Cook, Savage, Quiroz 1

Kayla Cook, Caroline Savage, & Sammy Quiroz

AP Human Geography
Mr. Greening
05 May 2016
Querencia: An Urban City Analysis
Over time cities have continuously evolved as new technology is introduced and new
ideas and theories develop. The city of Querencia in Southern Spain illustrates this evolution by
recognizing patterns of high population growth, and taking the necessary steps toward fixing the
flawed layout of the city. The present concentric zone model did not allow for the growth needed
for future generations. The city turned to urban geographers who were given the job of
transforming the city based on a high-functioning multiple nuclei model. This new model
allowed for the city to grow, unrestricted by the previously malfunctioning urban layout.
Querencia is not a well known city despite its accomplishments in development in the recent
years. To better illuminate its change, Querencia can be compared to other cities worldwide.
North American cities such as Chicago, U.S.A and Mexico City, Mexico along with the African
City of Juba, South Sudan can be compared to Querencia both structurally and functionally.
Different sustainability methods, and infrastructures are seen as cultural differences shape the
way cities form and function.
The city of Chicago, U.S.A had a similar start to the city of Querencia. The city of
Chicago was the basis of the concentric zone model. Urban geographer Burgess based the
concentric zone model off of Chicago in 1925. However, Chicagos urban geography soon
evolved. The population of Chicago boomed after the Great Depression, lifting Chicago up to the
third largest city in the United States with a population of 3 million. The Multiple Nuclei Model
was created in 1945, and it suggested that a city will not rely on one CBD but rather have several
nodes that businesses are built around including transportation routes. This offers a more modern
city approach as it takes urban sprawl and suburbanization into account. Querencian urban
geographers based the citys design on this model due to its expanding population. However,
Chicago displays different patterns than Querencia. Chicago has become a combination of the
concentric zone model and multiple nuclei models; some urban zones circulate around the
central city, while other sectors of the city have sprouted independently of the CBD.
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The infrastructure of Chicago is based around hard and soft infrastructure. Hard
infrastructure includes air, water, and energy transportation and soft infrastructure is government
and economic development. The way that Chicago approaches improvement in their
infrastructure comes in two types of approaches. Brownfield includes improving the current
assets that the city has to offer whereas Greenfield includes creating new ways of infrastructure.
The infrastructure of Chicago is run by the Chicago infrastructure trust which develops new
approaches to improved infrastructure. The city of Querencia uses similar infrastructure
approaches. When the urban geographers approached the previous infrastructure issues they
developed a Querencia Trust. This monitors the infrastructure and keeps the infrastructure in
check and very strong. The city of Querencia has a strong tax base ever since the turnaround and
helps build the infrastructure with solid facilities and functioning road systems.
While the city of Querencia has improved dramatically from its previous state, it is not
short of design flaws. Because of booming population and the limitation of growth due to the
citys site in a river valley, transportation space was also limited. This led to massive traffic
congestion during rush hour periods in the city. To counter this issue, a subway system was
created that began in the CBD and ran throughout the city, with three main stations in the airport
and the CBD as well as the industrial suburb. This mass transport system made city commute for
residents, especially lower-income tenement residents, more efficient and cheap. In the city of
Chicago and other American cities subway systems are seen. Chicago also has a strong metro
system similar to the Querencian subway system, making the CBD more accessible. Querencias
system, however, travels around the city in its entirety, not just the CBD.
Querencia, whilst being a European city, can also be compared to the African city of
Juba, South Sudan. Juba is primarily based upon the African City model constructed by de Blij.
Juba has three central business districts. The Colonial CBD is the most important to Juba; Juba
relies heavily on exports as South Sudan is characterized by the World Bank as the most
oil-dependent country in the world. Thus Juba is primarily made up of primary and secondary
economic activities. Juba also is comprised of a traditional CBD and a market CBD where
smaller, more local businesses and trade occurs. Querencia differs from Juba in that its urban
structure is characterized by sectors of the city arranged around nodes of activities
semi-independent of the single CBD. In contrast to Juba, Querencia is primarily made up of
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secondary and tertiary economic activities. The urban structure of Querencia being based around
nodes of activities has allowed for an increase in non-basic industries throughout the city, known
as themultiplier effect. These non-basic industries support the major basic industries of the city,
including textile manufacturing, car manufacturing, and food processing. Juba contains many
more squatter settlements than Querencia primarily because its city has undergone several years
of war that has created a lot of refugees and internally displaced peoples, according to BBC.
Querencia has a history of peace, and this may be due to the compact shape of Querencia, which
acts as a centripetal force by uniting the people together and preventing isolation within the city.
Both Querencia and Juba have a grid street system. Grid street systems are based mainly
for automobile traffic, and usually they depend on large interstate highway systems for
transportation versus mass transportation systems. Querencia also contains a railroad system that
runs through its heavy manufacturing district and industrial suburb in order to transport goods.
For foreign exports, Querencia uses its access to ports on the Mediterranean Sea. Juba primarily
relies on adjacent White Nile River for transporting goods because it is a landlocked state (Sudan
Tribune, pg. 1). Querencia uses its river for a different purpose; river water is used for public and
private facilities and for providing drinking water for the population.
Querencia has experienced a rapid population expansion. Its specialized basic industries,
such as the expanding textile and car industries, have attracted several guest workers and
immigrants into the city. The city has begun to experience minor symptoms of urban sprawl and
in-filling which has lowered living conditions in the city by increasing both air pollution and
water pollution, making water more expensive and leading to a rise in suburbanization. Thus,
urban planners have adjusted the citys structure. Greenbelts have been added to the city in order
to prevent urban development from extending too far outwards. A natural benefit that Querencia
naturally benefits from the citys mountains, which put a limit to urban sprawl. Querencia has
limited access to sources of power supply, so it has focused heavily in recent times on
energy-saving activities. The City Water Filtration System is solar powered, as are several of the
citys factories and homes. The outlying business district contains several biking paths to
encourage energy saving modes of transportation. Only 60% of Juba has access to safe water,
according to the Sudan Tribune, and only 1/3 have drinking water into their homes. Juba is
situated on a river, but the water is not safe for the citizens to drink and causes diseases such as
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cholera. Querencian urban planners have created a solution to Jubas water issues and applied it
to their own river. In order to sustain Querencias water supply, Querencia has created a complex
water filtration system on its river that leads to the CBD from the top of Mount Usmore through
underground pipelines. Querencia has used these solutions to deal with the problems of its
growing urban population.
Mexico City, a primate city in the country of Mexico, is located near the southern end of
the country in the state of Mexico. The city can also be compared to Querencia. Mexico City is a
near perfect fit of the Latin American Model City. In fact, Larry Ford and Ernest Griffin made
the model in large part based on Mexico City. The Latin American City Model is characterized
by its spine, which connects the CBD and market areas to the mall on the outskirts. The
Griffin-Ford model present in Mexico City is very different from the Multiple Nuclei model used
by urban geographers to plan the city of Querencia. The multiple nuclei emphasizes the
decreasing importance of the CBD, and plans the city around several different specialized nodes,
such a light manufacturing zone. The Griffin-Ford model is centered around the CBD, and the
proximity of high class residents to the CBD. The most evident difference between the two
models is the differing value placed on the CBD in both cities.
The difference in basic infrastructure in the two cities is also astounding. Mexico City has
a crumbling foundation of basic infrastructure, mainly because of the extremely high population
density in the area. Many of the streets and bridges in Mexico are in desperate need of repair;
recently the city has justifiably announces a $600 billion plan in place to help improve the
infrastructure of the city. The streets of Mexico City are very compact and model the grid-like
pattern found in Querencia, which makes transportation by vehicle easier than on foot. In
comparison, the newly renovated infrastructure of Querencia glows in comparison to Mexican
infrastructure. The city of Querencia includes many different newly-paved highways and
interstates, with a necessary amount of traffic lights to help direct traffic. Churches are important
to both the cultures of the Querencians and citizens of Mexico City, as both cities have a
population of over 70% Catholic (LiveScience, pg. 1). Thus, Querencias cultural landscape
reflects the Catholic presence there as there are several cathedrals and catholic churches within
the city.
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According to TIME Magazine, in 2008, for the first time in human history, more than
half the worlds population was living in towns and cities. As cities continue to grow at an
extremely rapid rate, urban geographers have begun to analyze the potential problems and
solutions that could arise as a result of this rapid urbanization. There are many drawbacks
associated with the growth and decline of urban areas. A few drawbacks to the growth of cities
include urban sprawl, overcrowding, and increased pollution in urban areas. All three of these
things negatively affect the situation of a city. The issue of urban sprawl can also lead to the loss
of wildlife habitats, as trees and entire ecosystems are torn down to make room for urban
expansion. Urban sprawl would also disrupt the pre-existing urban patterns in Querencia, and
could result in an out-migration of some residents. Overcrowding would also come as a result of
urban sprawl. The extremely high number of people moving to Querencia would mean less room
for recreation and smaller plots of land for housing. The increased diversity that would result
because of urban growth could also potentially strengthen different centrifugal forces in
Querencia, which would result in a more divided nation. The language barrier would also
become more prominent as more residents came to live in Querencia, which would divide the
states citizens and make it much more difficult for certain groups who are seeking employment.
Karen Seto, a professor of the urban environment at Yale and the lead author of the PNAS
paper said to TIME magazine, The one thing thats clear is that we cant build cities the way we
have over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition wont allow that. It is
obvious the way we develop our cities has to change. Currently, there is no real solution to the
issue of urban sprawl except to limit it. Limitations cant stay in place forever, and if we dont
find a way to develop a sustainable city soon, it will have dire effects on the environment and all
of humankind.
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