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fab
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 Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:13 pm Post subject: URBAN GEOGRAPHY |
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CENTER OF THE BIGGEST CITIES OF ENGLAND, GERMANY, FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN (at same scale) :
LONDON
BERLIN
PARIS
MILAN
MADRID
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fab
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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CENTERS OF THE SECOND CITIES (or urban area) OF THE SAME COUNTRIES :
BIRMINGHAM
HAMBOURG
MARSEILLE
NAPOLI
BARCELONA
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fab
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Location: N48°49, E2°19
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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AND OTHER MAIN CITY :
MANCHESTER
MUNICH
LYON
ROME
VALENCIA
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Porthos
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Joined: 30 Sep 2006
Posts: 1780
Location: Californië, Verenigde Staten
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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Fab,
Can you see how the cities from the Latin countries look strikingly different from the northern countries, even on the distant aerial view? And even a city as far north as Paris looks markedly different from the English and German ones, don't you think?
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Benjamin [inactive]
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Joined: 24 Aug 2006
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Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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Lol, they just look like a lot of ærial views to me.  |
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Fredrik
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Location: Bergen, Hordaland, Norge/Noreg
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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| But the Romance cities look more densely built. The ærial view of Milano, for instance, seems to confirm the feeling of a stone desert which I got when I was there. |
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Porthos
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Location: Californië, Verenigde Staten
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, and they have different color paintjobs and rooftops too. My impression of you Benjamin is that you are not very observant or keen with your eyes, both in people and now in architecture, lol.
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fab
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, the southern European cities tend to be much more dense than northern ones. The city centers are generally wide and dense and host the majority of the population of the city, while the suburbian (less dense) parts are quite limited. In northern European cities, especially in England, the dense part of the city is of quite limited size (but can include huge buildings, especially for trade). This "center" is quikly limited by a net of infrastrutures and industries, while most of the population live in suburbian areas made generally of low buildings and lined individual houses.
this northern model has been developped, even much more further in the states, Asutralia and most English-former colonies.
PARIS :
Paris is actually a very densely populated mineral city whose buidings are organised around "cours" as in the mediterranean tradition. Said that, it also have a one of the highest number of trees, mainly thanks to the systematic tree-lined avenues and boulevards.
Let's compare to LONDON city center.
And to BERLIN city center :
[/img]
Last edited by fab on Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Porthos
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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Why is it that everything in England seems so drab all of the time? You can tell Paris is a Romance city, but it also looks very different compared to mediterranean citiees like Marseilles.
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Benjamin [inactive]
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Joined: 24 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:07 am Post subject: |
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| fab wrote: | | Yes, the southern European cities tend to be much more dense than northern ones. The city centers are generally wide and dense and host the majority of the population of the city, while the suburbian (less dense) parts are quite limited. In northern European cities, especially in England, the dense part of the city is of quite limited size (but can include huge buildings, especially for trade). This "center" is quikly limited by a net of infrastrutures and industries, while most of the population live in suburbian areas made generally of low buildings and lined individual houses. |
Yes. A more extreme example of this sort of thing would be Frankfurt am Main. This is especially noticeable if you arrive there by aeroplane — you see a lot of skyscrapers surrounded by countryside, with a lot of villages which are the suburbs. I really like Frankfurt, actually:
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fab
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:11 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | You can tell Paris is a Romance city, but it also looks very different compared to mediterranean citiees like Marseilles. |
It is mainly due to the strong presence of grey-blue roofs (zinc and ardoise, I don't know the name in English), that is specific of Paris, and north-west France (in the case of ardoise roofs).
We can say that Paris is not a mediterranean city in its geography and its architectural look, but urbanistically it share the structural characteristics of the southern European cities (and a specific way of life that comes with dense cities).
down from a Macon-Poitiers line (a bit more above the north/south limit), you'll find instead the "tuiles canal", tipical of all the mediterranean regions, which gave this diferent "mediterranean look" you're talking about.
LYON :
MARSEILLE :
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Benjamin [inactive]
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:11 am Post subject: |
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| Porthos wrote: | | Why is it that everything in England seems so drab all of the time? You can tell Paris is a Romance city, but it also looks very different compared to mediterranean citiees like Marseilles. |
A significant reason for why many of the large cities in England and Germany look rather dull and boring is because they were extensively bombed during World War II. The same is also true for Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which also has a similar look. |
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Deborah
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Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 1946
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| If ardoise is the blue-grey roofing material, then it's slate. |
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Porthos
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Joined: 30 Sep 2006
Posts: 1780
Location: Californië, Verenigde Staten
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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Paris just looks very different from mediterranean cities. They architectural style of the buildings looks very different from what you will find in much of Italy (aside from the far north) and coastal Spain and Portugal, or southern France. It's another reason why a lot of people think of France as being less "mediterranean" than Italy or Spain. Americans often see France only through the eyes of Paris, with its Parisian architecture, while they only think of beach resorts and places like Barcelona when they think of Spain, although northern Spain could almost pass for northern Europe, especially with the weather, and some of the architectural design.
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Porthos
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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Honestly, I don't see how American cities look like British cities. To me, they look very different.
One of my home towns:
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Porthos
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Location: Californië, Verenigde Staten
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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Among America's big cities, San Francisco is one of the best, offering warm California weather (albeit erring on the side of foggy and mild), a laid-back West Coast vibe, and a metropolitan, bayside setting. Enjoy a variety of ethnic (and authentic) cuisine—when it comes to sushi and Mexican eats, East-Coasters don't know what they're missing. Explore the quirky neighborhoods, head to wine country for scenic driving and happy sipping (but not too much of both at once), and check out the view from the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Porthos
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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rooftops where I live currently
[img]Santa_barbara_red_tile_roofs2.jpg[/img]
Outside of cities in the northeast, like Boston and Manhattan, U.S. cities don't really look anything like the English style.
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fab
Langcaffeine Addict
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Location: N48°49, E2°19
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Paris just looks very different from mediterranean cities. They architectural style of the buildings looks very different from what you will find in southern France." |
I agree that the architestural "ambiance / feeling" you have in Paris is different from what you have in most of Italy, and in a lesser extend to Spain (althought there is so much difference inside each of these countries that it is difficult to generalise, basically most Italian and Spanish cities look quite different).
What is the common point, to me, is not superfical architectural things that participate to the ambiance, such as the color of roofs; because in Europe it can drastically change region to region in few kilometer). On the other hand, the way the city is organised, the way the public spaces are designed and used, the dimensions of the streets, and the way of life that comes with it.
The functional and socilogical structure of American cities is very similar to English one, and in a lesser extend to Northern European cities in General.
American cities are just newer, wider, and posses a specific melting pot of americanized styles more or less inspired by various european ones. And the center (downtowns) have much taller high-rise buidlings. But basically the structure is very similar.
Other thing comes in the general ambiance of a city, such as the climate and vegetation. In the case of the "sun-belt" regions of the US it is clearly very different from England.
If you go to most of american cities outide of the sun-belt regions, the similarities with english urban model.
Basically, in southern France the architecture is not so generally so different from the north, what change is the kind of roof (it is very visible, but basically organised the same way.)
Let's look at Marseille façades :
The colors may change a bit and the kind of roofs, but, as in Paris Marseille have the same level of urban density. The official buidings have a similar classical architecture :
The 19th century bourgeoise façades have the same modenatures,
The "middle-class" buidlings have the same size, and tipical same windows...
http://www.marseille-sympa.com/laplaine.html
In urban sociology we speak about an Anglo-saxon (I know you won't like it)model of cities, where the dense part of the city is relatively small compared to the whole city, is mainly dedicated to business and, in a lesser extend retail. just around this city center (called "downtown" in the USA), lie generally the poorer areas, much less dense, generally little buildings or houses, melted around with industrial zones and huge infrastructures networks, highways, etc.
The third "crown" is made of the middle class suburbs, with houses with more gardens, generally open on the street with the car on a special path (especially thru in the US). Ect. Generally speaking more you go far, the more rich areas you find. |
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Benjamin [inactive]
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Joined: 24 Aug 2006
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Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | In urban sociology we speak about an Anglo-saxon (I know you won't like it)model of cities, where the dense part of the city is relatively small compared to the whole city, is mainly dedicated to business and, in a lesser extend retail. just around this city center (called "downtown" in the USA), lie generally the poorer areas, much less dense, generally little buildings or houses, melted around with industrial zones and huge infrastructures networks, highways, etc. |
Aren't the Dutch cities also like that? |
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fab
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Location: N48°49, E2°19
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| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Aren't the Dutch cities also like that?
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Yes, quite. Especially Rotterdam and La Haye. Amsterdam have a bit more wide historic center (but still not much densely constructed), so it is a little bit different. socilogically for What I saw it seem be quite true also. |
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