Urban Structures and Issues: A Deep Dive
The Division of the City: Social and Functional
Cities are organized based on the various uses of their inhabitants. These activities tend to concentrate in specific areas of the urban fabric.
In most urban concentrations, the organization is structured around a center.
The rest of the urban areas can be classified according to land ownership and management, dividing the space into public and private areas.
The City Center
Here, we find public decision-making, company headquarters, administration and management bodies, and the most important areas of supply and leisure consumption. In North American cities, this is often called the CBD (Central Business District).
Public Areas
These are commonly used areas that include infrastructure services, communications, health, government, and leisure.
- Communication Infrastructure and Health Services: Examples include street lighting, water supply, and electricity.
- Public Administration and Leisure Areas: Examples include buildings for education, public hospitals, parks, and green areas.
Private Areas
These areas are intended for various activities of a private nature.
- Residential areas.
- Areas of economic activities, including residential, commercial, and industrial areas, which are usually found in remote outlying areas specifically built for this purpose (industrial).
Large Urban Areas
Economic and technological changes have enhanced the human urban commercial and industrial model, as opposed to the rural and agricultural model.
The long-standing process of urbanization has intensified in the last two centuries.
European cities have transformed from walled cities isolated from rural areas to cities without limits.
The growth of cities and urban areas has led to the development of regions, cities, or fuzzy territories—large urban areas that articulate and integrate different cities closely related to each other.
Every large urban area follows a specific model.
Urban Typology
- Urban Area: Formed by the town and its built-up suburbs.
- Metropolitan Area: Formed by a core and the medium and small cities that surround it. The group of towns surrounding the core forms rings around the central city.
- Conurbation: A major urbanized area with several central nuclei, originally separate and independent.
- Urban Region: A complex long-distance structure comprising a network of scattered towns.
- Megalopolis: An urban network formed by the binding of a series of conurbations and metropolitan areas. The rural areas bind and separate the different urbanized areas.
The CBD
The most characteristic feature of the CBD (Central Business District) is accessibility, as difficulty of access can cause a shift in the CBD to another area of the city.
The CBD is often linked to transport nodes. The installation of businesses in this area leads to an increase in land prices and vertical growth, resulting in skyscrapers.
Social Problems in the Modern City
Rapid urbanization causes many problems. We must differentiate between the social problems in large cities of developing countries (or Third World cities) and those of the developed world.
Problems in Developing World Cities
Most conflicts are associated with a lack of basic infrastructure and the marginalization of much of the population.
- Extreme Poverty: This affects significant portions of the urban population living in unsafe areas with poor buildings, scarce drinking water, and deprived of food and health resources. This is evident in vast shantytowns.
- Endemic Diseases: These spread easily due to the lack of sanitary conditions.
- Child Abandonment: Harsh living conditions result in thousands of abandoned children living on the street. This situation tends to aggravate child labor and the formation of violent gangs.
Social Problems in Developed World Cities
Cities in the developed world also have significant social problems:
- Changes in Residential Areas: Rising land speculation and deteriorating infrastructure contribute to increasing marginalization.
- New Social Movements: Urban marginalization is caused by the spread of ideologies critical of the system and the difficulties young people face in obtaining housing. (Squatting, a movement characterized by appropriating and occupying abandoned buildings.)
- The Fourth World: Formed by social sectors without income or with very low incomes. Decreased resources cause serious problems, with many people resorting to begging.
- Impact of Cultural and Religious Diversity: Stems from the arrival and growth of populations from countries with different cultures.
Environmental Problems in Cities
The concentration of thousands of people in urban areas poses many environmental problems.
Air and Noise Pollution
Fossil fuels release carbon particles and gases from industrial activities and motor vehicles, seriously polluting the urban atmosphere.
Gases and suspended particles lead to a dense, harmful atmosphere called smog. This could be controlled by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Numerous activities cause noise pollution, which can be harmful to health.
Solid Waste Disposal
The large amount of solid waste generated by urban populations poses a serious problem. A portion undergoes composting, while another portion is deposited in landfills. In some cases, these landfills are not properly isolated and pollute aquifers.
Various waste materials can be recycled with separate collection. Many waste treatments are expensive and unavailable to large metropolises in the developing world, where a significant portion of waste is discharged uncontrolled.
Water Pollution
The dumping of industrial waste into rivers pollutes urban water. The constant increase in consumption necessitates the reuse of wastewater treated in treatment plants. Water shortages have also led to the construction of desalination plants. In developing world cities, the lack of sewage systems causes drinking water pollution.