City

From afar, the city of San Ramon appears to be a quaint, suburban California city. However, the term “quaint” is not totally accurate. There are a multitude of beautiful homes, apartments, and schools being constructed, and have been for the last 2 decades, and there are plenty of lovely parks for people of all ages to enjoy as well. This is the community that I have spent all the years of my life; this is my hometown of San Ramon. East of the infamous metropolis of San Francisco, sits San Ramon…

In The Image of the City, Lynch discusses the meaning of “image” and how its interpreted as a cognitive map. He defines it as graphic snapshot of an urban structure. Lynch explains, the premise for reshaping what surrounds us is visual education in the image development process. This is the main condition for which an audience can be made, and in turn, for which an urban system can be manipulated, developed and analyzed. Lynch expands by saying that having the ability to visualize a clear mental…

City – to – city relationship fosters civil society participation as a component of a stronger urban governance, it also challenges the efficiency of the local governments to encourage the participation of the civil society (Bontenbal and Van Lindert, 2008). This is indicative of a strong civil awareness among the different individuals in the society. With such participation, there has been an innovation to the governance and partnerships are made and encouraged. Most partnership between cities…

Triumph of the City: Book Report The future is not Orange County. The future is not West Bloomfield, Michigan. The future is not Rye, New York. The future is Detroit. As preposterous as that statement might seem, it is one Edward Glaeser and I, both believe to be true. While suburbs are always going to be a part of the American and international lifestyle, in my opinion, they will never be the focal part of our future. Cities, on the other hand, have always been a fixture and will always be a…

There once was a place called Trap City. Trap City was a very important utopia. A utopia is like a perfect world. Trap City has many rules and regulations, but is also the place to have lots of fun and even with your family. Education, employment, and money have a major impact on the town. Many people rely on money for their lives, which makes having an education and a job very important. The environment of the city is what makes the utopia a perfect little world. The goal of this utopia is to…

Cities Make Us Smarter Triumph of the City, written by Edward Glaeser, dives into the topic of cities and how they have transformed and shaped our lives. Plastered across the cover reads, “How our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier”. Glaeser provides fantastic insights into each of these adjectives, but one stands apart from the rest. Cities make us smarter. Glaeser makes this clear when he states in the introduction, “Cities, the dense agglomerations…

compared to the Cities on the Indus. Cities on the Indus was the most advanced compared to Mesopotamia, China, and Pyramids on the Nile. They had advanced grid systems, their own form of plumbing and, they thrived in trading. For example, they used grid systems for traveling, they used plumbing and sewage systems in their homes, and they traded goods such as cotton. One of the most remarkable achievements of the Indus Valley people was their sophisticated city planning. The cities of the…

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…

The Socio-spatial Dialectic and Segregation in the Industrial and Apartheid City There is a strong correlation between the social aspect of living and the spacial aspect of living, especially in urban areas and the modern city, as defined by (Pacione, 2005). These aspects have had a significant effect on world history, such as in the industrial city and the apartheid city. The Socio-spatial Dialectic The socio-spatial dialectic (Soja, 1980), describes the interaction between space and society…

“Regenerating America’s Legacy Cities” shows perfect image of the top cities in the United States. Over the past few decades these legacy cities have experienced sustained job and population loss. This report suggests the mighty obstacles that stand in the way of fundamental change, and suggests directions by which cities can overcome those obstacles. The extremely poor conditions of Detroit and Cleveland make an author doubtful in the sense of progress. There is no demand for housing or any…