Urban Landscape Culture (DP IB Geography): Revision Note

Uniform Urban Environments

• Over the centuries, traders and migrants have brought ideas and materials with them

• Gradually, people and places have inter-connected and formed urban landscapes with many similarities

• Globalisation has further increased these similarities between places and created an expected uniformity within the urban landscape

Factors Contributing to Uniformity in Urban Environments

• Features of uniformity include:

  • Tall buildings are common in most modern cities, especially in the central business district

  • Location of certain services: The CBD in most cities is the centre of the city, characterised by shopping areas, pedestrianised zones, high land values, fast food restaurants, etc

  • Industrial estates have moved from the core to the semi-periphery in cities

    • These areas still need an expanse of flat land, easy access for transport, energy supplies, etc

    • This results in same model of development being followed regardless of geographical location or local restrictions (the industry moves to a place that would accept their needs)

  • Science parks are a familiar sight in many cities, with a generic look of low rise buildings, open green spaces, large car parks and close transport access

  • Retail parks have a series of similar requirements, such as large car parking and land needed for the big retail shops. The variety of products dictates the overall construction, though retail parks are usually themed to give them a local look

  • Transport infrastructure: multi-lane roads, inner-city ring roads, underground railway systems, urban bus networks, airports, etc

  • Housing patterns and developments: inner cities with similar construction and planning, middle-class neighbourhoods in suburban areas, urban sprawl, as well as land zoning where services are located in specialised areas

Urban uniqueness

• All urban areas have some things in common

• Less westernised or globalised cities are expected to be different

• Arab cities have different structures and environments from western cities, yet coexist with western corporations and culture

• Many large western cities have mosques, helping to merge Arabic cultures

  • Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital and largest city of Brunei, Borneo

  • It is dominated by the opulent Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque and its 29 golden domes

  • Even with a small population of just over 450 000 people, there are elements of a western culture, from fast-food outlets to movie theatres; amusement parks to fitness gyms; you can find most things in Brunei

Case Study: Seoul, South Korea

• Seoul is a global megacity with a population of 10 million and one of the densest municipalities (central city) in the world, with an area of 605 km² and 16 thousand people per km² (that's more than Tokyo!)

• Seoul has been the capital of South Korea for over 600 years and is a good example of a homogenised urban landscape

• It fits the uniform urban environment with:

  • The CBD having skyscrapers and global firms such as Barclays, McDonald's and Starbucks, sitting alongside Korean firms such as Hyundai and Samsung

  • High-rise housing apartments and edge-of-town developments

• However, Seoul is also undertaking an urban redevelopment project, making it more heterogeneous than homogeneous

  • It is centred on restoring the historical cultural and environmental value of the Cheong Gye Cheon River in central Seoul

  • Along the river, murals retell some of the important events in Seoul over the last 600 years

  • The river is an important focus for Seoul residents and visitors, similar to Times Square in New York, partly because this project stresses the individuality and uniqueness of Seoul and Korea compared to other global cities