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Intro to socio-spatial process

Due date: January 31

Reading

  • Read Jonas, McCann, and Thomas, Ch. 1, “Approaching the City,” in Urban Geography: A Critical Introduction (Wiley, 2013). The link can be found in the course schedule.
  • The reading should be completed before class.
  • There will be a short quiz at the beginning of the class to test your understanding.
  • To prepare for the quiz, please see the comprehension questions and key terms.
  • On the class forum, there is a reading response prompt.

Comprehension questions:

Try to answer these questions in your notes, and bring your notes to class. I will not collect these notes. However, you should expect questions similar to these to appear on quizzes and tests. These are not reading response prompts; for the reading response, see the class forum.

1) What definitions of “space” are offered in the text? What is the relationship between and among “space”, “place”, and “scale”, according to the authors?

2) What is a “socio-spatial process”?  How and why do social scientists view cities as socio-spatial processes?

3) What is the role of governmental institutions (“the state”) in shaping cities?  How do these institutions contribute to urban development?  Who benefits from the planning undertaken by these institutions?

4) What is the difference between a descriptive approach to studying cities (such as the Chicago School) and a quantitative approach (such as the bid-rent theory)?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of approach?

Key terms:

You should be able to explain each of these terms as discussed in the class.  They are likely to appear on quizzes and tests.

1) space

2) place

3) scale

4) socio-spatial process

5) elites

6) urbanization

7) commodification

8) use value

9) exchange value

10) uneven development

11) urbanism

12) planning

13) zoning

14) Chicago School

15) CBD

16) zone in transition

17) quantitative revolution

18) bid-rent theory

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