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Island city formation and urban island studies

Grydehøj, Adam LU (2015) In Area 47(4). p.429-435
Abstract
Regional, national and global cities are disproportionately located on small islands and archipelagos. The spatial turn' within island and urban geography increasingly privileges abstract notions of space, yet the prevalence of big cities on small islands suggests that sensitivity to place-specific spatial factors is necessary if we are to understand both islands and the urban. Whereas previous studies of island cities have tended to underplay the effect of either the island or the urban, the present paper advocates an urban island studies that seeks to explain why islands and cities are so strongly associated. The paper argues that benefits of island spatiality encourage the establishment of seats of government and trading posts on small... (More)
Regional, national and global cities are disproportionately located on small islands and archipelagos. The spatial turn' within island and urban geography increasingly privileges abstract notions of space, yet the prevalence of big cities on small islands suggests that sensitivity to place-specific spatial factors is necessary if we are to understand both islands and the urban. Whereas previous studies of island cities have tended to underplay the effect of either the island or the urban, the present paper advocates an urban island studies that seeks to explain why islands and cities are so strongly associated. The paper argues that benefits of island spatiality encourage the establishment of seats of government and trading posts on small islands: Territoriality benefits assist political and economic elites in maintaining local authority and projecting power outwards, defence benefits help protect local powerholders from external military threat and transport benefits make strategically located small islands ideal sites for port industries. Land scarcity caused by island spatiality subsequently leads to urban densification and powerful agglomeration economies, resulting in the formation and growth of island cities. Examples from island cities and urban archipelagos such as Copenhagen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Lagos, Macau, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York City, Paris, Tokyo and Zhoushan demonstrate that urbanisation and city formation occur in place as well as in space. Orienting toward urban island studies provides insight into both island and urban processes. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
spatiality, urbanisation, city formation, urban island studies, urban studies, island cities
in
Area
volume
47
issue
4
pages
429 - 435
publisher
LAR
external identifiers
  • wos:000364644500009
  • scopus:84946500660
ISSN
0004-0894
DOI
10.1111/area.12207
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0bdcfa8d-f98e-4975-b8c2-ed9aa2195100 (old id 8377452)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:37:34
date last changed
2022-03-22 01:07:31
@article{0bdcfa8d-f98e-4975-b8c2-ed9aa2195100,
  abstract     = {{Regional, national and global cities are disproportionately located on small islands and archipelagos. The spatial turn' within island and urban geography increasingly privileges abstract notions of space, yet the prevalence of big cities on small islands suggests that sensitivity to place-specific spatial factors is necessary if we are to understand both islands and the urban. Whereas previous studies of island cities have tended to underplay the effect of either the island or the urban, the present paper advocates an urban island studies that seeks to explain why islands and cities are so strongly associated. The paper argues that benefits of island spatiality encourage the establishment of seats of government and trading posts on small islands: Territoriality benefits assist political and economic elites in maintaining local authority and projecting power outwards, defence benefits help protect local powerholders from external military threat and transport benefits make strategically located small islands ideal sites for port industries. Land scarcity caused by island spatiality subsequently leads to urban densification and powerful agglomeration economies, resulting in the formation and growth of island cities. Examples from island cities and urban archipelagos such as Copenhagen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Lagos, Macau, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York City, Paris, Tokyo and Zhoushan demonstrate that urbanisation and city formation occur in place as well as in space. Orienting toward urban island studies provides insight into both island and urban processes.}},
  author       = {{Grydehøj, Adam}},
  issn         = {{0004-0894}},
  keywords     = {{spatiality; urbanisation; city formation; urban island studies; urban studies; island cities}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{429--435}},
  publisher    = {{LAR}},
  series       = {{Area}},
  title        = {{Island city formation and urban island studies}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/area.12207}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/area.12207}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}