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Abdullah Ahmed Alymani

URBS 301

URBAN THEORY

Professor Emily Bills

Urban Studies Program

College of Liberal Arts

Woodbury University

Summer 2017

Final Exam

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Grade on the exam: 40 (fail)

Abdullah, I’m concerned. It appears you didn’t read the exam instructions or the exam questions carefully. While you have an introductory knowledge of the authors’ concepts, you don’t respond to the exam questions. If you don’t answer the questions, I can’t give you points!

Please read these instructions carefully.

1. There are five questions below. Choose THREE of them and respond in paragraph form using full sentences.

2. Be sure to respond to the entire question and back up your response with descriptive examples from the text. The exam is open note and book, but you must put your responses in your own words. You may use quotes, but very sparingly and only to support statements you’ve already made—i.e. you can’t use the author’s words to respond to the question, you must demonstrate comprehension.

3. You are NOT ALLOWED TO CONSULT THE INTERNET. You are on the honor code to respect this rule.

Before submitting your exam:

· Re-read the exam to make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.

· Make sure you included a heading with your name, class, and final exam.

· Label the file properly and upload it to Moodle: URBS301 Urban Theory_Summer 2017_Bills_your name_final exam

QUESTION 1

Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was an attack on city planning. It came at a time when cities across the country were feeling the negative impact of “slum clearance,” replacing older communities with new housing towers. This led to a lot of displacement, upsetting tight knit communities. Jacobs was a large critic of these changes because they upset urban diversity.

1. For a city to be truly vital, Jacobs suggests it needs to be diverse. What criteria (see ch. 7) did Jacobs suggest is needed to create urban diversity? Be able to explain why these criteria are important.

The criteria suggested by Jacobs is planning the city while considering the interests of the people in the city. The urban planners can respect diversity by coming up with designs that are special for the communities in a particular part of the city. Jacobs considered considering the cultural ties of the communities in the city as important in the process of preserving diversity. This results in urban diversity that entails accommodating all the cultures in the city through planning. For example, the interests of the city dwellers are different that can be communicated in planning designs of the houses where different communicated have their own planning designs. As a result, diversity in the city can be embraced where different cultures can be preserved through architectural designs.

Nothing you say here is incorrect, but it doesn’t respond to the question. The question asks you to describe the criteria she says is important for urban diversity, as laid out in chapter 7. There are at least 4 key criteria that includes short blocks, eyes on the street, different age of housing/building, etc. Unfortunately, I can’t give you points when you didn’t respond to the question.

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QUESTION 2

Sharon Zukin suggests that a lack of social diversity in urban neighborhoods kills the authenticity of a city and denies it a soul. She blames much of this on the cycle of displacement that accompanies gentrification.

1. What is the cycle of displacement as laid out by Zukin? This should include a description of the change from “authentic” working class neighborhoods, to transitional communities, to high-income communities. What are some of the signs that show these different phases are occurring according to Zukin?

The cycle of displacement entail destroying slums to build modern buildings. The cycle of placement results in challenges to the poor people especially those in the slums. For example, some of the slum dwellers find themselves homeless. This is because the modern buildings are usually costly hence most people in the slums cannot afford. The costs of living in particular housing costs increase making many homeless. Also, the culture of the communities in building is lost hence city loses its authenticity. The signs that the phases are in accordance to Zukin can include redeveloping the city to new designs. The new designs are replacing the old city designs that have destroyed the community culture hence eliminating long enjoyed diversity in the cities.

I think you are confusing Jane Jacobs with Sharon Zukin. Zukin describes “authentic” working class communities and the phases they go through when being gentrified. She discusses the first, transitional stage when artists, teachers, etc. move into the community, attracted by its history and the affordable rents. She then describes how the businesses start to change in the area and rents rise as developers see an opportunity for investment. The final stage is when the property values are so high only multinational corporations can afford to lease—this includes chains like Starbucks or CVS.

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QUESTION 3

In our readings by Setha Low, we looked at many different ways divisions, metaphorical and real, shape urban environments. Many of the examples we considered focused on housing: gated communities in upscale neighborhoods, economic and spatial boundaries between poor immigrants and housed citizens, and so on.

1. Describe some of the psychological topics Low applies to her research into how these divisions, particularly in gated communities, can encourage the fear of others. Choose two of the following terms—social splitting, purified living, or racialization. First, define the terms then describe how they might apply to the psychology of someone living in a largely homogenous, gated community. You should use one example from the text to support your point.

The message from media concerning the urban environment affected the feeling of safety. This led to the increased desire for living in the gated communities that were views as secure. The class and race assumptions concerning the gating projects in the city included the fact that the people in the high social class in the city and the whites are likely to live in the gated communities. The perception of the crime among the people in the slums is increased does this relate to one of the terms you are asked to define?. For example, most of people view the slum dwellers as criminals to earn their living. The message from the media show the social boundary as the strategy of keeping the low class people away from the gated communities.

You did not answer these questions, which are required to obtain points for this portion of the exam:

Choose two of the following terms—social splitting, purified living, or racialization. First, define the terms then describe how they might apply to the psychology of someone living in a largely homogenous, gated community. You should use one example from the text to support your point.

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You are asked to choose 3 of the 5 questions in the exam instructions so I only graded the first 3.

QUESTION 4

In Naomi Klein’s article she talks about the way urban “shock” is used as an opportunity for transforming cities in certain ways that she believes is problematic.

1. What does she mean by “shock” and how does it relate to the concept of “disaster capitalism” or the “disaster industry” (define what disaster capitalism means)? Be sure to explain what she thinks is problematic about disaster capitalism for our cities using an example from the reading.

The urban shock entails misuse of the public funds in development where the private companies take advantage of the condition. It relates to the disaster capitalism as it explores how capitalization has been contributing to the misuse of public funds. For example, the government officials have been collaborating with the private companies to misuse public funds for development.

QUESTION 5

This is a comparison question that asks you to find points of overlap in the ideas laid out by some of the urban thinkers we discussed this summer.

1. What are some parallels between the urban theories of Mike Davis, Sharon Zukin, and Naomi Klein? Identify and explain: 1) where you think their views of certain aspects of urban development overlap 2) how that particular approach to urban development might impact the urban experience for different groups of people. Be sure to include an example from each text.

Yes, I can find parallels existing the urban theories of mike Davis, Naomi Klein and the Sharon Zukin. For example, they all seem to fight for the rights of the city dwellers where they condemn some of the urban development policies that fail to recognize the city rights of the citizens.