What is Urban Planning? Crash Course Geography #47

Summary

This Crash Course Geography episode envisions future cities with sustainable transport, green spaces, and community involvement in urban planning. It explores urban geography's role in shaping city development, reflecting societal values and relationships. The Latin American Model and Brasília's urban planning are discussed as historical examples, highlighting the impact of colonialism, wealth, and race on city structures. The episode also addresses urban sprawl, redlining, and the ongoing challenges of creating inclusive, equitable urban spaces.

Takeaways

• 🌳 The future cities envisioned in the script feature excellent public transportation, wide boulevards, dense urban cores, and wild spaces, promoting coexistence with nature.
• 🏡 Sustainable materials like mass timber are suggested for future construction, emphasizing environmental consciousness in city planning.
• 🤝 Participatory design is highlighted as crucial, meaning every inhabitant should be involved in the planning and maintenance of their city.
• 🚶‍♂️ Urban planning is influenced by economic, political, and social relationships, shaping the built environment and reflecting societal values.
• 🌆 The Latin American Model of city planning is discussed, showing how colonial priorities are embedded in city structures, impacting wealth display and social status.
• 🏙️ Brasília is presented as a case study of modern city planning, aiming to be innovative and address social issues, yet facing challenges in meeting contemporary living needs.
• 🚗 Urban sprawl and white flight in the United States are discussed, showing how urban planning can both facilitate and exacerbate social segregation and inequality.
• 🏘️ The historical practice of redlining and urban renewal is critiqued for their role in creating and maintaining racial and economic disparities in housing.
• 🌐 The script emphasizes the importance of considering the aspirations and situations of city dwellers in urban planning, recognizing the complexity of city life.
• 🔄 The acknowledgment of Indigenous peoples' relationships with land is made, urging viewers to learn about the history of their place of residence and engage with local Indigenous nations.

Q & A

What are the key features of the imagined future cities described in the script?

The imagined future cities have excellent public transportation, wide boulevards for walking, biking, and recreation, dense urban cores with wild spaces, homes made of sustainable materials, and participatory design involving every inhabitant in planning and maintenance.

How does urban geography reflect cultural traits and economic and political relationships?

Urban geography reflects cultural traits and economic and political relationships through the built environments, such as parks, City Hall, and houses, which are products of these relationships and tend to reproduce the social relationships of the time.

What is the role of urban geographers in understanding city development?

Urban geographers study patterns of human settlement and land use in urban areas, and how these patterns change over time. They use models and economic processes to predict the future and explain the present, including city development.

What is urban planning and how does it influence the design of urban spaces?

Urban planning is about the design and regulation of space within urban areas. Urban planners work to weave together economic, social, and environmental goals of a region to create zones for work, play, and living that benefit the region.

What is the Latin American Model of city planning and how does it reflect colonial priorities?

The Latin American Model describes city types designed by Spanish colonizers, featuring central plazas with cathedrals, markets, and a grid of streets. It reflects colonial priorities by showing wealth and social status through housing arrangements around the central market.

How did the arrival of colonizers change urban development in Latin America?

With the arrival of colonizers, urban development in Latin America shifted to include showing wealth and social status through housing arrangements, with wealthy housing developing around central markets and zones of disamenity, or squatter settlements, forming on the periphery.

What was the vision behind the design of Brasília, and how does it differ from the traditional Latin American model?

Brasília was designed to be innovative, opening development to the interior of Brazil without the poverty of older colonial cities. Unlike the traditional model, it was designed to look like a bird or airplane, with a monumental axis for public buildings and wings for residential neighborhoods.

How did the design of Brasília impact its development and the lives of its residents?

Brasília's design, based on a 1950s vision, led to issues with adapting to how people live today. The city was designed for cars and to separate work and living areas, which resulted in the development of suburbs and uneven access to resources and jobs.

What is redlining and how did it affect urban development in the United States?

Redlining was the practice of color-coding urban maps to indicate high-risk neighborhoods for lending money. This made home and land ownership difficult, especially for Black and Asian Americans, and contributed to segregated neighborhoods with limited access to resources.

How can urban planning address structural disadvantages in city design?

Urban planning can address structural disadvantages by intentionally considering the needs of marginalized communities and creating inclusive, equitable spaces. It involves learning from past mistakes and involving a diverse range of voices in the planning process.