Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 9.23
Tysons Corner, Virginia.
In the suburbs of Washington, D.C., on Interstate 495 (the Beltway),
Tysons Corner has developed as a major edge city, with offi ces, retail, and commercial services.
© Rob
Crandall/The Image Works.
Modeling the Cities of the Global Periphery
and Semiperiphery
Cities in the world with millions of inhabitants can now
be counted in the hundreds; it therefore becomes increas-
ingly diffi cult to model, classify, or typify urban centers. In
the 1960s, researchers classifi ed “colonial” cities as urban
areas where European transplants dominated the form
of the city, laying it out with Western styles. Researchers
also drew models of “indigenous” cities that remained
remote from globalizing infl uences and various forms of
the Western city.
The rapid growth in population and territorial foot-
print of megacities in the developing world has made it
diffi cult to apply city models. Primate cities in developing
countries are called
megacities
when the city has a large
population, a vast territorial extent, rapid in-migration,
and a strained, inadequate infrastructure. For example,
Mumbai, India, has more people than the country of
Australia. São Paulo, Brazil, covers more land than the
country of Belgium. Kinshasa, The Congo, is the fastest
growing city in Africa. Jakarta, Indonesia, is the largest
city in the world without a subway or metro system.
In Middle and South America, Mexico City (Mexico)
and São Paulo (Brazil) are now the kinds of megacities that
make analysis diffi cult. Nonetheless, some cities located in
South American countries once colonized by Spain have
retained a common social-spatial geography. Also, some
former colonial cities in Subsaharan Africa have main-
tained the spatial components lost in megacities like
Lagos (Nigeria) and Kinshasa (The Congo).
The South American City
In 1980, geographers Ernst Griffi n and Larry Ford studied
South American cities and derived a model of the South
American city referred to as the
Griffi n-Ford model
.
Griffi n and Ford found that South American cities blend
traditional elements of South American culture with the
forces of globalization that are reshaping the urban scene,
combining radial sectors and concentric zones.
Anchoring the model is the thriving CBD, which
remains the city's primary business, employment, and
entertainment focus. The CBD is divided into a tradi-
tional market sector and a more modern high-rise sec-
tor. Adequate public transit systems and nearby affl u-
ent residential areas assure the dominance of the CBD.
Emanating outward from the urban core along the city's
most prestigious axis is the commercial spine, which is
surrounded by the elite residential sector. This widening
corridor is essentially an extension of the CBD. It features
offi ces, shopping, high-quality housing for the upper and
upper-middle classes, restaurants, theaters, and such ame-
nities as parks, zoos, and golf courses. At the end of the
