June 9, 2023 Anthropology 201 – Cities and Urban Life -4th lecture Chapter 6 titled “Spatial Perspectives: Making Sense of Space”, analyzes and explains the relationship between cities and the geographic environment in which cities are _located_; and their design ,configuration and zones of streets, buildings-structures and parks. As I mentioned previously, I subscribe to the theory that business , jobs and political economics are the main determining factors of the characteristics of a city, including its spatial perspectives, population, etc. Thus , regarding geographic location , the text says at P. 149, “ …the advantage of such sites for stimulating trade is enormous.” Or regarding spatial configuration, at P. 148, “ In the 1920’s, however coincident with rise of the movie industry, Los Angeles began to grow rapidly. As its population surged, the city became a bowl-shaped collection of outlying suburban communities. “ Or, “As Los Angeles, expanded, people settled in the mountains themselves, with streets “ forever ribbing and probing further into [the] perimeter hills, twisting like rising water ever higher, ever deeper into their canyons, and sometimes bursting through to deserts beyond” . Or Houston, located near East Texas oil fields, this city has been booming since the 1950’s. Between 1970 and 2014, its population grew by 83% from 1.2 million to 2.2 million. Because of oil – every major oil company has offices in Houston – and cheap shipping of oil via the Gulf of Mexico, the city has one of the busiest ports in the country and the nation’s largest port in international tonnage. Page 151 of the text says, “environmental, economic and social factors play a role in creating an urban area .” However, when we examine specific examples , economic factors predominate; environmental factors are most influential through economics. The text at P. 443, has an INDEX item “Detroit , Michigan” listing all pages where Detroit is discussed in the book. Also, here is a link to analysis of Detroit’s geographic location : https://detroithistorical.org/sites/default/files/lessonPlans/FiveThemesGeographyFINAL.pdf Maps There is a map of “Percentage of Persons Who Are Black in Detroit, 2010” on P.297 of the text. You have handouts of 2 maps of the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan Area. By them you can picture the some of the spatial configurations of those cities. Here are links to sites on Detroit Buildings, Places and Landmarks: https://historicdetroit.org/buildings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Detroit