Urban Systems and Cities in Transition Lecture Notes PDF

Urban Systems and Cities In Transition LECTURE 6 Suburban Production and Consumption Spaces  The prewar era initiated a trend towards decentralization, with the development of freeways, larger trucks, and expansive factories and warehouses driving demand for larger suburban land parcels...

Urban Systems and Cities In Transition LECTURE 6 Suburban Production and Consumption Spaces  The prewar era initiated a trend towards decentralization, with the development of freeways, larger trucks, and expansive factories and warehouses driving demand for larger suburban land parcels.  Industrial operations became increasingly "footloose," allowing businesses to establish themselves wherever local authorities approved industrial zoning.  Major highways, airport areas, and industrial parks became common locations for these flexible industries, creating a diverse production space in metropolitan areas.  Suburban Production and Consumption Spaces  In the UAE, the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) in Dubai exemplifies this trend towards decentralization.  Established in 1985 near the Jebel Ali Port and strategically connected by major highways such as Sheikh Zayed Road, JAFZA offers expansive industrial land parcels for factories, warehouses, and logistics centers.  This area has attracted a wide range of "footloose" industries due to its flexible zoning policies, proximity to Dubai International Airport, and excellent transportation infrastructure, transforming it into a key hub for manufacturing, distribution, and trade in the region. Suburban Production and Consumption Spaces  Geographer Allen Scott describes this landscape as a mosaic composed of various industrial land uses, including factories, warehouses, and supporting retail and office functions.  The accessibility provided by freeways spurred the growth of integrated shopping centers, which became vital retail hubs anchored by large department stores and supplemented by chain and independent shops.  By the mid-1980s, shopping centers accounted for approximately 55% of all retail sales within U.S. metropolitan areas, reflecting their central role in the localized economy.  Suburban Production and Consumption Spaces  In the UAE, the rise of shopping centers has similarly played a central role in the localized economy, becoming key economic and social hubs.  By the 2000s, malls like The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, and Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall began to dominate the retail landscape, offering a mix of shopping, dining, entertainment, and leisure activities (see Majid Al Futain).  These centers not only account for a significant portion of retail sales in the UAE, but also serve as major attractions for both residents and tourists, supporting economic diversification and boosting sectors such as tourism, real estate, and hospitality. Central City Land Use  The suburbanization trend led to a relative decline of central cities and significant changes in central business districts (CBDs) as manufacturing and economic structures shifted away from traditional urban centers.  From 1953 to 1970, major cities such as New York and Philadelphia faced substantial losses in manufacturing and retail jobs, resulting in thinning populations, even as white-collar jobs increased.  This employment shift initiated radical land use changes, with abandoned factories and slum housing being cleared, while new office buildings often rose in areas not previously occupied by traditional industries.  Central City Land Use  Suburbanization in Dubai and Abu Dhabi their central business districts (CBDs) as economic activities shifted towards service-oriented and knowledge-based sectors, traditional urban centers saw a decline in industrial and manufacturing functions.  For example, Dubai’s historic Deira and Bur Dubai districts declined as new financial and business hubs like Downtown Dubai and Dubai International Financial Centre emerged, attracting white-collar jobs and high-value commercial activities.  This shift has led to significant land use changes, with older areas being redeveloped for new purposes, such as residential, retail, and office spaces, while new districts have been planned and built to accommodate the growing demand for modern infrastructure and amenities. Central City Land Use  The construction of freeway systems further exacerbated the decline of central cities, cutting through low-income neighborhoods and contributing to blight.  Additionally, civil unrest during the late 1960s devastated parts of some cities, leading to the perception of "doughnut cities“ – urban centers that were hollowed out and surrounded by suburban growth.  Despite these challenges, CBDs continued to function as central hubs of retail and commercial activity, with signs of gentrification and urban renewal indicating an evolutionary shift in the urban landscape.  Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood, built in the 1890s by wealthy Persian merchants. In the 1980s, half of the neighborhood was destroyed for new development, and the remaining structures faced demolition until British architect Rayner Otter campaigned to preserve the area. After Prince Charles visited in 1989 and supported its conservation, the demolition plans were canceled, leading to the preservation of this culturally World Cities  From the early 20th century through the 1950s, large traditional manufacturing centers defined urban systems in the United States and Western Europe; however, under globalized capitalism, metropolitan areas specializing in service industries, particularly producer services, have taken a pivotal role.  The term "world city," first coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915, reflects cities with significant global business influence, a concept that has evolved alongside globalization.  Initially, world cities facilitated trade and imperial strategies, with key players including London, Paris, and Amsterdam over various historical periods; however, since the mid-1970s, the focus of world cities has shifted towards transnational corporate activities, international finance, media, and cultural production, becoming hubs for managing economic globalization.  World Cities  Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become key centers for transnational corporations, international finance, and cultural production, playing a vital role in managing and facilitating global business and economic networks in the Middle East. World Cities  World cities act as interfaces between global and local economies, channeling resources into the global market while relaying globalization impulses back to local contexts.  Notably, sociologist Saskia Sassen describes cities like London and New York as "global cities" due to their advanced business service sectors and innovation clusters; however, world cities are not merely smaller versions of these giants; they feature diverse economic functions supported by complex and multilayered networks of connectivity.  Ordinary cities have also begun to develop attributes of world cities, contributing to global networks through various industries.  World Cities New York City (left) and London (right) are the only two cities ranked in the Alpha ++ category by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Both cities are considered leading financial, commercial, and cultural centers. World Cities  Research by Peter Taylor highlights distinct connections among world cities, demonstrating levels of integration and identifying top-tier cities worldwide, with London and New York leading the pack.  Furthermore, world cities have undergone significant physical transformations, including gentrification and urban regeneration, which have created iconic landmarks and branded neighborhoods.  Such transformations generate comparative advantages through positive global images associated with these cities, which solidify their status as international hubs of culture and commerce while obscuring the less glamorous realities of inequality and diversity present in their "back regions."  World Cities  Dubai and Abu Dhabi cities have undergone substantial physical transformations through projects like the the Burj Khalifa, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and branded neighborhoods like Downtown Dubai and Saadiyat Island.  These transformations have crafted positive global images that reinforce their status as international hubs for culture, commerce, and tourism, while often masking underlying social and economic disparities within less visible or less affluent parts of the cities. Globalization and Urban Change  Information and communications technologies are intensifying global urbanization in three main ways:  1. They allow specialist urban centers to extend their powers, markets, and control to ever-more distant regional, national, international, and global spheres of influence.  2. The growing speed, complexity, and riskiness of innovation in a global economy require a concentration of technological infrastructure and an associated knowledgeable technology-oriented culture in order to sustain competitiveness.  3. World cities are disproportionately important in driving innovation and investment in networked infrastructures of information and communications technologies due to their cultures of modernization, concentrations of capital, relatively high average disposable personal incomes, and concentrations of internationally oriented companies and institutions. Globalization and Urban Change  Telecommunications in the UAE is regulated by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, established in 2003.  Until 2006, Etisalat was the sole provider of telecommunications services, except in certain free zones and modern housing developments.  In 2006, the market expanded with the introduction of du, but due to their distinct geographical service areas, both companies effectively continue to operate. Globalization and Urban Change  Unlike previous infrastructure networks, modern information and communications technologies (ICTs) are owned and operated by transnational corporations to global standards, rather than by local entities.  This has resulted in uneven access and contributed to the digital divide, selectively serving certain neighborhoods, cities, and metropolitan areas.  Stephen Graham and Simon Marvin term this phenomenon "splintering urbanism," characterized by a geographical differentiation where urban settings engage in varied and rapidly evolving economic and technological exchanges. Globalization and Urban Change  The result is the emergence of specialized urban enclaves, such as business districts, tech hubs, foreign investment zones, and back-office spaces, each catering to specific global market needs.  These enclaves are interconnected through dynamic flows of goods, services, and information, reshaping traditional patterns of urbanization  Consequently, local social, cultural, and economic landscapes are being transformed, altering land use and spatial organization worldwide. The Polycentric Metropolis  The traditional core-periphery model has been replaced by "urban realms“ – semi-autonomous subregions connected by freeways, each with its own mix of land uses, retail, commercial areas, and central nodes.  This shift has created a polycentric metropolitan structure with multiple centers, thus metropolitan residents now have fewer interactions with the central city, except for special occasions.  Geographer Pierce Lewis describes this new pattern as the "galactic metropolis," characterized by fragmented, decentralized urban landscapes with mixed densities and functions.  These include "edge cities," suburban hubs with concentrations of shops and offices that often rival the old downtown areas.  The Polycentric Metropolis  Urban development has created multiple "urban realms," such as Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, and Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, each functioning as semi- autonomous centers with diverse land uses, retail, commercial areas, and central nodes.  These "edge cities" and suburban hubs have become new focal points of activity, reducing residents' reliance on the historic central city areas, and contributing to a fragmented and decentralized urban landscape similar to the "galactic metropolis" described by Pierce Lewis.