We explain what urban geography is and the main aspects of the cities it studies. Also, what is the urban landscape.
What is urban geography?
urban geography It is a branch of geography dedicated to the study of cities understood as a type of landscape: the urban landscape. To do this, he is interested in the structure of cities, their distribution, classification, functions and the process of urbanization itself, since the so-called Urban Revolution occurred in the world.
The study of the city as a system is one of the foundations of urban geography. From there this discipline extracts concepts that allow us to understand how different cities operate or what their general trends are, such as urban hierarchies, the urban environment, the urban location, etc.
Broadly speaking, any analysis of this type is based on two main perspectives:
- The spatial distribution of cities that is, how they are organized in geographical space.
- The dynamics of behavior, flows and spatial unions within it that is, the forces that determine its internal structure and the human movements that characterize it.
Urban geography is part of the disciplines assigned to human geography, although sometimes its interests penetrate the field of anthropology, urban planning and even physical geography.
urban landscape
Urban landscape or urban space is understood as the interior landscape of cities, that is, the inhabited, structured and organized space that makes up urban centers. The secondary or tertiary economic sector predominates there.
The urban landscape is characterized by a high population density, a large area and provision of complex infrastructure which distinguish it from agriculture and its open, unpopulated and green spaces. That is to say, it exists in contrast to rural landscapes or primary economic sectors.
References
- “Urban Geography” on Wikipedia.
- “Urban Geography” in BanRepCultural.
- “Urban geography: a critical perspective for the analysis of the city” by Dr. Antonio Salgado in InteriorGraficocom of the University of Guanajuato (Mexico).
- “Urban geography” in Science Direct.
- “Urban geography” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
