SOL 11a,b,c
Site
 Site is the actual location
of a city
Situation
 Situation is another
name for relative
location – the location of
a city with respect to
other geographic
features, regions,
resources, and transport
routes
 Harbor sites: New York
 Confluence sites:
City; Alexandria, Egypt;
Istanbul, Turkey
 Island sites: Paris
(located on island in the
Seine River), Hong Kong,
Singapore
 Fall line sites: Richmond,
Virginia
 Oasis sites: Damascus,
Syria
Khartoum, Sudan;
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 Hilltop sites: Rome,
Athens, Jerusalem
 Sites where rivers
narrow: London
(Thames River) and
Quebec (St. Lawrence
River)
 Baghdad – Command of
 Samarkand, Uzbekistan
land between Tigris and
Euphrates rivers
 Istanbul – Command of
straits and land bridge to
Europe
 Mecca, Saudi Arabia and
Varanasi, India – Focal
point of pilgrimage
– City on Silk Road
 Xi’an, China – City on
Silk Road
 Timbuktu, Mali – City on
Trans-Sahara trade route
 Singapore – City on
Strait of Malacca
(maritime trade route)
 Cape Town, South Africa
– Supply station for ships
 Omaha, Nebraska – City
that grew up on U.S.
Transcontinental
Railroad
 Sacramento, California –
City that grew up on U.S.
Transcontinental
Railroad
 Novosibirsk and
Vladivostock – Cities
that grew up on the
Trans-Siberian Railroad
 Security, defense
 Religious centers
 Trade centers (local and
long distance)
 Government
administration
 Manufacturing centers
 Service centers
 Rio de Janeiro – Move of
 New York City – Changes
Brazil’s capital city from
Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia
 Pittsburgh – Early
function connected to
defense, then became
steel manufacturing
center, later shifted to
diverse services
in trade patterns, trade
from Great Lakes via
Eerie Canal, worldwide
trade and financial
center
 Mining Towns – “ghost”
towns – resource
depletion
 Nation Building –




monuments
Transportation/Commu
nication Hubs
Magnets for Migration
Seed beds for new ideas
and technology
Universities
 Corporate Headquarters
 Media Centers
 Transportation problems
 Sprawl results in
 Rich and poor
conversion of
agricultural land to
urban uses
 Rapid immigration
results in “shantytowns”
 In developing countries,
major cities are more
connected to regions
outside the country than
to regions within the
country
neighborhoods exist in
different areas isolated
from one another
 Providing essential
services (fresh water,
sewage disposal,
electricity, schools)
 Air, water, and noise
pollution