The Social Construction of Race

Race is a social construction because there is no genetic research that proves any biological basis for differentiating people into seperate racial groups. If this is true than why do we differntiate people into seperate racial groups in the U.S. census? Even though there is no genetic differences between races, we still differentiate people based on physical appearance, ancestrial heritage, and cultural history.

This idea first came into play when Europeans came to America and classified people into a social hierarchy, with themselves at the top. This is when we first see ideas of white dominance in America. The people who were at the bottom of this hierarchy were inevitabely subject to economic and social exploitation. With the social construction of race came the legal construction of laws that seperated people and treated them differently based on race. Despite the civil rights movement, institutional discrimination still permeates the legal framework, government policies, urban land-use zoning ordaninces, and the practices of builders, landlords, bankers, insurance companies, appraisers, and real estate agents.

Urban Systems in Transition

With the end of World War 2, many economies entered a new phase in terms of what they produced and how and where they produced it. This is sometimes called advanced capitalism. This change brought a decrease in the proportion of the workforce involved in manufacturing and an increase in service-related employement. This increased productivity generated new oppurtunities for employement in distribution services, such as transportation, communications, utilities and wholesaling.

The first phase of this movement involved the construction of the interstate highway system, as well as airports capable of holding passenger jets. During this time there was also a consolidation of corporate headquarters locations in New York and Chicago. This came with the regional decentralization of the economy as well as metropolitan consolidation.

The Foundations of the American Urban System

Since the United States was settled, urbanization has evolved in sync with the economy, and towns and cities have played a central role in the economy. Chapter 3 in Knox and McCarthy identifies several distinct epochs in the evolution and development of the Urban system in the United States. Each one of these epochs of Urbanization brought new patterns of settlement, new types of towns and cities, and new patterns of trade and migration between towns and cities.
The Mercantile Epoch (1790-1840)
During the period directly after the Constitution was written, city growth was stimulated directly from the unification of the economy which prevented states from setting their own tariffs, coining their own money, or issuing their own bills of credit. The Urban system was stimulated as well by the political independence gained by the colonies in writing the constitution. Specifically, it became practical for economic links to be made between towns and cities, among other reasons such as the need for frontier towns with the rise of westward expansion. By the time of the American Revolution, the colonial population had reached about 2.5 million. Another important source of Urban growth was improved agricultural productivity.

Early Industrial Expansion and Realignment (1840-1875)
In the 1840s there was a transition from a trading economy to an agricultural and early Industrial economy. This was partly because of the arrival of industrial technology and new methods of industrial and commercial organization, and also the improvement in agricultural productivity. During this period rural-to-urban migration fueled the urbanization process because less labor was needed in the farms. Starting in 1840, a large influx of Immigrants began to arrive from Europe. With these people came the emergence of power sites which led to the establishment of Industrial towns in New England, mining towns, Transportation centers, and heavy manufacturing towns. Also with these Immigrants came horrific housing conditions in cities, specifically New York City (suggested reading: Gangs of New York). By 1875 the Urban System had expanded to the point where more than 15 cities had accounted for more than 100,000 people. New York, with 1.3 million people, stood at the top of the Urban hierarchy.

The Organization of Industry (1875-1920)
The Urban system became increasingly consolidated as Industrial capitalism gathered momentum and transportation and communication networks became more efficient. The railroad system extended dramatically as well during this time. Falling death rates due to several factors including scientific medicine accounted for a 'natural increase' in the population. at the same time, between 1890 and 1910, over 12 million immigrants arrived in the U.S. The result was the extensive growth in existing cities as well as the colonization of the few remaining frontier regions. Also during this period, local specialization became geared to national rather than local markets. because of this there was increased commodity flows between towns and cities of the 'manufacturing belt'.

Early Fordism, the Automobile Era, Suburban Infill, and the Great Depression (1920-1945)
Mass production with the introduction of Fordism brought changes to the balance of forces that governed economic and urban development before World War 1. In this period, automobiles began competing with transit systems. Tractors became available so farmers could work large fields with not many farm hands, stimulating urban growth by releasing rural workers. In October of 1929 the stock market collapsed, and problems of imbalance between demand and supply were unprecedented in their intensity, and every sector of the economy was involved in the recession. A long term consequence of the Great Depression was the ideology of free enterprise, which had been the basis for economic and urban development until the 1930s. The majority of people favored government intervention, and this ended up introducing a general expansion of government involvement in urban development. Since then, the government has come to play a major role in influencing the dynamics of urban development.

Urban Origins: Mesoamerica

The earliest urban settlements in Mesoamerica date to only 500 B.C. One of the earliest settlements was the Zapotec civilization, which was based on small-scale irrigated farming and was centered in Mexico. Mayan cities date to about 100 B.C. and were located in lowland areas of modern Mexico, as well as in the Yucatan penninsula, Guatemala and Belize. The agriculture here was based on corn cultivation that did not require technological advances. By the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, Mayan civilization had been in decline for several centuries because of droughts, warfare, and population pressures.

Urban Origins: Northern China

The Shang Dynasty developed in the fertile plains of the Huang He by about 1800 B.C. Shang cities such as An'yang were supported by irrigated agriculture. There is also evidence found of social stratification and occupational specialization, including a hereditary leader and a warrior elite with absolute control over the agricultural peasants.

Urban Origins: The Indus Valley

The Indus Valley in modern Pakistan contained relatively large urban communities that were supported on the fertile alluvial soils and extensive irrigation systems of the river plains. The network of trade extended all the way to the Sumerian Empire in Mesopotamia. Much of the early civilizations is unknown, partly because the Indus Valley script has not been deciphered.

Urban Origins: Egypt

Egypt became a Unified state in about 3100 B.C. Even this early in civilization large irrigation projects controlled the Nile's waters for agricultural and other uses. Although early urbanization existed in the Nile Valley, only limited archeological evidence has survived from the first towns and cities. The main surviving structures are the stone tombs and temples which were the primary focus of construction. We do not see the rich evidence of Urban development and redevelopment that we see in Mesopotamia, but Urbanization continued with the founding of capital cities such as Thebes and Tanis.