The Urbanization of Minnesota: Connecting Geography and History David A Lanegran PhD Macalester College
Dec 16, 2015
The Urbanization of Minnesota: Connecting Geography and
History
David A Lanegran PhD
Macalester College
Nature of Historical Geography
• Historical Geography has several themes– Geography of past landscapes or geography
of the past.– Preservation of place – how location
decisions of the past have influenced the geography of the present.
– Relict landscapes and landscape features– Impact of landscape tastes or values
developed the past on the geography of the present
Development of cities in Minnesota
• Selection of sites for urban development
• Nature of city plans
• Effect of technology on development of cities
General types of cities
• Resource extraction sites
• Water power sites
• Fords and bridge points
• Entrepots - Ports or cities that connect places to the rest of the urban system
• Central places – trade or market towns
• Sites selected for political or cultural factors
Geographical Definition of cities
• Cities are nodes in the circulation system– Assemble – Process– Store– Redistribute
Goods people and ideas
The size and wealth of a city is detrmined by
• The size of the city’s hinterland or proximate trade area
• The degree to which the city is connected to the global system of cities
The Size and wealth of the hinterland and degree of connectivity are determined by
– Circulation ( transportation and communication technology
– Industrial technology– Information technology– Resources in hinterland - resources are
cultural achievement
State Capitol
• St Paul’s early size and political power secured function which has gained importance over time.