The syllabus says
Homogenization of landscapes
- Explain the evolution of uniform urban landscapes; the effects of common commercial activity, structures, styles of construction and infrastructure.
Key terms
Homogenisation / homogenization - the process by which different places increasingly resemble those found in other areas.
Heterogeneous - 'sameness'
Landscape - the features of the earth's surface. Urban landscape refers to the physical features of the urban area, but a wider definition would also include 'hidden' features such as poverty and poor transport
Urban - town or city
Glocalisation - the process by which globalisation is modified to the local context, e.g. no beef on McDonald's menus in Hindu countries
World City - a status describing cities which have importance in the global economic cities. They are often large cities such as New York, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo.
Central Business District - the main area of retail and service sector (including finance) in a city, usually found in the centre of the urban area. It is often the historical centre of the city.
Accessibility - the degree to which a location or service is available to as many people as possible, usually due to either travel time, cost, or removal of barriers (e.g. steps into buildings instead of disabled ramps)
Rural-urban fringe - the edge of the city
Uniformity - 'sameness'
Gradient of homogenization - the concept that the homogenity of an area is greatest in the core (or centre) and decreases towards the periphery (or edge). This can apply to both global scale and individual urban areas, but in this case is most commonly applied to the local urban area of one town or city.
Heterogeneous - 'sameness'
Landscape - the features of the earth's surface. Urban landscape refers to the physical features of the urban area, but a wider definition would also include 'hidden' features such as poverty and poor transport
Urban - town or city
Glocalisation - the process by which globalisation is modified to the local context, e.g. no beef on McDonald's menus in Hindu countries
World City - a status describing cities which have importance in the global economic cities. They are often large cities such as New York, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo.
Central Business District - the main area of retail and service sector (including finance) in a city, usually found in the centre of the urban area. It is often the historical centre of the city.
Accessibility - the degree to which a location or service is available to as many people as possible, usually due to either travel time, cost, or removal of barriers (e.g. steps into buildings instead of disabled ramps)
Rural-urban fringe - the edge of the city
Uniformity - 'sameness'
Gradient of homogenization - the concept that the homogenity of an area is greatest in the core (or centre) and decreases towards the periphery (or edge). This can apply to both global scale and individual urban areas, but in this case is most commonly applied to the local urban area of one town or city.
features of urban areas: a global pattern?
Homogenisation of urban landscapes refers to the
increasing similarities between towns and cities regardless of their
geographical location. Some common features include the following:
- Tall buildings – especially in the central
business district, tall buildings are very common in most cities. This is
primarily due to the high bid rent that occurs in the centre of most cities,
because these areas are the easiest to access for the majority of the
population.
- Industrial estates – as the world economy
becomes increasingly globalized, there has been a shift for heavy industry from
the Core (HICs in Europe and North America) to Semi-Periphery countries,
especially in Asia. The requirements of these areas are largely the same –
large areas of flat land, easy access to transport (especially rail and sea), a
supply of energy, and so on. As a result, industrial areas have increasingly
followed the same model of development regardless of geographical location.
Local factors that would force the industry to modify its requirements simply
cause the industry to locate elsewhere in a place that can satisfy its needs.
- Science parks – similarly, the requirements of
footloose industry (light industry such as research and development) and
tertiary sector businesses mean that many HICs have similar environments, which
attract these industries. They are usually on the edge of town to take
advantage of the low bid rent, and the cheaper costs of building on greenfield
land. There are, of course, individual architectural techniques applied, but
the generic look – low rise, large green spaces, large car parks, and proximity
to motorway junctions – is standard across the Western world.
- Retail parks – along with industry and services,
retail also has a series of similar requirements. The availability of car
parking and the large area of land required for larger shops with greater
variance in products guides the overall construction, though retail parks are
often themed to give them a local flavour.
- Transport – in most large urban areas, a subway
system (e.g. the London Underground, Paris Metro, New York Subway, Hong Kong
MTR or Singapore MRT) operates using similar rules. Newly built subway systems
often use the same dimensions for carriages and door heights, as well as similar
ticketing systems. This increases the efficiency of the network by applying
international standardised systems.
- New town developments – in many urban areas,
planners have used up all the available land and instead have begun new town
projects situated just outside the urban area. As these are often constructed
quickly – over period of less than twenty years – they frequently use the same
building methods and architectural styles that are considered best practice.
The increasing globalization of communication allows these styles to be shared
quickly internationally, resulting in new towns resembling each other regardless
of the individual town’s location.
- Pedestrianized centres – due to the global
increase in wealth and the corresponding desire for private transport, many
central areas of cities face the same problem of congestion. The solutions can
vary, but frequently cities look to other cities around the world for the solution
– so pedestrianized precincts, which have been shown to work in North America
and Europe – are copied elsewhere.
- World Cities – these are nodal centres in a
global urban network. As a result they have frequent business travel and
tourism, and this encourages the cities to try to ‘out do’ one another by building
better versions of each other’s successful projects.
Factors encouraging homogenization
There are several factors that contribute
to the development of a homogenized urban landscape.
- Time-space convergence allowing more
interaction – fundamentally, the shrinking time between places means more
communication which encourages ideas to be shared
- Technology, especially communication –
ideas may be shared more quickly
- International migration and the spread of ideas –
as migrants move from one place to another, they bring architectural styles and
ideas
- A global elite – wealthy business people travel around
the world and are wiling to pay for a similar experience e.g. a chain hotel,
wherever they go. This creates demand and thus homogenization
- Global brands from TNCs and the retail
experience – TNCs operate with an economy of scale. By repeating the same
customer experience, they save money on marketing, advertising and design. It
also allows them to present themselves as part of an aspirational lifestyle,
especially in poorer countries
- Aspirations to be part of a global network of
urban centres – as cities try to encourage inward investment from TNCs, they
need to demonstrate they are among the world’s leading cities and therefore
compete with each other
- Standardisation of key infrastructure e.g.
airports, subways, building techniques – airport procedures are standardised,
including with language, throughout the world. This gradually spreads beyond
the transport nodes and into other areas e.g. English being on signs in most
major transport interchanges, alongside the language
Limits to homogenization
However, it’s obvious that cities are
different – each urban area has specific locational factors and histories,
which change the way the current city appears.
Variation is the new norm?
As cities all become more similar, we can see that this actually creates more differences within cities. For example, many cities have a Chinatown, a Little Italy, and a Little India. These contribute to the diversity within the city, suggesting that cities are becoming more heterogeneous (individual). However, as they are all gaining these types of area, does that make them more homogenous overall?
- Local geography e.g. mountains, climate – some
cities exist on entirely flat land, others on coastal deltas, others in
mountainous areas, and so on. The result is that each city has to adapt the
international standards to their local context. An example is the high-rise
nature of Hong Kong, due to the lack of available land because of the mountainous
environment. In addition, the local political context historically meant that
expansion was not possible due to the small size of the territory.
- Need to stand out – as cities compete for
investment, they aim to be individual. Most cities that are part of the global
network are building new iconic buildings (e.g. IFC and ICC in Hong Kong; La
Defense in Paris; the Shard in London; Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur). In
addition, historical buidings are often protected to ensure that the character
(the local ‘feeling’) of the city is not lost. It’s instantly possible to tell
if you are New York, London or Paris by looking at the famous buildings in
their centres.
- Tourism drives independence – tourism is a major contributor to the economy of many cities. Tourists visit to experience the unique life that city can offer; thus, local features such as specific cuisine, or style of building, remain an important part of the economy and there is an incentive to keep them going.
Variation is the new norm?
As cities all become more similar, we can see that this actually creates more differences within cities. For example, many cities have a Chinatown, a Little Italy, and a Little India. These contribute to the diversity within the city, suggesting that cities are becoming more heterogeneous (individual). However, as they are all gaining these types of area, does that make them more homogenous overall?