Monday May 20: Cities and Urban Land Use part one

 A NOTE OF COMMUNITY INTEREST: TOMORROW, MAY 21, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BORROW ANY OF THE MAC LAPTOPS. THEY ARE GOING TO BE USED FOR EOC TESTING. A THOUSAND PARDONS FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. -- MR. L


The following slides tend to equivocate some in the actual definition of a city -- in fact, one of the very first slides states that the definition "depends on time and culture"

That much being said, cities and urban centers are  - by their very nature -- far more crowded places to live than anywhere else. so with that in mind, let's examine the following questions

1) It would seem -- at least anecdotally -- that large urban centers have far more rules governing behavior than do suburban or rural areas. For example, NYC mayor Bloomberg recently attempted to cap the size of soft drinks sold inside city limits to no more than 16 ounces; an idea that would probably NEVER be floated in say, Goose Creek or Walterboro. Question: are there more rules in big cities because there need to be, or because it is easier to impose them in such urban environments? Three complete sentences each both pro and con

2) Since urban centers are more crowded, does this tend to magnify the effects of positive behavior vs mal-adaptive behavior? For example, if a homeless man wants to use a public library to sleep in --and even bathe  in -- is he more likely to be allowed to do this in a large urban center, or a small village far from the centers of population? Two reasons pro and con on this hypothesis, one complete sentence per reason

3) Large scale protest movements -- for example, Occupy Wall Street -- are much more likely to occur in large urban centers. Please list three possible reasons why this is so. Two complete sentences for each reason

4) RE number 3 above : With all large scale gatherings, the possibility of negative behaviors -- looting, vandalism, assaults, confrontations with armed authorities -- seems to increase. Please offer at least one good hypothesis why this may be, not less than three complete sentences

5) The slides below indicate that two of the attractions for living in large urban zones are cultural and economic diversity. Please explain what is meant by both of those "diversities" (two complete sentences), and postulate at least two reasons why these would be so compelling to people to make them want to live there (an additional two complete sentences.)

6) In this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/30/sir-richard-branson-plans-orbital-spaceships/
the owner of Virgin Galactic believes that space flight will soon become much more commonplace. Suppose that this is so, and that in the future, people will be able to "hop a rocket" to get to work, and they can cover hundreds of miles in 20 minutes. In light of your answers to #5 above, would this make cities more or less likely to grow even bigger? Two reasons pro, two reasons con, one complete sentence per reason 

7) In the following article
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcellefischler/2013/03/17/8-amazingly-tiny-micro-apartments/
the authors seem enthralled with the idea of urban dwellers living in micro apartments measuring 250 sq ft. (Just to get an idea, if we use room 16 as a measure, that's approximately the space from the back wall to the metal band running through the carpet, and then only up to Mr. LaRue's desk. Home sweet home!)

Please postulate how such living conditions might alter the way the people living in them might interact with each other, and with "non-micro" dwellers. Not less than four complete sentences

That seems like enough exercise for this morning. Please send your musings to me by email, with your name and the phrase " Cities and Urban Land Use part one" in the subject line.

cheers,
Mr. L