Module 2 Urbanization script

1. Module 2 Urbanization
Module 2 focusesonurbanizationsowithinthismodule thismodulethe lessonobjectivesinclude
definingurbanization,examiningthe differenttypesof urbanization,examiningthe prosandconsof
urbanization,andillustratinghowthe differenttypesof urbanizationcanimpacthealthstatus.
We wantto lookat what urbanizationisanditisthe processbywhichcitiesgrow or by whichsocieties
become more urban.So urbanizationcouldinclude anincrease of populationwithinthe central business
districtor withinthe cityasfar more jobscomingwithinthe city,itcouldan influx of the population
withinthe city,butitcould alsomeanan influx of peoplewithinthe suburbanareas.Asthe citybecomes
more crowdedso of the communitymembersmightmove outtothe suburbanareasto avoidthe
crowds,but that isalsoconsideredurbanization.Urbanization beganduringthe industrial revolution
whenworkersmovedtowardsmanufacturinghubsandcitiestoobtainjobsinfactoriesandthat was
afteragriculture jobsoutinthe suburbanareasbecame lesscommon.
So whenwe lookat urbanization,thereare anumberof differenttypesof urbanization.Whatwe are
goingto focuson isgentrification,unevendevelopment,displacement,andurbansprawl.
Gentrificationisageneral termforthe arrival of wealthierpeople inanexistingurbandistrict,related
increase inrentsandpropertyvalues,andchangesinthe districtscharacterand culture.The termis
oftenusednegatively,suggestionthe displacementof poorcommunitiesbyrichoutsiders.Butthe
effectsof gentrificationare complex,contradictory,anditsreal impactvaries.Soif youhaven’talready,I
wantyou to watch the video“Whatit’slike togetkick outof yourneighborhood”andjustlookatsome
of the effectsthatgentrificationanddisplacementcanhave oncommunityandon changingthe culture,
changingthe environment,andalsochangingthe landscape of the communitybasedonthe population.
Alsolookat some of the effectsthatit can have on the populationitself.Whatthatmeansfor the
communitymembers,where theyare displacedto,andhow that effectstheiroverall culture.
We have seengentrificationinanumberof citiesincludingChicago,New Orleans,andSanFrancisco.So
San Franciscowas the citythat focusedoninthe video“What it’slike togetkickedoutof your
neighborhood”butwe have alsoseengentrificationinNew OrleanswhenyoulookatNew Orleanspost
Katrinaand howthe landscape of that communitychangedandhow a numberof community members
that usedto live inNewOrleanswerenolongerable toaffordtolive inNew Orleansafterthere were
some changesto the citypost the hurricane.The same thinghas happenedinChicago.InChicagothey
have developedsome of these developsthatwere calledmixedhousingandinthese mixed housing
neighborhoodstheywantedtoreduce the concentrationof povertyinthe projects.Soinsteadof having
these housingdevelopmentsthatwere focusedonjustlow income residents,theyhadthese mixed
housingdevelopmentsthatfocusedonlow income residentsandhada certainnumberof unitsfor
those lowincome residents,butthentheyalsohadunitsthatwere inthe same apartmentcomplex or
the same housingunitforcommunitymembersthat hada highersocioeconomicstatus.Whatendedup
happeningwasthatthose that hada highersocioeconomicstatuswouldjustbuyoutthose unitsthat
were supposedtobe usedforthose of lowersocioeconomicstatus.Soitstill became ahousingunitfor
those of highersocioeconomicstatusinsteadof beingamixedhousingdevelopmentasthe cityhad
originallyplanned.

2. Anotherexampleof urbanizationisunevendevelopment.Unevendevelopmenthappenswhenyou
buildupone communityandthe communitynextto itsuffersforthe developmentswithinthe adjacent
community.Forexample,if youhave acommunityandyou wantto make it more appeasable totourist
or you wantto make it more functional forcommunitymembersandyoubuilditupwithmore shopsor
more access to bettermedical care,alot of time the businessesthatare inthe communityrightnextto
it,will leave thatcommunityandgoto the othercommunitywhere theyhave more opportunitiesfor
economicdevelopment.Sothe communitynexttothatthrivingcommunityorthatnewlybuiltup
communitysuffersfromthe businessesthatare inthe area leaving,the accesstomedical care,or the
hospitalsorthe clinicsthatwere theninthe area, movingtoa more economicallystable areaandthat’s
whatyou call unevendevelopment.Anexample of unevendevelopmentisthe TrinityRiverExpansion
ProjectinDallas.Onone side theybuiltupthe TrinityRiverExpansionanddidanumberof shopsand
walkability factorswithinthatarea,butthe area of CadillacHeightswhichsitsrightbehinditsuffered
fromthembuildingupthe TrinityRiverExtensionProject. Sothere were persistentdifferencesinlevels
of ratesof economicdevelopmentbetweenthe differentsectorswithinthiscommunityDallas.Sowhile
one neighborhoodprofitedandbenefitedfromall of these differentexpansionsanddevelopments
withintheircommunity,itaffectedthe communityadjacenttoitin a negative way.
Anotherurbanizationtype isUrbanSprawl.Whenyoulookaturban sprawl thisreallyfocusesonthe
suburbanneighborhoods.Soyouhave aninflux of communitymembersorparticipantsthatmove out
intothe suburbanareas,thenthat isconsideredurbansprawl.Withurbansprawl there are both
positive effectsandnegative effects.The positive effectsof urbansprawl isthatthere islesscongestion
inthe suburbanareasthenthere isinthe actuallycityandthenyou are alsoable toget more landand
typicallyable togetmore house forthe moneythat youwouldpayfor one inthe city. Onthe downside
of urbansprawl,there istypicallylessphysical activityinsuburbanareasbecause youare notable to
walkto the store or to school or to the parkbecause thingsare so far apart so youtypicallyhave toget
inyour car anddrive to those placeswhichdecreasesyourphysical activity.Alsowithurban sprawl in
increasesthe congestionandtrafficforthose thathave to drive intowork.A lotof the jobsare actually
foundinthe city so if youlive ina suburbanarea,but yourjobis inthe cityyouare one of the onesthat
has to use yourcar to getintothe citywhichincreasesthatcongestion.
So there are a numberof prosand cons to urbanization.If youjustsitdownandthinkaboutsome of the
differentthingsthatcouldhappenbasedontheirbeingabigcongestionwithinthe cityorbig
congestionwithinsuburbanareas.Sosome of the pros of urbanizationincludebetterlivingconditions
or housingfacilitieswithinthe central businessdistrictorwithinthe city,growthintaxes forthe local
government,anincrease inthe cultural diversityof the community,providesmore conveniencefor
residentsespeciallyinthe citywhenitiswalkableandyouare able to walkfromthe store to home,to
school,todifferentshopsanddifferentrestaurants,andthenmore accesstoemploymentespeciallyin
the city setting.Some of the consisit couldleadto poorlivingconditions.If youare livinginacity and
youare congestedandpeople are livingrightnexttoeachotherwhenone person getssickthenyourun
the riskof otherpeople gettingsick.The same thinginasuburbanarea.You will have lessaccessto
healthcare because youactuallyhave todrive there soif youlacktransportationthatcouldput youat
riskto have poor living conditionsandpoorhealthconditions.Whichgoeswithpooraccesstoquality
healthcare,highwaycongestions,unequal livingopportunities,if youare livinginasuburbanareabut
all of the jobsare inthe city andyou lacktransportationyouare at a risk of eitherbeingunemployedor
underemployedbasedonwhere youlive.Lossof lowerwage employeesinthe central businessdistrict,

3. lack of employmentopportunitiesinthe rural areas,increasedneedforpublictransportation,an
increase intaxesand tollsroads,andan increase inthe crime rates.
So there a numberof thingsthathave beenputintoplace to combat some of the issueswith
urbanizationandone of those isfooddeserts.A fooddesertisconsideredageographicareawhere
residents’accesstoaffordable,healthyfoodoptions(especiallyfreshfruitsandvegetables)isrestricted
or nonexistentdue tothe absence of grocerystoreswithinconvenienttravelingdistance.Sowhenyou
lookat fooddeserts,alot of those fooddesertare either because there isalackof transportationfor
those communitymembersorbecause there hasbeensome unevendevelopment.The healthyfoods
optionshave movedintoanarea thatis more fiscallysound,leavingthe areathatmightnothave all of
the amenitiesasthe newlydevelopedareasothe communitymembersthatare inthat area now where
theydon’thave accessto healthyfruitsandvegetables.If youlookatthe USDA.govwebsite thatison
the slides,itwill giveyouanideaof where those fooddeserts are andwhatareas are more prone to
fooddeserts.There are fooddesertsinyourownbackyard.So justacross the streetfromyoumightbe a
fooddesertbasedonwhatis offeredandif there isaccessto healthyfruitsandvegetables.Inthe same
token,there are a lotof communitiesthathave solutionsforthese fooddeserts,suchashavingalocal
co-opor a local farmersmarketforcommunitymembersandalsohavingdifferent recreation centersto
assistthe communitymembersinlearninghow tocookand learninghow touse some of the local
resourcesinorderto buildahealthierlifestyle.There are alsodifferentoptionsfortransportationtoget
to some of those grocerystoresor to get to some of those farmersmarketsfor some community
memberstohelptocombat some of the issuesthatare relatedtofooddeserts.
Anotherprojectthathas beendevelopedtoaddresssome of the issueswithurbanizationare Blue
Zones.Imentionedearlierthaturbanizationcanimpactthe physical activityof a population because
thingsare so far apart that the walkabilityof neighborhoodcanbe impactespeciallyinsuburban
neighborhoods.Soaprojectcame aboutcalledBlue Zonesanditis a conceptthat describes
characteristiclifestylesandthe environmentsof the world’slongest-livedpeople.Withinthose
characteristicstheyinclude the familybeingputaheadof otherconcerns,lesssmokingornosmoking,
semi-vegetarianism, constantmoderate activity,social engagement,andanincrease inlegumes.Andso
withall of those,youare developingaBlue Zone forthe entire community.Soone of the examplesthat
isin the Fort Worth,Texascommunityisdoinga walkable busora walkable school buswhere the
studentsare notactuallyusingthe bus,but theyare walkingina pack to school whichincreasestheir
physical activity.Havingsmokingordinanceswithinthe cityisalsopart of the Blue Zonesproject,where
youare not allowedtosmoke inrestaurantoryouare not allowedtosmoke within50feetof a certain
buildingandthathelpstodecrease the smokinginacommunityandispart of the Blue Zone project.So
for thismodule,Ialsoencourage youtodo yourreadingand to make sure youwatch the videoon
urbanization(it’sveryenlightening) andalsotocomplete your module essaysothatyoucan include
your insightonthe module andhowyoufeel urbanizationimpactsthe healthandthe lifestyle of a
population.