Analysis of a city, an objective and a perceived space.
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Cities are objective spaces, elements of observation and
measurement by means of their physical and social attributes,
which allow us to establish comparisons
among them and to be able to plan.
In this way, a city is like a mosaic,
like a space differentiated in areas which are
characterized by the composition of their population
and by the predominance of certain activities.
The business district or CBD,
residential areas, industrial areas and suburban areas.
The resemblance and the distribution of these areas within cities
has led to the formulation of models or theories of interpretation.
The first are influenced by economic or ecological ideas,
such as domination, succession invasion and impersonal competition,
which explains the formation of areas of differentiated lands
and the changes that are produced in their utilizations.
The theory of the concentric areas of Burgess
distinguish the environment of the business district or CBD
as an area of integrated transition from decayed residential areas,
light industries and shops, a zone of average incomes,
another of high incomes and a suburban zone.
Sectorial theory formulated by Hoyt
sustains that contrasts and the uses of land in the center
continue until they reach the limits as the city grows,
placing themselves in sectors along the main streets.
All of this is conditioned by the
actual location of the residential areas of the highest social category.
Polynuclear theory of Harris and Ullman
affirm that the uses of the land are centered around growth nuclei
separated from one another according to the nature of their activities.
Each one of them has certain location demands
for which they compete according to their economic capacity.
Other more recent theories such as those
that allude to the value of the land
add to the influence of the economy and the market
in the organization and distribution of activities,
the consideration of a social, cultural and political framework.
The activities are located from the center to
the periphery according to the income capability,
being in a central location and easily accessible are especially valued.
The CBD.
The center of activity, the Central Business
District or CBD, is characterized by its easy access,
its concentration of the largest amount
of vehicle and pedestrian traffic,
its dynamism due to the variety of functions,
a high concentration of tertiary and quaternary functions
and vertical growth in order to exploit the land to the fullest.
These facts make the center a problem area
which leads to the creation of new
planned CBD areas in large agglomerations.
As an example, La Defense in Paris or Asca in Madrid.
In Toledo, the center of activity is
always revolved around Zocotover Square
as an example of functional prominence.
There the cattle market was held from which the name Zacaldap is derived.
This is the area with the easiest access and the highest land values.
The indexes of centrality of Davies and Sargent Florence
point out the wide functional endowment of this space
and its surroundings with respect to the rest of the city.
In the interior, phenomena of specialization and functional succession
are acquiring more and more intensity.
Larger functions and those with more economic power
are replacing bars, shops, small stores
and even the residential function.
These are processes which lead to renovation and rehabilitation.
Socially differentiated residential areas.
In all cities the residential function is
dominant and occupies the largest land area.
It constitutes a use of the land segregated from other utilizations
and it creates areas of different
morphological and social characteristics.
These differences are a consequence of
socio-economic, ethic and cultural factors
valued in an unequal manner by theories
which try to explain the residential differentiation of urban space.
Among them the theory of social values of Fiery
and the analysis of social areas of Schaefke deserve special mention.
These theories support the socio-economic level, family status
and also ethnic and migrational status as differentiating elements.
The variables related to the socio-economic
factor are distributed sectorially.
Those which correspond to family status do so in concentric zones
and those of ethnic and migrational
status in multiple and dispersed nuclei.
In Toledo, the low-income residential
areas are constituted of neighborhoods
from before the 1950s, situated on the borders of the historical city
with one-story houses of a rural nature
constructed on old municipal land.
The low-income areas are also constituted
of neighborhoods of official promotion
as well as social housing in more recently
constructed areas far from the center.
Meanwhile, the low- and high-income residential areas
are located in the northeast of the Tagus Plain
and in housing developments of single-family houses.
Within the old part of the city, the
lowest-income population is at the south
where pockets of poverty and decayed housing exist.
The contrasts with the sectors of high-income areas in central locations
where an ambience of high quality may be found.
Industrial areas.
Starting in the last century, areas primarily of
industrial use have appeared within urban areas
aided by the concentration of transport systems,
the advantages of an agglomerated economy,
and the presence of research and technological centers.
The industrial installations are distributed
within the city according to a polynuclear model
composed of industrial areas near to water, railways,
highways, and planned industrial areas.
In many cases, urban growth has left these
areas behind and has forced an industrial
decentralization towards the peripheral belt.
The sumptuous consumer market, which the court
and the church supplied in the 16th century,
caused industrial aspects in Toledo to be relatively important.
The definitive installation of the capital
city Madrid by Felipe II caused a decline,
which Carlos III tried to alleviate by
the creation of the Royal Arms Factory.
Today, the industrial function is fundamentally
represented by the installations in the industrial area,
small workshops and large companies, some of
them belonging to third-generation industries.
The urban organization follows a linear model of land usage
in vans laid out in a parallel manner on terrace
levels, an industrial zone near the river,
a green separation zone with a highway,
a residential road, and the country.
The peri-urban strip.
The growth of the present-day city causes peri-urban strips
within the general phenomenon of sub-urbanization.
These are spaces characterized physically
by the continual rural use of land,
the existence of suburbs and the dormitory cities,
the proliferation of single-family dwellings
as primary or secondary residences,
and a large proportion of the land dedicated
to transportation, services, and installations.
In addition, they are spaces which are socially differentiated
and characterized by the increase of urban ways of life,
maintaining part-time agricultural activities,
the strong mobility of the population with
a predominance of young married couples,
and a large social variation depending on the income level.
The perceived city.
A city is fundamentally a living space,
perceived in a different way by its
inhabitants according to the symbols and values
which are developed through the physiological
and psychological mechanisms of perception,
as well as personal and group experiences.
This perceptual focus is based on the mental image as a link
which exists between the real world and actions,
and based on the principle of limited
rationality which rules man's behavior
as opposed to the principles of the completely reasoning man,
the completely emotional man, and the economic man.
According to the different models which explain
the interaction of man with the world around him,
a person acts within a knowledge structure of the world,
limited by the amount and quality of information,
the importance of individual experiences,
his culture, and his stage in life.
The analysis of a city as a living and
perceived space from a descriptive focus
is based upon the studies of Lynch.
The image of the city is organized and remembered in the mind
through five singular elements of the landscape.
Paths are directions which the normal
observer occasionally and potentially follows.
They are where one may go.
Nodes are strategic points in a city where several paths meet.
In these, there is an intensive use of the land,
and they are usually a representative symbol
of the activity of the city or neighborhood.
Neighborhoods are constituted of urban areas
which are quite differentiated in the mind
due to the existence of common features within the city as a whole.
Landmarks are singular elements easily visible
and used by the inhabitants as points of reference and guides.
The legibility of the city and the spatial units
which it forms are structured on these components.
In a mental map of Toledo, formed by a
survey carried out with high school students,
the image of the city appears sectioned and incomplete.
Only the old areas proceed with clarity.
The area of Santa Barbara, the industrial
zone Reconquista, and Palo Marejos.
The other neighborhoods are scarcely
identified with differing degrees of perception
depending on the place of residence of the people surveyed.
The largest number of recognized elements corresponds to the old area.
Another focus of the city as a perceived space is evaluative,
which attempts to discern the value which
the inhabitants attach to the environment when taking decisions.
The urban areas are valued for their
prestige, accessibility, centrality, safety,
complementary functions, quality of life, and mental stereotypes.
A preferential focus manifests the effective dimension of the image
due to feelings of identification with the place,
which according to the geographer Yifu Tuan may be of topophile
or a pleasant experience of the place,
of topolatry or a reverential feeling,
of topophobia or denial, and of toponegligence
or lack of interest for the environment.
Objective space and perceived space are forms of analysis of a reality
which is as complex and dynamic as is the city,
subjected today in post-industrial societies to contradictory processes
of counter-urbanization and re-urbanization,
and in the third world to a process of implosion
caused by the magnitude of its population growth.
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