Trends |
The three trends (economic, poverty and class, and immigration and racial) help to explain the spatial configuration of Boulder, Colorado. The identified trends also explain the cultivation of the city's reputation of valuing a healthy lifestyle and preservation efforts, and as a center for “technology start-ups and other entrepreneurial endeavors” (67). Below explains the basis behind each trend.
The economics of a city provides insight into the spatial configuration of cities and how industry has influenced its structure. The ideal that, “Economic activity has an inescapable impact on the spatial form of the city: cities must accommodate economic activities” (61) is a major impact on places, and is displayed in the urban landscape. The shift in economies from manufacturing to service industries over the past 50 years has had pronounced effects on cities. Shifts have made economic restructuring vital, along with the presence of basic economic activities, which has been an easier transition for some cities more than others (64). The socio-economics of a city pertains to economic segregation and sprawl, immigration, and poverty. Economic segregation, the act of socially and physically placing distance from other income groups, is negatively affecting both the poor and the wealthy in dissimilar ways. The established trend of moving further from the urban center creates a sprawling effect, which has tolls on the area’s neighborhoods and the environment. Sprawl also reaffirms “the right of municipalities to discriminate on the basis of income” (69) and the spatial separations of economic classes through push and pull forces. A phenomenon also arises where places that become poor or impoverished tend to stay that way, creating numerous disadvantages. This is why place matters considerably because “where we live can determine our income, just as our income determines where we live” (63); and is especially telling where interurban mobility, internal migration and international migration will occur (71). The trends are intertwined in the spatial structure. Economic trends largely dictate the industry and growth of a region, which affects the workforce and existing socio-economics. |