Final Exam Study Guide Please review the following questions and be prepared to write a short answer response for your final exam. The final exam will be open book and notes, but you must put your responses in your own words. You may use quotes, but very sparingly and only to support statements you’ve already made—i.e. you can’t use the author’s words to respond to the question, you must demonstrate comprehension. You can begin preparing your responses in advance of the final exam and bring them to the final. The final exam will be in class. If you don’t have a laptop please let me know. I will choose a selection of these exact questions for the final exam. QUESTION 1 David Harvey’s text provides an analysis of how the need to expand markets under capitalism impacts urban development, often favoring the interests of investors over the urban public. He describes the many instances in modern history where government regimes and private interests have identified urban expansion and “revitalization” programs as a means of reinvesting surplus product to create surplus value (i.e. profits). For this question, explain: 1. Why does Harvey believes the process of finding new markets to reinvest surplus value is relevant to a discussion on urban development? In your answer, explain what surplus value is and why capitalists need to constantly find new markets to maintain profits. 2. Explain how this process was manifested historically by relaying one of the examples in Harvey’s text (i.e. Haussmann’s reconstruction of Paris under Louis Napoleon, postwar suburban development in the U.S, etc.) QUESTION 2 Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was an attack on city planning. It came at a time when cities across the country were feeling the negative impact of Title I, Title 2, and Title 10 legislation by the federal government, and the private real estate development industry’s capitalization on that legislation. This included increased suburbanization, in which predominantly white middle income families were provided with incentives and support to purchase homes outside the city. This also meant they took their tax dollars with them—and often jobs relocated to the suburbs as well. As a result, center cities began to deteriorate, and those that remained found it difficult to secure good paying jobs. As the housing stock declined, those with profit interests in the city advocated widespread “slum clearance,” replacing older communities with new public and private housing towers. This led to a lot of displacement, upsetting tight knit communities and leaving many low income and ethnic and racial minorities in insecure housing situations—and sometimes even homeless. 1. How might terms like “urban renewal” or “urban revitalization” be used politically to enact slum clearance or other programs that, in Jane Jacobs’ observation, eradicate great neighborhoods? 2. What did she see was so great about those run-down communities as op ...

1. Final Exam Study Guide
Please review the following questions and be prepared to write
a short answer response for your final exam. The final exam
will be open book and notes, but you must put your responses in
your own words. You may use quotes, but very sparingly and
only to support statements you’ve already made—i.e. you can’t
use the author’s words to respond to the question, you must
demonstrate comprehension. You can begin preparing your
responses in advance of the final exam and bring them to the
final. The final exam will be in class. If you don’t have a laptop
please let me know.
I will choose a selection of these exact questions for the final
exam.
QUESTION 1
David Harvey’s text provides an analysis of how the need to
expand markets under capitalism impacts urban development,
often favoring the interests of investors over the urban public.
He describes the many instances in modern history where
government regimes and private interests have identified urban
expansion and “revitalization” programs as a means of
reinvesting surplus product to create surplus value (i.e. profits).
For this question, explain:
1.
Why does Harvey believes the process of finding new markets
to reinvest surplus value is relevant to a discussion on urban
development? In your answer, explain what surplus value is and
why capitalists need to constantly find new markets to maintain
profits.
2.

2. Explain how this process was manifested historically by
relaying one of the examples in Harvey’s text (i.e. Haussmann’s
reconstruction of Paris under Louis Napoleon, postwar suburban
development in the U.S, etc.)
QUESTION 2
Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities
was an attack on city planning. It came at a time when cities
across the country were feeling the negative impact of Title I,
Title 2, and Title 10 legislation by the federal government, and
the private real estate development industry’s capitalization on
that legislation. This included increased suburbanization, in
which predominantly white middle income families were
provided with incentives and support to purchase homes outside
the city. This also meant they took their tax dollars with them—
and often jobs relocated to the suburbs as well. As a result,
center cities began to deteriorate, and those that remained found
it difficult to secure good paying jobs. As the housing stock
declined, those with profit interests in the city advocated
widespread “slum clearance,” replacing older communities with
new public and private housing towers. This led to a lot of
displacement, upsetting tight knit communities and leaving
many low income and ethnic and racial minorities in insecure
housing situations—and sometimes even homeless.
1.
How might terms like “urban renewal” or “urban revitalization”
be used politically to enact slum clearance or other programs
that, in Jane Jacobs’ observation, eradicate great
neighborhoods?
2.
What did she see was so great about those run-down
communities as opposed to the “revitalized” ones?
3.

3. For a city to be truly vital, Jacobs suggests it needs to be
diverse. What criteria did Jacobs suggest is needed to create
urban diversity? Be able to explain why these criteria are
important.
QUESTION 3:
Mike Davis discusses the “neoliberalism” of the contemporary
city and how it has divided urban areas into distinct social
spaces. Much of this division is not only social, it’s physical—
i.e. the decisions made about how to design plazas, parks, bus
benches, etc. and how those designs send certain messages
about who belongs and who doesn’t. We put this theory to the
test in our exploration of the Bunker Hill area in Downtown
L.A.
1.
What does Davis mean about “fortified cells” vs. “spaces of
terror?” Give an example.
2.
Also, how does this urban circumstance impact public space?
Provide a clear definition of public space and an example of a
public space vs. a semi-public or private space from the field
trip.
3.
How does Davis define or describe the “architectural policing of
social boundaries” in urban communities and how is it
manifested through urban design? What does it mean to police
behavior through design? Provide 2-3 examples of these designs
that “police behavior” and the messages they send.
QUESTION 4:
Sharon Zukin suggests that a lack of social diversity in urban
neighborhoods kills the authenticity of a city and denies it a

4. soul. She blames much of this on the cycle of displacement that
accompanies gentrification.
1.
What is the cycle of displacement as laid out by Zukin? This
should include a description of the change from “authentic”
working class neighborhoods, to transitional communities, to
high-income communities. What are some of the signs that show
these different phases are occurring according to Zukin?
2.
Identify some of the factors that pique developers’ and real
estates’ interests in gentrifying a neighborhood.
3.
In our discussions, I asked you to consider whether
gentrification is “inevitable.” Most of you said yes, but some
suggested it was because humans constantly want to “progress”
or cities need to become more “developed.” I’d like you to
rethink this response. For this question, explain why
interpreting gentrification as “progress” only gives a limited
perspective on what creates an exciting, functional urban
environment. How might an association of gentrification with
“progress” impact lower income residents who don’t own
property in the “revitalizing” or “transitioning” neighborhood?
Do you think lower income residents universally believe their
communities aren’t already “vital?” Explain.
QUESTION 5
In our week discussing borders we looked at many different
ways divisions, gates, walls, and metaphorical divisions shape
urban environments. Many of the examples we considered
focused on housing: gated communities in upscale
neighborhoods, economic and spatial boundaries between poor
immigrants and housed citizens, and so on. These divisions
between people who are unlike us can create uneasiness when

5. we find ourselves occupying the same space. They can
encourage us to vote in our own narrow self-interests, and not
for the betterment of a diverse citizenry. And they can even
encourage us to think that those who are unlike ourselves are
somehow “less human” or worthy.
1.
How does Setha Low find the decision to set up borders or
boundaries reinforce certain views of people who may be
different from those living in gated communities (i.e. does this
separation reinforce feelings of fear, even if those fears are
unjustified in reality)? How might these perceptions of
difference or insecurity shape continued economic and social
disparity (injustice, inequality) in cities?
2.
Describe some of the psychological topics Low applies to her
research into gated communities. Choose social splitting,
purified living, or racialization and describe how they might
apply to the psychology of someone living in a largely
homogenous, gated community.
3.
How does TC Boyle suggest Delaney's community has been
inculcated with certain messages from the media about their
urban environment? How has this impacted their feeling of
safety and their desire to build a gate barring entrance to their
community--one removed from the central city? What are some
of the race and class assumptions that Boyle imagines lie at the
base of many gating projects in cities?
QUESTION 6
1.
In Naomi Klein’s article she talks about the way urban “shock”
is used as an opportunity for transforming cities in certain

6. ways. What does she mean by “shock” and how does it relate to
the concept of “disaster capitalism” or the “disaster industry.”
Be sure to describe these terms in your response.
1.
What do you think is Naomi Klein’s concern about this quote:
“The vast infrastructure of the disaster industry, built up with
taxpayers’ money, is all privately controlled.” Use an example
to support you point.
2.
Can you find any parallels between the urban theories of Naomi
Klein, Mike Davis, and Sharon Zukin? If yes, describe using an
example.
QUESTION 7
1.
What are some parallels you can find between any of the
authors’ theories we’ve read this semester? Identify and explain
where you think their views of urban development, urban
investment, and the urban experience overlap. Describe 1-2
examples.
2.
What urban theory did you find most instructive or compelling
this semester? Identify the author, explain the theory, and
describe why it particularly resonated with you.