Larry Ford

Lynch revisited: New urbanism and theories of good city form

Abstract Over the past two decades, there has been increasing controversy about the pros and cons of new urbanist or neo-traditional architecture and planning ideas. Some have argued that standard suburbia has become dull, alienating, and isolating and that a return to the design ideas of the early twentieth century would be a step towards fixing the problem. Others have argued that the new urbanism is just another marketing ploy aimed at segmenting buyers according to aesthetic tastes in order to sell more houses. They argue that new urbanist communities are unauthentic and that we cannot go back to the past. Both sides often take extreme stands and there are few procedures for evaluating neo-traditionalist ideas in a reasonably objective way. I suggest that the ideas of planner Kevin Lynch as published in three books: The Image of the City , What Time is This Place? , and A Theory of Good City Form , can be useful in structuring ways to monitor trends and compare the potentials of both standard and new urbanistic communities.

City profile: Jakarta

Abstract With a metropolitan population of more than 20 million and rising, Jakarta is one of the worlds largest cities, the biggest city by a wide margin in Southeast Asia, and the commanding urban center of Indonesia, the worlds fourth most populous country. It is also an outstanding example of an overburdened Third World metropolis struggling with problems of overpopulation and inadequate housing, employment, transportation and environmental quality. At the same time, the city aspires for recognition in its Asian region and the world more widely as an emerging leader among the worlds great metropolises. Yet, the city has received comparatively little attention in English-language literature in urban studies and urban planning, and is not particularly well understood beyond Indonesia outside a circle of specialists. Two notable exceptions are special-focus profiles of Jakarta that appeared in recent years in this journal, one in 1994 by Hadiwinoto and Leitmann (Cities 11(3) (1994) 153) about the citys environmental problems and the other in 1998 by Firman about economic restructuring and land use. This profile adds to those studies by reviewing Jakartas history of growth and development, its social geography, and its major challenges for urban planning and management.

Geographic Factors in the Origin, Evolution, and Diffusion of Rock and Roll Music

Abstract This paper attempts to illustrate certain important concepts in the field of cultural geography through the study of a very popular phenomenon—Rock and Roll music. The roles that the White and Black rural South and various American cities played as culture hearths and centers of culture contact are discussed along with the effects of mass migrations and mass media on American musical tastes and styles. Rock and Roll is looked at from a diffusionist point of view in that throughout its evolution, various places played important parts as “way stations” as certain American musical styles gradually spread from rural southern shacks to New York recording studios.

World Cities and Global Change: Observations on Monumentality in Urban Design

A prominent urban geographer presents a sweeping review essay on monumentality in the urban design of world cities. After outlining a number of the large, grand urban plans and projects of the past and present, he focuses on the four components of monumental urban design: comprehensive conceptions of legible urban form; iconic buildings; integrated urban transportation hubs; and planned downtown and midtown redevelopment projects. Concentrating on the trends prevailing at present and over the near future, the author notes factors that may exert a special impact on emerging world cities in Russia and China and argues for the importance of process in the geography of monumentality. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, R51, R53. 14 figures, 37 references.

Cities and Urban Land Use in Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract This article examines key topics and concepts in the cities and urban land use section of the Advanced Placement human geography course. Among the topics discussed are definitions of urbanism, the origin and evolution of cities, functional character of contemporary cities, the built environment and social space, and responses to urban growth.

Housing and Inner City Population Change in Columbus and San Diego

Social change in American inner cities has been dramatic in recent decades. Widespread neighborhood decline has been interpreted as a major national problem. Our understanding of the problem and our national policies in this area too often have been based upon stereotypes that ignore the tremendous variation in the conditions of individual cities. This paper establishes a standardized method for comparing central zones consisting of the oldest 12 square miles of large cities. Census data for 1960 to 1980 in nine urban places are examined, with greater detail presented for two central cities that have had contrasting architectural and social histories. In Columbus central zone neighborhoods underwent a variety of housing and population changes, while in San Diego most were consistently stable or growing.

Dredging Paradise: The Making of San Diego's Mission Bay Aquatic Park

San Diego, California has a reputation for being a kind of paradise, at least for those who enjoy beaches, bays, boating, fishing, and other water-oriented activities. Creating this paradise, however, has required much work over a long period of time. It called for not only dredging San Diego Bay and the mudflats once known as False Bay, but also changing the course of the San Diego River. These works were instrumental in the creation of major tourist resorts, such as those found in Mission Bay Aquatic Park and in the newly created Harbor and Shelter Island peninsulas on San Diego Bay. The focus of this chapter is on the former area.

Resolutions of the 2006 APCG Meeting, Eugene, Oregon

Whereas, the geography faculty of the University of Oregon has hosted the 69th meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers with great distinction, aplomb, and good humor, and Whereas, we have all benefited from their splendid efforts at arrangements, planning, and hospitality, and Whereas, we particularly want to recognize the efforts of our tireless conference chair, Alexander Murphy; his chief staff lieutenants, Jacob Bartruff and Sandra Knauber; the organization and leadership of our stalwart and able field trip leaders; the rest of the Oregon Geography Department’s faculty and staff; and a large number of friendly, smiling, and invaluable student volunteers, and Whereas, and nonetheless, it has come to the attention of the evervigilant Resolutions Committee that certain occurrences, performances, and actions merit special mention and acknowledgement, to wit, and Whereas, the organizers, in a plot to con APCG by falsely misrepresenting what Oregon weather is truly like, attempted a feeble imitation of Phoenix (site of the previous year’s meeting), and Whereas, in a splendid example of geocaching, our hosts hid the meeting refreshments so well that attendees found it necessary to obtain latitude and longitude coordinates to locate them, and Whereas, meeting organizers, in a misreading of the true powers of the organization’s future president, Kate Berry, scheduled her in two sessions meeting at the same time, and Whereas, with the presidents of both the AAG and APCG present at the President’s Reception it was clear that the APCG is the organization of greater stature, and Whereas, given Alec Murphy’s ability to obtain amnesty for parking violations, members are encouraged to send all future parking tickets to him, in care of the Geography Department, and Whereas, these meetings made clear that APCG needs to attract a more literate audience since so many presenters found it necessary to project their text on a screen and then read it to us, and

The Urban Housetype as an Illustration of the Concentric Zone Model: The Perception of Architectural Continuity.

Abstract The American city is almost universally described as being made up of a series of zones decreasing in age and density outward from the center. The most popular model for generalizing about the structure and organization of the American city remains the concentric zone model in which the nature of each ring is more specifically denned. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some reasons for the “popularly perceived zonation” of the American city as opposed to, say, the European city, through a study of cultural attitudes toward the architectural environment. More specifically, the urban housetype and attitudes toward the urban housetype are used to illustrate the concentric zone model and to shed some light on such “zonal” concepts as the “inner city” and “suburban ring.” In addition, the increasingly negative attitude of Americans toward central cities is explored and related to some major urban problems and American landscape tastes. It is hoped that students will be encouraged to discuss aspec...