Definitions and harmonizing polices of the urban concept

Definitions and harmonizing polices of the urban concept dr. László JENEY associate professor jeney@elte. hu Economic Foundations of Local Development Module 1/b: Urban and Rural development by sectors Autumn term 2017/2018. CUB Department of Economic Geography and Futures Studies

Urban concept n General characteristics of the towns: – Their role (functions): ‚important’ places – Their demographic features: larger population number, population density, heterogeneous society – Image: suiting to the crowd n Lack of unified official definition of the concept of the towns, it varies: – In space: geographic places/cultures – In time: historical periods – In different disciplines

1. Geographic differences of the concept of the town n Towns with different size in different societies, depending on: – Environmental factors – Available material for buildings – Economic structure n Basis of urban–rural separation differs – Less developed countries: agriculture is still determinant economic structure (weight of agriculture) matters – Developed world: agriculture is not determinant in villages population density matters n Critical population number varies in different countries for definition of the towns – Scandinavia: over 200 residents – Some Asian countries: more 10 thousand residents

2. Dynamic change of the concept of the town – long term visible elements feautures of feudal towns features of modern towns Walls of the towns Densely built-up areas + high rise buildings n For the security of the seats No significance of the walls n Etymological relation between the words n of castle and citizen / German (‚Burg’ n Towns exceeds their limits and ‚Bürger’), Hungarian (‚vár’ and n Walls are unable to defend ‚város’) n Image of towns suits to the crowd non-visible elements Free rights Urban behaviour More civil society less significance of n Paradoxon: citizens behind the walls are n more free additional rights n Independence from the landlords: n New World: lack of Middle Ages: critical ‚Stadtluft macht frei’ population number instead of city rights n Importance of the additional city rights: n Globalization: consuming society, trade, own taxes, judgement, selfrecreating culture governance

2. Dynamic change of the concept of the town – short term n n Example of Hungarian practise in definition of towns Socialism: advantages of city right less new towns – 1971: introduction of the Settlement-development Concept 1. Better position at state permissions and supports 2. Location of institutions and higher level of council and party organisations – Smallest town, 1970: Szigetvár – app. 10 thousand residents n ‚Urban boom’ (2012: 328) – From 1985: cancellation of the Settlement-development Concept, settlement policy is facing towards the disadvantageous areas easier way of getting the urban right – Smallest town, 2012: Pálháza – below 1 thousand residents, 185 towns below 10 thousand residents decreasing average size of towns

Number of towns in Hungary, 1885– 2010

3. Different approaches in different disciplines in definition of towns n n The disciplines dealing with towns are not unified Urban characteristics is different in various professional areas – – Geography: central functions Public administration: urban right Sociology: social distribution: multicultural + polarized Urban architecture / Urbanistics: more densely built settlement + high buildings

Characteristics of towns 1. Their functions economic–functional urban concept A. Many-sided and central function within the settlement network B. Low significance of agriculture 2. Their demographic features social–statistical urban concept A. Higher population number B. Higher population density 3. Appearance image–urbanistic urban concept A. More crowded building structure B. Higher average floor number n n Their significance if different in various periods But: these remained urban feature currently as well

Economic–functional urban concept period village town determinant urban feature 1. at the beginning of agricultural character more functional the urbanization difference: diversity of activities, functional abundance 2. after the Industrial agricultural character industrial character Revolution more economic difference: economic structure 3. nowadays, only for services the developed world more functional difference: high-level, central institutions services

Social–statistical urban concept n Population number – Towns/cities vs. villages n Population density – Urban areas/cities vs. rural areas

Types of cities n In functional term – Global cities: Saskia Sassen – World cities: Patrick Geddes, John Friedman, Peter J. Taylor n In demographical term – Megapolises / megacities: over 10 mn – Metropolises: 1– 10 mn – Regional cities: 500 th – 1 mn n n Industrial Revolution: largest cities ≈ world cities Demographic explosion: mega cities ≠ world cities – Eu: sub-/ex- and dez-/counter-urbanization slower increase of cities not characteristic (only Istanbul and Moscow) – Global peripheries: appearance of megapolises parallel with the demographic explosion of the 20 th century n Nowadays: mega cities have more global functions

Lack of regional cities in East Central Europe n n Polycentric city-network – only in Poland One regional city with no metropolis: capitals of smaller countries with young independence – Croatia, Moldavia, Latvia, Lithuania No regional city after the metropolis: Hungary, Czechia, Romania, Bulgaria Lack of cities: smallest countries with young independence: Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia

Classification of the Hungarian cities by their population number, 2012 Urban size category Population number (persons) Cities belonging to the category number Total population Population share (%) City 500 th < 1 1740041 25 Megacity (megapolis) 10 mn < 0 0 0 Worldcity (metropolis) 1– 10 mn 1 1740041 25 Regional city 500 th – 1 mn 0 0 0 Mid-size town 20– 500 th 58 3036575 44 Small town < 20 th 269 2162686 31 328 69309302 100 Total

Urban and rural areas in the European Union according to the definition of the OECD n n n Predominantly urban regions: rural population less than 15% of the total population of the NUTS 3 region Intermediate regions: rural population between 15 and 50 % of the total population of the NUTS 3 region Predominantly rural regions: rural population is 50% or more of the total population of the NUTS 3 region

Urban and rural areas in the European Union according to the definition of the EU n n n Predominantly urban regions: rural population less than 20% of the total population of the NUTS 3 region Intermediate regions: rural population between 20 and 50 % of the total population of the NUTS 3 region Predominantly rural regions: rural population is 50% or more of the total population of the NUTS 3 region – This typology is based on a definition of urban and rural 1 km 2 grid cells – Critical population density: 300 inhabitants per km 2 – Critical population: 5000 res.

Tallest cities of the world (by the average height of their 10 tallest buildings) Rank City 2001 1. New York Feet 1010. 4 Rank City 2011 Feet 1. Dubai 1176. 1 2. Chicago 995. 1 2. Hong Kong 1080. 9 3. Kuala Lumpur 852. 1 3. Chicago 1036. 5 4. Hong Kong 839. 6 4. Shanghai 1010. 3 5. Houston 809. 8 5. Guangzhou 945. 7 6. Toronto 776. 3 6. New York 940. 8 7. Singapore 772. 3 7. Shenzhen 907. 1 8. Los Angeles 767. 1 8. Kuala Lumpur 897. 7 9. Tokio 754. 3 9. Singapore 835. 8 10. Shanghai 747. 1 10. Pusan 834. 5