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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010

Chapter 16Urban Problems

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Chapter outline•Historical Growth•Current GrowthUrban growth

•Fiscal Crises and Health care•Housing problems and homelessness•Segregation

Urban Problems

•Problems•Wallerstein’s viewGlobal Cities

•Functionalist•Conflict•Interactionist

Perspectives


UrbanizationUrbanization:

The process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areasBegan with industrialization, which lead to the

growth of citiesBrought profound changes and problems,

including housing shortages, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, pollution, and crime


SuburbanizationBegan with efforts to correct the housing

shortage following WWIIThe “Baby Boom”

The Housing Act of 1949 gave builders incentives to develop affordable housingLenient lending policies allowed veterans to

buy homes

Shift away from central cities set up economic and racial divisions that still exist today


Suburbanization, cont.

Other factors that lead to uburbanization

Availability of inexpensive landLow-cost mass construction methodsNew federally financed highway systemsInexpensive gasolineRacial tension in central citiesConsumers’ demands for single-family

homes on individual lots


Cities TodayMany edge cities exist.

wealthy living areas that are not dependent on central cities

Increasing Megalopolis:Continuous concentration of 2 or more cities

and their suburbs that have grown until they form an interconnected urban area.

East coast of U.S.


Urban ProblemsFiscal Crisis: Causes of financial problems-

People and businesses have moved to the suburbs

Central cities are left with shrinking sources of revenue

Many remaining residents are poor, unemployed, or older on fixed incomes; cities must still provide services for them

Suburbanites who use city services do not pay taxes to the city


Health Care CrisisMedical facilities are subject to cutbacks when

cities face economic problems

People in impoverished sections are more likely to become ill or injured

Drug-related problems and HIV/AIDS create an added burden

Managed care plans and hospital chains streamline services to create a profit


Housing ProblemsHousing shortage:

Lack of safe, livable, low-income housing

Empty buildings increase fearPlaces for drug dealers and fugitives to hide

Federal housing aid has been unsuccessful at helping those in need get affordable housing

Gentrification, which is the process of restoring older properties in central cities, depletes the stock of affordable housing


Homelessness Data on the actual number of homeless is unavailable

U.S. Conference of Mayors surveys showPeople of color are over-represented (2007)

42% African Americans 39% Whites 13% Latinos/as 4% Native Americans 2% Asian Americans

Families and children are the fastest growing segment

Homeless people are from all walks of life and have varied backgrounds.


Racial and Ethnic Segregation1968 Federal Fair Housing Act has only slight

decreased segregation in U.S.Custom steering people of color to different

neighborhoods by landlords, homeowners, and realtorsAfrican Americans have experienced the greatest level

of residential segregation than any other minority group

Unequal property taxation on comparable homesAfrican Americans are likely to move to suburbs with a

declining tax base “White Flight” occurs as African Americans move in


Problems in Global CitiesCurrent urban problems include:

OvercrowdingEnvironmental pollutionDisappearance of farmland

Natural increases in population account for 2/3 of new urban growth

Migration has also caused rapid increases in population


Problems, cont.As global urbanization increases, nations occupy

different positionsCore nations are dominant capitalist centers

Referred to as global and post-industrial cities

Peripheral nations depend on core nations for capital Most countries in S. America and the Caribbean

Semi-peripheral nations are more developed than peripheral nations but less so than core nations India, Iran, and Mexico

Difficult for peripheral and semi peripheral nations to change position due to exploitation by core nations.


PerspectivesFunctionalist:Urban problems are the result of 3

processes:Mass migration during the Industrial Revolution

lead to social disorganization

Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and 20th centuries Mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity

Mass suburbanization

Solution: Create metropolitan or regional governments


Perspectives, cont.Conflict:

Cities grow or decline according to decisions made by capitalists and the political elite

Uneven development is product political economy model of urban development and reflects inequalities of wealth and power in our society.

Solution: Other than major changes to the political economy, the solution lies in political activism and

organized resistance to oppressive conditions


Perspectives, cont.Interactionist:

Urban living is experienced differently according to how people subjectively experience it

Georg Simmel thought urban life is so stimulating that people become insensitive to those around them Urban living gives people opportunities for individualism and

autonomyLouis Wirth thought that urbanism produces feelings

of alienation and powerlessness

Solution: The way to avoid alienation is to develop sub-cultural ties

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