Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
6
0
°
Toronto
Montréal
Minneapolis
Boston
Chicago
40
°
40
°
New York
San Francisco
Atlanta
Washington
Los Angeles
Dallas
ATLANTIC
Houston
Miami
Tropic of Cancer
OCEAN
20
°
Mexico City
20
°
20
°
PACIFIC
Caracas
OCEAN
Equator
0
°
20
°
20
°
20
°
Tropic of Capricorn
São Paulo
Santiago
Buenos Aires
40
°
40
°
40
°
40
°
WORLD CITIES
Alpha
Beta
160
°
140
°
120
°
80
°
60
°
40
°
60
°
60
°
60
°
60
°
Gamma
SOUTHERN
OCEAN
0
1000
2000
3000 Kilometers
0
1000
2000 Miles
Figure 9.42
World Cities: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
Data from:
J. V. Beaverstock, R. G. Smith, and P. J. Taylor, “A
Roster of World Cities,”
Cities
, 16, 6 (1999): 445-458.
Disney set the new course for a family-friendly entertain-
ment district in New York. The restored New Amsterdam
Theater hosts Disney musicals such as
The Lion King
and
Beauty and the Beast
(both based on Disney movies). The
Times Square area is assuredly a space of consumption and a
variation on a theme park: themed restaurants (Hard Rock
Café, ESPN Zone), cross-promoting themed stores (Warner
Brothers Store, Disney Store), and retail stores that cater to
families (an enormous Toys R Us with a ferris wheel inside).
In 2009, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
closed portions of Broadway in Times Square to traf-
fi c and created an urban esplanade with lawn chairs and
seating to advance his goal of making the city more liv-
able. New Yorkers and tourists took to the new seating
and moved in with laptops in hand. Times Square and the
Hi-Line Walkway in New York now have bleacher-style
seating as well as chairs to encourage New Yorkers to sit a
spell and enjoy the city.
Potsdamer Platz in Berlin is also becoming a new
space of consumption in the city center. Prior to the
bombing of Berlin during World War II, Potsdamer
Platz was a center of entertainment for Berlin's middle
class. After the war, little was left of the area. Soon, a
500-yard border zone and the Berlin Wall occupied the
