GEO 222: Cities of the World
Fall, 2004

August 26: Students began the course by identifying Athens (Greece), Baghdad (Iraq), Beijing (China), Bhopal (India), Boston (US), Cuidad Juarez (Mexico), Jerusalem (Israel), Johannesburg (South Africa), Kabul (Afghanistan), Kiev (Ukraine), Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Medellin (Colombia), Moscow (Russia), New York (US), Paris (France), Porto Allegre (Brazil), and Vancouver BC (Canada) on a base map. We talked about why these cities are of current importance: site of Olympics, capital of Iraq, traditional city being modern/industrial city, site of world's most deadly industrial accident, site of the Democratic National Convention, largest maquiladora city in Mexico, sacred site to the world's three great monotheistic faiths, an inequitable city of the very rich and very poor in close proximity, probably the most secure place in Afghanistan, near the world's most serious nuclear accident, capital of country in which the First African World War is being fought, the world's most chaotic city, the murder capital of the world, the capital of a fallen Superpower, the site of the Republic National Convention, probably the best example of a primate city, a progressive city that has hosted the World Social Forum, a city with great immigration from Asia. After calling the roll and discussing the syllabus, homework was assigned. Homework: Go to the Population Reference Bureau's website (see page 45 in the textbook) and find the 3 most urbanized countries and the 3 least urbanized countries.

August 31: In the past 100 years, we have had a proliferation of independent countries (primarily because of decolonization, but also the devolution of the former USSR added a net 14 countries); world population growth from ~ 1.65 B to now nearly 6.4 B; the growth of the number and size of cities. In 1800, world 3% urban (5000 or more)
Today, about half the world’s population lives in an urban area. Overall, MDC are more urbanized (75%). LDCs are less urbanized (40%). But, because of so many more people living in LDCs, there are 4 X as many city-dwellers in LDCs as MDCs.

Some definitions:
Primate cities – usually at least 2 X as large as next largest city; epitomizes the culture, flavor of the country (for example, Paris).
Some cities are very large (e.g., Mexico City, Sao Paulo). Those with > 10 M are called megacities.
Large urban regions composed of a network of large cities are called conurbations. The term megalopolis is often used in a similar manner.
A few cities (not necessarily megacities) are very important because the economies are knowledge-based, provision of high-end services (accounting, advertising) … (e.g., Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong). These are the world cities.
Three cities are usually recognized as global cities (NY, London, Tokyo). These dominate the global economy and the entire world feels their influence in finance, communications. They are at the hub of economic globalization.

Cities - in terms of evolution: (1) Preindustrial (traditional) cities were built prior to industrialization. Religion and government (not business) are of primary importance. The rich people live near the city center. (2) Industrial cities are those whose economies are based on manufactured goods. (3) The post-industrial cities' economies are based upon services.

We watched part of Understanding Cities. In "Evolution" we are told that the first cities appeared in the Tigres/Euphrates valley (i.e., Mesopotamia) 3000-4000 BC, as a result of food surpluses. There are basically two kinds of city shape: natural/organic (e.g., the Medieval cities and Los Angeles) and the planned (e.g., Roman cities), which were generally built by someone with an ulterior motive and was usually built on a grid. Teotihuacan was a huge planned, urban center in Meso-America where streets were perpendicular to each other. It was believed to be at the center of the universe, where time began. In AD 500, 125,000 to 200,000 people lived there. By the 700s, it failed, as population outpaced the natural resources and as ethnic/class tensions rose. The failure of Teotihuacan can serve as a lesson for Mexico City, which has problems of excessive rural-urban migration, over use of resources, and class tensions. In the Middle Ages, in western Europe, overcrowding led to rapid spread of disease. In the 14th century, the bubonic plague killed 1/2 of western Europe's population. The Industrial Revolution began in England, then spread to western Europe and finally to North America. Within half a century, the U.S. had become the most urbanized country in the world (this isn't true). Skycrapers were made possible by the invention of the elevator and lighter, stronger steel beams. The Woolworth building was the first skyscraper. Built in 1913, it was 58 stories high. Chicago and New York tried to outdo each other in building ever taller skyscrapers. In 1935, LeCorbusier (a famous, but goofy, city planner) visited the U.S. and commented on our skyscrapers. During the depression (1930s), building stalled and stopped during WWII. After WWII, the U.S. government discouraged people from living in cities. The FHA and $50 billion interstate highway system were two of the ways in which people were encouraged to move out of the cities. Robert Moses, the famous (and brutal) NY engineer built all manner of bridges and highways (on a 12 lane highway, built in 1963) to facilitate this sprawl. NY led the way in choosing the car over mass transit. In "The Modern City" we learned that computers coordinate traffic lights and can reprogram them quickly if a fender bender threatens to snarl traffic. While traffic lights can ease the flow of traffic, they can't keep wealth from flowing out of the city. Increasing taxes only make it worse. What's left in many of our cities today is a large underclass. The good-paying manufacturing jobs are gone. Poverty leads to hopelessness and to crime. The question is: how can we rebuild these economies? Portland, Oregon saw this trend 20 years ago and decided to do something. The city torn up a freeway that cut through the city center and invested heavily in a light-rail system. The Portland Development Commission buys up neglected lands and makes improvements (e.g., parking lots become public parks, industrial sites became affordable housing). Portland also established (and held to it) a urban growth boundary, beyond which development could not occur. Thus, wealth stays in the city.

Delhi (India), with an old and a new part is an example of a colonial city and dual city (one modern, one traditional). Old Delhi is quite old, with narrow streets and Indian-style architect. Past a band of green space is New Delhi. New Delhi was built for the British to use as their capital in India. The boulevards are broad and the architect has a European look.

The socialist cities are found in communist (or formerly communist) countries. Grey apartment complex after another fill the city scape. In these cities, there was massive govt involvement. Cuba, China, and Russia have this type of housing.

There are also a lot of ideas about how to build a utopian town. The new town ideas include those of Le Corbusier, who envisioned everybody living in skyscrapers, with plazas in the middle (doesn't work very well). Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect, dreamed up Broadacre City. In his vision, he saw Americans spread across the landscape in single-story (prairie) homes. Only the city architect would occupy a higher building. The third one is the idea of the Garden City. Ebenezer Howard wrote a book in 1898 entitled Garden Cities of Tomorrow. He envisioned a round city, with parks and people of all social classes living next door to one another. Around the city would be a large farmbelt, on which the city's food would be grown. No one would own property. All would pay the government and the money would be reinvested into the city. This idea was adopted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration as one of the New Deal programs. Rexford Tugwell hoped to put people to work and provide healthy new homes/communities. He wanted to build about 3000 of these new "greenbelt" cities. Three were actually built: Greenbelt, MD (the first); Greenhills, Ohio (outside Cincinnati); and Greendale, Wisconsin. Greenbelt, MD is one of the loveliest little cities I have ever visited. No additional greenbelt cities were built because of the charge that they were a communist enterprise.

We then turned to your homework. On the Population Reference Bureau website, one can easily find the just-released 2004 World Population Data Sheet. It has a great deal of valuable information, including information about urbanization. The most urbanized countries in the world are: Kuwait (100%), Monaco (100%), Nauru (100%), Singapore (100%). The least urbanized countries in the world are: Burundi (8%), East Timor (8%), Uganda (12%).

Students completed the following quiz: How are urban populations in the MDCs (more developed countries) and in the LDCs (less developed countries) different? What is the difference between a primate city, a megacity, a conurbation, and a global city? Give an example of each type of city. What is unusual about the three greenbelt cities built in the U.S.? According to the film Understanding Cities, about 6000 years ago, there were cities between the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers, in an area known as _. Later, planned cities were built with an ulterior motive and were usually built on a grid system. The most famous of these are the cities of imperial _. In the Americas, the first large urban center was _. It was thought to be at the center of the universe, where time began. Skyscrapers were made possible because of two innovations. Name one of the innovations: _. The first skyscraper, in 1913, was the _ building. After World War II, various means were used to discourage Americans from living in cities. A New Yorker named _ was infamous for his car-friendly construction projects.

 Homework for Thursday:
In the context of your hometown (or Lexington, if you don't identify with an urban area), explain each of the following key terms: Urbanism, Urbanization, Site, Situation, Urban morphology, Urban function, Urban landscapes, Urban problems

September 2:
 Students looked at the list of the 30 biggest cities (pages 6-7) in 1950, 1975, 2000, and projected for 2015. In 1950, 20 of 30 largest cities were in rich countries. By 2015, probably only 4 of the biggest cities will be in rich countries. The populations of cities in the LDCs has absolutely exploded. In 1950, there was only one megacity in the world (NY). By 1975, there were 5. By 2015, there are expected to be 21, the largest of which will have 27 million people. Tokyo has held steady as the world's largest city since 1975. Generally speaking, in the rich world cities, growth accompanied industrialization and economic development. In cities in poor countries, growth is partly because of industrial and economic growth, but often primarily because of "...unrealistic expectations of rural people who have flocked to the cities seeking escape from misery." (these are the words of the author)

We talked about the following concepts and applied them to various hometowns:
Urbanism – broad concept that refers to all aspects of the urban way of life; a process, rather than the end result of urbanization
Urbanization – movement of people from rural to urban and change in lifestyle that results from living in cities
Site - physical location of the city
Situation - conditions around the city that influence it (highways, rivers, good grass for race horses, etc)
Urban morphology – physical form (e.g., linear along a river)
Urban function – some come into being because a strategic location needs to be defended, others for trade/commerce, other govt admin or religious pilgrimage
Urban landscapes is urban form + urban function = built environment. The build environment includes visible manifestations of thoughts, deeds, and actions of people

Students gathered in groups of 4 and 5 to discuss the last concept, urban problems. I provided five articles about cities and asked students to discuss the problems of each city. Urban problems outlined in our textbook are (please make sure that you understand what each of these entails):
•    excessive size
•    overcrowding
•    shortage of urban services
•    slums and squatter settlements
•    traffic congestion
•    lack of social responsibility
•    unemployment and underemployment
•    ethnic and social issues (apartheid, Jim Crow, Cubans, Mexicans)
•    Westernization vs. modernization –
•    Environmental degradation
•    Urban expansion and loss of agricultural land
•    Urban governance
•    Refugees and resettlement
•    Stagnation and no growth (e.g., deindustrialization of Europe, Rust Belt in US – Roger and ME
•    Consequences of Global Restructuring

Homework: Read Chapter 2. Jot down differences and similarities between U.S. and Canadian cities.

September 7:
Homework: Read interview with Jane Jacobs in Reason Magazine (on-line).

Chapter 2

How are Canadian and U.S. cities different? Overall, the inner cities in Canada are in better shape than US inner cities.
In the USA, earliest cities built by Spanish in the SW. St. Augustine in Florida (1565 – 1st American city)
English attempts at city building began in 1585: Virginia/Maryland tidewater; New England – Boston; New York and Philadelphia; Charlestown and Savannah

Our cities are manifestations of capitalist ideology: the use that can afford the high costs can be there; the innovation of specialty buildings (one use only) -> exclusion of residential in downtowns; competition [boosterism and urban growth machines - powerful coalition of government, business, and real estate interests who stand to benefit from land development]; and residential homogeneity. Much of the homogeneity is because of zoning and discriminatory real estate practices.

Zoning is the division of an area into zones within which certain uses are permitted. Examples are: Special district zoning – garment district in NY; Cluster zoning – cluster development on one part of a site and leave rest for open space, etc.; Downzoning – rezone to lower density use to avoid some unwanted use (high rise apartment); and Large lot – require large lots so roads won’t be too congested, etc. but often to exclude. Criticisms include:
Unnecessary since market forces produce fair segregation of land uses
Separates people from each other and from work, leisure
Open to corruption
Unequal in effect – commercial builders reaps benefits and neighbors have to bear costs of increased traffic, noise, etc.
Exclusionary (against mobile homes, high rises)
Some see zoning as an unwanted socialist invasion - this keys off the idea that people should be able to use their own land as they see fit and they see any intrusion as a “takings”

On the other hand, supporters point out that zoning allows residents to determine part of the character of their neighborhood. It can avoid blight on the landscape. Lexington has planning, including an urban service boundary

The stages of North American urbanization are:

1790 - 1830: Frontier mercantilism
•    sailing vessel and horse-drawn wagon
•    Ag, export of staple products
•    NY, Phila, Baltimore, Boston largest
                     
1830-1870: Early Industrial Capitalism
•    age of water travel (canals – Erie Canal) and the iron rail, the omnibus (like a stagecoach, pulled by horses)
•    urban from 8% to 23%
•    in bigger cities, began to see large warehouses, port facilities, boat yards, breweries, etc.
•    waves of immigrants from Ireland and Germany – shantytowns and tenements
•    rail from 9000 miles to 53,000 miles (1870)
•    Chicago

1870-1935: National Industrial Capitalism
•    by 1900, NY vied with London to be the world’s greatest metropolis
•    age of steam and steel – completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 (Promontory, Utah)
•    rail system fostered city specialization
•    urban 5X to 41 M … Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, Vancouver BC
•    urbanization driven by
•    integration of transport systems (railroad gauges)
•    influx of poor immigrants – 1870 to 1920 – 30 M to US from Europe and 1901-1921 – 1 M to Canada from Europe
•    exception in US South .. low levels of industrialization, cheap African American labor deterrents to immigration … toward end of era, large #s of southern blacks and whites to the north
•    ghettoes
•    introduction of assembly-line – Fordist
•    lots of architectural styles
•    large surplus of mechanized ag
•    activity of corporations
•    modern characteristics – segregated land uses replaced mixed landscapes … department stores, office towers, etc., more desirable housing in peripheral sites
•    age of automobile – drive-in
•    Great Depression
•    New towns – Greenbelt, Maryland et al (New Deal)
 
1935 – present: Mature Industrial Capitalism to Post-Industrial Capitalism
•    jet  travel – late 1950s
•    federally funded highways in 1930s, turnpikes in 1950s, interstate highways beginning in the 1960s
•    popul in urban area 5000+ from 47 to 70%
•    conurbation,
•    spread of metropolitan urban deve across most of continent
•    growth of urban areas beyond old central cities
•    deindustrialization – Rust Belt
•    rise of sunbelt (Atlanta, Phoenix), in part because of changed immigration streams (from Mexico and Latin America, rather than Europe)
After WWII, suburbanization occurred:
•    Federally insured mortgages for new housing in suburbs
•    sprawl
•    nearly 20% of new home now have 3-car garages
•    big box stores, outlet malls
As suburbanization occurred,
•    decrease in size of larger metro areas
•    1960s, 1970s – black rage over lack of employment opportunities
•    decline in density of urban pops
•    increasing segregation – based upon class, race, age, language
•    driven by: industrial decentralization, insecurity of metropolitan life, search for amenities, improved transportation

Review: (1) Cities are manifestations of capitalist ideology. Explain how capitalist ideology is apparent in downtown Lexington. (2) The main reason that residential areas are separate from pubs and small shops is because of _, a planning tool. (3) Why were cities able to specialize after about 1870? (4) How is immigration tied to the rise and decline of great American cities? (5) Assembly line production is often referred to as _ production, after the name of the innovator.(6) Many of the characteristics of North American cities can be attributed to the single occupancy vehicle? Name two of these characteristics: (7) In what way do Canadian cities tend to be different from U.S. cities?

September 9:

Students discussed Jane Jacobs' ideas (gleaned from reading "City Views" in Reason online). Please read the article if you have not already. Points to remember: (1) She argues that healthy cities are organic, messy, spontaneous, and serendipitous, thriving on diversity, mixed land uses, and dense populations.(2) Her most famous book is The Death and Life of Great American Cities, although she has written a number of very good books. (3) She didn't think that Canada has as many important cities as it ought to have, for its size. (4) She bemoaned urban renewal's destructiveness - sacrifice the small, young, and diverse for some huge something. With urban renewal came a redefinition of eminent domain, where buildings could be destroyed, not for the common good, but for the accumulation of wealth by the already wealthy. (5) She mentioned Robert Moses, who we already saw in the film Understanding Cities. He is more infamous than famous for what he did in New York City. (6) She talked about Portland, Oregon, saying that Portland is a great city because the people who live there love their city. They want to improve it - and they have.(6) She talked about zoning, which can be a positive force, but usually separates everything: homes from work, shops from homes, etc. (7) She isn't very keen on New Urbanism, seeing its creations as artificial. (8) Her solution is to keep sound buildings, remove impediments to reusing them for something else that's productive. (9) She, of course, is concerned about the suburbs and the dependence upon the single occupancy vehicle. She suggested, however, that we'd often be better served by having small scale public transit (such as jitneys and station-wagons) rather than big buses. (10) She pointed out that expansion and development are different things. Development means working with what you already have to serve the purposes needed. Expansion is growth.

Students watched a film entitled Subdivide and Conquer. In the 19th century, North America's indigenous people were conquered. Today, it is the land that is being conquered. Sprawl has covered 50,000 square miles in half a lifetime. We first hear from a cattle rancher, Lynn Sherrod, whose property lies near Steamboat Springs. The ranch has been in the family for several generations. She says that it is very important that we take care of the land. She noted that many of her neighbors have put their properties up for sale. In fact, up to 1/3 of private ranch land in the west is for sale. The area from Montana is growing faster than any other. Outside Denver, there's a gigantic subdivision called Highlands Ranch; it has 35,000 housing units. Today, national builders build the same type of house everywhere; the houses all look the same. And, people come in from all over to live in those new houses that look just like the new houses built back home. One new resident said that, in many ways, these are very lonely places. They are designed for the car. The average American spends 4 years of her/his life in a car. The air pollution generated from all this driving is taking its toll on our health. In the US as a whole, 1/6 of emergency room visits are because of asthma (the number of asthma sufferers has risen sharply over the past couple of decades). In Phoenix, one can easily see the brown cloud that hangs over the city. Some of it is auto exhaust, but some is asphalt, rubber, and other airborne particles. We must reduce the amount of driving that we do, but in fact, the number of miles driven is increasing. From 1983-1995, national commuting times increased 30%. As people and jobs move to the suburbs, the downtowns and older towns decline. The tax base declines and the city becomes like a donut (nothing going on in the inner city, with a ring of prosperity). In Denver from 1980 to 1995, there were 25 suburban jobs for every 1 downtown job created. It is expensive to own and operate a vehicle ($6000/year US and $7000/year Canadian). If someone has low wages, they really can't afford a car. About 80 million Americans don't have a car. For the car-less, the result are often very long days commuting via public transportation. Today, we are also seeing rural sprawl. It also consumes a lot of space and is often where the wealthy have their second, third, or fourth home. The old mining towns became tourist meccas, with the coming of ski resorts. Today, tourism on public lands (half of the west belongs to the American people - it is public land) is worth $400 billion per year. With new communication technologies, it is easier now for people to live in the mountains and other out-of-the-way places. When rural sprawl occurs, habitat - and even entire ecosystem - can be lost. Yellowstone National Park is one of the places where shrinking areas for native animals and plants is taking its toll. You can still drive down a country road and see "wild" land. The narrator says that these are mirage landscapes, that much of this land has already been sold to private developers. Sprawl began after WWII. Home ownership (federal loans for new homes), cars, and 18 million returning veterans spawned huge subdivisions, patterned after Levittown (the first mass-produced subdivision after WWII). Then in 1956, Eisenhower signed legislation to build the Interstate Highway System, the biggest public works expenditure in our country's history. Sprawl now has tremendous momentum behind it: the banks, local codes and zoning, builders, hidden government subsidies for cars, etc. - there is a veritable sprawl machine. The infrastructure (electricity, sewer, water, telephone, etc) is necessary and expensive. Denver now covers 550 square miles but with an anticipated 850,000 new residents that area could almost double, to 1000 square miles. A more compact footprint would save $3 billion in infrastructure costs. But, can cities grow without sprawl? Some argue for "smart growth." One man, who was obviously able to afford an expensive place, moved from the suburbs to a loft in downtown Denver. Coffee shops, pubs, parks, community gardens, and other amenities are nearby. He and his wife save time and money - and they found a community. One planner takes photographs of existing streets and then, using digital imaging, shows what the street could look like. When citizens get together and decide what they want, they seem to want neighborhoods that look like those of the 1930s, where people could walk, feel safe, and connected to a community. The New Urbanists have tried to incorporate these ideas, building homes with front porches, sidewalks, cars in the alleys. You can also repair and revitalize what you already have (what Jane Jacobs suggests). In Phoenix, the new stadium was built downtown and, as a result, all benefitted. Growth was attracted to the center, rather than the city edges. There are 4000 empty malls around the country; not using them is throwing away resources. These discards are opportunities. Zoning codes need to be changed as innovative designs are often prevented. In the age of heavy industry, zoning was used to keep polluting industries away from homes, but the situation is now changed: only 25% of households are now comprised of mom, dad, and children; 78 million baby boomers are becoming empty nesters. Suburbanites make an average of 12 trips per day. Investment in light rail, buses, bike lanes, and park and rides is needed. A challenge of the 21st century will be to maintain nature and rebuild areas that are already built up. In the mythos of the west, that of the rugged individualist is most enduring. Thirty years ago in Boulder, the decision was made to have a ring of open space around the city. The city bought land for this use. The open space protects flood plains, agriculture, and nature. Over 25 years, 26,000 acres were purchased. What happens on the other side of the open space is more problematic. Twenty five years ago, the Oregon legislature mandated planning. Every city was required to have an urban growth boundary. In this way, 25 million acres of land have been protected. New, revised zoning requirements supported mixed use. In Portland, 27 municipalities plan together. This is a way to preserve the beauty of the west, but it is hard to get westerners together. Once stakeholders get beyond the "it's a communist plot" they see that planning helps them all: the mountain resort towns need to plan downtown pedestrian malls, farmers and ranchers need to have an alternative to selling their properties. The land trust conservation easement allow farmers to keep their land, by capping property taxes. The rancher we saw at the beginning of the film says that government needs to focus on incentives rather than on regulatory fixes. People don't like to be told what to do. The film ends with an old westerner telling us that we'll be the last generation to be able to make choices on land use in the west - we better do it wisely.

GEO 222: Articles for Critical Thinking Essay #1
Please see syllabus for instructions. Read the following article:
“Poverty in the Suburbs” from the September 20, 2004 issue of The Nation. Available on-line at http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040920&s=dreier (if you have trouble, search for “The Nation” and then for this article).
In addition, select at least four of the following articles:
September 9, 2004: “Air Pollution Harms Teens, Study Says” http://www.denverpost.com
September 8, 2004: “Police in Quebec, Ontario Bust What They Say is Big Cocaine Importing Ring” http://story.news.yahoo.com (Canadian Press)
September 8, 2004: “Houston District Plans School for Immigrants”
http://www.azcentral.com
September 8, 2004: “Gridlock Less for Phoenix Commuters” http://www.azcentral.com
August 31, 2004: “Earth Talk: Do Urban Trees Really Help Reduce Pollution and Clean the Air?” http://www.enn.com
August 18, 2004: “Mexican Car Workers Stage Walkout” http://news.bbc.co.uk
July 21, 2004: “Mexico to Aid Bereaved in Juarez” http://news.bbc.co.uk
June 11, 2004: “Urban Firefighters Are Learning to Battle Growing Threat of Wildfires” http://www.enn.com

September 14:

Trends in North American cities:

1. Restructuring of the economic base of urbanization
A little background: In the 1970s: crisis for industrial capitalism – 4X oil prices in 1973; rise in inflation, falling profits, recession; political volatility; money as a commodity decoupled the real economy from the money economy (Enron and WorldCom some of the results of this change); the “free” market and anti-interventionist philosophy hailed; job loss as the profit motive led to off-shore; government deinvestment in city arts/culture (libraries) as tax rates declined for the richest and for corporations; loss of urban populations.
In the 1980s: The modern form of "globalization" began: interconnectedness of social life in modern world. Economic globalization – increasing power of transnational corporations, new international division of labor, global finance. Political globalization – reduced influence of government. Cultural globalization – exchange values, beliefs, etc. Globalizing forces are very powerful, but the local can be important too. A current theory holds that the global – local becoming more important than the intermediate – the nation-state (and thus, we are seeing a "hollowing out of the state").
The current manifestations of this economic restructuring are the Post-Industrial/postmodern city: Service rather than manufacturing; power/status to professional/tech workers; emphasis on R & D (research and development); and concern about impact of tech change

2. Radical restructuring of urban form – edge city, technoburb, suburbs
The US is the world’s first predominantly suburban. In the 1960s: 51% of US urban pop in suburbs. By 1990: ~ 67% of US urban pop in suburbs and ½ of the entire US population.
Suburbanization is associated with: rising disposable income; automobile; resistance to annexation and incorporation; pent-up demand for housing; employment generation in construction; public policies favored new housebuilding over rehabilitation of existing housing; highway construction is valued over mass transit.

Suburbs not just residential; there are also edge cities (for example, surrounding Atlanta). They are characterized by having more jobs than bedrooms. Tyson’s Corner near WA DC is given as an example: still not incorporated; 9th largest concentration of commercial space in the US; largest east coast retail concentration

Exurbanization is beyond the suburbs. Characterized by: single family home preference – lower cost; willingness to commute long distances; policy bias toward exurban; 60% of recent manufacturing investment in US is in the exurbs

Household size has declined from 4.0 (1950) to 2.7 (1970). Therefore, population increases have led to higher housing demands, but smaller families have also added to this demand. There is now greater consumption of housing space, urban land, public resources per capita and per household than even 2 decades ago.

3. Changing social structure of urbanism: new patterns of social fragmentation; segregation; growing gap between rich and poor.
White flight (counterurbanization) has reduced in cities like Detroit (which is 80% minority) being poor and minority and the suburbs being wealthier and white.

Today 35.9 million (2003) 12.5% of population below the poverty line (and 45 M without health insurance). The poverty line is establish for what is the minimum needed to cover food, shelter, clothing, health care, transportation: $9393 for one person and $18,810 for 4). In reality, 2-parent, 2-child family needs $27,005 to $52,114 for a basic family budget.

The dimensions of deprivation/poverty: increased crime; poor health – poor diet, alcohol, poor environments (roaches, molds); poor people don’t live as long; ethnic status – poor of inner cities are predominantly black and Hispanic; more black males in US prisons than attending college full-time; gender - Single moms; and exclusion
(for example, banks – check cashing scam, sub-prime rates and grocery stores – not in the inner city, so even if a family can afford to purchase them, fresh vegetables and other healthy foods aren’t frequently unavailable). So, with concentrations of the poor, inner cities decline.

Homelessness – see page 61: Some of the points made:
•    700,000-2 M homeless in US
•    families w/ children 40%
•    youth under 18 over 25%
•    attributed to increasing poverty (because of eroding employment opportunities and declines in public assistance) and shortage of affordable housing
•    single room occupancy units were torn down in the 1970s and 1980s, so the poor have no place to go
•    only 5-7% of the adult homeless are mental illnesses severe enough that they should be institutionalized
•    homeless have been pushed out via bars on benches to keep people from laying down, bright lights, etc.
•    long-term solution: government commitment to provide permanent, supportive housing to all who need it

Housing: In the U.S., we tend to consider housing a consumer good, rather than a right. Only 1% of our housing stock is government. Prior to 1968 Civil Rights Act, restrictive covenants (based upon race) were allowed. You still see restrictive covenants, but today they are based upon class, not race. Our public housing comes out of the New Deal, depression: Housing Acts of 1937 and 1949.

The initial reasons for building public housing: reduce high levels of unemployment in the 1930s; assist the housing industry; eliminate slums; increase the supply of cheap, decent housing to the poor. Initially, public housing was managed by housing authority (in Lexington, our public housing projects were Bluegrass Aspendale, Charlotte Court). A fundamental reason for the failure of the US public housing initiative was that it did not have widespread political support, being alien to the dominant market philosophy. Local housing authorities received no operating subsidy from fed government; their sole source of income being rental payments. In 1960s, started seeing the sale of public housing to tenants and contracting out management to private firms. In 1970s, public housing construction down and some of the worst demolished. In 1974, Housing and Urban Development Act, Section 8 was passed:
housing allowance program; 15-25% of income for rent, then owner reimbursed rest from government. With Section 8, the poor had some degree of choice of housing unit, overconcentration of low-income tenants in projects was reduced, but there were not enough of them. In 1985, HUD (Housing and Urban Development), officially promoted privatization of public housing. In 1997, Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act: transform public housing to more self-sufficient communities; create lower-density mixed-income communities; demolish worst; sell public housing to tenants; and construct new low-rise developments. Unfortunately, local authorities aren’t required to provide alternative housing for those displaced. The displaced usually move on the fringe of the clearance area – one step ahead of clearance. Nowadays, under the law, after slum clearance, a construction/design company can get subsidized by the government for rebuilding, but actually use 35% of the land for money-making construction – hospitals, luxury housing, etc. The displaced people usually suffer an average uncompensated loss of 20-30% of one year’s income.

Immigration – what the textbook calls the “browning of North America” – the influx of about 1 million people per years, mostly Latin American and Asian. Many initially come via gateway cities: LA, NY, San Francisco, Texas/SW. In Canada (the population has increased significantly since 1950, but still a small population - 31 M), immigration, mostly to Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

4. Rise of the carceral city – gated communities (quasi-govt), shopping malls not in public domain. The term "Uneven development" – inner city versus rich burbs - is also used in this context.

5. Radical change in urban imagery – our images of the city and how these images affect our behavior and lifestyle. We are increasingly seeing a theme-parked reality – carnival, Celebration, etc.

Looking to the future:
Today, in the U.S., 35 M are over 65 years old. In 2032, there’ll be 70 M over 65 years old. African Americans are now moving back to the Southeast, especially the suburbs. White are moving to the south. Influx of Latinos, Asians. Thriving cities in south, not in Midwest. Sprawl is a problem; adopting ecologically sustainable practices is important.

We need to be thinking of ecological, social, and economic sustability when we develop our cities. Some of the ideas that can help include: Third places (page 66 – civic spaces); New Urbanism; and Smart growth – light rail, zoning changes.

Review: (1) What is economic globalization? (2) How is economic globalization related to city change? (3) A/an __ city is a suburb with more jobs than bedrooms. There are several of these surrounding Atlanta. (4) Many people have built homes out beyond the suburbs, say in Garrard county, and commute to Lexington for work. This situation is an example of __. (5) Today, 35.9 million Americans are living below the official poverty line. For the poor, what are three dimensions (ramifications) of their poverty?__ (6) Do you consider housing a consumer good or a human right? Explain your answer. (7) Public housing in the U.S. dates back to the __. (8) Charlotte Court (a public housing project) was demolished. In its place, lower density housing was built. This reconstruction was the result of a 1997 piece of legislation called the ___. (9) What is an example of uneven development?

September 16:

We begin the chapter on cities in Middle America and the Caribbean. There are many islands in the Caribbean, some are quite small and are collectively referred to as the Lesser Antilles. The four greatest islands (Hispaniola [on which lie Haiti and Dominican Republic], Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica) are collectively referred to as the Greater Antilles. Middle America includes Mexico and Central America. The Central American countries are relatively small, with Guatemala at the northern end and Panama at the south.

Students watched a film entitled Americas: Continent on the Move. The film begins with an older woman walking in her fields. The harvest used to be good, but now the fields are barren. She lives in the old silver mining capital, the Mexican state of Zacatecas. All four of her daughters have moved away, to Mexico City, to try to have a better life. The film then cuts to some footage of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. The revolution (led by Zapata), the first major one in this region of the world, was the result of economic discontent and most specifically because of inequities in the distribution of land. After the war, a new constitution was adopted and in the 1930s, President Cardenas did begin redistributing land. Almost 50 million acres were distributed to the peasants. Unfortunately, much of this land was of poor quality and the plots were small. Industrial agriculture, on large plots of land, produced cash crops (fruits and vegetables for the U.S. during the winter). Mexico's economic model, going back to the 1950s was "import substitution." Import substitution means that a country tries to make its own stuff, rather than purchasing from elsewhere. As jobs were created, many migrants headed to Mexico City, in hopes of a better life. Once vibrant villages became ghost towns, places to visit on special occasions and to bury the dead. Back to the woman in Zacatecas, her oldest daughter moved with her husband to Mexico City in 1972. At first, they stayed in a makeshift house. They had no money so her husband walked until he came to a market. He went through the garbage to find food to eat. Finally, they were able to afford a room in a house. The husband got a job in a refinery, then in a factory. He worked very hard. They arrived in Mexico at an opportune time, as oil was discovered in Mexico in the 1970s. It seemed that Mexico was on the road to becoming a developed country. The Mexican government took out huge loans to build up the country. Wages went up, a rising middle class appeared, and the rich prospered as never before. Government expansion translated into education, health care, and running water and electricity for the slums. The family we've been following in the film bought a little plot of land and built their own home. Little by little, services such as sewage connections, water, and electricity, were added. They helped establish community action groups to ask the government for materials so that they could do the work in their community themselves. The woman says that her husband was proud; he had made the right decision to move. As others looked to the success of families like theirs, 1000 migrants per day continued to flow into Mexico City. While jobs did continue to be created, there were not enough jobs. Many immigrants set up small businesses. An underground economy was established, with certain neighborhoods known for certain services/products (bookbinding, shoes, etc.). The increasing population of Mexico City overwhelmed the housing, transportation, and service sectors. Many lived on the fringes. Mexico City was turning into an example of the worst of under-development alongside the worst of over-development. In 1982, the prices of oil plunged. President Portillo apologized for not being able to do more to save the economy. Mexico's growth ground to a halt, the currency was devaluated, the economy crashed, and Mexico was still saddled with an enormous debt. At this point in the film, we meet a construction worker who is leaving his family and village to seek work in Mexico City. By this point, most workers go alone rather than taking their families. He finds that the going rate for construction workers in Mexico City is $60 to $80 per week, lower than he is willing to accept. He says that he may have to go back home empty-handed. We then see a wrestling persona who is suited up in a Superman-type outfit. He goes around helping people and encouraging them to organize to make their lives better. He visits a building, home to 22 families, that is about to collapse. The government told the people to get out, so now they are living in a camp on the street. The government has not come to finish the work of demolition. We go back to our original family and the woman tells us that, in order to make more money, her husband started driving a taxi in 1988. Now the eldest son drives it. One of the increasing problems in Mexico City is urban violence. This family's next door neighbors tried to take over their land, saying they owned it. The husband had the deeds and went to court. After a one year court battle, the husband won. The neighbors were angry and murdered the husband. The woman says that now that her husband, the father of their five children, is gone everything is very hard. Leticia, one of the children, says how sad she is now that her daddy is dead. The eldest son is now the breadwinner, and he thinks that they should perhaps move back to the village. For decades, Mexico City held great promise of a better life, but now migrants have to look elsewhere. The cities along the border with the US are the fastest growing in Mexico. One of the fastest growing of these border cities is Tijuana. In 1980, maquiladoras began to appear in Tijuana. Maquiladoras are assembly plants; the pieces are shipped in and after assembly are shipped back out. The only tax is on the value added by the Mexicans' labor. One young woman from the Mexican state of Sinaloa (a state that produces food for export to the US) is excited about the opportunities in Tijuana. She feels that she will get to move up the ladder. Seventy percent of maquiladora workers are single, young women. They are paid lower wages than men are. The work is often hazardous, union organizing is very difficult, and the situation exploitive. The pay is, in some cases, as low as 55 cents per hour. Many live in cardboard houses. Then we meet another woman. She is 32 years old and worked in a maquiladora for five years. She said that she was considered too old to work and to get rid of her, she was transferred to work that injured her eyes, then transferred again to work with chemicals that caused internal damage, and then given the late shift. Finally, she gave up. The factory managers won. We see a woman walking up a dirt street and dumping a big bucket of dirty water on the side of the road. The voice-over says that it is sad to see families bring their children. When they have to go back home, with empty pockets, their relatives ask, "but aren't the streets paved with gold?" No, the streets are definitely not paved with gold, otherwise the family would not have failed to prosper. The 32 year old woman says that some become so frustrated that they ruin their lives with bad habits. Others have to resign themselves to living in poverty. The maquiladoras are important for Mexico, however, as they are the second biggest source of foreign exchange. We then hear about the new trade agreement, NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement). A government official says that industries will come to middle-sized cities and so people will move to those cities for opportunities. In the state of Zacatecas, industrial parks are replacing plows and tractors. The Mexican Constitution was changed in 1992 (Article 27, which established the land redistribution process [the outcome of the Mexican Revolution led by Zapata[) to do away with the land redistribution. We see the people being told that this "reform" will bring them liberty and justice. The small land owner can now sell or rent his land. More investment will come. The peasants will benefit. The peasants disagree. They believe (this film was made in 1993) that the change in the Constitution will result in them being forced to sell their land to large landowners. The peasants will go back to being slaves, or worse. They feed the country but they are forgotten. We see a demonstration of peasants who are angry. They support the "liberty and justice" of Zapata and Cardenas. The government then argues that NAFTA will create better markets for their agricultural exports. One says that perhaps 60 million Mexicans live beyond the poverty line. They don't really care about being in the developed world. They just want to have decent lives. In the last segment of the film, the woman who we met early in the film goes back to visit her mother and village. She wants to move her family back. She says that her dream for the future is to come back to Zacatecas to live, to have her children marry here, and for them not to be spread all over the place. For now, she has to get back on the bus to Mexico City. The last line of the film is "The country's real strength is in its people."

Review: This film provides context for the process of urbanization in Mexico. In 1910, the Mexican Revolution was the result of economic discontent, the most specific issue being __. After the revolution, almost 50 million acres were redistributed. Still, industrial agriculture took its toll and many of the peasants were forced to seek better wages in the cities. We learned about the central Mexican state of __, from which many migrants moved south into Mexico City. In the 1970s, what was the experience of many in Mexico City? Why? __ In the 1980s, the dynamic had changed. What did migrants find in Mexico City at that time? Why?___ By the early 1990s, the dynamic had again changed. By this point, many were migrating to cities in northern Mexico. We saw one of these cities; it is __, just south of the U.S. border. Here, one finds many __, or assembly plants. Why are those employed in these assembly plants primarily single, young women? __ Beginning in the mid-1990s (after this film was made), NAFTA would again cause significant urban changes in Mexico. But, in 1993, what did the Mexican government officials think would happen?__ What did the peasants think would happen?__

September 21:

In the film the other day, we learned about Mexico City. It lies in the Valley of Mexico. Two ancient cities of importance are/were also there.

Teotihuacan
•    30 miles northeast of Mexico City
•    first true urban center in Middle America .. at one time, it was the largest city in the Americas, with over 100,000 people
•    site of famous pre-Columbian ruins, including the Pyramid of the Sun (216’ high) with terraced sides/stairs leading to summit; Pyramid of the Moon (150’ high); and Temple of Quetzalcoatl
•    Flourished 4-7th C, as center of Teotihuacan civilization
•    Was used by Aztecs and overrun by Cortes
•    700 AD it ceased to be occupied, probably because of a fire that burned almost the entire city

Tenochtitlan
•    City before Mexico City
•    Capital of Aztec empire
•    Founded 1325 in marshes of Lake Texcoco
•    Occupied by Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes in 1519 but evacuated with heavy losses 1520; destroyed by Spaniards in 1521 and subsequently rebuilt

Mexico City
•    8000’ above sea level
•    pop in 1950 was 3 M; today it’s 18-25 M
•    subsidence has occurred as a result of overdrawing groundwater
•    shantytowns on hillsides – active volcano nearby; the dynamics for a landslide are in place
•    many use hoses for water, stolen electricity, half-built houses, etc. … desperate housing shortage
•    sometimes, police in riot gear storm the shantytowns and used ropes, hammers to destroy a few dozen homes
•    Trying to preserve the city’s limited green spaces
•    According to 2000 demographic study, over 60% of Mexico City’s inhabitants live in these dense, anarchic settlements that lack basic services such as roads, water, electricity
•    3.5 M vehicles, use over 10 M gallons of fuel per day  ..
•    on Sept 20, 2002, 350,000 vehicles were ordered off the road because of air pollution
•    even though lead prohibited, lead 40% over permissible levels (high enough to potentially damage deve of ½ the children)
•    35,000 industries
•    11,000 tons of pollutants emitted to air each day, inc 1000 tons/day of fecal dust

Maquiladora (assembly plants) cities
•    each is paired with a U.S. border city (Tijuana-San Diego, Ciudad Juarez-El Paso, etc.)
•    initially trade and tourist centers
•    after 1965, maquiladoras (when U.S./Mexico created the Border Industrialization Program)
•    1965 – a few maquiladoras with about 3000 employees
•    1990 – 2042 with 486,000 employees
•    now – over 4000 plants, with over 1 million employees
•    miserable wages – GM workers in US = $200/day; in Mexico = $10/day
•    women workers experience discrimination and harassment. Forced pregnancy testing and firing of pregnant workers are still common. Lack of childcare facilities, excessive hours of work and forced overtime deny women the ability to care for their children. Late work shifts and a lack of transportation expose them to possible violence. Since 1993, over 300 women have been murdered in Ciudad Juarez … a compensation fund of $2.2 million total will help the victims’ families. Still, jobs are being lost as plants move to lower wage countries
Corporations pay minimal tax, so schools in shambles, hospital crumbling, trash collection slapdash, sewage lines collapsed, water must be trucked in, inadequate roads. Corporations dump hazardous waste – lower cost of doing business.

Students then spent a few minutes looking for the differences between the Caribbean and Middle American cities: more oriented to tourism, less rapid growth are two of the differences

Review: (1) Northeast of Mexico City are the ruins of the first urban center in Middle America. It is the city of __. (2) The Aztec city of __ was founded in 1325 in the Valley of Mexico. It was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 and rebuilt as Mexico City. (3) Mexico City is reported to have the worst air quality of any megacity in the world. Why is air pollution such a problem in Mexico City? (4) If you were a planner in Mexico City, with some real authority to make changes, what would you do to improve the quality of life in the city? (5) Along the U.S./Mexican border are a series of paired cities. On the Mexican side are assembly plants, called __. Why has the number of these plants explored over the past 10 years? What changes are needed to improve the quality of life for residents in these cities?

September 23:

The cities of the Caribbean: A little background: the climate of all Caribbean islands is tropical (either tropical rainforest or tropical savanna). The Caribbean islands' history is different from that of Middle America: many of these islands had colonial masters other than the Spanish. Some (including Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. Commonwealth) are still territories. Indigenous people were the Arawaks, Caribs, and others. Most were killed or died soon after European conquest.

The Europeans established plantations on the islands, bringing in indentured labor from Europe, Africans as slaves, and indentured labor from Asia.

The laborers worked on sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations.

For themselves, the laborers created gardens on the edges of the plantations. After emancipation of the slaves in the 1800s, people entered long period of underemployment, extremely low wages, political oppression, and increasing poverty.

Lots of migration. Remittances were sent back home to support those still at home. After WWII, development of light manufacturing, offshore banking, and tourism began. Many still worked on the plantations, growing bananas and sugar, but many migrated to the Caribbean cities.

The people are underemployed. Much of the wealth generated goes to Europe and North America – tourist industry, offshore banking. As the textbook says, “… the vast majority of island people subsidize the tourism economy with their low wages.”

The islands, rather than working together, tend to still be aligned with a North American or European country – and compete against one another for tourism dollars. (This is an example of mercantilism.)

Characteristics of Caribbean cities:
•    Old colonial administrative/trade centers
•    Coastal – arranged along a grid of streets at harbor side
•    Not high-rise – tall buildings are mostly resort hotels
•    True shantytowns are not prominent in Caribbean cities
•    Slowing rates of urbanization
•    Spreading of urban amenities to the countryside
•    Improvement in indicators of well-being
•    Many are well-educated and many are involved in civic activities

Mirrors of the heart
•    Santo Domingo, capital of Dominican Republic
•    Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti

Students watched "Mirrors of the Heart" which is part of the Americas video series. The film begins in Santo Domingo, on the dock. Later on in the film, we see fairly narrow streets with cars but also with horses pulling loads. There are palm trees that line the highway leading out of the city. The homes are tidy, and modest in size. The film begins with a little history. Europeans came to the Caribbean islands five centuries ago. The indigenous people died soon thereafter. Africans were imported as slaves. They spoke different languages and had different cultures, but when they arrived on Hispaniola they lost all identity. They were just slaves. Today, the people of Dominican Republic come in many shades. The mulatto has a black/white ancestry, but there is a nearly complete denial of blackness. Blacks are treated badly. One distinguished looking black man said that others wouldn't accept it when he described himself as black. Very dark people say they are dark Indian and light mulattos may say they are white or maybe light Indian. At any rate, to have light skin is to "improve the race." Carlos, who we meet in the film, said that he was treated as a black in the U.S.; that the U.S. is very racist. Next door is the Dominican Republic's much disliked neighbor, Haiti. The poverty is obvious in Port-au-Prince, although it is a colorful city with lots of action. A Haitian says that most Haitians are proud of their African heritage. In the 1700s, Haiti was the richest colony in the Caribbean. It was an economy built on slave labor. In 1791, the voodoo priest Bookman called for the slave to rise up against their oppressors. They did and after a protracted conflict, Haiti won its independence from France. According to Carlos, in 1822 Haiti invaded the Dominican Republic. He sees this invasion as the genesis of the Dominicans hatred of the Haitians. We then learn that not only light skin but straight hair ("good" hair) is a symbol of being developed. The people want to look like the people in North America and Europe. In the Dominican Republic, traditionally everything Spanish has been glorified. The ideal was "purity of blood" - to be Spanish, white, and a Catholic. We then meet a Spanish woman whose family has inter-married to maintain their purity of blood. She, however, broke with tradition and married a black man. Her father disapproved. His mother approved. The husband is a physician and so he was helpful when the father got sick. By the time the father died, he no longer referred to the daughter's husband as "the black man" but as Enrico, my daughter's husband. We go back to Haiti and learn that 1 million Haitians have migrated to the Dominican Republic to cut sugarcane. We see a celebration and learn that, during slavery, African culture was forbidden. Only during Easter could they disguise African practices as Christian ones. We go back to the white wife/black husband with the family. They have 3 adorable children. Both the husband and wife state, at different times, that racial barriers must be overcome. The color of one's skin is not what matters.

Havana, Cuba
•    Old city – after the Spanish-American War (1898), Americans thought of Cuba as an extension of the U.S.
•    Visited for gambling, music, clubs – the night life. Came back with Cuban cigars
•    That changed in 1959, after Castro came to power. The U.S. initially thought that Castro was fine. The Beatniks emulated him. But then Castro began to implement his plans for redistributing wealth. As he began the process of pulling land into the public domain, the U.S. (because of U.S. business interests in Cuba) broke off relations. Castro turned to the U.S.S.R. The U.S. tried to get him out of power. Two critical events stand out: Bay of Pigs (1961) and Cuban Missile Crisis (1963).
•    In Havana, Castro tried to reduce the disparity between rich and poor. He tried to control conspicuous consumption and limited residential construction.
•    The elite left. As others moved into Havana, these beautiful old mansions were partitioned into multiple living units.
•    The disparity in wealth did decline. The average quality of life improved. Literacy rates rose, life expectancy increased, infant mortality declined. Even now, after very hard economic times after the collapse of the USSR, Cuba is higher than most Latin American countries on the UN HDI (Human Development Index) scale.
•    After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., in Cuba, as people lost their jobs they turned to the informal sector, foreign investment was encouraged. Tourism – and so repair of Havana became important. Lack of petroleum translated into bikes becoming the common mode of transportation.
•    The textbook says that Havana is a kind of living museum. The old cars, the historic buildings (early colonial, baroque, art nouveau, neoclassical, art deco). In 1982, UNESCO named Havana’s old city a world heritage site
•    On the downside, racism seems to be on the rise as foreign capitalists refuse to hire dark-skinned Cubans. Sex tourism is, of course, exploitive of young women and men who are involved.

Key to test #1: (1) d (2) b (3) e (4) d (5) e (6) a (7) b (8) e (9) a (10) d (11) b (12) a (13) c (14) a (15) b (16) c (17) a (18) ha (19) td (20) ta (21) za (22) mc (23) ma (24) na (25) sd (26) ce (27) eb (28) ua (29) lb (30) db (31) ja (32) zb (33) sg (34) sb (35) sh (36) ud (37) ub (38) ka (39) pa (40) cd (41) mb (42) tb (43) wa (44) md (45) da (46) wb (47) te (48) ga (49) se or kb (50) bc or ea

Begin new material for Test #2.

September 30: Chapter 4: Cities of South America

281 M live in cities
2.1% urban growth rate; 33 years the pop of the cities will likely double; already have 33 cities with more than 1 million people.

Page 128 shows 3 megacities. Half of the top 20 cities are in Brazil (makes sense, Brazil’s pop = 175 M; South America’s pop = 357 M – the textbook says 351 M).

The cities of South America are distinctive, with shared characteristics:
•    Common colonial experience with Iberian urban planning
•    Widespread informal sector employment
•    Economic recession … or boom/bust

The first grouping of cities are:
•    Andean America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia)
•    Southern cone (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay)
•    Portuguese America (Brazil)

Brazil:
•    Brazil is a very inequitable country. An elite control most of the wealth and land.
•    As farming modernized, loss of rural work.
•    Now 12 million landless peasants. Many move to the cities, hoping for better opportunities.
•    Unfortunately, the job supply in the cities has been declining at 1% per year.
•    In the cities, new arrivals live in slums called favelas (fah-VAY-lahs). The largest of these is Favela da Rocinha, with over 300,000 inhabitants.
•    Unemployment leads to increased crime
Brazil’s cities are exceptionally dangerous places
In the 1990s, mobs of as many as 3000 from slums would periodically fall like an avalanche on neighborhoods and beaches, stealing everything.
The police (many of whom are corrupt anyway) could do nothing to quell the violence. The army came in to control the gang violence.
A few days ago (September, 2004), police in Sao Paulo were arrested for murder homeless. Clubbing them to death as they slept.

•    In the prisons, escape attempts, rebellions, hostage taking are commonplace
•    A newspaper report likened prison conditions to “Dante’s inferno, life in a state of permanent torture.”
•    In the 1995 prison census, there were about 150,000 inmates in facilities built for 65,000.
•    Prisoners sometimes sleep in shifts.
•    Many are incarcerated beyond their terms (e.g., a person may serve 15 years for stealing a bicycle)
•    On the other hand, there are 250,000 outstanding warrants
•    In February of 2001, there was a major prison riot involving 10,000 prisoners and 8,000 visitors in prisons in Sao Paulo state. At least 15 died.

•    Back in the city,
•    10s of 1000s of street children … many of them girls who begin working as prostitutes as early as age seven
•    in Brazil, these children are known as moleques (ragamuffins, scamps, rascals)
•    Most people look at them as public pests who should be forcibly removed from the urban landscape
•    Many stiff glue or inhale paint thinner for a cheap high
•    Amnesty International has documented escalating numbers of violations against these children … including beatings, torture, disappearances, killings by security forces (the police blame the kids for soaring crime rates)
•    They are often not even considered to be human. Some see killing them as stepping on a cockroach – social cleansing.

Sao Paulo:
Portuguese Jesuits founded Sao Paulo in 1554.
Became a city 300 years ago (in 1711).
It experienced slow growth for a long time.
In 1888, slavery was abolished in Brazil and many blacks migrated to Sao Paulo.
Italians also migrated to Sao Paulo. The Italian area, Bixiga, used to be poor but is now prosperous.
Japanese came after WWII and many settled in an area called Liberdade. The largest community of Japanese outside Japan is in Sao Paulo.
Then poor immigrants came from worn out in northeastern Brazil.
(I gave you a 1950 population of 5 million, but I don't think that's correct; so please disregard.)
In 1960, the population was 13 million.
Today, the population is at least 16.8 million.

We watched a short film in the Power of Place series. Since 1980, no region has urbanized as rapidly as South America. This film looks at Sao Paulo. The downtown, with skyscrapers and upscale businesses, looks like those you'd encounter in a rich country. On the outskirts, however, are shanties. Most build their own homes. Many of the residents came from northern Brazil. We meet a family who decided to build on unclaimed land. They began building 11 years ago. After finishing part of it, they rented out rooms and began building on top. Sao Pualo is a megacity with a population over 20 million. It is a city of immigrants. The Portuguese came in the 16th century, but real growth did not occur until the 19th century. Between 1880 and 1950, over 5 million Italians immigrated to Sao Paulo. Most settled in Bixiga, which used to be one of the poorest areas in the city. Now it is prosperous, but still mainly Italian. Blacks live in Bixiga too, having come after the end of slavery in Brazil. The black community has established samba schools (such as Vai Vai). After WWII, many Japanese migrated to Sao Paulo. They came to an area called Liberdade. Today, the young Brazilian-Japanese feel more Brazilian, but the older ones still feel a tie to Japan. Going back to the self-construction on the edges of the city, we learn that the city is 100 kilometers from end to end. Many of the houses are built on steep, unstable land. In one squatter community, the houses were first cardboard, then some services became available. But without official title to the land, the families remain squatters. They want to get title and they want a school, health clinic, and other services. Migration has now tapered off, but Sao Paulo's population continues to rise because of the birth rates of residents.

Cubatao  -- SE of Sao Paulo
•    From 1960s, people complained of headaches and nausea form belching factory smokestacks
•    1984 – leak in gasoline pipelines that ran through one of the poorest squatter settlements – smell went unnoticed b/c of omnipresent stench of industrial pollutants in the valley
•    gas ignited and 200 people were incinerated in resulting explosion/fire
•    1985 – a break in ammonia pipeline forced evacuation of 6,000 people and hospitalization of 65
•    industry downplayed, people mobilized
•    the events in Cubatao, more than the destruction of rain forest, are credited with invigorating the envr movement in Brazil

Curitiba
•    Despite rapidly growing population, rising from 300,000 in 1950 to 2.3 million in 1990, Curitiba has greatly improved its urban environment with a series of innovative, relatively low-cost transportation, land use and waste disposal measures.
•    The city government promotes strong sense of public participation and emphasized low-cost programs. People are encouraged to build their own houses, with city government loans and assistance from city architects, to offset large municipal outlays on housing projects. Old public buses have been converted into mobile schools that tour low-income neighborhoods
•    A new public transportation system: bus system using exclusive bus lanes. System carries 1.3 million passengers per day and has reduced congestion, air pollution (a typical Curitiba private vehicle now uses 30% per gas than the average for 8 comparable Brazilian cities). Also one of the lowest vehicle accident rates in the country, and residents have a very low average transportation expenditure
•    Land use policy has aimed to improve urban conditions, introducing pedestrian-only areas and bike roads, and concentrates on redeveloping existing sites rather than expanding the urban area, is also expanding parks and other green spaces
•    Faced with a growing garbage problem, a recycling program was introduced in 1989. The participation rate is over 70%.
•    Help for the favelas has included providing bus tickets, food and school notebooks in exchange for the residents bringing their garbage to a accessible roadside pickup point. The result has been less litter, improved nutition, and overall improvement in quality of life.
•    As a result, Curitiba is held up as a model of how to deal with urban problems in the face of serious economic constraints.
•    Page 165 … Bill McKibben (The End of Nature)

Homework: For Tuesday, find out what's special about Porto Alegre, Brazil.

October 5:
Porto Alegre – Seaport city, capital of Rio Grande do Sul state, S. Brazil, on inlet at north end of Lagoa dos Patos; municipal population (1989) 1.3 million; most important Brazilian commercial center south of Sao Paulo; exports, rice, tobacco, grapes, meat, and hides; produces leather, lard, textiles, chemicals, beer, metal goods; shipyards, meatpacking plants; Federal University (1934), Catholic University (1948). Founded c. 1742 by immigrants from the Azores; became capital of state 1807; in 19th century received considerable German and Italiam immigrant populations. From Amnesty International: 2003 saw unequivocal signs that a global justice movement has emerged to respond transnationally to worldwide injustice. The millions of global citizens who gathered at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, who simultaneously took to the streets in solidarity with the Iraqi people or who spoke out through the Internet against the unfairness of global trade rules are all part of a diverse but universal clamour for justice, whether in the legal, economic or social sphere. The era of globalization may present us with many threats, but it also offers unprecedented opportunities to globalize the struggle for justice in all its forms. If we explore their universal reach, expansive scope and transformative potential, human rights can be a powerful driving force behind the global agenda for change.

Issues:
•    Primate city (in Brazil, two cities: Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) attracts foreign investment, innovations, infrastructure subsidies, etc. – the smaller cities tend to stagnate
•    Huge gap between the rich and the poor. About 40% of urbanites live in conditions of absolute poverty. Many live in dangerous buildings with poor sanitation and lack of title to the land
•    SAPs have resulted in restraints that have been urban management even more difficult. The lack of adequate infrastructure (lack of garbage pickup, inadequate public transportation and roads, over-worked sewer systems) has resulted in increased air, water, land pollution
•    Great social injustice, however, many of the marginalized people are involving themselves in social movements to redress the problems

Groups studied the historical geography of South American cities. Following are points to remember:
(1) Pre-Columbian Urbanism (before Columbus)
Urban settlements began in the Andes over a 4,000 year period, finally becoming an elaborate network of cities linked by roads (the empire of the Incas). Concerns over water, fertility, and the supernatural are apparent in the cities. Cities were pilgrimage sites, residences for the political and religious elite, and places from which society was managed - they weren't really market centers or the places where ordinary people lived. The most famous cities are Cuzco and Machu Picchu.
We used to think that there wasn't sophisticated city-building in the Amazon prior to Columbus. It now appears that there were, in fact, complex societies that were sedentary. Here, one finds traces of mound builders and of ring villages.
(2) Colonial Cities (after Columbus)
The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided South America into a Portuguese realm and a Spanish realm. These boundaries changed somewhat, but account for Brazil being colonized by the Portuguese and the rest of the continent by the Spanish.
The Spanish destroyed the Incan Empire and rebuilt on some of the same sites. In addition to upland towns, the Spanish also built coastal towns. These towns were built on a grid, around a central plaza. The Roman Catholic cathedral, the town hall, governor's palace, and a commercial arcade were around the plaza. The Spanish lived near the center of the town, while the indigenous people lived on the periphery.
The Portuguese towns were smaller and less well-planned than those of the Spanish. Almost all of the towns established prior to 1600 were coastal. Because of the slaves who worked the sugarcane plantations, northeast Brazil flourished, with the city of Salvador becoming the second largest Portuguese city in the world. Because the defense needs, towns were generally sited on hilly land.
(3) Neocolonial Urbanization (after the country's became independent of Spain and Portugal)
By 1830, most of the countries of South America were independent. Still, the same old elites controlled things and trade with North America and Europe continued as before. Until the mid-1800s, the cities remained small. Cities began to grow as transportation links were improved, with migration from rural areas, commercial enterprises developed, and urban infrastructure (sewer lines, water supply system, etc) was built. Even before 1900, urban housing, transportation, sanitation, and health problems were issues. South American cities drew on the talents of European architects, engineers, and planners to upgrade their cities.

In the 20th century,
•    Cities got on the modernization track
•    The depression of the 1930s derailed this process, leading to declining production, increased unemployment, and rising poverty.
•    1950s: import substitution (see page 135-136 for description) – the industry was targeted for the big cities
•    industrialization of agriculture and lack of investment in the rural sector led thousands to migrant to the cities. As a result, city populations exploded.
•    The big cities were initially able to handle the influx of migrants, but soon were unable to keep up with the demand for jobs, housing, and health care. The smaller cities fared even less well.
•    To address the problems, the “growth pole” model was adopted. For example, many of the cities in the Amazon were established to bring jobs/industry to other parts of Brazil. This worked in terms of jobs, but was/is devastating re: ecology.
•    By mid-1970s, many of the growth poles were seen as basically enclaves of foreign capital. In other words, the money left the cities.
•    People continued to migrant to the biggest cities. Providing housing, clean water, schooling, etc. began even more difficult as wealth left the countries. The unskilled job had few options and the gap between rich and poor grew.
•    At the same time, the national governments continued to borrow money to finance industrialization and infrastructure.
•    Early 1980s: global recession led to problems paying on debt. This is when the SAPs were implemented. This phenomenon is called the debt crisis.
•    Even in the 1990s, very hard economic times debilitated the countries and their cities. Even so, urban areas have continued to grow. Meanwhile (continuing from the 1980s), factories have closed, public workers have lost their jobs, social programs for the poor have been slashed. Birth weights have dropped, hunger has risen, child abandonment has increased, as has petty crime, domestic violence, and youth delinquency. As I mentioned last time, South American cities can be very dangerous places. For example, Medellin (the “murder capital of the world”) is very dangerous because of drug trafficking combined with a breakdown of government authority.
•    The result has been urban growth without economic growth, which translates into unprecedented urban poverty.
•    Today, over half of South America’s poor live in urban centers.
•    For the future, jobs (nearly half of urbanites currently work in the informal sector) are housing (living conditions in squatter settlements has declined since the 1980s overall) are critical needs. Some of the city centers are in serious decline as fear of crime, heavy traffic, and decreasing industrial activity shifts people and their work to peripheral areas. Environmental/public health issues related to urban sewage, clean water, air pollution from traffic, and so on are serious problems, particularly for the poor.

October 7:

European cities: We studied several maps of Europe. Notes to remember from the maps:
High densities both in rural and in urban areas produce some very high densities in Europe, e.g., Netherlands has 1,018 people per square mile and Belgium has 872.
Italy has a declining population and is expected to see a 5% population dorp by 2025, unless the government allows more immigrants.
Europe is the third largest population cluster in the world - the population is 582 million. The land area is 2.2 million square miles. In comparison, the U.S. has 293 million living on 3.7 million square miles. Overall, Europe is 4 times as densely populated as the U.S.
Some of the coastal pollution problems are the result of rural practices, but much of the pollution comes from urban, industrialized areas. The North Sea is seriously degraded by PCBs and other by-products of industries along the Rhine River. The Mediterranean is polluted with urban sewage and other pollutants.
The European Union (EU) is a Supranational organization, meaning that members must give up some of their national sovereignty to belong. The EU increases the collective power of Europe, however, so countries do want to join. Recently, the EU just admitted 10 new countries. These countries are in eastern Europe, and were part of the old Soviet bloc. A few European countries have opted to not join: Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland.
Many Guest Workers come to Europe: from Turkey (2 million in the 1990s, mostly to Germany); from North Africa (2 million in the 1990s from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia); and from the former Soviet bloc countries (2.4 million in the 1990s, with almost 2/3 to Germany). With this influx of dark-skinned and poor people, Europe is seeing a rise in Neo-Nazi and other intolerant groups.
The Europeans are known for their spirited civic life. They care about and discuss politics. I showed a transparency of little Europe caught between the military build-ups in North America and the former Soviet bloc countries. It is overwhelming.

For a little historical context, when people talk about "western" civilization - they are referring to Europe's intellectual traditions. That tradition begins with the ancient Greeks. They established city-states and intercity leagues. Their peak was in the 4th century BC. Accomplishments included: architecture, art, literature, education and have a continuing influence on government and civil society. The Greeks were conquered by the Romans in 146 BC. By the way, UK's Theater students are currently doing a play called "The Women of Troy." It is a totally depressing play, but well-acted - and it has a powerful message that is echoing from 3000+ years ago. Go, if you have the chance. Imperial Rome was at its mightiest in the 2nd century AD. At that time, the empire included Britain to the Black Sea and south to Egypt and the Persian Gulf. Never has a larger area been unified in Europe than under the Romans. The accomplishments included: a much more sophisticated economic framework (rather than subsistence crops and trading), distant markets, specialization. The Romans are remembered for engineering, political/military organization, effective administration, and long-term stability. Even with their long-term stability, the Roman empire weakened and eventually fell, in the 5th century AD. The reasons include: environmental, internal fragmentation, government corruption, and inability to defend itself against attacks of tribes from north and central Europe. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, feudal fragmentation (the Dark and Middle Ages) was in place for 1000 years (about 500 to 1450). The Arab-Berber Moors conquered parts of the Iberian peninsula, and beautiful buildings from that period still stand in some places. The Ottoman Turks extended their Islamic empire into parts of Europe. Then, about 1450 AD, a rebirth of Greek and Roman culture occurred; this is known as the Renaissance.

We watched a film entitled The Western Tradition: The Rise of the Trading Cities. In 843, Charlemagne divided a large part of Europe between his three sons. One got what is today France, another Germany, and the third (the oldest), a place named Lotharingia (after his name). It stretched from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. It didn't last long but this region became the spinal cord of Europe's economy. During the Middle Ages, the low countries (of northern Europe) were linked to Italy. European commerce flourished in a number of cities, but the real wealth was at the gateway: Venice. In the 16th century, Venice declined in importance as the Turks and the Portuguese gained in influence. The gateway city became Bruges, on the North Sea. Its harbor silted in and Antwerp became important. Spices, herring, grain, and many other goods came through its port. It too declined and Amsterdam became the important port of entry. Between the 12th and 16th centuries, the wealth was in the city-states, not with the princes. The princes made war, while the cities made profits. In 14th century Venice, money changers, merchants, bankers, and others in finance were in one area. They could transfer money by simple bookkeeping. Overdrafts became possible. Something like a stock exchange was created. At the time, London was an unsophisticated, backward city. Italian traders got together and built an arcade for trade. In the 16th and 17th century, as religious wars were being fought, the cities were places of tolerance. Tolerance facilitiated free trade - and making money. In 17th century Amsterdam, money-making was the order of the day. Widows and orphans would be put in alms houses and set to spinning wool for trade. It was said that even the cats were organized to catch the mice - and keep the cities clean. Joint companies, such as the East India Company, became to spring up. It was they who invented the idea of dividing profits among stockholders. In 1610, the Bank of Amsterdam was the first public bank; it was very successful. In these cities, the first priority was making money and the second was freedom (meaning the ability to go about one's own business). These trading cities, places of tolerance, were also noted for their cleanliness. Another way to make money is to bring in visitors, and visitors want to visit clean cities. In Rome, most of the people there were visitors. At the Jesuit College, 27 languages were spoken. In fact, 17th century Rome was probably more open and broadminded than any place except Amsterdam. It is interesting to compare Rome and Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, everything was orderly but not really fancy; the emphasis was on making money. In Rome, in the 1600s, the Baroque style had taken hold, so Rome was much more glitzy and flowery than Amsterdam. We then heard a little about some of the famous people of the period - men like Copernicus, Keppler, Galileo, Newton, and Descartes - who, while religious, bucked the religious teachings of the day. This segment served to emphasize that, in Europe's cities during this period, tolerance ruled.

Review: (1) Natural growth has dramatically declined in Europe. Some of the resulting decline is offset by immigration. Without more lenient immigration policies, the southern European country of _ will see a 5% decline in its population by 2025. (2) How do the size and population of North America and Europe compare? _ (3) What is one of the striking ecological problems caused primarily by activities in Europe’s urban areas? _ (4) How would you say that guest workers affect European cities? List one impact: _ (5) I showed you a transparency that probably helps explain what Europeans are much more attuned to issues, particularly political ones, than we are in the U.S. What did the transparency show?_ (6) Centuries ago, Lotharingia was located between Germany and France. The name/place per se disappeared, but the importance of the area remained. How did this area contribute to European city building in the Middle Ages?_ (7) How did European countries – and their cities – become wealthy from the 16th to the 19th centuries? Be specific. _

October 12:

First, we watched a film entitled "Human Geography: Berlin." Berlin was the capital of Prussia, then the capital of the Nazi regime. At the beginning of the 21st century, it is the capital of a united Germany as it was in the beginning of the 20th century. After WWI, Berlin was a glitzy place, with an exciting night life, intellectuals, music, and dance. Then Hitler occupied the city. He had grandiose ideas, with plans to tear down and rebuild large areas of the city. With WWII came destruction. After the war, the British, French, and U.S. occupied western Berlin, and the Soviets occupied eastern Berlin. In 1961, East Germany erected the Berlin Wall. One East Berliner said that the years on the other side of the wall were relatively good; that it was not true that every moment was depressing. Besides, the wall was full of holes - TV news, the theater, books and so on. Oppositional politics, when various groups of people came to the conclusion that they no longer wanted to live as they were, caused the wall to be brought down. An ex-mayor of West Berlin, Mr. Momper (from 1989 to 1991) said that they were expecting a "storm" when the wall gates opened. There were enormous queues, as people waited to get passports. The message behind the fall of the Berlin Wall echoed around the world, and influenced the collapse of the USSR. Initially, it was very strange for both the West Berliners and the East, but many went to the other side's pubs to check each other out. The atmosphere was friendly. But, the people's different histories presented challenges. On the east, people tended to exhibit loyalty, to barter, and to help each other. On the west, status and looking out for oneself dominated. Those from the east were sometimes viewed as lazy and stupid, while those from the west were labeled as snotty and self-serving. Traffic got worse, jobs went down, and cultural projects were cut back (so that the money could be spent in the east). But today, for most of the younger crowd, the cultural differences are of little importance. Unfortunately, Berlin is also seeing some unpleasant reminders of the past, the Neo-Nazis. There are attacks daily. By the 1980s, a well-established Turkish community was a particular target for racists. Turks heard "foreigner, get out." These racists blame higher unemployment on the Turks. Some even say that Berlin was better before the wall fell. Berlin has recently replaced Bonn as the capital. Some fear that it will become marginal to the powerful, but the city plays a pivotal role - the most westerly city in the east and the most easterly city in the west.

Cities of Europe: October 12 Review(1) The towns of ancient Greeks shared some commonalities. For example, they had a/an _, where temples, municipal buildings, and storehouses were located. Below this high city was the _, the open marketplace. (2) How was feudalism connected to urban development? _ (3) Between 1347 and 1351, the _ swept through unhygienic European cities, killing a large proportion of the population.(4) The rise of the nation-state occurred during what period? _ (5) The Industrial Revolution began in the mid 1700s in _. (6) After WWII, western European cities were rebuilt, thanks to the U.S.’s _, which funded city rebuilding. (7) In the 1950s and 1960s, cities grew with rural-urban migration. Immigrants from outside Europe also added to the cities’ growth. For example, over 50% of the Dutch city of _ population is from Indonesia, Suriname, and elsewhere. (8) Cities have been negatively impacted by counterurbanization, as well as by _, the relative decline in industrial employment and a shift to service employment. (9) Is Portugal part of Europe’s core or periphery?_ (10) Offices for the European Union are in _, Belgium; Luxembourg; and Strasbourg, Germany. (11) _ is the largest port in the world. (12) WWII damage to east European cities was generally more extensive than the damage to west European cities, yet these cities were not rebuilt to the same extent. Why not? _ (13) In the Soviet bloc countries, central decisions were made about where particular industries would be located. People flowed into the cities for jobs and, in fact, there were more jobs than housing units. This phenomenon is called _. (14) The individual barrier between the democratic western European countries and the communist eastern European countries was called the _. (15) Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Germany has reunited. Two countries have fragmented into two or more countries. Name one of the two: _  (16) During the Soviet period, most public buildings had a/an _ on them. These have been removed. (17) Americans have particular ideas about the way that cities look. When we visit European cities, we are often surprised by the relative absence of _. (18) Western Europeans tend to stay put; they move much less frequently than Americans. In the U.S., single family homes are the ideal. In Europe, what is the common housing arrangement? _ (19) In the communist countries, housing was considered a right, not a commodity. Yet, the people disliked much of the housing provided. Why? _ (20) Greenbelts, now found in many cities, began to be created in 1904. The first city to create a greenbelt was _. (21) The socialist cities had central squares for political gatherings. How were these squares often created? _ (22) After the fall of communism, some changes occurred in eastern European cities. What is one of those notable changes? _ (23) _ is the preeminent metro area in Europe. Its nickname is _, because of the deadly pollution that used to hang over the city. These noxious effects were most appalling during the height of the Industrial Revolution, in a destitute area called _. (24) The second largest city in Europe, _ has evolved into a major center for modern industry and finance. The original city was built on an island in the _ River. (25) In Spain, one finds Barcelona. This city is the regional capital of _.  (26) Oslo, the capital of Norway, used to be plagued by fires. Why?_ (27) After WWII, the city of _ was divided into a communist part and a democratic part. In 1961, a wall was built to stop the flow of people across the border. This wall was torn down in what year? _ (28) The city of _ became the capital of Wallachia in 1659 and is today the capital of Romania. The country’s ruthless leader called for systemalization. Why did that entail?_ (29) Over the past 200 years, European planners have followed six major traditions. One tradition, called _, was pursued by Robert Owens, Charles Fourier, and Ebenezer Howard. Another tradition, called _, built upon this and the romantic tradition. (30) Since the early 1990s, eastern European cities have a new agenda. What is it?_ (31) Cities of western and eastern Europe are increasingly linked via air, rail, and roads. Another link that is making headway is use of a common currency, the _.
 
October 14:

page 222 – cities in west (west of the Ural Mountains) and along a southern ribbon – because of the trans-siberian railroad, built in the early 20th c. It’s only now that a regular road is being built from Vladivostok to Moscow.

1917 – Czar (tsar) revolution. Czar Nicholas was overthrown. Then the Bolshevik Revolution, led by Lenin. Lenin drew upon the ideas of the German philosopher, Karl Marx. Looking at England during the Industrial Revolution, he observed that capitalists replace labor with capital at each opportunity. With excess labor, wages are depressed. This cycle will continue until there is a revolution. The Bolshevik Revolution was seen as that revolution to end the exploitation of the workers by the capitalists. Lenin set out to create a non-hierarchical country.

In 1924, Lenin died and Stalin became the head of state. In 1924, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created. Russification, where Russians were moved into all areas, and central planning were key.

The leaders: Stalin (General Secretary of Central Committee from 1922-1953), Khrushchev (1953-1964), Brezhnev (1964-1982), Andropov (1982-1984), Chernenko (1984-85), Gorbachev (1985-1991), Yeltsin (1991-1999), Putin (1999 to present).

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the concepts of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

On December 25, 1991, the USSR ceased to exist. The 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (e.g., Kazakh S.S.R., Ukainian S.S.R., Russian S.S.R.) are now independent countries.

Russia is the most powerful of the 15 – and Moscow is the most important city. Several are in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan), others are nestled in the Caucasus Mountains (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan), and still others are in eastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova).

Students gathered into small groups and read/discussed the following article:
Reforms provide balm for troubled Russia
Sunday, October 10, 2004
By Constantin Gurdgiev
It is one of those weightless days of an Indian summer that make Moscow a dangerously enticing place to be.
The trees are just beginning to turn, and the sea of green spilling from the boulevard into the windows of the famed Kafe Pushkin is framed with a touch of colour. Adding to the tranquillity of the moment, the impeccable white of the waiter's apron provides an almost photographic backdrop to the intricate lattice of brown sugar over the silver tray. With a torch in hand, he pauses for my nod and sets the creme brulée afire. Across the table, my friend whispers: "There is a third way for Putin to stay on beyond 2008 - by bringing Russia, Ukraine and Belarus together. None of that constitutional change. No referendum on extending the presidential term. Simply reverse-engineer the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Agreement." The Belovezhskaya Pushcha - a Belarussian forestry massif on Europe's eastern frontier - is where, in 1991, the leaders of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk tore the mighty USSR to pieces. This is Moscow in a nutshell: the city that never lets its guard down, turning a simple lunch into a game of geopolitical intrigues, the latest being about the centralisation of power and oil. Last Thursday, following a week of media frenzy, the Kremlin's response to the Beslan tragedy reached the lower chamber of Parliament, the state Duma. It was a one-two punch. The first contained a proposal for the abolition of directly-elected governors and a change-over from the current free-for-all system of electing parliamentarians to one based on party lists. The second was the new federal budget for 2005 that combined increases in funding for security and military with targeted social spending. Despite a standard knee-jerk reaction from the West, both initiatives were expected before the August-September terrorist attacks. The propos ed bill concerning Russia's regional governors allows Putin to nominate a candidate twice for consideration by local lawmakers. In the case of repeated rejection, the president can appoint an acting governor and/or disband the legislature. This mirrors the federal constitution in relation to the nomination of a prime minister. These measures serve two objectives for the Kremlin. The first is the immediate pressure to reform power structures in the troubled north Caucasus, Volga and far east regions. A streamlined federal authority will allow the state to respond properly to terrorist activities. It may also allow the redrawing of Russian regional boundaries. These are currently formed on national identity, and are not reflective of demographic realities and socio-economic resources. Unlike the US, Russian regionalism promotes nationalism and historical strife over economic and social growth. This fractured structure has hindered the pace of progressive reforms in the same way that the pre-Civil War North-South divide acted as a brake on the development of the US. The second objective is to reform regional leaderships. In the past, assemblies and governors' offices were used by the business elite to escape prosecution and promote its interests. Examples include Roman Abramovich, the governor of Chukotka and the billionaire owner of Chelsea FC, who is being investigated for granting tax concessions to the companies in which he holds significant shares. Scores of oligarchs used regional offices to consolidate their economic power. Khazret Sovmen, a key player in the gold mining industry, became president of Adygea in the north Caucasus. In the recent past, many governors have attempted implementation of separatist policies. For example, between 1995 and 1999, Nazdratenko of Primor'ye and Ishaev of Khabarovsk declared that Moscow had no authority over their regions. In 1997, the Sakhalin region temporarily ceased tax receipts to Moscow, while the Kuril Islands claimed a merger with Japan. The arrival of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin reversed this trend. Yet the remnants of the de facto independence of local authorities from Moscow continue to undermine federal efficiency. This was made clear in Beslan by the broken chain of command across the state and local forces, as well as the lack of monitoring over the local authorities. Given the institutional bottlenecks in Russia, these problems can be effectively addressed only by consolidating power. Until this is done, any Western demands for greater accountability from Moscow are nothing more than hollow pronouncements. Control must first be in place. All of this sits well with the voters, who are accustomed to the contradictory nature of Russia's democracy. Despite the reputation for instability earned in the early 20th century, the nation actually harbours a deeply conservative mentality. Recent opinion polls show that Russians mistrust the state and prefer familial ties. For example, a recent nationwide poll showed that 78 per cent of Russians believe they have no influence over local government. Yet exactly the same percentage of respondents said the main objective of the state should be the restoration of Russia to the status of a great world power. Some 48 per cent of Russians want their country to be perceived as mighty and indestructible, and 74 per cent favour restoration of the federal union with Ukraine and Belarus. Not surprisingly, the mood in Moscow is that of guarded support for the proposed law. Most Russians want stronger central power and greater institutional accountability at local level. These facts have not escaped foreign academics or the media. What is absent from Western analysis of the Russian situation is the fact that a growing number of voters are interested in the state relinquishing controls over the domestic economy. In Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities, more progressive Russians want to see a responsible and benign central political force and a thriving entrepreneurial society outside state control. Putin's tenure in the Kremlin offers them this hope. With the exception of the Yukos case, Moscow has continued a policy of gradually reducing state interference within the economy. The ongoing equity reforms in the gas giant Gazprom and the oil major Rosneft are one example. By merging the two companies, the Kremlin has consolidated its shareholding in strategic resources, thereby reducing the possibility of the state falling prey to powerful oil oligarchs. At the same time, it has liberalised share trading rules, allowing greater access to foreign and domestic investors. Other examples - such as the impending restructuring of the military-industrial conglomerate, which produces MiG fighter planes, as well as continued banking, pensions and insurance reforms - are all proceeding on the basis that they will open Russian markets to internal competition. Last week's joint session of the IMF and World Bank found that the Russian boom has more to do with the structural changes in the economy than with external conditions or the price of oil. Revising upwards its growth forecast for Russia from5.9 per cent to 7.3 per cent, the IMF credited the Kremlin's commitment to reform for this increased economic activity. Reflecting on Putin's macro-economic policies, the World Bank said Russia's dependency on the oil and gas industries had declined over the past three years and did not threaten future growth. All of this falls within the context of changes introduced last week. Reflective of the strategic need for power consolidation and streamlining federal authority, these policies can lead to further development of Russia both economically and politically. The difference today, in contrast to Yeltsin's reforms, is that the Kremlin recognises the need for the consolidation of political authority and the reduction of the state's role in the economy. Only time will tell whether or not these reforms will be effective in achieving these objectives. Judging by the calm, measured response of the political opposition parties in the Duma and the Muscovites in the streets, they have a reasonable chance of succeeding. [Constantin Gurdgiev is a lecturer in economics at Trinity College Dublin and a director of the Open Republic Institute, which describes itself as Ireland's only independent non-government policy organisation.]

GEO 222: Articles for Critical Thinking Essay #2. Please see the syllabus for instructions. Select five of the following articles, for inclusion in your essay:
“Arab Nationalism Tunes into al-Jazeera,” October 14, 2004, http://atimes.com (Asia Times Online)
“Syrian President Defends Role in Lebanon,” October 10, 2004, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
“Unruly Motorists are Real Reason Behind Traffic Jams,” October, 2004, http://www.gulf-news.com (The Nation, Al Nisr Publishing LLC)
“Some Iraqi Insurgents Turning in Weapons,” October 11, 2004, http://story.news.yahoo.com (Middle East – Associated Press)
“Gulf News Says: Iran has a Right to N-Energy Too,” October, 2004, http://www.gulf-news.com (Al Nisr Publishing LLC)
“EU Halts Libya Sanctions,” October 13, 2004, http://www.taipeitimes.com (Taipei Times)
“Three Wanted Saudis Killed in Confrontations in Riyadh,” October 13, 2004, http://www.arabicnews.com (Arabic News)
“Mosques Get Ready for Ramadan Rush,” October 14, 2004, http://www.arabnews.com (Arab News)
“Prayer Row,” October 14, 2004, http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg (The Straits Times)
“Muslims Protest New Limit on Worshippers,” October 14, 2004, http://www.suntimes.com (Chicago Sun-Times)

October 19:

Students watched a film entitled "Voices of Leningrad." It was produced by National Geographic not long before the USSR collapsed (the collapse came on December 24, 1991). The film begins at the Baby Palace of Leningrad. Parents with their new babies come to the palace where city government officials congratulate them, implore them to bring up the child with a love of country and city, and give each a medal (for the honor of being born in Leningrad). Peter the Great, who stood 6' 8," was the visionary behind the city (originally named St. Petersburg, then later Leningrad, and now St. Petersburg again). The city faces west, onto the Baltic. It was built on the Neva estuary. On May 16, 1703, a fortress to protect against the Sweds was built. To build the city, 100s of 1000s of peasants, prisoners, and others of modest means were employed. The city is said to be built on human bones. Yet, it is a majestic city. This imperial capital was finished by Peter the Great's successors. It is a center of innovation. At the turn of the century, it was here that Tsar Nicholas II lived lavishly. The nobility thought that their extravagance was a divine right. The workers, living in misery, did not agree. On Bloody Sunday, in 1905, workers protested and sang as they marched to the Tsar's palace. As they sang "God Save the Tsar," scores were mowed down by soldiers. In March 1917, strikes and demonstrations resulted in a revolution. Lenin, who had been in exile, came back and, using the ideas of Karl Marx, promised bread, land, and peace under a new communist system of government. In October 1917, when the revolution was successful, the first socialist state was born. The city was renamed Leningrad. Lenin then moved the capital back to Moscow. Today, with 5 million people, St. Petersburg is Russia's second largest city, after Moscow. The promises of the revolution were never quite fulfilled and shortages contined to be the order of the day. Then, in 1985, Gorbachev came to power. He introduced the terms glasnost (opening, as in opening up the media) and perestroika (restructuring, as in moving from a centrally-planned to a capitalist economic model). We then see a few case studies. We go to a state owned factory, where a husband and wife work, doing what appears to be very mundane work. The woman has a technical degree but she came to Leningrad without a permit to live there. Five years after they married, they got a state apartment. The woman, helping their 11 year old son with his homework, says that she is not so good at English because, although it was taught, the teachers changed frequently. The family goes to buy food. It is a beautiful building, but the food choices are slim. You decide what you want, then you stand in line to pay for it, then you stand in line to pick it up. Back at their apartment, they mention that new apartments, which will block their view of the bay, are going to be built. Then their son comes into the living room with his accordian. Two day's wages are used to pay for his lessons. The couple is certain that life will be better, and they are in favor of perestroika. Then we see an example of glasnost. A local TV news program, named 600 seconds, challenges the propaganda of the Soviet regime. They interview people who officially do not exist: a man living in a restroom, women who are incarcerated because they were homeless, and so on. His news programs draw millions of viewers. To get the news, he and his crew work 12-14 hour days, six days a week. On the one day we see, the crew first goes to a movie set where the actors were accused of defacing the buildings. People come up and ask for his autograph. He is a folk hero, for telling the truth. But he also recognizes that the station could be closed down at any moment. The crew then goes and films an amphibious vehicle that will be used by the police. They record a child prodigy singer and visit the jail. We then go to the Hermitage, visited by 3 million a year and one of the most important museums in the world. During the blockade of Leningrad, 2000 museum workers and scientists stayed in the museum to protect it. The city was cut off from all supplies. In the winter, fires were put out with sand. The daily food ration was a 4 ounce piece of bread. To get water, holes were cut in the ice. By the time the 100-day siege ended, 25% of the population (over 1 million people) had died. A memorial cemetery, where mass graves hold 500,000 people, was visited by an American delegation; they are citizen diplomats. The woman says that she was afraid that the US and the USSR would be annihilated together. Some Russians who can speak English gather for discussion with the Americans; they can now speak openly, but the economic situation is still dire. One Russian brings in a piece of artwork, which he turns upside down as a metaphor for the changes in the country. In 1987, joint ventures became legal in the USSR. We then go to a company that produces china ware. The manager is full of hope about a joint venture that she hopes will provide better pay and better lives for all. We then see a rock singer. Prior to glasnost, singers had to work in state jobs and perform at their own risk. They were called subversive. Now things have changed. Yuri Kasparyan was able to teach himself to play the guitar off of smuggled tapes. In 1984, his future wife (Joanna Stingray) came to the USSR to perform. She thought that the music would bring people together. Today, they are married and commute between LA and Leningrad. The rock group is now legally part of a private cooperative. On the one night that we see, 17,000 fans are paying to see the group. Their music is quite political, with lyrics such as "...the blood type is on my sleeve" (a song about a Russian soldier fighting in the unpopular Afghanistan war). We then see the Imperial School of Ballet, which after 250 years is the cradle of the world's finest ballet. Up to 8000 students apply for entrance annually, but only 90 are accepted. All studies, including ballet, are provided free of charge to those accepted. The first students of the ballet school were the children of palace servants. Today, the famous ones come back after they have finished their performance careers to pass on the knowledge. We then travel to a beautiful opera house where the Nutcracker is premiering. For 1000 years, the Eastern Orthodox chuch prevailed. In 1917, the country officially became an atheist country. Churches closed down under Stalin. In recent times, many of the buildings have been returned to the church. We see a baptism and communion. We see one of the damaged churches being rebuilt. Then, we see evangelical Christians on the steps of the Museum of Atheism. They all ask how long this openness will last. While change is all around, the fear of change runs deep. Glasnost is haunted by Stalin's totalitarianism. Yet herein lie the voices of hope.

October 21:

As of July, 2003, Russia's birth rate is 10 and its death rate is 14, so Russia is currently losing population at the rate of -.4% per year. The life expectancy is dropping. In the 1960s, males lived an average of 66 years; today, life expectancy for males has dropped to 58-62 years. Some fear that Russia's population could be as low as 80 million by 2050. (2) A number of factors play into Russia's population problem. (a) Immigration is down. (b) Disease is hitting very hard. There are about 125,000 new cases of tuberculosis (TB) annually. If there is a disease rate of 40:100,000, we're talking about an epidemic. Russia's rate of TB is 76:100,000. About 10% (100,000) of the prison population has TB, of which about 30,000 cases are the untreatable, deadly form. About 10,000 uncured TB patients are released from prison each year, many with the drug-resistant form. Sexually transmitted disease (STDs) are also problematic: the death rate from syphilis has increased 44-fold since the Soviet collapse and HIV infections rose 250% from 1999 to 2000. Maternal mortality (death during childbirth) is 2.5 times Europe's average (44:100,000). There is also a lack of antibiotics and medical supplies/equipment/facilities. (c) Seventy percent of pregnancies end in abortion. (d) The suicide rate is one of the highest in the world (40:100,000). (e) The number of registered alcoholics has doubled since 1992 (2.2 million, of which 110,000 are children 12-16 years old). (f) While some have become very rich in the last few years, most Russians live in poverty. In Moscow (the capital), 50% live below the poverty line; the average salary is $280/month. The average Russian's income is $67/month. (g) Some say that life expectancy has declined in Russia because of a lack of personal hope for the future. (h) The environment deteriorated very badly during the Soviet years; today, many are exposed to radiation, toxic waste, and pollution.

Cities of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia (what the author called "The Greater Middle East").
Population = 467 million, of which 58% is urban
Most of this urbanization has occurred since WWII

The first cities on earth were built in this region, Ur and Uruk (also spelled Erech) (southern Mesopotamia, ). And, from those cities comes the word urban.
•    Associated with the building of agriculture
•    Neolithic period
•    In a triangle between Iraq, Palestine, and Turkey
•    Water is a tremendously valuable resource and thus many of these cities were built at the confluence of streams (Khartoum), an oasis (Damascus), a spring (Tehran)
•    Iran, Mediterranean basin – early empires: Persian culture, Greek culture (Hellenistic city), Roman (officially Christian in 4th century AD), Byzantine (eastern), and Islam

This area has been colonized for centuries. Beginning in the 1300s, the Ottoman Empire (Turkish) spread through this region and Eastern Europe. After WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, Italy, Austria, and Russia had the mandate (colonized) this area.
While there are exceptions, women are often faced with harsh restrictions. For example, seclusion of women, social restrictions, government-mandated dress codes, attacks for immodest dress, forbidden to drive or to travel without a male's permission are commonplace.
Petroleum is found in most, but not all, countries of this region. For example, Israel does not have oil. Currently, the U.S. produces domestically 44% of our petroleum and imports the other 56%. Sixty percent of this oil comes from Non-OPEC countries and 18% from Non-Arab OPEC (Indonesia, Nigeria, Venezuela). Only 22% comes from Arab OPEC countries (Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates).
This region is primarily desert, with Mediterranean climates along the coast. Availability of water is an important issues, with countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Jordan, Algeria, and others already experiencing water stress.
Not surprisingly, most of the people are concentrated near water (e.g., the Nile River, the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers, the Mediterranean Sea). This region is home to two culture hearths: the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia (Mespotamia was the land between the Tigres and the Euphrates, in today's Iraq).

Most of the countries in this region are either monarchies or republics (in a republic, the head of state is someone other than a monarchy, and the people are governed by elected representatives of the people).

The world's three great monotheistic religions sprang from this region: Judaism (the oldest), Christianity, and Islam (the youngest). There are about 18 million Jews in the world, with the largest cluster in North America followed by a large cluster in Israel. Christianity has the most adherent worldwide, about 1.6 billion (most are Roman Catholic). Islam, with about 1.3 billion adherents, is the fastest growing faith in the world. The dominant religion of this region is Islam. Islam is a monotheistic faith built upon the foundations of the region's earliest monotheistic faith, Judaism, and its offspring, Christianity. Muslims believe that Jesus was not God, but a prophet. Further, they believe that Muhammed was the very last in a series of prophets who brought the word of God (Allah) to humankind. Muhammed was born in 570 A.D. to a poor family in western Arabia (Saudi Arabia) in the city of Mecca. At the time, Mecca was already a place of pilgrimage, as 300 polytheistic deities were venerated there. When Muhammed was 40 years old, the Angel Gabriel came to him. Over the next 22 years, the words of Allah were received and relayed to scribes who wrote them down as the Quran (Koran) - the holy book of Islam. During this time, Muhammed began preaching the existence of one God. The polytheistic people of Mecca viewed this as heresy and he was forced to flee Mecca (going to Medina). The Islamic calendar begins with his flight to Medina. He and his disciplines were able to come back to Mecca and, in 630, after several skirmishes, Muslims peacefully occupied Mecca. Muslims destroyed the idols and became a pilgrimage center for Islam. After Muhammed died in 632, Arabian armies carried the new faith far and wide. Initially, the Syrian city of Damascus became the center of the Muslim empire. In about 750, Baghdad, Iraq assumed this role. There are two major branches in Islam: the Sunni (the majority today) who thought that Muhammed's successors should be persons with strong leadership skills and deep piety and the Shi'ite (or Shia) who thought that only a direct descendent of Muhammed should be the Islamic leader. Muslim scholars accomplished much in math, astronomy, and geography. They translated the Greek and Roman classics. Muslims generally adhere to five practices; these are called the Five Pillars of Islam. They are: profession of faith (there is only one God); prayer (five times a day, toward Mecca); almsgiving (for the needy); daytime fasting during the month of Ramadan; and a pilgrimage to Mecca (during this pilgrimage, all wear simple garments - so, for a few days, all distinctions between social class, ethnicity, and nationality are removed).

In groups of five, students learned about the following cities:
•    Cairo (page 277)
•    Damascus and Aleppo (page 278)
•    Jerusalem (page 280)
•    Istanbul (page 283)
•    Fes and Marrakesh (page 284)
•    Tashkent (page 287)

Review: (1) The traditional Islamic city has a unique style/look. The Islamic faith is certainly expressed on the landscape. In addition, physical geography (i.e., _) is expressed in various ways. Finally, economic geography (i.e., _) is expressed in the presence of souks, bedestans, and khans. (2) A number of powerful empires rose in the Mediterranean basin and Iran, including the Persian, _, Roman, _, and Islamic empires. (3) The holiest Islamic city is _. Because of Muslim pilgrimages to this city, it is the world’s leading tourist city. The pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Faith. A month of daytime fasting, called _, is another. (4) This city, originally a trading post on the silk road, is the largest city in Central Asia; this is the city of _.  (5) The Jews, Christians, and Muslims all regard the city of _ as a holy city. (6) This Moroccan city was established in the 11th century as a trading post; it is the city of _.
(7) Of the twin cities of Syria, _ is the more freethinking (but the women are still fully veiled). (8) This city was originally named Byzantium, then New Rome, and Constantinople; today, we know the city as _.  (9) The most populous city in the Arab world, and the headquarters of the League of Arab states is the city of _.

October 26:

Jerusalem: A hill town at the southern tip of the western Fertile Crescent, which is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
•    Muslims believe that Mohammed ascended to heaven to talk to God in Jerusam … Dome of the Rock (691) marks the spot … one of the oldest Islamic structures in the world …. 3rd most sacred site (after Mecca and Medina)
•    To Jews, Jerusalem is the city of Solomon’s temple … only the wall (the western wall) remains … place where Jesus proved himself to be the Messiah … Dome of the Rock is built on the site of Solomon’s temple, on top of Mount Moriah
Jerusalem has been an important city for centuries, dating back to King David, who made Jerusalem the capital of Judah. Jerusalem was later provincial capitals for the Persians, Romans, and Ottomans. In 1927, Great Britain established Jerusalem as the capital of its mandate in Palestine. In 1949, the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) was moved to Jerusalem. Then, in 1953, the Parliament of Jordan proclaimed Jerusalem as the alternative capital of the kingdom. In January 1950, the Knesset passed a resolution saying that Jerusalem had always been the capital of Israel. From 1948-1967, Jerusalem was a divided city, with barricades, fences, walls, and UN peacekeepers. Jordanian Jerusalem was in the east and Israeli Jerusalem was in the west. One had to go through checkpoints to go from one side to the other. In 1967, Israel occupied Jerusalem

Today, Jerusalem includes a central "old city" and a much larger greater Jerusalem. The current walls of old city date to Ottoman period. The old city is divided into four quarters – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Armenian (except for the Jewish part, the city has an Arab feel to it). Basically, West Jerusalem is Jewish – site for the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and East Jerusalem is Arab (Christian and Muslim Arabs). In occupied east Jerusalem are Jewish settlements. Then there’s the sprawling modern metro. To the north, south, and east of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority (the text says autonomy) begins.

We then watched a few minutes of a film about Islam in Cairo, Egypt. It is entitled Mosque. Cairo, a city of 15 million, begins with a call to prayer (called adhan). It is said that prayer is better than sleep. The mosque has a minaret in the center that rises over 900 meters. Traditionally, the calls for prayer were made from the top of the minaret, but today, a loudspeaker announces prayers. Shoes are taken off as one enters the mosque; shoes are a sign of the dirtiness of life. The first stop is the abulution room (wud'u), which worshippers wash hands three times, then mouth, nostrils, face, forearms (right first, then left), head, hair, ears, and then feet. In the mosque, while they are richly decorated, there are no pictorial representations. There are also no chairs or pews. The room is carpeted and Muslims worship standing or sitting on the floor. A carpeted wall separates the male and women worshippers, because men and women are not allowed to worship together. Prayers are said five times a day. The prayers are one of the Five Pillars of Islam (the others being: alms giving, pilgrimage to Mecca, daytime fasting during Ramadan, and repeating of the Creed of belief in God). Muslims believe that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, received the Koran during the month of Ramadan. A religious leader, the imam, speaks from the pulpit. He is well-versed in the teachings of the Koran, but he is also a moral authority, because of the way in which he conducts his life. This is a community of faith, not a place where one goes once in a while. At this mosque, there is a fully equipped medical clinic. Here, work and faith are brought together.

Cairo, with 16 million people, is the most populous in Arab world, and in Africa. It is a cosmopolitan city, where many speak English. Most of its growth occurred during the 20th century. It is the headquarters of the League of Arab states. Cairo is northerly, but still positioned between Upper Egypt (the valley) and Lower Egypt (the delta). Sediments built Cairo’s midriver islands but today, because of the Aswan dam, there is no flooding and the homes of the wealthy are built on the midriver islands. The sprawl is northward – onto some of the world’s most fertile land. The government has been redirecting growth to the desert. I said earlier in the course that Havana is like a museum – Cairo is too, but just much older:
•    Pyramids and sphinx of Giza (west bank of the Nile)
•    Coptic Cairo … history associated with world’s most famous refugee family – Mary, Joseph, Jesus
•    Old Cairo
•    Citadel – 12th C, later transformed by the Ottomans
•    “The City of Dead” – cemeteries with over 250,000 squatters living in them
While part of the Ottoman Empire (from 1568), Cairo's world status shrank. In the 1800s Cairo began to re-emerge and in the 20th the population exploded. Today, Cairo is plagued by huge traffic congestion problems. In late 1980s, metro rail system… now subway goes under the Nile to the west bank

 October 28:

History as Propaganda: Southern Africa is a region of extremes and contradictions. Its history is no exception: the way South African and Zimbabwean history has been taught during the colonial period and even today remains a source of controversy.

The southern African landscape is one richly layered with the culture of its people. It is the home of the oldest continual tradition of painting in the world; the broken and scattered remains of pottery from hundreds of ancient farming villages -- the oldest going back two thousand years; the stone walls of innumerable settlements scattered across the vast grasslands of the interior, including the towering, dry stone walls of Great Zimbabwe that were home to many hundreds of people almost a millennium ago; and now a World Heritage Site. It may also even be the part of the world to which modern humans everywhere owe their origins.

To drive north from Cape Town in South Africa to Harare, the capital of modern-day Zimbabwe, is to travel through a history book. Yet when the first Dutch settlers splashed ashore at the Cape in 1652 they saw a land they believed to be empty of civilization. And when, a little over two centuries later, the settlers forded the Limpopo River and climbed the highlands on the other side, they saw in Great Zimbabwe evidence for the Queen of Sheba's lost city of the Old Testament -- an outpost of northern civilization in a sea of southern "barbarism."

In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa and formalized years of racial discrimination in the web of legislation that became notorious as apartheid. Children were taught in school that, save for the primitive "Bushmen," southern Africa had been empty before Europeans had arrived, and that black Africans had only entered the subcontinent from the north at the same time that the Dutch had arrived in the far south. In an epic battle between civilization, superstition and dark violence, Christianity had prevailed over the indigenous culture.

A similar denial of history was offered in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known proir to its independence in 1980. Africans, it was said, were incapable of building in stone or of fashioning fine gold. The Bible was used to offer proof that the gold brought in homage to Solomon came from the south, and where else than from the long-used mines that the white pioneers had found in abundance. Anyone arguing otherwise was accused of being unpatriotic or, worse, in secret conspiracy with black terrorists intent on overthrowing an ordered colonial society.

Today, with literally tons of evidence of African civilizations that stretched back centuries before Europeans even knew where the subcontinent was, it is difficult to give credence to this colonial version of history. One wonders how these fictitious versions of history could have taken root. Partly, it served the political and economical motives of white settlers to believe that the land of southern Africa was empty and the colonial enterprise was high-minded. But the denial of Africa's true history was also due to the pervasive effects of widespread assumptions about the "dark continent." A century ago, Henry Rider Haggard, a minor colonial official and unsuccessful ostrich farmer, made his name and fortune through King Solomon's Mines, She and other novels. Each story played to the romance of Africa as a timeless continent of wild game, fiercely beautiful scenery and simple people with no history. In Haggard's view, Africa was little more than the foil for Europe's history, and the idea of cities a thousand years old would have been incredible.

Today, the history books are being rewritten. Great Zimbabwe is a national symbol of black pride and accomplishment, known to every Zimbabwean. And although few South Africans know much about the past of their country before colonial settlement, this is changing as the far-reaching tenets of apartheid are dismantled. But the world's more general assumptions about Africa -- the contemporary connection with the popular writers of the 19th century -- are still pervasive. The tourism and leisure industries thrive on fables that are unchanged from Rider Haggard's day, and Hollywood's Lion King still rules over a timeless landscape, empty of history.

But beneath the veneer of airport novels, architects' dreams and impresarios' fantasies is a solid mass of convincing evidence for a rather different history. About a thousand years ago, villagers along the banks of the Limpopo began to trade down the river, exchanging animal skins, ivory and other exotic items for glass beads, which were as valuable to them as was gold in the economies of the medieval north. Their partners in this barter were itinerant traders who made their way south along Africa's Indian Ocean coastline, setting up temporary camps close to river estuaries.

Soon, some of these Limpopo villages became wealthy, growing rapidly in population as they attracted people from the surrounding countryside like magnets. And, within the villages, some became more wealthy than others, gaining power and prominence in their communities. As in many other parts of the world, this elite claimed its status through architecture, setting some houses above others, and using the possibilities of the landscape to best advantage. Some places became far more important than others -- cities in a landscape of villages. Among them was Mapungubwe, which thrived in the 12th century A.D.

The design of Mapungubwe makes the best use of a dramatic landscape. The city is centered on a steep-sided, flat-topped hill that towers above the valley. The wealthy lived on the top of the hill, signifying their claim to status both by this physical elevation, and also through the goldwork and trade beads that adorned their bodies in life and in death. Prosperity rested on the work of skilled craftsmen, who fashioned ivory and bone for trade, smelted and smithed iron, finely decorated hand-built pots and worked gold. Today, this heritage is best represented in the small, exquisite gold foil rhinoceros, surely one of South Africa's national treasures.

Within a century, Mapungubwe was in decline. A number of theories have been put forth to explain this -- environmental decline through overgrazing by the massive herds of cattle that supported a population in excess of 10,000 people, or bubonic plague that spread inland from the coastal trading settlements. But the most likely explanation is that Mapungubwe was eclipsed by the rise of a new economic power to the north of the Limpopo.

Great Zimbabwe is one of many settlements that had at their center dry stone walls with distinctive designs and characteristic decoration. For the most part, these were not the walls of houses, but were rather intended to emphasize the importance of those who lived near them -- the same symbolic logic as Mapungubwe's hilltop. The distribution of these stone buildings - which extended from the Kalahari Desert in the west to the Indian Ocean lowlands in the east -- suggests that they were regional centers in a complex social and economic network. Great Zimbabwe was the largest of them, sufficiently more substantial to mark it as the capital of a complex state that rested on the gold trade.

Great Zimbabwe and its hinterland prospered for three centuries. The memory of this prosperity was sufficiently fresh in people's memories for the Portuguese to collect rumors of it when they invaded the Mozambican coastline at the very beginning of the 16th century. But the Portuguese were intent on plunder and on finding the Bible's lost cities, legendary for their wealth. Before long, Africa's history was shrouded by the myths and justifications of colonialism. But fortunately, the very weight of Africa's past has kept it alive. Mapungubwe's foil rhinoceros was hidden away for decades, but now tells its own tale of sophisticated ancient African wealth and craftsmanship. Great Zimbabwe was plundered by expedition after expedition, desperately burrowing for proof the Queen of Sheba once wandered around the walls. Instead, undeniable evidence for centuries-old black civilizations was discovered, now validated by an irrefutable series of radiocarbon dates. The cities of the south are lost no longer.

City of Great Zimbabwe: The Great Zimbabwe is the most famous of a large group of stone-walled enclosures on the Zimbabwean plateau. The modern Zimbabwe nation took its name from this major cultural monument.

In the language of the Shona people of eastern Zimbabwe, the word zimbabwe means "stone building." The highest point of the site is a fortress that has a commanding view of the surrounding grasslands, and can only be approached through a series of narrow defiles. According to scholars, the structure was erected by Shona people over the course of about four hundred years, beginning in the early 11th century.

At its height in the 13th century, Great Zimbabwe's capital was home to as many as 18,000 people. Subsistence to support such population concentrations remained crucial, and it is likely that cattle and agricultural surplus played a highly visible role in the maintenance of power.

The collapse of the Great Zimbabwe occupation is dated to the mid- to late 15th century, when most of the site was abandoned. Reasons posited for Great Zimbabwe's collapse have included the possible exhaustion of local gold, arable land, or water resources, and the disruption of the Indian Ocean trading sphere by the Portuguese. Majestic successor states such as Khami, located farther in the interior, soon sprang up, but none ever achieved the power of Great Zimbabwe, which remained an important religious shrine until the 19th century.

Reclaiming a stolen history: When European settlers discovered ruins of great civilizations at Mapungubwe in South Africa and Great Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe (then the British colony Rhodesia), they concluded that these marvelous stone cities could not have been built by black Africans. In order to justify their oppression of the black majority population, the white imperialists created a grossly distorted history that denied African civilization and culture.

In fact, until the recent end of the apartheid era, the official South African version of history maintained that southern Africa was an empty land, completely uninhabited until the first Dutch settlers arrived there in 1652. The government rationalized that the exquisite art and surviving architecture of the Shona and Bantu people of South Africa and Zimbabwe were actually the creations of Arabs, Phoenicians, or other non-African peoples. Similarly, the government of Rhodesia censored guidebooks and until as recently as the 1970s instructed archaeologists to deny that the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe was built by Africans.

But the reality is that Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe, as well as Thulamela, a more recent discovery, were black civilizations that developed sophisticated international trading economies and remarkable architecture in southern Africa as early as the 11th century A.D. Great Zimbabwe was such a source of black national pride that when Rhodesia gained independence from the British in 1980, it named itself Zimbabwe after its own great precolonial civilization. Today, Great Zimbabwe remains a symbol of national unity, and its likeness is depicted on the national currency. (narrative from PBS [http://www.pbs.org])

Key to Test #2: If your test begins with, "The film..." the key is: (1) b (2) b (3) c (4) d (5) a (6) d (7) a (8) b (9) a (10) c (11) a (12) b (13) a (14) d (15) a (16) gb (17) sa (18) aa (19) ab (20) pc (21) bc (22) ja (23) pd (24) uc (25) ie (26) mg (27) oa (28) sd (29) ra (30) md (31) db (32) cc (33) fa (34) ia (35) gc (36) ib (37) id (38) jb (39) mc (40) ba (41) mf (42) jc (43) la (44) ga (45) pb (46) mi (47) pa (48) vb (49) ma (50) be

If your test begins with, "The cities..." the key is: (1) c (2) a (3) b (4) a (5) d (6) b (7) b (8) c (9) d (10) a (11) d (12) a (13) b (14) a (15) a (16) gb (17) sa (18) id (19) jb (20) mc (21) ba (22) mf (23) jc (24) la (25) ga (26) pb (27) mi (28) pa (29) vb (30) ma (31) aa (32) ab (33) pc (34) bc (35) ja (36) pd (37) uc (38) ie (39) mg (40) oa (41) sd (42) ra (43) md (44) db (45) cc (46) fa (47) ia (48) gc (49) ib (50) be

November 9:
South Africa: more to come

Nigeria: The class watched a video entitled "Lagos: Rich Man, Poor Man" which contrasted the lives of two families (the poor family in the Amukoko neighborhood; the rich family in the Ogudu neighborhood). In the poor neighborhood, the family had only one small room. Washing the laundry took place outdoors and cooking was on a small kerosene stove in the shared kitchen. Water for drinking was purchased because the well water was contaminated by the latrines. The family had electricity, but outages were experienced frequently. Accommodations were expensive and hard to find. The poor man had a job at one of the biggest grain mills in the world and had worked there for over 25 years yet his family barely made it. The wife worked cooking and selling food at a private school. The parents paid to send their children to private school, where class sizes were smaller than the 60 per class in the government schools. Children are taught in English. Living in a large house with a high wall and bullet-proof doors, the rich family's reality was quite different. The man was an ad executive and the woman made exclusive children's clothes. The family lived a European-style life, with a reserve water tank (in case the water was cut off) and a generator (for use during power outages). The family had several TVs, a computer, kitchen appliances, and several servants: maid, gardener, and driver. The driver took the daughter to private school while the older children attended boarding outside Lagos. In terms of the city of Lagos, it was built on islands in a lagoon. The CBD was along the water front, around the port. Much of Lagos used to be swampy, with mangroves and a massive sand bar. Much of Lagos is low-lying, so flooding is an ongoing problem. Some houses are built on stilts; in other places, marshes are filled in for the homes of the rich. Driving is a "nightmare" and public transport is even worse. It is overcrowded, not on time, and increasingly expensive. Public service provision is terrible because of political instability, growing population, mismanagement, and lack of money (read: corruption). While the rich family sees the power outages and other public service failures as making life interesting, for the poor there is considerable suffering. But the people keep coming, because of the opportunities for work.

November 11: class cancelled due to illness

November 16: Empire of the Spirit

The Empire of the Spirit: This documentary, in the "Legacy" series, begins with 15-20 million  people gathered at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna (or Jumna) Rivers for the Kumbh Mela festival. It's the largest gathering on Earth, to celebrate Shiva - the creator and destroyer, the world's oldest God. India's tradition has been one of non-violence, renunciation, the female, the inner life - it is, according to Michael Wood (the narrator), the "empire of the spirit". In Calcutta (the old British colonial capital), we hear about Sanskrit (from the 2nd millenium BC) which is akin to Greek and Latin. Sanskrit entered with the Aryans (the "noble ones"). Writings include the Rig-Veda (circa 2000 BC) that tells of the migration of nomadic Aryans into northern India). The Gita, an ancient poem from the first millenium BC, is still extremely popular today. When the Aryans came into India, they found an advanced civilization already in existence. It is the Aryans who established the caste system now based upon profession, but originally based upon skin color (the light-skinned Aryans were at the top of the hierarchy). The area that Aryans initially invaded has been called the "Seven Rivers," the greatest of which is the Indus. India's first cities were built on the rich alluvial soils of the Indus (from the annual flooding). In the 1920s, the remains of a civilization were discovered in Pakistan - the city of Mohenjo Daro (~2500-1600 BC). The language is still undeciphered and it is unknown why the city died. It is located in the Sind area of Pakistan (in the southeast). Michael Wood next visits a village south of Delhi (which is in the north central part of India). The village, now as in the past, is the basis of Indian life. The village, with 2/3 of India's people, preserves the essential values of the society. Around 500 BC, a renaissance occurred in the Ganges Valley. The center is Benares, a Hindu sacred city to which every devout Hindu hopes to come to bathe at least once in his/her lifetime. In the video, Benares was likened to Jerusalem and Mecca as spiritual centers. Michael Wood made the point that the Hindu belief system ranges from animist beliefs in rivers, snakes, etc. to the most abstract conceptions of God imaginable. During what has been labeled the Axis Age (because so many great thinkers lived at one time), the Buddha lived and taught his message in India (~500 BC). He believed that human suffering must be comprehended - that the cause of suffering was attachment to the senses and human desires. He believed that the material world is an illusion. In 326 BC, Alexander the Great's armies moved into India. This was the first great conflict between west and east. The Greeks described the civilization they found (the Mauryan Empire) with its 22 square mile rectangular city of 400,000 people. To their surprise, it wasn't slave-based. The greatest ruler of this empire was Asoka. Asoka, after killing 100,000 in a single battle, came to the conclusion that war was wrong. He began to promote the ideas of non-violence, right conduct, and dharma (civil morality, dignity of humans). Pillars  were set up around India to reinforce these ideas, the basis of a secular society. Michael Wood then goes on to Kerala (in southwestern India), where merchants have come since the first century AD for spices (e.g., peppper and ginger). The mathematical system we all use today came to the rest of the world via this trade. Kerala is known as a tolerant place, with Jews having come into the area in the 6th century AD. Kerala's Syrian Christians claim ties to Apostle Thomas. The Muslim people came peacefully in the 7th century AD. In the north, the Muslim history is different. Mohammed said that it is "right by order of God to conquer them" (meaning the Indians). One sees evidence where Muslim mosques are built over the ruins of Hindu temples. For example, Benares fell to the Muslims in 1194 AD. It has been a long and tortuous relationship between the Hindus and Muslims (which hasn't ended yet). In the 16th century, the Mogols came into India. Their architecture defines the popular image most have of India today. Michael Wood believes that Akbar the Great (a Muslim who lived 1556-1605) was an exceptional ruler, believing in the virtues of tolerance and pluralism. He wanted to find some way of synthesizing the religions. We also saw his "city of dreams" (Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra which is south of Delhi) which was abandoned because of lack of water. In the southeast, the Tamils escaped the Muslim influence. Greeks and Romans traded with them for spices. While the Tamils created elaborate temples, poetry, and drawings, their greatest creations were in bronze. A bronze statue of Shiva, dated from 1011 AD, and a male-female statue are two of the best. The ancestors of the Tamils may have been the inhabitants of Mohenjo Daro.

November 18 and 23: Salaam Bombay:

This review of Salaam Bombay was written by Rita Kempley, a Washington Post Staff Writer, on November 4, 1988. "Salaam Bombay!" plays a bit like "Oliver!" in Hindi, a lively, strangely celebratory look at the resilience of India's street children. It's a savvy, unsentimentalized first feature by director Mira Nair, a documentarian who finds innocence and a harsh playfulness in this asphalt nursery.

Nair's film has been compared to Hector Babenco's chilling "Pixote," a Brazilian look at a 10-year-old street criminal, but hers is a more compassionate, though equally troubling, portrait. There's a wistfulness about it, a camaraderie, that gives it the feel of a coming-of-age movie. Though on the dark side, it is exactly that -- a distorted passage for its boy hero, who experiences first love, disillusionment and death.

Shafiq Syed, a ragpicker in real life, plays the leading role of Krishna, an abandoned 10-year-old country boy who hopes to earn 500 rupees so he can go back home. At first the little bumpkin is an easy mark for Bombay's hustlers, who take the few rupees he has saved. Later he is accepted and educated by an extended street family of prostitutes and tattered peers. The kids are beggars and burglars, not angels with dirty faces. But Krishna is a Father Flanagan kind of kid, with a core of goodness underneath the grime.

When he arrives in Bombay, Krishna finds a lowly job as a chaipau (one who delivers tea) in a red-light district with its splashy bordellos. Here, life becomes complicated when he tries to rescue Sweet Sixteen (Chanda Sharma), a stunning Nepalese virgin who has been sold into prostitution. Baba (Nana Patekar), mercurial king of pimps, attempts to tame her with his oily charms -- a development that upsets his relationship with his prostitute lover (Aneeta Kanwar) and their neglected little daughter (Hansa Vithal). Krishna goes for tea, cleans bird cages, plucks chickens for a pittance. But instead of saving his money for a ticket home, he spends some on drugs for his ganja-addicted mentor, Chillum, with Raghubir Yadav wonderfully frantic in the role. The boy soon becomes a parent to the 25-year-old man. But through it all he remains at heart a motherless child, crying himself to sleep on his pallet of rags, sniffling, "I want to go home."

There will be no rich relative to rescue this Oliver, no Spielbergian magic a` la "E.T." But the ending does seem to come out of nowhere, overwrought and melodramatic. Nair and screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala aren't really great storytellers, but they are streetwise. Shot on a low budget, down and dirty and on location, "Salaam Bombay!" is like being there, if there is where you want to be.

November 30:
As a whole, Southeast Asia is not highly urbanized. It was, in fact, comparatively more urbanized prior to colonization. Singapore is 100% urbanized and East Timor is 7.5% urbanized (it was excluded on the statistics page because, it is the newer country in the world and was probably not officially a country at the time the text was prepared for printing). If you look at page 375, you see that since 1970, urbanization has proceeded at a rapid pace. Today, there are 18 cities with > 1 M, and 3 with > 10 M (Jakarta in Indonesia, Manila in Philippines, and Bangkok in Thailand)

I then showed some overhead transparencies. Southeast Asia is partly mainland and partly islands. Indonesia is the  most populous (4th most populous in world) w/ 220 M and it is the world's most populous Muslim country, but diverse (for example, the island of Bali is Hindu). There are around 14,000 islands in the Indonesian archipelago.
In terms of the dominant faith in this region, East Timor is Roman Catholic; the Philippines is Roman Catholic;  Thailand is Buddhist and Muslim (94%) w/ Christian minority; Vietnam is mostly Buddhist; Malaysia is Islam (official religion), with Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Christian minorities; Burma is mostly Buddhist; Laos is Buddhist majority

When you look at the climate, you see that basically all of the region is tropical. Some gets the monsoon, some is a tropical savanna, and some is (or should be) tropical rainforest.

The earliest cities date back to between the 1st and 5th C AD, along the lower Mekong River (the Funan empire). Cities, prior to colonization, had lots of coastline (a maritime influence), with an important spice trade. One type of city was the market city, coastal and often not very big. Also, there were sacred cities, where were often bigger than market cities and had monumental temples in the city center. Probably the most famous of the sacred cities is Angkor (in Cambodia). Then the Europeans came, with a population loss.
o    Portuguese (1511) – Malacca – spices
o    Spanish (1521)
o    British (1579)
o    Dutch (1595)
o    French (mid 1600s)

The European influence was most pronounced in Manila and Jakarta. Singapore was established as a British trading post. Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) began as small settlement and became the capital of French Indochina. Thailand (Siam) wasn’t colonized. East Timor (text says colonization ended in 1975) was colonized by the Portuguese who left in 1975, promising East Timor independence. Indonesia's army came in and kills 1/3 of the population. The people of East Timor, amazingly, continued their rebellion. In 1999, the Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence. Indonesia militias came in again and destroyed East Timor. Nevertheless, the people did not give up and East Timor became an independent country in May, 2002.

The major results of European colonization:
(1) Creation of primate cities: Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok (even though Thailand was not officially colonized)
(2) Establishment of smaller towns (such as mining towns) and hill towns (to escape the heat/humidity)
(3) Established transportation systems (roads and railroads), which have allowed vast exploitation of natural resources.

There is also Asian migration, mostly from India (Bali) and from China. The Chinese has migrated throughout Southeast Asia and, in Indonesia (for example), deep resentment was aroused during the economic meltdown of the 1990s. The Chinese controlled much of the business wealth and, when the economy tanked, the Chinese were easy to blame. There is also a huge internal migration from the Indonesian island of Java to other Indonesian islands. This government-sponsored program is called transmigration, and is the larger one in the world. It has not worked very well, and helps explain some of the unrest in Indonesia.

Homework for next time. If you weren't in class, print a base map of Southeast Asia off of the internet. Then, for the representative cities: Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Jakarta (Indonesia), Manila (Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), and Hanoi (Vietnam) do the following: plot/label on map, note the religion, note who colonized, and jot down what’s important to remember about the city.

GEO 222: Articles for Critical Thinking Essay #3
Please select FIVE (or more) of the following articles. See your syllabus for instructions on writing the two-page essay. Due the last day of classes (although you may certainly turn it in sooner).
From the BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk):
Singapore economy loses ground (10-11-04)
Cambodia temple off danger list (7-05-04)
Girl-trafficking hampers Aids fight (11-30-04)
Bollywood accused over suicides (11-24-04)
Indira Gandhi memorial draws crowds (10-29-04
Four men held over Jakarta bomb (11-24-04)
Child sex exploitation tackled (11-08-04)
China condom handout halted (11-24-04)
Chinese auto firm looks overseas (11-29-04)
Vietnam’s slum dwellers (10-24-04)

December 2:

We spent a good bit of time in class talking about Lexington's water issue and about the idea of Purchase of Development Rights. We then moved on, and began our discussion of Cities of East Asia. China is, of course, the dominant country in East Asia. To help us understand these cities, I began the discussion by laying some groundwork.

Wade-Giles and Pinyin Translation: Since Chinese is written in characters that express ideas instead of an alphabet associated with sounds, it is very difficult to translate Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. The two attempts are: Wade-Giles, a European attempt that gave us Peking (the capital), Mao Tse-tung (the communist leader), Yangtze (the river) versus Pinyin, a Chinese attempt that gave us Beijing (the capital), Mao Zedong (communist leader), Chang Jiang (river). In Pinyin, "Q" has a "ch" sound (thus, Qina) while "X" has a "sh" sound. In Chinese, the last name is first, so Mao Zedong's last name is Mao.

The People: China is about the same size as the U.S. but the population is almost 4.5 times that of the US (1.3 billion versus 285 million). The majority of the people live in eastern China. The density is comparable to how it would be in our country if over 1 billion people lived east of the Mississippi River. Almost 1 billion speak Mandarin. While the Chinese languages are written the same, they are spoken differently. About 94% of the population is Han. There are also 55 officially-recognized minority groups (the Tibetans are one), with a total population of 55-65 million.

Dynasties: For a significant period of time, China was the world's most sophisticated culture. China had a series of dynasties that ruled from 2200 BC to 1911 AD. The first dynasty was the Xia (neolithic technology and first use of irrigation). Next came the Shang (beginning of Chinese writing), the Zhou (Confucian ideas, many innovations), Qin (ruler from whom China's name comes), Han (innovative period, with trade along the Silk Road, the people of Han), Sui (massive public works projects), Tang (golden age of spiritualism and the arts), Song (known for government organization and technological innovation), Yuan (cultural isolationism), Ming (defensive fortifications, science/technology), and Qing (a foreign minority rules, population problems, war, European incursion). The Qing (or Manchu) dynasty, which ended in 1911, collapsed partially because of the 1839-1842 Opium War. The British were importing opium into China, as a way of opening up trade. A war ensued, which the British won. Europeans further opened up China to opium, among other things.

20th century history: After the collapse of the last dynasty, Sun Yat-sen tried to establish the Republic of China. He, a Nationalist, had to contend with the warlords and increasingly with the communists. After Sun's death in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek (Sun's military commander) came to power. He turned on the communists, led by Mao Zedong. In 1937, the Japanese invaded and the Nationalists and Communists turned their attention to resisting their occupation. After WWII, Mao's forces were stronger. This strength came from Mao's 6000 mile "Long March" in the mid-1930s, when he gained the support of many of China's peasants. Then, during the Japanese occupation, his forces engaged in the most brutal battles with the Japanese. So, Mao was able to take city after city. Finally, in 1949, the Nationalists fled to Taiwan. Mao's communist revolution was oriented toward the peasantry (85% of the population). In 1958, as part of the "Great Leap Forward" he asked the peasants to help China modernize by building steel furnaces in their backyard. Obviously that didn't work. The Chinese created globs of melted pans, radiators, etc. Mao collectivized agriculture, meaning that large plots were cultivated by many people. The goal was to get production up, period. Matching need or what the area was best suited to grow was not put into the equation. The result was 20-30 million starving between 1959 and 1962. In 1966, youth groups called "Red Guards" were created to flush out intellectuals who were "subversive". During this period, called the Cultural Revolution, 25 to 30 million died of violence and famine. The Cultural Revolution ended when Mao died in 1976. When the next communist leader, Deng, came to power, he knew that the credibility of the communist system was at a low ebb. He encouraged the people by telling them that opportunities were expanding and that they could now accumulate wealth. Go, be an entrepreneur. Be a good capitalist. His modernization program focused on agriculture, industry, science, and technology. Deng (and now Jiang, Hu) was, like Mao, unwilling to allow dissent. That's why, when students protested for democracy in 1989 at Tiananmen Square, Deng sent in the tanks and killed over 200. It was a message to Chinese to keep such ideas out of their heads.

Also, under Mao, people were registered as urban or rural. If you were designated as urban, you were guaranteed a job and a bunch of social services (together called the Iron Rice Bowl). Rural residents didn’t get these things – very inequitable. Rural people would try to migrate to the cities, but it was like invisible walls around them. Even today, though these designations have been relaxed, they are not gone and rural migrates are not eligible for many social services or educational programs – unequal treatment.

Look on page 412 in the textbook. Where are the cities? There are more cities as one moves east.
•    90 cities > 1 M in China … because urban populations include village populations
•    even though only 37% of the people are designated as urban dwellers in China, that’s 479 M people
•    in the rest of the region, 71% urbanized – but only 172 M

GEO 222: Films
If you haven’t completed all your critical thinking essays, you may watch one (or up to two) of the following films. Write your last critical thinking essay (see syllabus for instructions) on the film watched.
The New Rulers of the World (mostly Indonesia)
Abolition: Broken Promises (U.S.)
Taken for a Ride
Death of a Nation (East Timor)
City of God
Olmstead in Louisville
Globalization: Winners and Losers
America’s War on Poverty: City of Hope (Newark)
The Corporation
Outfoxed
Amandla! (South Africa)
Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq
Roger and Me (deindustralization of Flint, MI)

December 7:

Under Mao, people were registered as urban or rural. If you were designated as urban, you were guaranteed a job and a bunch of social services (together called the Iron Rice Bowl). Rural residents didn’t get these things – very inequitable … Rural people would try to migrate to the cities, but it was like invisible walls around them. Even today, though these designations have been relaxed, they are not gone and rural migrates are not eligible for many social services or educational programs – unequal treatment

On page 412, you see that there are more cities as one moves east:
•    90 cities > 1 M in China … b/c include villages are included in the urban populations
•    even though only 37% of the people are designated as urban dwellers in China, that’s 479 M people
•    in the rest of the region, 71% urbanized – but only 172 M

One of the 3 major cities in the world is in this region - Tokyo.

Xi’an (earlier Ch’angan) – central China, south bank of the Wei. This is where the 6,000 life-size terracotta warriors, excavated beginning in 1974.
•    this was the capital of a number of Chinese dynasties, beginning with the Chou in 1111 BC
•    221 BC, with the Qin dynasty, for whom China is named – capital
•    this city was on the silk road and so many Muslims passed through – today, this is a diverse population of Muslim and Han Chinese. Some of Japan’s cities were modeled after Xi’an, the most famous of which is Kyoto (the national capital from 794-1868). It has rectangular form, grid pattern – beautiful buildings. In 1868, the capital was moved to Edo (now Tokyo)

Korea also used Chinese city-planning concepts, especially in the capital of South Korea – Seoul, which became the premier city of Korea in 1394. Most of the original form and architecture is now gone, destroyed during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) and during the Korean War (1950-53).

Then we have the colonial cities (Japan occupied a lot of this area, but the Europeans didn’t officially colonize much of East Asia). The British were able to open up China by fighting and winning two Opium Wars in the mid 1800s. The British occupied some of the ports. In Shanghai, it’s very obvious that the Europeans were there. The Chinese were very badly treated.

Hong Kong: The British occupied in 1839, ceded to them by the Chinese by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. In 1984, Chinese and British signed an agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 – lots of Chinese (Hong Kong) to Vancouver BC.

Macau – west of Hong Kong, settled by Portuguese in 1557, was declared a Portuguese territory in 1849 and the claim was recognized by the Chinese in 1887. In 1987, agreement to return to China’s authority in 1999. It's a pretty wild place, gambling, gangsters, prostitution.

Beijing (Peking) – very old
•    Kublai Khan rebuilt in 1260 as winter capital
•    Destroyed when the Mongols fell - 1368
•    1421 – rebuilt, again the capital – Ming dynasty
Beijing has four parts: Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) - and Tiananmen Square is adjacent to the Forbidden City, imperial city, inner city, outer city (like nested boxes).

Shanghai –
* at the mouth of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)
* began about 1000 AD – agricultural importance
* the Treaty of Nanking (1842) opened it up as one of the first treaty ports
* then mid-1800s and the early 20th century, amazingly bustling city – European buildings, manufacturing, trade, etc.
* the Communist party began there in 1921; in the 1930s – the Japanese and Chinese fought in Shanghai, Japan occupied it during WWII, Communists took it in 1949
* then, under Mao, Shanghai was allowed to deteriorate
* now, it is once again bustling – Pudong (look at pages 436 and 437 – same place, mid-1970s and today)
* much, it not most, of the old traditional dwellings have been torn down - highrises

Students watched a Human Geography film entitled "Head of the Dragon." Shanghai is this dragon. The city is bustling today, with 8000 active construction sites. Along the waterfront are European palaces built in the early 1900s. We saw some old footage of dancing in the 1920s. Shanghai was considered to be the Hollywood of the East. Today, this image is being revived. In stores like Shanghai Tang, one sees the opulence available to rich Chinese. It is an international city. Some of the old buildings are now used for the community at large, e.g., music lessons are provided for the community's children. Some of the old, more traditional areas have survived, but most are being razed for new construction. Billions in investment have flowed into Shanghai. For one, VW entered into a joint venture and now Volkswagens are seen all over the city. The night life is also very cosmopolitan. We see the influence of major advertising firms, promoting such companies at AT&T. Telecommunications is big business in China, in fact, China has the second highest number of pagers in the world. These technologies are expanding at 15-25% per year in China, an astronomical rate of increase. Over on Pudong, across from Shanghai, one sees the Pearl TV tower. The rapidity of construction is phenomenal. Not all Chinese, however, will benefit from this development. Because of overcultivation and drought, 1/3 of China's agricultural farmland has been lost in 40 years. There is still much fertile land but many rural people leave, hoping for a better life in the cities. The Chinese rural-urban migration is the largest migration in peace time - and most of the people are traveling on foot. The divide between the wealthy and the poor will only increase. The wealthy are increasingly dependent upon foreign capital - two-thirds of which comes from 55 million overseas Chinese. Many of these Chinese live in Vancouver, BC. In Vancouver, it is interesting to see that Chinese holidays are celebrated with more jest (e.g., Chinese New Year) than they are in China. We see a shopping mall built with Vancouver Chinese money. The overseas Chinese are tied to those in China by clan - the family is the basis of Chinese society. We also see a Vancouver development, called Concord Pacific, financed by overseas Chinese families from Hong Kong. These families are held together through bonds of trust and obligation.
 
December 9:

 The Pacific islands are grouped into: (1) Melanesia (the dark islands) borders northeastern Australia. The people are dark-skinned, have many distinct cultures and languages, and experience hot, densely vegetated landscapes. (2) Micronesia (the tiny islands) includes 1000s of small and scattered islands. The people are dark-skinned. The Marshall Islands are part of Melanesia. Marshall Islands: The US has conducted military tests and operations in the Marshall Islands since the end of WWII. Initially, the US used Bikini atoll, in the Marshall Islands, for testing nuclear weapons. The US conducted 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, with a total power 7000 times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The largest bomb, Bravo, was detonated in 1952; it was roughly 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. (3) Polynesia (many islands) occupies the greatest expanse of ocean. The inhabitants are lighter-skinned and are relative latecomers to the region. Easter Island (or, to the 1900 natives, Rapa Nui) is one of the islands. Some say it is "Earth writ small". About 400 AD, the first human colonists arrived and found a subtropical forest with abundant porpoises and seabirds. By 1200, the population may have been 7000 or as many as 20,000 (it has an area of 46 square miles). The people erected statues, weighing many tons. Trees were used as rollers to get the stone statues in place. Hundreds of unfinished statues were abandoned at the quarry sites and along the roads. By the end of the 15th century, the island's forests had probably been eliminated. Most of the land animal species were extinct and they could no longer hunt for porpoises because they lacked wood to build canoes. Crop yields declined because deforestation led to widspread soil erosion. In the end, the people probably turned to cannibalism. By 1700, there was severe population decline (the population was reduced to about 10% of its earlier figure). In 1722, when a Dutch explorer came upon the island on Easter Sunday, not a single tree stood on the island.

The Maori of New Zealand are also considered part of Polynesia, they share a lighter skin. The film Whale Rider is about the Maori culture. New Zealand was settled in the 9th century by Maori. The Maori have a strong affinity with the land and saw/see themselves as guardians of the land for future generations. In 1840, the British annexed New Zealand as colony. The treaty with Maoris was not upheld and the land was taken violently. After years of oppression and resistance, in 1997, the government agreed to pay compensation (NZ $170 million – and land). Another step foreward occurred in 1999, when 16 Maoris were elected to Parliament. A recent note: On July 31, 2004, a Maori married into the British Royal family (this is a first). Lady Davina Windsor, who is 20th in line to the throne, has married a builder and former sheep shearer from New Zealand after a four-year romance.

There are two kinds of Pacific islands: (1) the high islands, most of which were formed by volcanic eruptions. The Hawaiian islands are examples. Today, a new Hawaiian island is being created. It is still under the surface of the ocean, so it is called a "seamount". When it breaks the surface of the sea, it will become an island. Often, these islands have fertile soil and can support crops and, therefore, humans. Some of these islands are attached to continents, but when the sea rose at the end of the last Ice Age, the islands were cut off from the mainland. (2) There are also low islands. Coral reefs often form around the coasts of high islands. Over geological time, the mountain wears down below sea level. A roughly circular ring of coral is left. In the middle (where the mountain used to be) is a lagoon. The little coral islands, formed in a ring, are collectively known as an atoll. 

Australia: Australia has a population of 19 million, with most of the population near the coast. The British first colonized Australia for use as a penal colony. Today, the capital is Canberra, although the largest city is Sydney. The interior of Australia is mostly desert - called the bush or outback. It is here, primarily, that the native peoples of Australia live. These people, known as the Aborigines, probably migrated from Southeast Asia to Australia between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago. Fifty thousand year old evidence of occupance and 20,000 year old axes have been found. The Aborigines, while they probably had 200 or so distinct languages, did not write any of them down. Through oral traditions (stories, dances, song, art, rituals, etc.) the culture was carried from generation to generation.

There were no cities in this region until the Europeans colonized the area, about 200 years ago. The British influence is most evident. Today, there are still no megacities (Sydney, Australia is the largest, with 4.5 million people). The cities are primate cities.

Urbanization is only increasing, so students spent a little time talking about what should be done (in both developing and developed countries) to insure livable cities. Good ideas about the role of education, sustainability, trade, and cultural understanding were articulated. In the U.S., a project called the Apollo Alliance has been offered as a way of putting our citizens back to work and building an energy independent country within 10 years. The basic tenets of the plan are:The Ten-Point Plan for Good Jobs and Energy Independence

1. Promote Advanced Technology & Hybrid Cars: Begin today to provide incentives for converting domestic assembly lines to manufacture highly efficient cars, transitioning the fleet to American made advanced technology vehicles, increasing consumer choice and strengthening the US auto industry.

2. Invest In More Efficient Factories: Make innovative use of the tax code and economic development systems to promote more efficient and profitable manufacturing while saving energy through environmental retrofits, improved boiler operations, and industrial cogeneration of electricity, retaining jobs by investing in plants and workers.

3. Encourage High Performance Building: Increase investment in construction of “green buildings” and energy efficient homes and offices through innovative financing and incentives, improved building operations, and updated codes and standards, helping working families, businesses, and government realize substantial cost savings.

4. Increase Use of Energy Efficient Appliances: Drive a new generation of highly efficient manufactured goods into widespread use, without driving jobs overseas, by linking higher energy standards to consumer and manufacturing incentives that increase demand for new durable goods and increase investment in US factories.

5. Modernize Electrical Infrastructure: Deploy the best available technology like scrubbers to existing plants, protecting jobs and the environment; research new technology to capture and sequester carbon and improve transmission for distributed renewable generation.

6. Expand Renewable Energy Development: Diversify energy sources by promoting existing technologies in solar, biomass and wind while setting ambitious but achievable goals for increasing renewable generation, and promoting state and local policy innovations that link clean energy and jobs.

7. Improve Transportation Options: Increase mobility, job access, and transportation choice by investing in effective multimodal networks including bicycle, local bus and rail transit, regional high-speed rail and magnetic levitation rail projects.

8. Reinvest In Smart Urban Growth: Revitalize urban centers to promote strong cities and good jobs, by rebuilding and upgrading local infrastructure including road maintenance, bridge repair, and water and waste water systems, and by expanding redevelopment of idled urban “brownfield” lands, and by improving metropolitan planning and governance.

9. Plan For A Hydrogen Future: Invest in long term research & development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, and deploy the infrastructure to support hydrogen powered cars and distributed electricity generation using stationary fuel cells, to create jobs in the industries of the future.

10. Preserve Regulatory Protections: Encourage balanced growth and investment through regulation that ensures energy diversity and system reliability, that protects workers and the environment, that rewards consumers, and that establishes a fair framework for emerging technologies.

For more information, go to http://www.apolloalliance.org.   

End of material for test 3.

Upcoming Presentations:

* Nov. 30: 5-6:15 pm (LCC Auditorium), Lynne Shelton,  "Reflections on Brazil and Its Pursuit of Social Justice"
* Dec. 2: 7 pm (Henry Clay High School Theater, 2100 Fontaine Road, Lexington), State Senator Ernesto Scorsone and State Rep. Kathy Stein, "What can Civil Libertarians Expect from the 2005 Kentucky Legislature?"

Past presentations:
* Sept. 8: Social Policy Then and Now and the Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy, 7:30 p.m., Room 230 of the UK Student Center Annex, Peter Edelman (former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services)
* Sept. 10: Indigenous People and the Expansion of Civil Society in Mexico, 5 p.m., William T. Young Library         Auditorium, free and open to the public. Professor Emerita June C. Nash (City University of New York)
* Sept. 11: A Conversation about American Power and Global Security, 10-11:30 am, Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church (3534 Tates Creek Road), John D. Stempel (Patterson School) and Hossein Motamedi (LCC), sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Lexington
* Sept. 14: 5-6:30 pm in OB 230 (LCC Auditorium), a documentary entitled Outfoxed
* Sept. 16: Defending Against Catastrophic Terrorism, 8-9 pm, WT Young Library Auditorium, a panel discussion organized by Patterson School of Diplomacy
* Sept. 21: 5-7 pm in OB 230 (LCC Auditorium), a documentary entitled Truth, War and Consequences
* Sept. 22: 1:30-3 pm (Radisson Plaza Hotel, Lexington), a panel discussion entitled "The Next City" (part of the Idea Conference)
* Sept. 23: 7:30 pm (EKU, Student Services Building Auditorium), Peter Alegi, "Ten Years of Democracy: The Global Branding of South African Diversity"
* Sept. 24: 5-6:30 pm (UK Student Center, Worsham Theater), Akbar Abbas (University of Hong Kong) to speak on "East Asia: Experiments in Architecture and Urbanism"
* Sept. 28: 5-7 pm (LCC Auditorium), a film entitled Whale Rider about the Maori of New Zealand
* Sept. 29: 7 pm (UK Gaines Center's Bingham-Davis House, 218 E. Maxwell St.), a film entitled GI Jane, for the Woman and War, History and Memory series
* Sept. 29: 7 pm (Lexington Theological Seminary, Fellowship Hall), panel discussion entitled "Genocide in the Sudan, How Should the International Community Respond," sponsored by Bluegrass Chapter of the United Nations Association
* Oct. 4: 7-8:30 pm (Court Room, College of Law, UK), presentation entitled "The First Monday in October: A Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Review of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003-2004 Term and Preview of the 2004-2005 Term," sponsored by the Central Kentucky Civil Liberties Union
* Oct. 5: 5-7 pm (LCC Auditorium), a documentary entitled Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land
* Oct. 7: 8 pm (Center Theater, Student Center, UK), James M. Lindsay, Council on Foreign Relations, "Globalization and the Bush Foreign Policy," sponsored by The Patterson School
* Oct. 11: 7:00 pm (Gaines Center's Bingham-Davis House, UK), film entitled Battle of Algiers
* Oct. 12: 7:30 pm (Young Library Auditorium), a documentary entitled Kilowatt Ours
* Oct. 12: 5-7 pm in OB 230 (LCC Auditorium), a documentary entitled Ghost of Rwanda
* Oct. 13: 11 am (Young Library Auditorium), Global HIV/AIDS, by Molly Lyons
* Oct. 13: 12 noon (Young Library Auditorium), Global HIV/AIDS, by Molly Lyons
* Oct. 14: 7 pm in Haggin Auditorium (Transylvania University), a public lecture by Christopher Hitchens entitled "The Trial of Henry Kissinger"
* Oct. 16: Bluegrass Energy Expo film series (held at the Lexington Convention Center, admission is free): 1 pm (Thoughts in the Presence of Fear, Wendell Berry's poem); 2 pm (Kilowatt Ours, about electricity production in the SE US); 4 pm (Sludge, documentary about the Martin County  KY slurry spill of October 11, 2000)
* Oct. 18: 7-8 pm (AT Lobby, LCC), Afro-Colombian with translator to speak about Plan Colombia: Gender and Race
* Oct. 19: 5-7 pm (LCC Auditorium), a documentary entitled Heart and Minds about the Vietnam War
* Oct. 25: 10-3:15 pm (AT Lobby), various speakers on election issues, as follows:
    10:00 Ryan Kelly, Iraq
    11:00 Hossein Motamedi, Israel and Iran
    12:00 Craig Williams, War from a Vietnam Veteran's Perspective
    1:00 Jeffrey Freyman, Internal Debates/Infighting Within the Bush Administration
    2:00 Presentation on the Gay Marriage Amendment
    2:35 Ernesto Scorsone, Domestic Issues
* Oct. 25: 7:00 pm (Singletary Center, UK) AIDS in Africa Today: Reflection and Interpretation, a panel discussion including Stephen Kramer, Gillian Nur Samuels, Pat Francis, Rev. Malcolm Damon, Rev. Lonnie Turner, Fran Turner, Karen Krigger, and Paul D. Simmons
* Oct. 26: 5:30-7:00 pm (Student Center - Small Ballroom, UK), Spirit of Ramadan, with speakers (Dr. and Mrs. Bagby) and free Middle Eastern food
* Oct. 26: 7:00 pm (Gaines Center's Bingham-Davis House, UK), Afghanistan Unveiled, with discussion following.
* Nov. 4: Panel discussion featuring members of the Madison County Chemical Weapons Working Group, 5:30-7:00 pm, 230 Student Center, UK
* Nov. 8: 7:00 pm (Gaines Center's Bingham-Davis House, UK), LA Cueca Sola (about Chile in the years following the 9/11/73 military coup), with discussion following.
 * Nov. 9: 5-6:15 pm (LCC Auditorium), Lynn Phillips, presentation entitled "Sustainable Development in New Zealand: Globalization and Traditional Lifestyles"
* Nov. 23: 5-6:15 pm (LCC Auditorium), Dave Cooper, presentation on Mountaintop Removal