Department of Economics s2

Department of Economics, SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY Jonathan Haughton

ECONOMICS 151: economic and human geography ASSIGNMENT 7

Answers to this assignment are due back on Wednesday, April 8, 2015. Please feel free to work together on the assignment, in groups of not more than three.

1. Urban Clustering

Every city has its noxious facilities, or unpleasant but often necessary things, such as landfills, hospitals, power plants, prisons, and industrial parks. Cities also tend to have amenities – nice things like universities, libraries, museums, and public parks. a. Why are the noxious facilities often clustered in one part of town and the amenities distributed elsewhere? Offer as many reasons for this as you can. b. People often assert "not in my backyard!" (NIMBY) when a noxious facility location is being proposed, but those facilities must go somewhere. What, in your opinion, would be the best way to organize the noxious facilities and amenities in an urban plan? How would your arrangement affect the city's social equity, economic efficiency, and environmental quality?

2. Urban Patterns

Consider a city or town with which you are familiar (or that you find interesting). Is there evidence of a concentric zone pattern of organization? A sectoral pattern? A multiple nuclei pattern? Which model is most pertinent to the urban area you have chosen? Include a map with your answer, and use it to justify your answer.

3. Segregation

The University of Massachusetts (Amherst) is considering allocating students to dorms by lottery. This will make it harder for groups to sort by dorm (e.g. an “Asian dorm,” an “African American dorm”, etc.). Is this a good idea? Justify your opinion.

4. MasteringGeography

Please do the questions in MasteringGeography related to this homework assignment.