1. Explain the statement "Urbanization will spread along lines of transportation."
2. At first glance, gentrification would seem to be a good thing. Middle class families move into depressed areas of a city, restoring historic buildings and increasing business in an area. But gentrification is often severely criticized by advocates for the poor and affordable housing. Why do you think this is?
3. Your geography department receives a request to brief your U.S. senators about the modern problems of U.S. cities. List two environmental, two economic, and two social problems facing cities today, telling why each is important and outlining their spatial components. Suggest geographic research methods you would use to study these problems in more depth.
4. Celebrating the growth of cities in the nineteenth century, Marx believed migration to urban centers had saved much of the European population from "a life of rural idiocy." What benefits do you think Marx believed cities provided, which the countryside did not? Do these assumptions in any way help explain the revival of some American cities in recent years? Why do so many young people flock to New York and other major urban centers?
5. Consider the economic base of the city or town where you live. Does the city specialize in one or two basic sectors or is it well-diversified? What are the challenges for a city with just one or two specialized functions as its economic base? What are the advantages of having a diversified economic base?
6. Although the rank-size rule and primate city is generally applied to countries, urban hierarchy patterns can be found on a regional scale as well. Look at a map of the state you are living in. Does the size of the major cities reflect a rank-size or a primate city hierarchy? What historical, physical or cultural factors might account for the hierarchal pattern in your state?
