Monday, February 5, 2007

What is Urban?

I had trouble loading my Powerpoint slides-- so here is what i got, except much less fancy:

Encarta’s Definition: Of city, relating to or belonging to a city

Criticisms: this definition leads us to ask what is a city? exactly how big is a city?
when we say city do we mean the city limits or the metropolis which is the area that the city overflows its geographic/political limits
Answers.com’s definitions:
Of, relating to, or located in a city.
Characteristic of the city or city life.
Relating to cities or intensively developed areas. Contrast with rural, which refers to sparsely developed areas, or Suburb, which is a moderately developed area.

Criticisms:
This definition seems more comprehensive than Encarta’s because it contrasts what is “urban” with what is “rural” and “suburban” thus giving us some context.

My Definition:
Of or relating/belonging to a diverse, densely populated area (one that has been modified by the activities of its inhabitants and is composed of both the built and the natural environment) in which people live and work
Criticisms:
There are far too many aspects of what is “urban” to enable us to truly define what urban is, but this definition provides some base-line characteristics





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