchhiking is dangerous, and you don't
have enough money to hire a taxi. What about the bus?
Where does it stop? What route does it follow? How much
is the fare? Do you have the exact change or a prepaid fare

card, as required on most big-city buses?
Chapter 12 and this chapter are both concerned with

urban geography, but at different scciles. The previous
chapter examined the distribution of urban settlements
al national and glob'al scales. This chapter looks at where
people and activities are distributed within urban space.
Models have been developed to explain why differences

occur within urban areas.
tn regions of developed countries, people are increas-

ingly likely to live in suburbs. This changing structure of
cities is a rei,pose to conflicting desires. People wish to
avoiLI urban problems, but at the same time, they want
convenient co11nectio11tso the city's jobs, shops, culture,

1and recreation.

• KEY ISSUE focuses on the downtown of urban areas.
Activities downtown are distinctive. We all experience
the interplay between globalization and local diver-
sity of urban settlements when we are downtown. lf
you were transported to the downtown of another city,
you might be able to recognize the city from its skyline.
Many downtowns have a collection of high-rise build-
ings, towers, and landmarks that are identifiable even

to people who have never visited them.

• KEY ISSUE 2 looks at where people live within urban

areas. A large city is stimulating and agitating, enter-
taining and frightening, welcoming and cold. A city
has something for everyone, but a lot of those things
are for people who are different from you. Urban geog-

raphy helps to sort out the complexities of familiar and

unfamiliar patterns in urban areas.

460

Chapter 13: Urban Patterns 461

EV ISSUE 1

Vhy Do Services
:luster Downtown?

CBD Land Uses
CBDs Outside North America

,wntown is the best-known and the most visually dis- .6. FIGURE 13-3 SITE OF WILKES-BARRE'SCBD Wilkes-Barrwe as built
1ctive area of most cities. The downtowns of most North
nerican cities have different features than the down- alongthe southbankoftheSusquehannRaiver.
wns in the rest of the world.

BD Land Uses easiest part of the city to reach from the rest of the re-
gion and is the focal point of the region's transportation
,wntown is known to geographers by the more precise
:m central business district (CBD). The CBD is com- network.
et-less than 1 percent of the urban land area-but The CBD is one of the oldest districts in a city, usually
ntains a large percentage of the public, business, and
nsumer services (Figure 13-2). Services are attracted at or near the original site of the settlement. The CBDs of
the CBD because of its accessibility. The CBD is the older cities are often situated along a body of water, a prin-
cipal transportation route prior to the twentieth century
(Figure 13-3).

Businessservices Vacant
Consumesrervices Park
• Publicand Parking
semipubliscervices

-Education

FIGURE13-2 CBD OF WILKES-BARREP, ENNSYLVANIAWilkes-Barrea,city of 40,000inhabitantsh, asa
1tralbusinesdsistrictypicalof U.Sc.ities,witha mixof businessc,onsumear,ndpublicservices.

462 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

PUBLIC SERVICES IN CBDs

Learning Outcome 13.1.1
Describe the three types of services found in a CBD.

Public services typically located in a CBD include city hall, ~ FIGURE13-5 BUSINESSSERVICESIN WILKES-BARRE'SCBD Downtown
courts, county and state agencies, and libraries (Figure 13-4). buildingshouseofficesfor financialand professionalservices.
These facilities historically clustered downtown, in many
cases in substantial structures. Today, many remain in the Even with the diffusion of modern telecommunica-
CBD to facilitate access for people living in all parts of tions, many professionals still exchange information with
town. Similarly, semipublic services such as places of wor- colleagues primarily through face-to-face contact. Finan-
ship and social service agencies also cluster downtown in cial analysts discuss attractive stocks or impending corpo-
handsome historic structures. rate takeovers. Lawyers meet to settle disputes out of court.
Offices are centrally located to facilitate rapid communica-
Sports facilities and convention centers have been con- tion of fast-breaking news through spatial proximity. Face-
structed or expanded downtown in many cities. These to-face contact also helps establish a relationship of trust
structures attract a large number of people, including many based on shared professional values.
suburbanites and out-of-towners. Cities place these facili-
ties in the CBD because they hope to stimulate more busi- A central location also helps businesses that employ
ness for downtown restaurants, bars, and hotels. Cities workers from a variety of neighborhoods. Top executives
such as Wilkes-Barre have reclaimed their waterfronts as may live in one neighborhood, junior executives in an-
public park space. other, secretaries in another, and custodians in still an-
other. Only a central location is readily accessible to all
BUSINESS SERVICES IN CBDs groups. Firms that need highly specialized employees are
more likely to find them in the central area, perhaps cur-
Offices cluster in a CBD for accessibility (Figure 13-5). rently working for another company downtown.
People in business services such as advertising, banking,
finance, journalism, and law particularly depend on prox-
imity to professional colleagues. Lawyers, for example,
choose locations near government offices and courts. Ser-
vices such as temporary secretarial agencies and instant
printers locate downtown to be near lawyers, forming a
chain of interdependency that continues to draw offices
to the center city.

T FIGURE13-4 PUBLICSERVICESIN WILKES-BARRE'SCBO Much CONSUMER SERVICES IN CBDs
of Wilkes-Barre's CBD is devoted to public services, such as the
Luzerne County Courthouse. In the past, three types of retail services clustered in a
CBD because they required accessibility to everyone in
the region: retailers with a high threshold, those with a
high range, and those that served people who worked
in the CBD. Changing shopping habits and residential
patterns have reduced the importance of retail services
in the CBD. Some downtowns have actively encouraged
leisure services, such as theaters. In Wilkes-Barre, for ex-
ample, an abandoned movie theater built in 1938 was
converted into the F. M. Kirby Center for the Performing
Arts in 1986 (Figure 13-6).

RETAILERSWITH A HIGH THRESHOLD. Retailers with
high thresholds, such as department stores, traditionally
preferred a CBD location in order to be accessible to many
people. Large department stores in the CBD would cluster
near one intersection, which was known as the" l 00 percent
comer." Rents were highest there because that location
had the highest accessibility for the most customers.

Chapter 13: Urban Patterns 463

IGURE 13-6 CONSUMER SERVICES IN WILKES-BARRE'S CBD Kirby LACK OF MANUFACTURING IN CBDs. Modern factories
er forthe PerformingArtsis in downtownWilkes-Barre. require large parcels of land to spread operations among
one-story buildings. Suitable land is generally available
Most high-threshold shops such as large department in suburbs. In the past, inner-city factories and retail
res have closed their downtown branches. CBDs that establishments relied on waterfront CBDs that were once
:e boasted three or four stores now have none, or per- lined with piers for cargo ships to load and unload and
)S one struggling survivor. The customers for downtown warehouses to store the goods. Today's large oceangoing
>artment stores now consist of downtown office workers, vessels are unable to maneuver in the tight, shallow waters
,er-city residents, and tourists. Department stores with of the old CBD harbors. Consequently, port activities have
h thresholds are now more likely to be in suburban malls. moved to more modern facilities downstream.

rAILERS WITH A HIGH RANGE. High-range retailers Port cities have transformed their waterfronts from in-
often speciahsts, with customers who patronize them dustry to commercial and recreational activities. Derelict
requently. These retailers once preferred CBD locations warehouses and rotting piers have been replaced with new
·ause their customers were scattered over a wide area. For offices, shops, parks, and museums. As a result, CBD wa-
1mple,a jewelry or clothing store attracted shoppers from terfronts have become major tourist attractions in a num-
)Verthe urban area, but each customer visited infrequently. ber of North American cities, including Boston, Toronto,
e those with high thresholds, high-range retailers have Baltimore, and San Francisco, as well as in European cities
>vedwith department stores to suburban locations. such as Barcelona and London. The cities took the lead in
clearing the sites and constructing new parks, docks, walk-
TAILERS SERVING DOWNTOWN WORKERS. Athird ways, museums, and parking lots. They have also built
,e of retail activity in the CBD serves the many people large convention centers to house professional meetings
o work in the CBD and shop during lunch or working and trade shows. Private developers have added hotels, res-
urs. These retaiJers sell office supplies, computers, and taurants, boutiques, and entertainment centers to accom-
thing or offer shoe repair, rapid photocopying, dry modate tourists and conventioneers.
aning, and so on. In contrast to the other two types
retailers, shops that appeal to nearby office workers LACK OF RESIDENTS IN CBDs. Many people used to
· expanding in the CBD, in part because the number of live in or near the CBD. Poorer people jammed into tiny,
wntown office workers has increased and in part because overcrowded apartments, and richer people built mansions
wntown offices require more services. downtown. In the twentieth century, most residents
Patrons of downtown shops tend increasingly to be abandoned downtown living because of a combination
wntown employees who shop during the lunch hour. of pull and push factors. They were pulled to suburbs
us, although the total volume of sales in downtown that offered larger homes with private yards and modern
:as has been stable, the pattern of demand has changed. schools. And they were pushed from CBDs by high rents
rge department stores have difficulty attracting their old that business and retail services were willing to pay and
5tomers, whereas smaller shops that cater to the special by the dirt, crime, congestion, and poverty that they
eds of the downtown labor force are expanding. experienced by living downtown.

In the twenty-first century, however, the population of
many U.S. CBDs has increased. New apartment buildings
and townhouses have been constructed, and abandoned
warehouses and outdated office buildings have been con-
verted into residential lofts. Downtown living is especially
attractive to people without school-age children, either
"empty nesters" whose children have left home or young
professionals who have not yet had children. These two
groups are attracted by the entertainment, restaurants,
museums, and nightlife that are clustered downtown, and
they are not worried about the quality of neighborhood
schools.

Despite the growth in population in the center of some
U.S. cities, some consumer services, such as grocery stores,
may still be Jacking (see Sustainability and Inequality fea-
ture on the next page).

CTIVITIESEXCLUDEDFROM CBDs Pauseand Reflect13.1.1
Do you ever spendtime in a CBD?If so, for what
gh rents and land shortage discourage two principal reasons?
civities in the CED-industrial and residential.

-

464 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

COMPETITION FOR LAND IN THE CBD a rural area a hectare of land might cost several thousand
dollars. In a suburb it might run tens of thousands of dol-
Learning Outcome 13.1.2 lars. In the CBD of a global city like London, if a hectare
Explain the three-dimensional nature of a CBD. of land were even available, it would cost more than two
hundred million dollars. If this page were a parcel of land
A CBD's accessibility produces extreme competition for the in the CBD of London, it would sell for $1,000.
limited sites available. As a result, land values are very high
in the CBD, and it is too expensive for some activities. In The intensive demand for space has gi.ven the CBD a
three-dimensional character, pushing it vertically. Com-
pared to other parts of a city, the CBD uses more space

below and above ground level.

SUSTAINABILITAYND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

IdentifyingFoodDeserts

A food desert is an area in a devel- . t.
oped country where healthy food is
difficult to obtain. Food deserts are \ 11
especi.ally common in low-income
inner-city areas. f ~•

In Baltimore, the Baltimore Food 295 o
Policy Initiative is a joint venture of
the Johns Hopkins University Center A FIGURE 13-7 FOOD DESERTSIN BALTIMORE Baltimore'sfooddesertsareclusteredin predomi·
for a Livable Future and several local nantlylow-incomeAfricanAmericaninner-cityneighborhoods.
government agencies. The initiative
prepared a food enviTOnment map
and found that approximately 20
percent of Baltimore's residents lived
in a food desert; the percentages were
highest for children and for African
Americans (Figure L3-7). An area was
determined to be a food desert if it
.met aII four of these cri tecia:

• The distance to the nearest super-
market was more than ¼ mile.
This distance was chosen as the
maximum convenient distance
for walking with grocery bags.

• The median household income
was at or below 185 percent of the
federal poverty level.

• At least 40 percent of the area's
households did not have any
motor vehicles.

• The average Healthy Food Avail-
ability Index score was low for
nearby supermarkets and conve-
nience stores. This index was cal-
culated by sending researchers

into each marketand assessingthe

availability of fresh and healthy

food in the store, using a survey

form called the Nutrition Environ-
ment Measures Survey developed
at the University of Pennsylvania.

Chapter 13: Urban Pa,terns 465

◄ FIGURE 13-8 UNDERGROUND CBC
Montreal'sCBDhas an extensivenetwork

of undergroundwalkwayslinedwith retail
services.

EUNDERGROUND CBD. Avast underground network • Business services, less dependent on walk-in trade, oc-
sts beneath most CBDs. The typical "underground city" cupy offices on the middle levels at lower rents.
:ludes garages, loading docks for deliveries to offices and
)ps, and pipes for water and sewer service. Telephone, • Apartments on the upper floors take advantage of lower
ctric, TV, and broadband cables run beneath the surface noise levels and panoramic views.
well because not enough space is available in the CBD The one large U.S. CBDwithout skyscrapers is Washington,
· the large number of overhead poles that would be
eded for such a dense network, and the wires would be D.C., where no building is allowed to be higher than the
sightly and hazardous. Subway trains run beneath the U.S. Capitol dome. Consequently, offices in downtown
eets of large CBDs. And cities in cold-weather climates, Washington rise no more than 13 stories. As a result, the
:h as Minneapolis, Montreal, and Toronto, have built typical Washington office building uses more horizontal
tensive underground pedestrian passages and shops. space-land area-than in other cities. Thus the city's CBD
ese underground areas segregate pedestrians from spreads over a much wider area than those in comparable
)tor vehicles and shield them from harsh winter weather cities.
gure 13-8).
Pause and Reflect 13.1.2
.YSCRAPERS. Demand for space in CBDs has also The Capitol is the tallest building in the CBD of
1de high-rise structures economically feasible. Downtown Washington, D.C. Is Washington's CBD typical of
yscrapers give a city one of its most distinctive images American cities? Why or why not?
d unifying symbols. Suburban houses, shopping malls,
d factories look much the same from one city to another, CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE1
.t each city has a unique downtown skyline, resulting
im the particular arrangement and architectural styles of Why Do Services Cluster Downtown?
high-rise buildings.
The first skyscrapers were built in Chicago in the 1880s, ✓ Business, public, and some consumer services
ade possible by several inventions, including the eleva- cluster in the CBD.
r, steel girders, and glass structures because they blocked
;ht and air movement. Artificial lighting, ventilation, ✓ The CBD has relatively few manufacturers and
ntral heating, and air-conditioning have helped solve residents.
ese problems. Most North American and European cities
Lactedzoning ordinances early in the twentieth century ✓ North American CBDs are characterized by
part to control the location and height of skyscrapers. high-rise office buildings, as well as extensive
Skyscrapers are an interesting example of "vertical ge- underground services.
:raphy.11The nature of an activity influences which floor
✓ Historic European CBDs have fewer high-rises
occupies in a typical high-rise: and more residents and consumer services.

Retail services pay high rents for street-level space to

entice customers.

466 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE 2 1 Cenlralbllslnessdistrict
2 Zoneoflransition
Where Are People 3 Zoneofindependewnot r1<.ehrosm· es
Distributed within 4 Zoneofbetteresidences
Urban Areas? S Commuterz'sone

• Models of Urban Structure

• Geographic Application of the
Models

• Applying the Models Outside North
America

learning Outcome 13.2.1 A FIGURE13-9 CONCENTRICZONEMODEL Accordingto this model,a city

Describe the concentric zone, sector, and multiple growsin a seriesof ringsthat surroundthe centralbusinessdistrict.
nuclei models.

People are not distributed randomly within an urban area. concentric rings, like the growth rings of a tree. The precise
They concentrate in particular neighborhoods, depend- size and width of the rings vary from one city to another,
ing on their social characteristics. Geographers describe but the same basic types of rings appear in all cities in the
where people with particular characteristics are likely to same order. Back in the 1920s, Burgess identified five rings:
live within an urban area, and they offer explanations for
why these patterns occur. 1. CBD, the Innermost ring, where nonresidential activi-
ties are concentrated.
Models of Urban Structure
2. A zone in transition, which contains industry anc
Sociologists, economists, and geographers have developed poorer-quality housing. Immigrants to the city first liv1
three models to help explain where different types of peo- in this zone in small dwelling units, frequently creatcc
ple tend to live in an urban area-the concentric zone, by subdividing larger houses into apartments. The zorn
sector, and multiple nuclei models. The three models de- also contains rooming houses for single individuals.
scribing the internal social structure of cities were devel-
oped in Chicago, a city on a prairie. The three models were 3. A zone of working-class homes, which contains mod
later applied to cities elsewhere in the United States and est older houses occupied by stable, working-cla•
in other countries. Chicago includes a CBD known as the families.
Loop because transportation lines (originally cable cars,
now El trains) loop around it. Surrounding the Loop are 4. A zone o·f better residences, which contains newer an
residential suburbs to the south, west, and north. Except more spacious houses for middle-class families.
for Lake Michigan to the east, few physical features have
interrupted Chicago's growth. 5. A commuters' zone, beyond the continuous built-l
area of the city. Some people who work in the CB
nonetheless choose to live in small villages that ha·
become dormitory towns for commuters.

CONCENTRIC ZONE MODEL Pause and Reflect 13.2.1

The concentric zone model was the first model to explain If you cut down a large tree, the cross-section will
the distribution of different social groups within urban appear to be a circle with concentric rings. Which
areas (Figure 13-9). It was created in 1923 by sociologist rings of the tree are the newest? Are tree rings a
E. W. Burgess. According to the concentric zone model,
a city grows outward from a central area in a series of good analogy to the concentric zone model? Why o

why not?

Chapter 13: Urban Patterns 467

cities at different times and showed

that the highest social-class district

usually remained in the same sec-

tor, although it moved farther out

along that sector over time.

Hoyt and Burgess both claimed

that social patterns in Chicago

supported their model. Accord-

ing to Burgess, Chicago's CBD was

surrounded by a series of rings,

broken only by Lake Michigan

1 Centrablusinesdsistrict on the east. Hoyt argued that the
2 TransportatiaondIndustry best housing in Chicago devel-
3 Low-clasrsesidential oped north from the CBD along
4 Middle-clasrsesidential Lake Michigan, whereas industry

5 High-clasrsesidential located along major rail lines and

IGURE 13-10 SECTORMODELAccordingto thls model,a city growsin a seriesof wedgesor corridors, roads to the south, southwest, and
chextendout fromthe centralbusinessdistrict.
northwest.

:CTOR MODEL MULTIPLE NUCLEI MODEL

;econd theory of urban structure, the sector model, was Geographers C. D. Harris and E. L. Ullman developed the
veloped in 1939 by land economist Homer Hoyt (Fig- multiple nuclei model in 1945. According to the mul-
! 13-10). According to Hoyt, a city develops in a series of tiple nuclei model, a city is a complex structure that in-
:tors, not rings. Certain areas of the city are more attrac- cludes more than one center around which activities re-
e for various activities, originally because of an environ- volve (Figure 13-11). Examples of these nodes include a
~ntal factor or even by mere chance. Asa city grows, activ- port, a neighborhood business center, a university, an air-
~sexpand outward in a wedge, or sector, from the center. port, and a park.
Once a district with high-class housing is established,
The multiple nuclei theory states that some activi-
=most expensive new housing is built on the outer edge ties are attracted to particular nodes, whereas others try
to avoid them. For example, a university node may at-
that district, farther out from the center. The best housing tract well-educated residents, pizzerias, and bookstores,
therefore found in a corridor extending from downtown whereas an airport may attract hotels and warehouses.
the outer edge of the city. Industrial and retailing activi- On the other hand, incompatible land-use activities avoid
s develop in other sectors, usually along good transpor- clustering in the same locations. Heavy industry and
high-class housing, for example, rarely exist in the same
:ion lines. neighborhood.
To some extent the sector model is a refinement of the
ncentric zone model rather than a radical restatement. ◄ FIGURE 13·11
)yt mapped the highest-rent areas for a number of U.S. MULTIPLENUCLEIMODEL
Accordingto this model,a

city consistsof a collection
of individualnodes,or cen-
ters,aroundwhich different
typesof peopleandactivities
cluster.

1 Centrablusinesdslslricl
2 Wholesalleig, htmanufacluring

3 Low-clasrsesidential

4 Medium-clasressidential

5 High•clasrsesidential
6 Heavymanufacturing
7 Outlyingbusinesdsistrict
8 Residentisaul burb
9 Industriasluburb

468 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Geogra~hic Applications that lead people to select particular residential locations.
of tlie Models Because the three models are all based on conditions that
existed in U.S. cities between the two world wars, critics
Learning Outcome 13.2.2: also question their relevance to contemporary urban pat.
terns in the United States or in other countries.
Analyze how the three models help to explain where
people live in an urban area. But if the models are combined rather than considered
independently, they help geographers explain where dif.
The three models help us understand where people with ferent types of people live in a city. People tend to reside ir
different social characteristics tend to live within an urban certain locations, depending on their particular persona
area. They can also help explain why certain types of peo- characteristics. This does not mean that everyone with th1
same characteristics must live in the same neighborhood
ple tend to live in particular places. Effective use of the but the models say that most people live near others wh,
models depends on the availability of data at the scale of have similar characteristics:
• Applying the concentric zone model. Consider tw
individual neighborhoods. In the United States and many
other countries, that information comes from the census. families with the same income and ethnic backgroum
One family lives in a newly constructed home, where,
Urban areas in the United States are divided into census the other lives in an older one. The family in the new,
tracts that each contain approximately 5,000 residents house is much more likely to live in an outer rir.
and correspond, where possible, to neighborhood bound- and the family in the older house in an inner rir
aries. Every decade the U.S. Bureau of the Census publishes (Figure 13-12).
data summarizing the characteristics of the residents and
the housing in each tract. Estimates are also issued annu- 6. FIGURE13-13 SECTORMODEL IN HOUSTON Distributionofhigh-im
ally through the American Fact Finder service of the cen- householdTs.hemedianhouseholdincomeisthehighesitn asectorto the'
sus's American Community Survey program. Examples of
information the census provides include the number of /\
nonwhites, the median income of all families, and the per-
centage of adults who finished high school. The spatial
distribution of any of these social characteristics can be
plotted on a map of the community's census tracts. Com-
puters have become invaluable in this task because they
permit rapid creation of maps and storage of voluminous
data about each census tract. Social scientists can compare
the distributions of characteristics and create an overall
picture of where various types of people tend to live. This
kind of study is known as social area analysis.

None of the three models taken individually com-
pletely explains why different types of people live in dis-
tinctive parts of a city. Critics point out that the models
are too simple and fail to consider the variety of reasons

Percenht ousing
builtsince2005

20andabove

10-19 °"0 5 101Hn {288) Other
Below10 0 S IOl<ilOffldoll ~
A FIGURE13-14 MULTIPLENUCLEIMODELIN HOUSTON Distrib
A FIGURE 13-12 CONCENTRIC ZONES IN HOUSTON Age of housing. minoritiesH. ispanicosccupynodesto thenorthandsoutheasotf downto
Housingisnewerin theouterringsof thecitythanin theinnerrings. AfricanAmericanosccupynodesto thesouthandnortheast

Chapter 13: Urban Patterns 469

Applying the sector model. Given two families who Asian American owner-occupant is most likely to live (see
own their homes, the family with the higher income the Contemporary Geographic Tools feature).
will not live in the same sector of the city as the family
with the lower income (Figure 13-13). Pause and Reflect 13.2.2
What are the five most important PRIZM clusters for
Applying the multiple nuclei model. People with the your zip code? Google Nielsen Claritas PRIZM or go
same ethnic or racial background are likely to live near to www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default
each other (Figure 13-14). .jsp?ID:20.

Putting the three models together, we can identify,
:>rexample, the neighborhood in which a high-income,

CONTEMPORARGY EOGRAPHICTOOLS

Market SegmentationY: ouAre WhereYouLive

Marketing geographers identify sectors, rings, and nodes • Urban Elders: elderly Hispanics.
that come closest to matching customers preferred by a
retailer. Companies use this information to understand, Compare the above tb the five most common PRIZM
locate, and reach their customers better and to deter- clusters in zip code 77079 in the western suburbs of
mine where to put new stores and where advertising Houston:

should appear. • Beltway Boomers: college-education, affluent, home-
Segmentation is the process of partitioning markets owning baby boomers.

into groups of potential customers with similar needs • Executive Suites: upper-middle class couples with
and characteristics who are likely to exhibit similar pur- professional jobs.
chasing behavior. A prominent example of geographic
segmentation is the Potential Rating lndexbyZip Market • Gray Power: older couples living in quiet comfort.
(PRJZM)clusters created by Nielsen Clacttas. As Nielsen
Clari.tas states, "birds of a feather flock together"-in • Pools & Patios: high-income older couples, with back-
other words, a person is likely to live near people who yard pools.
are similar.
• Upper Crust: very high income couples, especially
Nielsen Claritas combines two types of geographic those with grow11children, living an opulent lifestyle.
information: distribution of the social and economjc
characteristics of people obtained from the census and
the addresses of purchasers of various products obtained
from service providers. The variables a.re orga!\i.zed into
66 clusters that are given picturesque names. For each
zip code in the United States, Nielsen CJaritas determines
the five clusters that ace most prevalent. Nielsen Claritas
calls this analysis "you are where you live."

We can compare PRIZM clusters for two z.ip codes in
the Houston area (Figure 13-15). Refer to Figures 13-12,
13-13, and 13-14 to see the close relationship between
the Nielsen C]aritas PRIZM clusters and the models of
urban stmdure. Zip code 77004 is south of downtown
Houston. The five most common clusters (in alphabeti-
cal order) are as follows:

• City Roots: older low-income ethnic minorities, liv-
ing in older homes and apartments.

• Low-Ri.seLiving: The lowest income of any PR1ZM 4 FIGURE13-15 NIELSENCLARITASPRIZMCLUSTERSZipcode77004,
cluster; many are single parents who rent their homes immediateslyoutheasot fdowntowHn oustoni,shometo a largepercentage
and travel by bus rather than personal car. ofolderhomesoccupiedbyHispanicwsithmodestincomesZ.ipcode77079,
inHouston'ws esternsuburbsc,ontainas largenumberofhigh-incomoel,der
• Multi-Culti Ethnic: Hispanics with modest incomes.
college-educatceoduples.
• Urban Achievers: young Hispanics.

! . • r,

.,il,•".1~

470 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Applying th~ Models Outside
North Amenca

Learning Outcome 13.2.3
Describe how the three models explain patterns in
European cities.

The three models may describe the spatial distribution
of social classes in the United States, but American urban
areas differ from those elsewhere in the world. These dif-
ferences do not invalidate the models, but they do point
out that social groups in other countries may not have
the same reasons for selecting particular neighborhoods
within their cities.

CBDs IN EUROPE A FIGURE 13-16 SKYSCRAPERIN PARISTheTourMontparnasseE, ur(

Compared to CBDs in the United States, those outside tallest building,dominatesthe skylineof ParisT. heimageillustratestheal
North America are less dominated by skyscrapers for busi- tion of muchof thelandin a EuropeanCBDto publicservicesin, cludingthe I
ness services. The most prominent structures may be public Military(MilitaryAcademy)w, hichtakesuptheentireforegrounda, ndbeh
France'sFinanceMinistry(left)and the UnitedNationsoffices(right).

and semipublic services, such as churches and former royal

palaces, situated on the most important public squares, at

road junctions, or on hilltops. Parks in the center of Euro-

pean cities often were first laid out as private gardens for the demand. As a result, rents are much higher in the <
aristocratic families and later were opened to the public. ter of European cities than in U.S.cities of comparable:

European cities display a legacy of low-rise structures

and narrow streets, built as long ago as medieval times.

Some European cities try to preserve their historic CBDs by APPLYING THE MODELS IN EUROPE
limiting high-rise buildings and the number of cars. Sev-

eral high-rise offices were built for business services in Paris To some extent, the models look similar in Europe to
during the 1970s, including Europe's tallest office building way they look in the United States. In Paris, as in U.S.
(the 210-meter [688-foot] Tour Montparnasse). The public ies, newer housing is in the outer ring, and higher-inc,
outcry over this disfigurement of the city's historic skyline people cluster in a sector. These similarities mask irn
was so great that officials reestablished lower height limits
tant differences.
(Figure 13-16).

More people live downtown in cities outside North SECTORS IN EUROPEAN CITIES. In contrast to 1
America. As a result, CBDs outside North America con- U.S. cities, in Europe, wealthy people still live in the i1
tain more consumer services, such as groceries, bakeries, portions of tbe upper-class sector, not just in the sub1
and butchers. However, the 24-hour supermarket is rare A central location provides proximity to the region's
outside North America because of shopkeeper prefer- shops, restaurants, cafes, and cultural facilities. We,
ences, government regulations, and longtime shopping people are also attracted by the opportunity to oc,
habits. Many CBDs outside North America ban motor ve- elegant residences in carefully restored, beautiful
hicles from busy shopping streets, thus emulating one of buildings (Figure 13-17).
the most attractive attributes of large shopping malls-
pedestrian-only walkways. Shopping streets reserved for In Paris, for example, the wealthy lived near the 1
pedestrians are widespread in Northern Europe, including palace (the Louvre) beginning in the twelfth century
in the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia. Rome pe- the Palace of Versailles from the sixteenth century
riodically bans private vehicles from the CBD to reduce the French Revolution in 1789. The preference of P
pollution and congestion and minimize damage to an- wealthy to cluster in a southwest sector was reinfom
the nineteenth century during the Industrial Revolu
cient monuments. Factories were built to the south, east, and north, ,
Although constructing large new buildings is difficult, the Seine and Marne River valleys, and relatively few
built on the southwestern hills. Similar upper-class SE
many shops and offices still wish to be in the center of Eu-
ropean cities. The alternative to new construction is reno- emerged in the inner areas other European cities, typ
vation of older buildings. However, renovation is more ex- on higher elevations and near royal palaces.
pensive and does not always produce enough space to meet

Chapter 13: Urban Patterns 471

Wlarthes

Monthlhyousehold
Income(Euros)

• f 1,800andabove
fl ,000-1,799
Below£1,000

B1le,l;Drnte•Rotlert

8/el/gny•s~r-0rge

Melun

FIGURE 13-17 SECTORSIN PARIS,FRANCEWealthierpeoplelivein the centerand to the southwestsector,
tenabovesidewalkcafesand otherconsumerservices.

ONCENTRIC ZONES IN EUROPEAN CITIES. Unlike in in the nineteenth century, social segregation was verti-
.S.cities, in European cities such as Paris,most of the newer cal: Wealthier people lived on the first or second floors,
ousing built in the suburbs ls high-rise apartment buildings whereas poorer people occupied the dark, dank basements
>r low-income people and persons of color who have or climbed many flights of stairs to reach the attics. As
nmigrated from Africaor Asia.(see ahead to Figure 13-21) the city expanded during the Industrial Revolution, hous-
ing for low-income people was constructed in sectors
European officials encouraged the construction of high- near the factories and away from the wealthy. Today, low-
ensity suburbs to help preserve the countryside from income people are less likely to live in European inner-city
evelopment and to avoid the inefficient sprawl that char- neighborhoods. Poor-quality housing has been renovated
:terizes American suburbs, as discussed in the last section for wealthy people or demolished and replaced by offices
f this chapter. And tourists are attracted to the historic, or luxury apartment buildings. Building and zoning codes
vely centers of European cities. But these policies have prohibit anyone from living in basements, and upper
~suited in the clustering of people with social and eco- floors are attractive to wealthy individuals once elevators
omic problems in remote suburbs rarely seen by wealth- are installed.
:r individuals.
Pause and Reflect 13.2.3
European suburban residents face the prospect of long European cities contain many famous tourist sites,
ommutes by public transportation to reach jobs and other such as the Parthenon in Athens (Figure 12-34)
owntown amenities. Shops, schools, and other services and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
re worse in the suburbs than in inner neighborhoods; (Figures 6-14 and 9-48), Are these tourist sites in
ne suburbs are centers for crime, violence, and drug deal- an inner ring or an outer ring? What do you think
1g; and people lack the American suburban amenity of explains their location?
uge private yards. Many residents of these dreary suburbs
re persons of color or recent immigrants from Africa or
,sia who face discrimination and prejudice from "native"

.uropeans.
In the past, low-income people also lived in the cen-

er of European cities. Before the invention of electricity