Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Ghettoes
As previously mentioned, a ghetto is an involuntary neighborhood where members of a group are
forcedtolive.Typically,theyarefoundinaninner-city,high-densityresidential area.
Ghetto
isItalian
for “foundry,” and reflects the fact that Jews in Venice of old were relegated to (and literally locked
in at night) a small area in the factory district.
Opinionvaries(oftenheatedlyso)abouttheappropriatenessoftheterminAmerica,whereithasbeen
applied most often to the African-American and Asian-American urban experiences. While these
peoples have never been literally locked in a particular area, in certain times and cities, they have
beenvictimsof
red lining
.Thisisadiscriminatory andnowillegalpracticewherebyrealestateagents
mark off on a map (classically with a red pen) parts of town in which housing may and may not be
sold to members of these groups. The result, for all intents and purposes, is a ghetto.
Leaving Downtown, Living Downtown
In recent decades two rather opposing processes have impacted the character of cities. One involves
movement to the suburbs and outer fringe of large stores and other entities formerly located down-
town. The other (and more recent change) entails the movement of middle- and upper-income people
into downtown areas. Each process, described below, has brought significant socioeconomic change
— for better or for worse — to affected areas.
Moving out of downtown
Decentralization
refers to the appearance in the outer city of functions and land use formerly associ-
ated almost exclusively with the CBD. The quintessential example is a large downtown department
store that closes, perhaps after years of being part of the CBD, and relocates to a newly opened sub-
urban shopping mall. The most profound effect is to move commerce and retailing from the center
city to the outer city (hence decentralization), often resulting in vacant real estate downtown and loss
of jobs for inner city residents. Here are some principal manifestations and results.
Suburban shopping malls
Enclosed shopping malls consisting of two or more major department stores and dozens of lesser-
sized shops of considerable variety are perhaps the highest expression of decentralization (illustrated
by Figure 17-5). They come about for one or more of the following reasons:
