KI 13-3 Why Do Inner Cities Face Distinctive Challenges?

Inner-city physical issues?Most significant = deteriorating

housing (built prior to 1940)○ Filtering – Large houses split

into smaller dwellings for low income families

○ Redlining – Bank policy of refusing to grant loans in certain areas (historically a racist policy)

Urban Renewal Cities identify blighted

neighborhoods, relocate residents and “fix it up”Public housing – residents pay

30% of income for rent○ 1% in US vs. 14% in UK

Renovated housing○ Gentrification – renovation of older

neighborhoods by middle class people

Who would oppose gentrification? Why?

Inner-city social issues The underclass

People trapped in an unending cycle of social and economic issues

Culture of poverty? Why?Single parent households

(to work or to parent?)DrugsGangs

Inner-city economic issues

Eroding tax base – What can cities do?Reduce servicesRaise taxes

Impact of the recessionHousing market collapse

Urban expansion Annexation – Land area

added to a cityUsed to happen a lotNot so much any more

Why did it happen?

Why don’t residents want to be added to cities?

What problems could this create?

Defining urban settlements

The city – the city limits (the actual city)

Urbanized areas – the central city and surrounding suburbs

Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)Area surrounding a city

that is influenced by the city (television stations, newspapers, sports teams, etc.)

St Louis

Why Do Suburbs Face Distinctive Challenges? Urban expansion leads to issues

Lack of annexation leads to Local government fragmentation – various decisions when one is better

Some Solutions?○ Council of government – cooperation between

city and surrounding governments○ Consolidations/Federations of city and county

governments – Combined the two into 1

Confused further by overlapping metropolitan areasWhy area overlapping metropolitan areas problematic?

Where does this issue occur most?

Peripheral Model

Edge cities – Spring up as consumer/business service hubs for the suburban residents that work in the central cityMore specialized: Ex. airport

or theme park focused economy

Density Gradient Most dense area

of housing is city center

In recent years, how has that changed?Fewer in centerFewer

differences in density

Solutions to (sub)urban sprawl?

Greenbelts (Europe) – higher home prices

Smart growth – States only fund “smart” development

Suburban Segregation Social class

segregationDifferent classes in

different neighborhoods Land use segregation

Zoning ordinances limit residential, commercial, industrial to certain areas (healthier!?)

Suburbanization of businessesBig box storesShopping mall

Schools – one of the big losers

Why do students/schools lose with the fragmentation of metropolitan areas?

Public transit• More than 95 percent of all trips = made by

car• Advantages of public transit

– Transit travelers take up less space– Cheaper, less pollutant, and more

energy efficient than an automobile– Suited to rapidly transport large number

of people to small area• Public transit in the United States

– Used primarily for rush-hour community for workers into and out of CBD

– Small cities-minimal use– Most Americans prefer car commutes

The End.