Abstract
The debate over the definition of the city and the elements of the urbanization process has a long history in the social sciences. These debates highlighted the significant differences in social outcomes between studies that defined cities as social entities and those that examined cities as strictly social processes. With increasing interest in environmental and resource management concerns, the debate over what a city is and what are the processes of urbanization have taken on even greater importance. While, in one sense, it has become easier to identify “the urban” due to new imaging and mapping technologies, taking the definition of cities as simply entities has important consequences for our ability to identify sustainable pathways. There is much that environmental and ecological studies can bring to the definition of the city, but a there is also much that these studies can learn from previous social research. By focusing on cities as entities and ignoring social processes, these new studies may conflate numerous developmental processes, and at the same time ignore the fundamental aspects that define the urban, resulting in a misunderstanding of social, economic and environmental consequences.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This term is suggested as an alternative to “Anthropocene,” as anthropos (humans) are fundamentally and primarily astos (urban).
References
Amin, A., & Graham, S. (1999). Cities of connection and disconnection. In J. Allen, D. Massey, & M. Pryke (Eds.),Unsettling cities(pp. 7–38). London: Routledge in association with The Open University.
Bairoch, P. (1988).Cities and economic development, from the dawn of history to the present.Chicago: (Translated by Christopher Braider) University of Chicago Press.
Berry, B. J. L. (1973).The human consequences of urbanization. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Brockerhoff, M. P. (2000). An urbanizing world.Population Bulletin, 55(3), 1–44.
Brown, L. (2001).Eco-economy, building an economy for the earth. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Brown, L., & Jacobson, J. L. (1987).The future of urbanization: Facing the ecological and economic constraints. Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute.
Brown, M. A., Southworth, F., & Sarzynski, A. (2008).Shrinking the carbon footprint of Metropolitan America. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Metropolitan Policy Program.
Carter, H. (1983).An introduction to urban historical geography. London: Edward Arnold.
Chase-Dunn, C. K. (1975). The system of world cities, A.D. 800–1975. In M. Timberlake (Ed.),Urbanization in the world-economy( pp. 269–292). London: Academic Press, Inc`.
Chase-Dunn, C. K., & Manning, E. S. (2002). City systems and world systems: Four millennia of city growth and decline.Cross-Cultural Research, 36(4), 379–398.
Childe, V. G. (1950). The urban revolution.Town Planning Review, 21(1), 3–17.
Collins, J. P., Kinzig, A., Grimm, N. B., Fagan, W. F., Hope, D., Wu, J., & Borer, E. T. (2000). A new urban economy.American Scientist, 88(5), 416–425.
Corbyn, Z. (2010, July 16). Ecologists shun the urban jungle; Only one in six papers tackles inhabited areas.Nature. doi: 10.1038/news.2010.359.
Davis, K. (1972). World urbanization 1950–1970: The urban situation in the world as a whole.World Urbanization(Population Monograph Series no. 9). Berkeley: University of California.
Dodman, D. (2009). Blaming cities for climate change? An analysis of urban greenhouse gas emissions inventories.Environment and Urbanization, 21(1), 185–201.
Dodman, D., & Satterthwaite, D. (2009, March 12–13). Are cities really to blame?Urban world.
Douglas, I. (1981). The city as an ecosystem.Progress in Physical Geography, 5(3), 315–367.
Durkheim, E. (1984) [orig. 1893].The division of labor in society. New York: (Translated by W.D. Halls) Free Press.
Forman, R. T. T., & Godron, M. (1986).Landscape ecology. New York: Wiley.
Friedmann, J. (1986). The world city hypothesis.Development and Change, 17, 69–83.
Friedmann, J. (2002).The prospect of cities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Friedmann, J., & Miller, J. (1965). The urban field.Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 31(4), 312–320.
Gordon, D. (1978). Capitalist development and the history of American cities. In W. K. Tabb & L. Sawers (Eds.),Marxism and the metropolis(pp. 25–63). New York: Oxford University Press.
Gottmann, J. (1961).Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. Vol. The Twentieth Century Fund,New York. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund
Gottmann, J. (1976). Megalopolitan systems around the world.Ekistics, 243, 109–113.
Grimm, N. B., Grove, J. M., Pickett, S. T. A., & Redman, C. L. (2000). Integrated approaches to long-term studies of urban ecological systems.BioScience, 50(7), 571–584.
Harvey, D. (1989).The urban experience. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Harvey, D. (1990).The condition of postmodernity. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Institute for Urban Strategies. (2010).Global power city index 2010. Tokyo: The Mori Memorial Foundation.
Jacobs, J. (1969).The economy of cities. New York: Vintage Books.
Lefebvre, H. (2003).The urban revolution. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lo, F.-c., & Yeung, Y.-m. (Eds.) (1998).Globalization and the world of large cities. Tokyo: United Nations University.
Machlis, G. E., Force, J. E., William, J., & Burch, R. (1997). The human ecosystem part I: The human ecosystem as an organization concept in ecosystem management.Society & Natural Resources, 10, 347–367.
Maine, H. (1861).Ancient law. New York: H. Holt and company.
Marcotullio, P. J. (2005).Time-space telescoping and urban environmental transitions in the Asia Pacific. Yokohama: United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies.
Marcotullio, P. J., de Sherbinin, A. & Baptista, S. (2012). Urbanization, poverty and ecosystem degradation. In F. DeClerck, J. C. Ingram & C. R. del Rio (Eds.),Integrating Ecology into Poverty Alleviation and International Development Efforts: A Practical Guide. Springer Verlag, pp. 101–124.
Massey, D. S. (1996). The age of extremes: Concentrated affluence and poverty in the twenty-first century.Demography, 33(4), 395–412.
McDonnell, M. J., & Pickett, S. T. A. (1991). Comparative analysis of ecosystems along gradients of urbanization: Opportunities and limitations. In J. J. Cole, G. M. Lovett, & S. E. G. Findlay (Eds.),Comparative analyses of ecosystems, patterns, mechanisms and theories(pp. 351–255). New York: Springer.
McDonnell, M. J., Pickett, S. T. A., Groffman, P., Bohlen, P., Pouyat, R. V., Zipperer, W. C., Parmelee, R. W., Carreiro, M. M., & Medley, K. (1997). Ecosystem processes along an urban-to-rural gradient.Urban Ecosystems, 1(1), 21–36.
McDonnell, M. J., Hahs, A. K., & Breuste, J. H. (Eds.). (2009).Ecology of cities and towns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McGee, T. G. (1991). The emergence ofDesakotaregions in Asia: Expanding a hypothesis. In N. Ginsburg, B. Koppel, & T. G. McGee (Eds.),The extended metropolis, settlement transition in Asia(pp. 3–25). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
McGee, T. G. (1995). Metrofitting the emerging mega-urban regions of ASEAN. In T. G. McGee & I. M. Robinson (Eds.),The mega-urban regions of Southeast Asia(pp. 3–26). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
McGranahan, G., Marcotullio, P. J., et al. (2005). Urban systems, Chapter 27. In Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Ed.),Current state and trends: Findings of the condition and trends working group. Ecosystems and human well-being(Vol. 1, pp. 795–825). Washington, DC: Island Press.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005).Ecosystems and human well-being, Vol. 1 Current state and trends. Washington, DC: Island Press.
NcIntyre, N. E., Knowles-Yanez, K., & Hope, D. (2000). Urban ecology as an interdisciplinary field: Differences in the use of “urban” between the social and natural sciences.Urban Ecosystems, 4(1), 5–24.
Odum, E. (1991). Earth stewardship.Pan Ecology, 6(5).
Pacione, M. (2001).Urban geography, a global perspective. London: Routledge.
Peter, J. Marcotullio, P. J., de Sherbinin, A., & Baptista, S. (2012). Urbanization, poverty and ecosystem degradation. In F. DeClerck, J. C. Ingram, & C. Rumbaitis del Rio (Eds.), Integrating ecology into poverty alleviation and international development efforts: A practical guide (pp. 101–124). New York: Springer.
Redfield, R. (1953).Primitive world and its transformations. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Robinson, J. (2002). Global and world cities: A view from off the map.International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 26(3), 531–554.
Robinson, J. (2004). In the tracks of comparative urbanism: Difference, urban modernity and the primitive.Urban Geography, 25(8), 709–723.
Sassen, S. (1991).The global city: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Sassen, S. (1994).Cities in a world economy. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Satterthwaite, D. (2007). The transition to a predominantly urban world and its underpinnings.IIED Human settlements discussion paper series. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.
Schneider, A., Friedl, M. A., & Potere, D. (2009). A new map of global urban extent from MODIS satellite data.Environmental Research Letters, 4(044003), 1–11.
Seto, K. C., Sanchez-Rodriquez, R., & Fragkias, M. (2010). The new geography of contemporary urbanization and the environment.Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 35(4), 1–28.
Short, J. R., & Kim, Y.-H. (1999).Globalization and the city. London: Longman.
Simmel, G. (1997) [orig. 1903]. The metropolis and mental life. In D. Frisby & M. Featherstone (Eds.),Simmel on culture. London: Sage Publisher.
Skole, D. L. (2004). Geography as a great intellectual melting pot and the preeminent interdisciplinary environmental discipline.Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94(4), 739–743.
Soja, E. W. (2000).Postmetropolis, critical studies of cities and regions. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Srinivas, H. (2000). Focusing on the real environmental culprits – Urban areas: UNU’s City Inspirations Initiative.Global Environmental Change, 10, 233–236.
Stage, J., Stage, J., & McGranahan, G. (2009).Is urbanization contributing to higher food prices?London: International Institute for Environment and Development and UNFPA.
Sterns, F., & Montag, T. (Eds.). (1974).The urban ecosystem: A holistic approach. Stroudsburg: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
Sumner, G. W. (1906).Folkways. Boston: Ginn Publishers.
Sutton, P. C., Anderson, S. J., Elvidge, C. D., Tuttle, B. T., & Ghosh, T. (2009). Paving the planet: Impervious surface as a proxy of human ecological footprint.Progress in Physical Geography, 33(4), 510–527.
Taylor, P. J. (2004).World city network, a global urban analysis. London: Routledge.
Timberlake, M. (2010). Introduction: What are cities? In R. Paddison & M. Timberlake (Eds.),Urban studies, economy, Vol. 1, What are cities?(pp. xxxiii–xl). London: Sage.
Tisdale, H. (1942). The process of urbanization.Social Forces, 20(3), 311–316.
Tonnies, F. (1955) [orig. 1887].Community and society. New York: Harper & Row.
UNFPA. (2007).State of the world population: Unleashing the potential of urban growth. New York: United Nations Population Fund.
Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. (1996).Our ecological footprint. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers.
Webber, M. (1963). Order in diversity: Community without propinquity. In L. Wingo (Ed.),Cities and space: The future use of urban land. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press.
Weber, M. (1958).The city. New York: (Translated and edited by D. Martindale and G. Neuwirth).
Weber, A. F. (1967) [orig. 1899].The growth of cities in the nineteenth century, a study in statistics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press (Originally published by Macmillan).
Wheatley, P. (1971).The pivot of the four quarters: Preliminary enquiry into the origins and character of the ancient Chinese City. Chicago: Aldine.
White, M., & White, L. (1962).The intellectual versus the city, from Thomas Jefferson to Frank Lloyd Wright. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wirth, L. (1938). Urbanism as a way of life.American Journal of Sociology, 44(1), 1–24.
Wolman, M. G. (2004). The more things change.Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94(4), 723–728.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Marcotullio, P.J., Solecki, W. (2013). What Is a City? An Essential Definition for Sustainability. In: Boone, C., Fragkias, M. (eds) Urbanization and Sustainability. Human-Environment Interactions, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5666-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5666-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5665-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5666-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)