Urban Shrinkage and Socio-Economic Segregation in Medium-Sized Cities: The Case of Schwerin (Germany)

Although past studies have found that processes of urban shrinkage may act as a catalyst for socio-economic segregation, these relationships remain underexplored outside the context of large cities and capitals. Moreover, cities at lower-tiers of the urban hierarchy in post-socialist Europe have been doubly excluded from the critical discourse on the socio-spatial effects of shrinkage. Hence, this article examines how shrinkage affects socio-economic segregation in the medium-sized post-socialist city of Schwerin, employing segregation indices to assess levels of spatial unevenness and location quotients to map intra-urban patterns of vulnerable population groups over time. Results indicate processes of shrinkage may exacerbate socio-economic segregation in medium-sized cities and that the spatial heterogeneity of shrinkage intersects with uneven distributions of affluence and poverty. However, suggesting that legacies of state socialism shape contemporary socio-spatial change, segregation in Schwerin is strongly conditioned by its socialist-era housing estates, which are generally characterised by the highest rates of population decline, vacancy, and vulnerable groups.

The effect of the Mongol invasion on the townscape of Iranian cities

PurposeThe Mongol invasion caused widespread destruction in many cities; this research studies the destruction course of cities after the Mongol invasion and their reconstruction during the reform period, the change that it brought to the cityscapes of Iranian cities and the difference between the urbanscape of the cities that flourished or were re-established after these destructions with the cities prior to them.Design/methodology/approachThe method of research used is historical interpretation/analysis. The historical texts of pre-Mongolian Persia and texts from the Ilkhanid era are studied, references to the shapes and appearances of Iranian cityscapes are classified, and with the help of contemporary interpretations and existing physical evidence, the urbanscape of these two periods are redrawn and compared to each other.FindingsThe selection of scenic meadows to build the city, the presence of many gardens in the urban patterns and the construction of satellite towns around large cities have been the effects of the Mongol tradition of (Yurt) tent-dwelling on Iranian cities during the reforms. The declining population and the massive migration of artists together with the rethinking of the rulers made the existence of dense cities with multi-storey houses less likely. The tradition of pre-designing the city and buildings and designing open and right-angled pathways continued after the Mongol invasion.Originality/valueThe prevailing belief is that during the Mongol era, only the destruction of cities took place and the Mongols did not create any cities and had no influence on urban development. This research aims to challenge that.

Quantification of Urban Patterns and Processes through Space and Time Using Remote Sensing Data: A Comparative Study between Three Saudi Arabian Cities

Saudi Arabia has developed rapidly over the last five decades in the wake of an extensive development programme implemented by the government throughout the entire country. Several previous studies have measured the extent and rate of urbanization in Saudi Arabian cities, but most of this research used only remote sensing data or a single index to explain urban growth patterns. This study used satellite data and a set of landscape metrics to quantify the spatiotemporal urban growth patterns and processes in three Saudi Arabian cities–Riyadh, Jeddah and Makkah. First, Landsat images were collected and classified for the years 1985, 1990, 2000, 2007, 2014 and 2020. Classification was carried out through an object-based image analysis (OBIA) to map the extent of urbanization. The classified maps were then used to compute seven landscape metrics to determine the spatial configuration of urban areas. The spatial metrics were calculated for the entire landscape and across buffer zones that were delineated from the urban core centre of each city. The overall accuracies were >94% for all the classified maps. The spatiotemporal results indicated that all three cities have experienced significant urban growth during the last four decades. Urban patterns in Jeddah were more dispersed than in Riyadh, which showed aggregated patterns (especially in recent years), while urban growth in Makkah tended to be more fragmented. The urban form in Riyadh was relatively simple, while a complex form was associated with Makkah and Jeddah. Understanding the rates, patterns, processes and trajectories of changes to urban land use is essential for various decision-making processes.

Rurification of Religion. Foci and Suggrundaria at the Roman Vicus of Falacrinae (Cittareale, Rieti, Italy)

The results of the archaeological exploration of the Roman vicus of Falacrinae, placed in the Upper Sabina 78 miles north-east of Rome, represent excellent first-hand material for testing the concept of “rurification” of religion. The frequentation of the area goes back over time at least to the late Neolithic, but it is only in the Archaic period that a temple was built, soon converting itself into a sort of pole of attraction of the local community. After the Roman conquest (290 BCE), an entire village gradually arose around the monument. 129 sacrificial foci, dated between the late 3rd and the second half of the 1st cent. BCE (probably linked with the festivals of the Feriae Sementivae, Paganalia or Compitalia), and few burials (suggrundaria) belonging to perinatal foetuses of 30/40 weeks of gestation, dated during the 2nd and the first half of the 1st cent. BCE, are the most intriguing ritual practices that the excavations have been able to identify. The analysis of these practices encourages to conclude that the local rural communities: 1) adopted group-styles of religious grouping significantly different from those taking place in urban contexts; 2) could strongly modify hierarchies and rituals performed in the cities; 3) cannot necessarily be considered as “deviant” from the normative point of view; 4) could easily negotiate between local religious traditions and urban patterns.

Social and Spatial Governance: The History of Enclosed Neighborhoods in Urban China

COVID-19 calls for a new understanding of urban landscape and associated living. As an emerging topic, lockdown urbanism involves an unpredictable future where lockdown or quarantine may be a come and go new normal for everyday practice, but the topic itself seems to have escaped historical inquiry. This paper attempts to answer why the strict lockdown is suitable for China by revealing a long and complex history of urbanization and its social and administrative organization. The urban fabric is characterized by a system of urban patterns: enclosed communities, the spatial layout and service distribution of the neighborhood, and the formation of the center. It was also animated by daily ritualistic practices, such as the control of time, quotidian lockdown practice (yejin), and individual ties within the enclosed neighborhood. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the deep history of urban form and the order and logic behind lockdown urbanism.

Ancient Egyptian Urbanism in a Comparative, Global Context

For more than 50 years, archaeologists have debated whether or not Egypt was a “civilization without cities.” The publication of Nadine Moeller’s book, The Archaeology of Urbanism in Ancient Egypt: From the Predynastic Period to the End of the Middle Kingdom, provides the opportunity to reconsider this issue, using a more complete record of the relevant archaeological finds. I present a new, flexible approach to urban definition, and then I examine the ways in which ancient Egyptian urbanism resembled and differed from other early urban traditions. I conclude that Egypt was indeed an urban society, and that Egyptian urban patterns were highly distinctive within the canon of ancient urban systems. I place these points within the context of competing ideas about the nature of global history.