Answers to Thinking Geographically Questions

Figure 10.1: Although less developed countries are seeing massive movements of people to cities, they started with very low urbanization rates. In many such countries, farming is still very labor intensive, requiring that many farmers remain on the land in order to meet even minimal food needs.

Figure 10.2: More people continue to live close to the central business district in developing countries, and there are fewer shopping malls and big-box stores. If there are such commercial outlets, they tend to be more centrally located than is the case in many North American cities.

Figure 10.3: Comparison of Figures 10.3 and 8.16 shows that the Nile Valley was a place of early urbanization but not of early plant domestication. Plant cultivation diffused to the Nile Valley from Mesopotamia. Similarly, there was a large center of early food production in north-central South America but no center of early urbanization there.

Figure 10.4: With each wall containing three gates, making 12 in all, they could represent months.

Figure 10.5: Protecting the stored food supply was one of the most important roles of a city.

Figure 10.6: The building is in the middle of the city. Examples would include state and national capitols and courthouses in the United States. The residences of leaders are often large and imposing, such as the White House, royal palaces, and many governors’ mansions.

Figure 10.7: Conquerors often establish urban centers first as military camps and then as centers of authority and power.

Figure 10.8: Class A cities are the world’s leading cities in the eastern United States and Western Europe, as well as Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Other cities are in developed countries, with Class C cities in emerging countries of East Asia and Latin America—where multinational corporations are building plants.

Figure 10.9: With San Francisco’s location on a major geological fault line, the use of fill makes it vulnerable to earthquake damage.

Figure 10.10: As they grow, cities may face limited room for expansion. Connections with the hinterland, which may be across water, are also difficult and expensive to provide.

Figure 10.11: There was a great deal of warfare among small powers in Europe at that time, and the abbey needed to be able to defend itself.

Figure 10.12: Many cities in the East were established at bridging points or heads of navigation. In the West and Midwest, towns were often located where railroads crossed rivers.

Figure 10.13: The point has water on two sides, with only one landward side to be defended.

Figure 10.14: Most of these cities were sited in places that were favorable for trade, especially for seaports. That makes them vulnerable to coastal storms and flooding and in some cases to earthquakes.

Figure 10.15: Las Vegas started as a stopover point on pioneer trails to the west and became a popular railroad town in the early twentieth century. It was a staging point for local mines but declined when the railroads were built. The completion of Hoover Dam and the resulting Lake Mead increased tourism, and gambling was legalized in 1931. Casino developers were likely attracted by the flat, extremely inexpensive land; harsh desert conditions would cause people to remain indoors, where they would be more likely to gamble. Las Vegas also grew largely because of the influx of scientists and staff involved with the Manhattan Project, the atomic bomb research project.

Figure 10.16: It is most likely in flat terrain, where topographical features offer little or no interference.

Figure 10.17: Since the model is based on distance from a central point, the ideal shape would be a circle. However, circles don’t tessellate; there would be gaps or overlaps. The closest shape to a circle that does tessellate is a hexagon.

Figure 10.18: The houses are built of cinder blocks and have regular windows and doors. There is a paved sidewalk in front. Two television antennae are also visible.

Figure 10.19: Nonwhites are the low-paid labor force for the industries. They are also relegated to the land that is likely to be subject to fumes and noise from the industrial activities.

Figure 10.20: This modern commercial and residential complex has been built in an architectural style that would be equally at home in other global cities such as New York, Paris, or Sydney.

Figure 10.21: In North American cities, high-rise bank office buildings would likely be built in the center of the city regardless of the historic sites displaced. In some cities (for example, Boston and Philadelphia), they are built in a different part of the center city from historic sites. In any case, they are similarly located in being close to public transportation such as a Metro or subway.