Ch. 13—Urban Patterns

1. Ch. 13—Urban Patterns KI 1: Why do services cluster downtown?

2. Central Business Districts • CBD (Downtown)—usually less than 1% of urban land area—contains a large % of services (shops, offices, public institutions) • In past, 3 kinds of retail services clustered in CBDs: • Retailers with high threshold (ex. Department stores • Retailers with high range (usually specialist stores or markets) • Retailers serving downtown workers (ex. office supply stores) • Business Services also cluster in CBDs to improve accessibility

3. Competition for land in CBDs • Land values are very high because space is limited • Tokyo has world’s most expensive land—over $60 million per acre ($15,000 per meter) • Often make extensive use of underground space (transportation, parking garages, utility lines) • Skyscrapers have met the demand for more space—first built in Chicago in 1880s—What made this possible? • Explain how and why space is distributed in Skyscrapers (pg. 409)

4. Activities excluded from CBDs • High rent and lack of space discourage two main activities • Industry: Modern factories need LOTS of space, difficult to transport inputs and final products to and from factories in crowded CBDs • Residents: people used to live downtown, in 20th century in U.S., first urban to suburban migration (more privacy, access to modern schools, cheaper land prices, etc.)

5. CBDs outside of N.A. • Commercial activities are less important—most important structures sometimes have religious purposes and are built in a public square • Many European cities have height limits • More people live downtown than in N.A. • Sometimes have vehicle restrictions • Often older cities don’t have much space for new buildings, so older buildings are renovated • This is very expensive, driving up prices of land higher • Land is usually more expensive than in N.A.