Deck 6: Urban Political Economy, the New Urban Sociology, and the Power of Place

Question 1

One major criticism of the Chicago School's ecological model is that it…

A)overemphasizes social psychological factors.
B)puts too much emphasis on social class and inequality.
C)underemphasizes the role of competition and the market.
D)underplays the importance of political and economic factors.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Urban ecology assumed that "natural forces" and open free market competition caused urban patterns.This view was not viable because…

A)extensive governmental intervention policies affected cities.
B)widespread competition over urban imagery lead to urban conflict.
C)the important role of the biotic sphere became more evident.
D)the concentric zone model was clearly important.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The inadequacies of urban ecology were apparent because the continuing poverty and urban riots of the early- and mid-1960s were due to…

A)size, density, and heterogeneity.
B)racial and class inequalities.
C)Keno capitalism.
D)signs and symbols.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

If you think that social, economic, and political factors shape the growth and development, and the decline and fall of cities, you are taking a/an ________ perspective.

A)urban political economy
B)symbolic interactionist
C)urban ecological
D)subcultural

Question 5

For urban geographer David Harvey, space is not just a physical phenomenon but also a(n)…

A)economic phenomenon.
B)architectural phenomenon.
C)biotic phenomenon.
D)cultural phenomenon.

Question 6

In developing his approach to urban political economy, David Harvey goes beyond symbolic interactionism by…

A)emphasizing the importance of cultural interpretations of space.
B)emphasizing that symbols and cultural factors are completely independent of anything else.
C)suggesting that the social construction of symbols is tied to the manipulation of economic and political interests.
D)ignoring symbols completely.

Question 7

If you were emphasizing the role of profit in shaping the physical form of cities, you would be taking the perspective of…

A)David Harvey.
B)Louis Wirth.
C)Jane Jacob.
D)Ernest Burgess.

Question 8

David Harvey differs from most social scientists in that, in addition to describing and analyzing the built environment, he…

A)thinks social scientists should run for political office to make a difference.
B)advocates urban development based on competitive bidding for land use.
C)wants to establish "eyes on the street" to ensure responsible urban development.
D)suggests that social scientists take an advocacy approach.

Question 9

In his research, David Harvey describes the transformation of Baltimore from a(n) ________ city to a(n) ________ city.

A)agricultural; industrial
B)Gemeinschaft; Gesellschaft
C)industrial; deindustrialized
D)capitalist; socialist

Question 10

David Harvey calls Baltimore a "developer's utopia," referring to its Inner Harbor renewal, the construction of sports stadiums, and other projects.He reports that compared to 1969, Baltimore now has…

A)more vacant and abandoned houses, more homeless, and more working poor.
B)fewer vacant and abandoned houses, fewer homeless, and fewer working poor.
C)moved on to rebuild East Baltimore per an agreement reached with the community.
D)stepped back from building an urban spectacle to concentrate on the problems of the poor.

Question 11

In a neighborhood not far from the Inner Harbor, a young man name Freddie Gray, was a fatal victim of police brutality, and as a result protests, riots, and general clashes with the police occurred.The riots demonstrated that…

A)the Inner Harbor re-development was a complete success.
B)this was an isolated incident.
C)city engagement of all of its citizens has been lacking.
D)civic unrest is just cyclical and it will pass.

Question 12

There has been a transition in urban sociology from the Chicago School to the ________ School.

A)Toronto
B)Edge City
C)Los Angeles
D)New York

Question 13

In spatial terms, Los Angeles is…

A)economically decentralized.
B)arranged in concentric zones.
C)impossible to figure out.
D)greatly centralized.

Question 14

Urban scholars such as Michael Dear, Mike Davis, and Edward Soja have developed an urban theoretical perspective reflecting a(n) ________ perspective.

A)urban ecological
B)symbolic interactionist
C)urban political economy
D)culturalist

Question 15

Keno capitalism has led to key urban changes including all but one of the following.Which of the following is NOT one of the changes?

A)privatopias
B)cultures of heteropolis
C)green cities
D)city as theme park
E)fortified city

Question 16

If you are driving on a major interstate highway and you notice a nearby cluster of commercial, residential, and retail activity anchored by a regional mall and near the intersection of an urban beltway, you are probably looking at a/an…

A)privatopia.
B)green city.
C)edge city.
D)city as theme park.
E)fortified city.

Question 17

Urban sociologist Mark Gottdiener disagrees with many assumptions about the distinctiveness of Los Angeles.One of his objections is that…

A)Los Angeles is the most populous consolidated metropolitan statistical area in the country.
B)Los Angeles is too much of a world city to be distinctive.
C)too much of the analysis of Los Angeles is based on cultural concepts.
D)Los Angeles is both an existing city and an ideal type.
E)features such as edge cities, the city as theme park, deindustrialization, and globalization are not unique to Los Angeles.

Question 18

The "new urban sociology" emphasizes the importance of factors such as…

A)government policies.
B)real estate development and speculation.
C)the growing importance of sign values and symbolic factors that affect growth, deindustrialization, and global economics.
D)the rising affluence of the general public.
E)all of the above

Question 19

Modernization theory is an offshoot of evolutionary theory and of…

A)world system theory.
B)symbolic interactionism.
C)urban political economy.
D)structural functionalism.

Question 20

The theory that views every society as a system made up of subsystems, called institutions, is…

A)structural functionalism.
B)symbolic interactionism.
C)urban political economy.
D)world system theory.
E)dependency theory.

Question 21

The problems of modernization theory derive from problems stemming from its roots in…

A)structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism.
B)dependency theory and world system theory.
C)urban political economy and the new urban sociology.
D)structural functionalism and evolutionary theory.

Question 22

Influenced by diffusion theory, proponents of modernization often assumed that urbanization in less-developed countries would…

A)not necessarily occur at all.
B)develop in a series of stages similar to those in nineteenth-century Western cities.
C)be shaped by the position of each of those countries in the global economy.
D)develop in ways that are impossible to predict, given the complexity of urbanization.

Question 23

Dependency theorists shifted the focus of the impact of industrialization and globalization from whether less-developed countries are converging on a Western model to the effects of…

A)developing countries shifting to a non-Western model.
B)the convergence hypothesis.
C)the world system hypothesis.
D)economic globalization on the poor in both less-developed and industrial societies.

Question 24

Dependency theory suggests that Western societies developed by…

A)focusing on the creation of primate cities within each country.
B)emphasizing the convergence hypothesis.
C)exploiting less-developed societies and putting them into a state of economic dependency.
D)developing more rapidly in a fair competition with other societies.

Question 25

Wallerstein's world system theory suggests that the world is divided into a three-tiered system, with nations falling into…

A)modern, traditional, and transforming sectors.
B)patriarchal, matriarchal, and traditional sectors.
C)core, semiperiphery, and periphery sectors.
D)developed, developing, and never developing sectors.

Question 26

In Wallerstein's scheme, nations that have experienced some economic development and that can provide raw resources or finished products are considered to be…

A)core nations.
B)semiperipheral nations.
C)peripheral nations.
D)global nations.

Question 27

A city that has economic, political, social, and cultural prominence in a nation, usually a less developed nation, is a/an…

A)hyperurbanized metropolis.
B)urban agglomeration.
C)primate city.
D)metropolitan area.

Question 28

Manual Castells suggested that Wallerstein's approach should be modified to reflect the shift from sources of wealth tied to agriculture and mining, trade, and industrial manufacturing to wealth accumulated through…

A)mining and processing of new mined materials.
B)the creation and manipulation of information.
C)hyper manufacturing.
D)the fourth urban revolution.

Question 29

Two approaches that have broadened the urban political economy perspective are…

A)the growth machine and the sociospatial perspectives.
B)urban ecology and symbolic interactionist perspectives.
C)global economics and global political science perspectives.
D)industrialization and deindustrialization perspectives.

Question 30

Realtors, local banks, influential politicians, corporate chairs, and chambers of commerce all play a key role in the view of the city as a(n)…

A)work of art.
B)world of strangers .
C)urban growth machine.
D)ecological zone.

Question 31

Hutter argues that Logan and Molotch fail to fully integrate a conflict orientation into their growth machine approach, in part because they fail to…

A)consider the significance of the shift from the Chicago to the Los Angeles School.
B)fully take account of the role of realtors, banks, politicians, corporate leaders, and chambers of commerce into their approach.
C)appreciate the importance of Keno capitalism.
D)give sufficient attention to contests over urban imagery and the conceptualization of space.

Question 32

In his sociospatial perspective, Gottdiener emphasizes the importance of ________ processes within a political economic framework.

A)urban ecological
B)growth machine
C)symbolic
D)environmental

Question 33

Sharon Zukin argues that the "symbolic economy" takes three main forms.Which of the following is NOT one of the forms?

A)the imagery, or look and feel of a city
B)the ecological zones of a city
C)the concern for profits through real estate and jobs
D)cultural forms such as museums, parks, and monuments

Question 34

In her analysis of the "symbolic economy" in cities, Sharon Zukin's major concern is…

A)fostering urban growth.
B)the sociospatial perspective.
C)social inclusion or exclusion.
D)urban ecology.

Question 35

Cultural geographers often contrast space and place by emphasizing that while space can be defined more ________, place includes a(n) ________ aspect.

A)objectively; subjective
B)subjectively; objective
C)ecologically; political economic
D)as social inclusion; social exclusion

Question 36

Gilbert emphasizes the need for an integrated politics of place and a politics of identity which would integrate a(n) ________ politics of place with a recognition of group interests based on people's diverse identities.

A)feminist
B)symbolic interactionist
C)ecological
D)sociospatial

Question 37

In her work on the Mothers of East Los Angeles (MELA), Pardo explained how the women transformed their traditional social networks based on family, religion, and culture into…

A)social psychological resources.
B)political assets.
C)a religious revival which affected the young people in the community.
D)an art mural project.

Question 38

The struggle over the naming of a neighborhood on New York City's Lower East Side reflects the reality that the meaning of place is a result of…

A)consensual place image making alone.
B)social power and contestation as well as image making.
C)changing fashions largely unrelated to social power.
D)the Park Service's designations of the names of certain areas.

Question 39

Boyer and Hayden suggest that the historical past revealed in structures and buildings often reflects a subjective view of history that minimizes the activities and involvement of…

A)women.
B)people of color.
C)the lower economic social classes.
D)all of the above

Question 40

The controversy over the attempt by the U.S.Park Service to hide history by ignoring the presence of slave quarters near the Liberty Bell is an example of…

A)urban ecology.
B)an urban growth machine.
C)symbolic interactionism.
D)the politics of place.

Question 41

From the standpoint of symbolic interactionism, the main criticism of the ecological model is its overemphasis on social psychological factors.

Question 42

Although urban ecology did not account for urban growth patterns in the United States, it did do so successfully for underdeveloped nations.

Question 43

Castells argues that land-use patterns and urban development can always be seen in terms of who benefits and who loses.

Question 44

David Harvey's perspective emphasizes the importance of profit in determining the physical form of the built environment of cities.

Question 45

David Harvey's research focused on Philadelphia.

Question 46

Just as Chicago was the "shock city" of the early twentieth century, Los Angeles is the "shock city" of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Question 47

Explain the basic premise of the urban political economy model.

Question 48

Hutter quotes geographer Edward Soja as noting that "perhaps more than any another place, Los Angeles is everywhere." What does this mean?

Question 49

Explain "Keno capitalism" and at least three of the key urban changes associated with it.

Question 50

How does Saskia Sassen define "global cities"?

Question 51

What are the roots of modernization theory?

Question 52

Hutter suggests three basic criticisms of modernization theory.Explain two of the criticisms.

Question 53

Explain the idea of cities as "urban growth machines."

Question 54

Mele criticizes approaches that ignore the role of power in urban image making.How does the struggle over the New York community called Loisada illustrate his point?

Question 55

Explain the urban political economy perspective.Be sure to consider how the urban growth machine and sociospatial perspectives (SSP) extend the approach and try to use examples to strengthen your answer.

Question 56

Explain Zukin's approach to cities, in which she links a focus on the "symbolic economy" to the urban political economy.Use examples from New York City and Los Angeles to strengthen your answer.