What makes a city a city?
Has anyone outside of this course really thought about what makes a city a city? I’m in this course and if it weren’t for StatsCan or the OECD, I’d have a hard time coming up with a concrete response to such a loaded question.
When I’m making an online purchase, I enter “Bolton” as the city for my billing address. I remember the first time I did this and I thought to myself, “… Bolton is definitely not a city...its too small.” Ok, theres a starting point; can cities be defined based on their size? If so, what exactly does “size” mean? Size as in population? Size as in the amount of physical space it takes up? Is it a combination of both? Probably. But, as I’m learning, theres more — so much more(!) to what makes a city a city.
I learned last week that a city can be defined based on four criteria: by municipal boundaries; by population characteristics; by sociological patterns; and by economic measures. Prior to this, I used to attribute cities as hubs for all things business, culture, politics, and convenience. Characterized by skyscrapers and intricate public transit routes, cities were a place to work, indulge, and learn. My frame of reference was always Toronto. I dreamt of going to the University of Toronto, getting a job in a tall office building and living in a small condominium, because thats *city living*.
Density, which goes back to my earlier point about size, is a critical component to defining a city. If you’re not dense enough, there is no incentive to develop the infrastructure needed to support a dense population, says Cherise Burda, who heads City Building Ryerson. I’m learning that condominiums, and the like, are usually a good indicator of a city. They help support density and population growth by housing more people in a smaller space. Typically, cities need high-rise housing because there are a lot of people living in such a small space. I guess theres nowhere to go but up?
Still though, it’s not all glamorous. Poverty and people experiencing homelessness are a visible and common attribute of cities. From a policy standpoint, the housing crisis has been undertaken by all levels of government but is felt most closely at the city level. I learned in Professor Jonathon Hall’s Urban and Transportation Policy course that lower income people live in cities for convenience. Because they cannot afford a vehicle, they rely on public transit to get their groceries and go to work. Or if they cannot afford a vehicle nor a house, they substitute driving and property for a smaller home, like an apartment. For those that cannot afford either, they locate to a city because it creates a greater opportunity for survival. Thus, wealth disparities are extremely visible in cities, which is an unfortunate and oftentimes overlooked characteristic of a city.
These talking points are only some of the many characteristics that define a city. Do I believe that one definition alone can capture what constitutes a city? No, but its a good place to start.
