Evolvement of US Urban System: Part I

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Evolvement of US Urban System Part I
Geo309 Urban Geography
Instructor Jun Yan Geography Department SUNY at
Buffalo
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Outline

• Expansion Realignment (1840-1875)
• Principles of Urban Growth

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Last Class

• Economic activities from natural resource
  harvest to long distance trade
• Transportation river boats rivers and canals
• Domestic market limited, mainly localized
• Urban system
• Embryonic local service centers
• Linear pattern along rivers/canals not far
  inside
• Limited dependence

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Comparative Advantage

• Specialization trade
• A classical international trade model by David
  Richardo (Richardian Model) to explain the
  pattern and the gains from specialization trade
  (countries)
• Definition The ability to produce a good at
  lower cost, relative to other goods, compared to
  another city/country
• Opportunity cost the resources are limited. The
  more they are used on one product, the less on
  the other product.
• So its better of for a city if it devotes more
  or entire resources to the product/activity that
  the resources can be best used relatively (not
  absolutely), compared to another city.
• So cities tend to specialize in and export goods
  in which they have comparative advantage

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Comparative Advantage A Numerical Example

• Suppose two cities have the same amount of
  workers 1000
• City I 2 workers to make 1 A 10 workers to make
  1 B
• City II 4 workers to make 1 A 100 workers to
  make 1 B
• 2 lt 4 and 10 lt 100, thus City I has absolute
  advantage on both A and B
• But City II has comparative advantage on A since
  2/10 gt 4/100
• And City I has comparative advantage on B since
  10/2 lt 100/4
• Scenario 1 no specialization no trade 50 on
  A, and 50 on B for both
• Scenario 2 specialization but no trade 70 on B
  30 on A in I in II, 100 on A?the total
  production of both A B increase. The world are
  better off.
• Scenario 3 specialization trade II trade 120
  A for 10 B from I. Both are better off!!!

Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Scenario 3
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Expansion and Realignment (1840-1875)

• From trade to embryonic industrial system still
  increasing domestic market
• Foundation industrial revolution in US
• Still increasing agricultural productivity
• Rural-urban migration
• Immigration
• New types of cities diversity, specialization
• Power site coal mines falls and running water
• Mining coal mines, cores
• Transportation transshipment points
• Heavy manufacturing close to raw materials
  close to water

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Expansion and Realignment (1840-1875)

• Transportation plays a major role
• Steam river boats vs railroads
• Railroads start out as complementary but later on
  the competition becomes fierce
• Nationalizes the regional economies bigger
  market, bigger raw material supply bases ?
  Economies of Scale

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Economies of Scale Explanation

• Type of costs for a typical firm
• Fixed costs do not change with the total
  production (e.g. equipments, machinery)
• Varied costs change with the total production
  (e.g. labor, raw materials)
• Equations
• Total Cost (TC) Fixed Cost (FC) Varied Cost
  (VC)
• Average Cost (AC) TC/N (FC VC)/N
• Example
• Scenario 1 N100, VC101001000, FC5000,
  TC6000, AC6000/10060
• Scenario 2 N1000, VC10100010000, FC5000,
  TC15000, AC15000/100015

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Rail Road Expansion
1860
1890
1860 30,000 miles 1880 70,000 miles 1890
163,579 miles
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Expansion and Realignment (1840-1875)

• Hierarchical markets urban system solidification
• River ports slow down
• Cities along major railroads grow rapidly
• Benefit most those transshipment points, e.g.
  Chicago (1840 lt5,000 1875 400,000)
• Two major wholesaling alignments
  NYC-Buffalo-Detroit- Chicago-Milwaukee
  Philadelphia-Pittsburgh-Cincinnati-Louisville
• Urban grown mainly focus on the existing towns
  and cities

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Expansion and Realignment (1840-1875)

• Manufacturing Cities

Top 20 cities
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Expansion and Realignment (1840-1875)
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Principles of Urban Growth Initial Advantage

• Initial advantage diversity, specialization
• No need to invest on urban infrastructures by
  individual firms Transportation, communication,
  utility
• Capitals and ancillary services in existing
  centers
• Pools of labor larger with diversity of skills
• Market larger, more affluent
• This is a special case of external economies in
  cities
• Collective (not exclusive) benefits from the
  existing of investment or the investment by others

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Economic Basics Externality

• Externality An externality occurs whenever the
  activities of one economic agent affect the
  activities of another agent in ways that are not
  reflected in market transactions.
• Negative externality (external diseconomies)
  pollutions, noises, traffic congestions
• Positive externality (external economies)
  benefits from others economic activities

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Principles of Urban Growth Initial Advantage

• Agglomeration economies another name of above
  positive external economies (Urbanization
  economies)
• Labor
• Urban infrastructure
• Ancillary services
• Localization economies similar firms located
  close to each other and sharing the same
  advantages
• Labor special skills
• Shared supply parts, row materials
• Ancillary services adapt to the particular needs
  of this type of industry e.g. machinery
  maintenance repair
• Research Development (R D) facilities
  industrial parks

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Rank-Size Rule

• Rank-size rule size of cities and their ranks
  within the system
• PiP1/Ri
• Pi Population of city i,
• Ri rank of city i,
• P1 population of the largest city
• Log linear relationship Ln(Pi)Ln(P1) Ln(Ri)
• Distorted
• Primate city
• Intermediate cities

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Rank-Size Rule

• Rank-size rule
• Slops move to the right with time every city
  grows
• Relative position of a specific city often
  changes some grow faster, some grow slower, some
  even decline

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An Explanation Innovation Diffusion

• Innovation diffusion
• Variability of urban growth rates decreases with
  urban size
• Possible explanation Lager cities are likely to
  produce more innovations
• Innovation A major factor for economic
  restructuring growth? urban growth
• Probability of innovations successfully adopted
• Is a function of
• Urban size hierarchy effect
• Distance from the heart of innovation
  neighborhood effect
• A random factor

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Next Class

• Central Place Theory
• Readings chp 2, pp 3335