Urban Landscape (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the urban landscape is, its characteristics and various examples. Also, what are suburban and rural landscapes.

rome cityscape — Rome was the first great city, inaugurating the history of the urban landscape.

What is the urban landscape?

The urban landscape arises from the combination of environmental and human phenomena, which coexist in a particular area of the earth's surface. It is a space that is constantly modified over time, both due to its growth and development and its deterioration.

It consists of an urbanized area that is formed by the advantages offered by the geomorphology and the conditions of the place to promote human development: proximity and easy access to rivers or oceans, type of soil, rock stratification, type of climate, etc.

Throughout history, humans have always sought dominance over nature. This attitude plays a fundamental role in man's interaction with his environment. The landscape is the concrete manifestation of observable space. In the case of the urban landscape, it is identified as such by two main factors:

Objective factors They are the specific elements (natural or created by humans) that a city presents and that differentiates it from others.
Subjective factors They constitute the mental image or conception of the city that the inhabitants have, their behavior and their way of thinking, which give rise to the idiosyncrasy of the population.

These two groups of factors are inseparably interrelated to form an urban landscape.

Urban landscape features

urban landscape new york new york characteristics population density — Cities like New York have a very high population density.

Among the main characteristics of the urban landscape are:

The density of the population. Although the number of inhabitants varies from one city to another, it refers to a large number of people who live nearby.
Population growth Despite the increase in the number of inhabitants, the increase is not synonymous with evolution. There are settlements with constantly increasing populations, but the physical and environmental conditions become dangerous for life.
The infrastructure It covers roads, housing buildings, dams, engineering works, etc. The greater the development of infrastructure in a given urban landscape, the better living conditions its inhabitants can have.
Human activity It consists of the economic production of the five sectors (primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary and quinary), which is key to the evolution of the urban system. This economic activity is conditioned by State policies.
The geography of the area It covers different conditions such as the type of soil (very important for food production), access to drinking water, the construction of roads and houses (which allow a human settlement to develop and evolve into an urban system).

Examples of urban landscape

urban landscape examples vancouver — Many cities are established on the coast, such as Vancouver.

Some examples of urban landscape are:

New York The city is located on the island of Manhattan, in the United States. It emerged as an important port city in colonial times and continues to be so today, because it has one of the best natural ports in the world that allows the arrival of ships of all sizes.
Rome It is the first great city in history, located in Italy. It has been known since ancient times as “the city” and has the highest concentration of historical and architectural assets in the world. It was the center of one of the most important civilizations, whose legacy exerted influences in subsequent centuries (social, cultural, artistic, architectural, philosophical, religious, moral, in language and in law).
Vancouver The port city located in Canada is one of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse in the world. In addition to its natural port, it is surrounded by mountains. It is characterized by being one of the most expensive and safest places, due to its very low crime rate.
Saint Paul It is the first large city in South America, located in Brazil, and one of the most populated in the world (the third after New York and Mexico City). It is the main financial center of its country and one of the best to do business in Latin America. In addition, it stands out for its large cultural and entertainment centers.
Shanghai It is the most populated city in China which, in ancient times, was dedicated to fishing and the textile industry. Starting in the 19th century, it gained importance due to its strategic location with a sea and river port, in addition to opening up to the international market. Currently it is the port with the highest volume of merchandise in the world.
Berlin It is the most populated city in Germany. It stands out for being an urban, cultural and artistic center of great global recognition and, due to its geographical location and its recognized educational offer at the university level, it is an important link between Eastern and Central Europe. In addition, it is one of the most influential cities in the political sphere of the European Union.

suburban landscape

suburban cityscape — The suburban landscape is greener and offers a quieter life.

The suburban landscape corresponds to the peripheral areas of large cities that is, the outskirts where residential or industrial populations are located and which have a lower concentration of population and infrastructure compared to cities.

In ancient times, the suburbs were places where the most impoverished sectors of the population settled. With the advancement of roads and transportation services, the journey from the city to the peripheral areas became faster.

This influenced the development of large residential neighborhoods with greener landscapes, cleaner air and a slower pace of life than the one developed in the city.

Urban landscape and rural landscape

Unlike the urban landscape, The rural landscape lacks human population density and building infrastructure or highways. It is the space used mainly for the development of agricultural, industrial, forestry and environmental conservation activities.

The activity carried out in rural areas generates impact and makes life possible in urbanized areas because it supplies them with raw materials and food, among other benefits. To a lesser extent, the rural landscape includes residential, transportation and service areas.