The definition of a city may seem like it would be simple and to the point. The work of several demographers, archaeologists, and philosophers proves that the understanding of a city requires a thorough analysis. E.B. White, Kingsley Davis, Gordon Childe, Lewis Mumford, Kenneth Jackson and Robert Bruegman have their own understandings of what a city is.
White has a thought-provoking idea of a city, especially in the way he describes his visit to New York City. He feels that New York is not similar to other cities such as Paris, London, or Detroit, which alludes to the belief that not all big cities are the same. According to him, a city is broken into three types of people: natives, settlers, and commuters. In New York, there are a lot of …show more content…
Once cars became economically viable for a large demographic to own, it greatly changed how a city functioned. Jackson’s “The Drive-In Culture of America” serves as a good foundation for his claim. The addition of cars in a city leads to the necessity for adequate parking and the creation of the garage. Imagine the concept of a garage when they were first being created: you were forced to turn a part of your living room, dining room or bedroom into a place to safely park your car! (Jackson, 1985, 3). Additionally, every mall or entertainment center had to have a parking garage, which also altered the structure’s designs; they had to account for this extra needed space. Cars have turned cities into areas with high traffic jams, drive through restaurants, and therefore, a lack of connection with people. He argues that it’s easier to get in your car and drive somewhere to a fast food stop instead of walking to a local small store and seeing people …show more content…
Whyte has a very different approach than these two described so far. Whyte only extrapolated conclusions from evidence based on non-objective observations. He would set up time-lapse cameras to track the movement and patterns occurring in a plaza or urban space. He could then determine the popular areas where certain groups of people would congregate, and the time it would normally take place. For example, in the case of the city plaza, people tended to stay in direct sunlight on fair weather days and you could see the people migrate as the sun would move across the sky. This method of observation contrasts with Calvino and Perec because they did not do an intense observation on one specific
White has a thought-provoking idea of a city, especially in the way he describes his visit to New York City. He feels that New York is not similar to other cities such as Paris, London, or Detroit, which alludes to the belief that not all big cities are the same. According to him, a city is broken into three types of people: natives, settlers, and commuters. In New York, there are a lot of …show more content…
Once cars became economically viable for a large demographic to own, it greatly changed how a city functioned. Jackson’s “The Drive-In Culture of America” serves as a good foundation for his claim. The addition of cars in a city leads to the necessity for adequate parking and the creation of the garage. Imagine the concept of a garage when they were first being created: you were forced to turn a part of your living room, dining room or bedroom into a place to safely park your car! (Jackson, 1985, 3). Additionally, every mall or entertainment center had to have a parking garage, which also altered the structure’s designs; they had to account for this extra needed space. Cars have turned cities into areas with high traffic jams, drive through restaurants, and therefore, a lack of connection with people. He argues that it’s easier to get in your car and drive somewhere to a fast food stop instead of walking to a local small store and seeing people …show more content…
Whyte has a very different approach than these two described so far. Whyte only extrapolated conclusions from evidence based on non-objective observations. He would set up time-lapse cameras to track the movement and patterns occurring in a plaza or urban space. He could then determine the popular areas where certain groups of people would congregate, and the time it would normally take place. For example, in the case of the city plaza, people tended to stay in direct sunlight on fair weather days and you could see the people migrate as the sun would move across the sky. This method of observation contrasts with Calvino and Perec because they did not do an intense observation on one specific