Geography test ‘city project’
Geoguide numbers
Settlement: a collection of houses and other buildings.
City: a settlement in which the buildings are close together, often with high-rise buildings. The population density is high and there is a high concentration of employment and services.
Village: a settlement without high-rise buildings and plenty of space between the houses. Not many people live there, there is not much employment and there are not many services.
Differences in the percentage of population living in a city or town: are caused by the employment structure and the level of development in each particular country.
LEDC’s: Less Economically Developed Countries.
MEDC’s: More Economically Developed Countries.
Agglomeration: a city with towns, suburbs and villages linked to it.
Conurbation: cities and agglomerations which have (nearly) grown together.
Network city: a network of contacts within the cities and towns of a conurbation.
Rural areas: areas without many buildings and with vast open spaced; the countryside.
Three main forms of land use in rural areas:
farming
nature area – land is left alone, and there are often rare plants and animals and/or there is attractive scenery.
recreation – things like cycle tracks and footpaths (recreational joint usage)
Address density: the number of addresses per square kilometer. The address density can help you to determine whether you are dealing with a town/city or a village.
Urbanisation: the growth in the number of urban inhabitants.
The two reasons of urbanization:
migration – people move from rural to urban areas.
natural increase – the birth rate is higher than the death rate.
Suburbanisation: the urbanization of the countryside around a large city.
Central city: a large city.
Agglomeration: suburbs linked to the central city.
The two reasons for suburbanization:
migration – inhabitants of the central city move to smaller towns because the houses are bigger and better there.
natural increase – there usually live a lot of young families in the suburbs, so the birth rates are usually high.
The two effects of suburbanization on central cities:
The number of inhabitants decreases because lots of people move to the suburbs.
The mix of the population changes. Those who leave are often families with young children with parents that have well-paid jobs. Those who stay are poorer: they include the elderly, young singles and students.
Newcomers in the central cities: In the Netherlands, most of the newcomers are immigrants. On average this group has a low income, and are quite young.
Problems of the large city:
Not enough money – the income from taxes decreased because the number of inhabitants decreased.
Old and neglected houses
Housing shortage
Many industrial companies went bankrupt. Unemployment increased and the old factory sites became derelict.
Some city districts became derelict. Housing is poor and there are problems with vandalism, crime and drug abuse.
Urban renewal: improvement of old, cheap council estates. The two forms are:
redevelopment: entire residential areas are knocked down, and new houses are built instead.
renovation: the improvement of old houses so that they meet the modern living standards.
Restoration: a special form of renovation in which old and valuable buildings are repaired. On the outside, they will look as they used to, but on the inside they are often given a new function.
Housing shortage: if the demand for housing is greater than the supply. The three causes for housing shortage are in cities are:
commercialisation of the city centre: houses in the old city centre make room for shops and offices.
family size reduction: houses are inhabited by much fewer people. The families are smaller and there are many more single people, too.
residential thinning: often, small houses are converted into one larger house. There are also fewer houses than before because the new houses are built with more space and gardens in between.
Reurbanisation: if after many years of decline, the population in a city increases once again.
______________
Grijze boekje
Site of a settlement: the exact location where the settlement is located. When you talk about the site, you mainly look at the natural elements.
Situation of a settlement: the location of the settlement with respect to other places and features. When you talk about the situation, you look at the bigger region and the communication with other places.
Hondsrug: was formed during the Saale stage. It's about 60 km long and starts where now the city Emmen is located. On the northern tip of the Hondsrug, Groningen is located.
Transport hub: knooppunt. Groningen is a transport hub in a web of waterways.
City functions:
religion (large churches)
defence
market and trade
education
government
How are these features still recognizable?
the typical star shape of the defence structures
remnants of the canals
Features medieval city:
ring-shaped canal city with radialen (wegen) to the market
narrow streets, which are sometimes tortuous (bochtig).
high population density, sometimes deep houses with shutters for windows/special stones
street names often gave the occupation of profession of the inhabitants.
New earth fortifications: In groningen, the old fortress is replaced in the 17th century (the golden age).
Vestingwet: With the Vestingwet of 1874, a new period of economic and urban growth starts. The fortress is no longer needed for defence, so the city walls are demolished.
Before 1874: there was a sharp seperation betwene the city and the countryside. The city is very densely populated, and around the city there is open space for defence.
After 1874: enlargement in the form of new working class districts. Practical use of the space where the walls and canal layers were.
Features Vestingwet:
On the singles, villas are built for wealthy families.
Outiside the former wall, worker districts are formed, e.g. the Oosterpoortwijk and the Zeeheldenbuurt.
Station is built directly outsidethe former wall.
The Oosterhaven is constructed.
Traffic 1874-1900: Some changes in waterways are made:
Winschoterdiep replaces Hunze.
Damsterdiep is replaced by Eemskanaal.
Drentse Aa is replaced by Noord Willemskanaal.
Woningwet 1901: The government wanted to reduce the high rents for small, poor housings in the city, so this is what they did:
They introduced minumum requirements for a house.
They introduced the building permit (bouwvergunning) so houses could be declared uninhabitable.
1920-1945 period: The city has doubled in size, but during the liberation in 1945 primarily in the downtown area much is destroyed. Some features of this period are:
The downtown loses its residential function.
Rich people move to more expensive neighborhoods (Helpman).
The districts Oosterpark, Korrewegwijk and Oranjewijk emerge.
Traffic circulation plan: In 1977 the municipality starts the verkeerscirculatieplan. It's goal is to:
introduce car limitations in the inner city
create more space for pedestrians, bikers and the public transport
make the city safer and cleaner
The traffic circulation plan tried to reach these goals by dividing the inner city into 4 sectors. There is only one-way traffic, and if you want to go to another sector you always have to use the diepenring (so you make a detour).
Remediation: to make healthy again. Often the breakdown of houses followed by rebuilding.
Renovating: refurbishing of buildings and adapting to the modern age.
Restoration: bring back to the original state.
Characteristics medieval houses:
stones with irregular shape
long and narrow or short and wide
sometimes a lifting bar under the rigde of the house
shutters for the windows
Chaos, panic and disorder. I see my work is done here.
24 juni 2012 - 17:08
Ledecky
