Revisiting Geography’s Key Concepts

To conclude the chapter on urban geography as well as the entire study of human geography, we can return to the five key concepts introduced at the beginning of the book–place, region, scale, space, and connection. Geographers refer to place and region to explain why every location on Earth is in some ways unique and to scale, space, and connection to explain why every location is related to other locations.

We can apply the five concepts to urban places in China. In the twenty-first century, the world’s most populous country is becoming increasingly urban. The number of people living in urban areas in China increased from 400 million in 2000 to 800 million in 2018, and the percentage of Chinese people living in urban areas increased from 31 percent in 2000 to 57 percent in 2018.

Place

A place is a specific point on Earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic. Every urban area occupies a unique location on Earth’s surface. Furthermore, an urban area itself contains a collection of unique places, such as the CBD and residential areas occupied by people with distinctive cultural and economic characteristics.

One of the world’s most distinctive urban places is Shanghai’s Pudong district (Figure 13-84). Pudong was farmland until 1993, when the government of China designated the area to be the country’s center for international finance. By 2010, Pudong’s population exceeded 5 million, and its collection of high-rise buildings has become the most common image of Shanghai.

Urban Place in China

Shanghai’s Pudong District.

Region

A region is an area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics. Urban areas have grown so large that they now constitute regions with widely varying features. Shanghai’s metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 24 million.

One of China’s most distinctive urban regions is Lhasa, the capital of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. For centuries, Lhasa was the center of Buddhist practice and the home of the Dalai Lama until he was forced to go into exile in 1959. Dominating the urban region is the Dalai Lama’s former residence, the Potala Palace, now a museum. Lhasa’s urban region, one of the highest in the world at 3,600 meters (11,800 feet), is framed by the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains, which reach an elevation of 7,090 meters (23,260 feet).

Urban Region in China

The Potala Palace, the Dalai Lama’s former residence, rises above Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Scale

Scale is the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole. Cities reflect the importance of the variety of scales, from local to global. At the local scale, cities are centers of diversity. Living in a city puts you in close proximity to people with different cultural characteristics and economic conditions. At the same time, the economic well-being and cultural vibrancy of a city depend on global economic and cultural patterns and processes.

The futuristic look and massive scale of China’s rapidly growing urban regions like Shanghai contrast with the local scale of China’s smaller, traditional urban settlements.

Urban Scale in China

Playing cards in an alley, Cangpo Ancient Village, China.

Space

Space refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects. People and activities are arranged within a city according to properties of distribution. Density declines with increasing distance from the city, though less than in the past; distinctive groups of people and activities are concentrated in various areas of the city; and the physical structure of the city such as the layout of streets follows a regular pattern.

In urban areas, space can refer to the social distance between rich and poor. Cities are increasingly centers of inequality, and China is no exception. In China’s urban areas, cars imported from Germany costing $200,000 (thanks to heavy taxes) mix in the street with bicycles, the country’s traditional form of transportation.

Urban Space in China

A woman pushes a tricycle through cars waiting at a traffic light in Xiong’an.

Connection

Connection refers to relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space. Cities are nodes of connections. They are the centers for the transportation networks that tie together cities as well as areas within cities.

China has become a world leader in innovative transportation systems. It has the most production and sales of electric vehicles. China has 25,000 kilometers (16,000 miles) of high-speed trains, two-thirds of the world total. The bullet trains carve through the countryside, connecting major and secondary urban areas (Figure 13-88).

Urban Connection in China

A high-speed train crosses farm fields near Nanning.

Pause & Reflect 13.4.5

Pick a city you are familiar with, and write a sentence describing the city in terms of each of the five key concepts of human geography.