Culture

Urban culture is the culture of cities. The theme that defines it is the presence of a large number of very different people in a very limited space, most of whom are strangers to each other,[17]​ which makes possible the creation of a wide range of subcultures close to each other, exposed to the influence of others, but without necessarily interfering in people's private lives.[18]​.

Climate

There are several factors that influence urban climate, such as city size, city morphology, land use configuration, and geographic environment (such as relief, elevation, and regional climate). Some of the differences between urban and rural climate are air quality, wind regime and changes in rainfall regime, but one of the most studied is the urban heat island effect.

Urban environments are often warmer than their surroundings, as Luke Howard documented over a century ago.[19] Urban areas are large-scale islands or patches compared to the more rural surrounding terrain. The spatial distribution of temperatures occurs at the same time as temporal changes, both causally related to anthropogenic sources.

The urban environment has two atmospheric layers in addition to the planetary boundary layer that lies outside and extends far above the city: (1) The urban boundary layer is due to spatially integrated heat and moisture exchanges between the city and its overlying air. (2) The surface of the city corresponds to the level of the urban canopy layer. Flows across this plane include flows from individual units, such as rooftops, canyon tops, trees, grass, and roads, integrated into broader land use divisions (e.g., suburbs). The urban heat island effect has been one of the main focuses of attention in urban climatological studies and, in general, the effect that the urban environment has on local meteorological conditions.

This field also includes the topics of air quality, radiation fluxes, microclimates and even issues traditionally associated with architectural design and engineering, such as wind engineering. The causes and effects of pollution, as understood through urban climatology, are increasingly important for urban planning.[20]​.

Changes in winds and convection patterns over and around cities affect precipitation. Contributing factors are believed to be the urban heat island, increased surface roughness, and increased aerosol concentration.[21]​.

Decay

"Urban decay" (also known as urban rot, urban death and urban plague) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of it, falls into deterioration and decrepitude. It can be characterized by deindustrialization, depopulation or disorganization, economic restructuring, abandoned buildings and infrastructure, high local unemployment, increased poverty, family fragmentation, general low standard and quality of life, Political disenfranchisement, crime, high levels of pollution and a desolate urban landscape, known as greyfield or urban prairie, have been associated with Western cities since the 1970s and 1980s, especially in North America and parts of Europe (especially the United Kingdom and France). Since then, major structural changes in global economies, transportation and government policy have created the economic and then social conditions that gave rise to urban decay.[22]

There are different ways of seeing and reading the city. One of the most important notions is the city as a space of multiple exchanges. The city can be proposed as a cultural space that brings together several functions: the official and the recreational; the material and the symbolic. It contains the village, the temple, the plaza and the theater, it is a “locus of collective memory, a space of desire, of the imaginary and of writing.” The city represents power and sacralizes it, but even more so, “it polarizes, stores and transmits culture.” Curiously, language represents culture better than the city could ever represent it.

On the other hand, according to Henri Lefebvre, the city is the "projection of society on a terrain; not only on the sensible space but on the specific plane perceived and conceived by thought, which determines the city and the urban." Furthermore, he adds that “the space of a city is characterized by its simultaneity”, it is governed by a relationship between time and space.

Holland Izquierdo proposes reading the city as if the city were a text, constructed by various economic, cultural and social conditions, where various social and mental forms are expressed. If we start from the notion of the city as a text, then it “has its own language.” Within the reading of it, we can find a relationship “between the urban and the textual structure” in which we can associate it with a walker walking through the city and a reader reading a text. The city is not only one system, but is built by several interrelated systems: the fundamental structure that occupies the urban space, factors such as zoning, location, history and development and infrastructure and finally, its “particular poetics” that determine the readings of that city. Which means that the textual structure of the city is like a “collage”, which we can explore inexhaustibly and which has a unique language. As Roland Barthes points out: the city speaks to its inhabitants and they speak to the city.[23]​.

• - Urbanization process.

• - Urbanization rate.

• - Metropolitan area.

• - City.

• - Megalopolis.

• - Urban vitality.

Culture

Urban culture is the culture of cities. The theme that defines it is the presence of a large number of very different people in a very limited space, most of whom are strangers to each other,[17]​ which makes possible the creation of a wide range of subcultures close to each other, exposed to the influence of others, but without necessarily interfering in people's private lives.[18]​.

Climate

There are several factors that influence urban climate, such as city size, city morphology, land use configuration, and geographic environment (such as relief, elevation, and regional climate). Some of the differences between urban and rural climate are air quality, wind regime and changes in rainfall regime, but one of the most studied is the urban heat island effect.

Urban environments are often warmer than their surroundings, as Luke Howard documented over a century ago.[19] Urban areas are large-scale islands or patches compared to the more rural surrounding terrain. The spatial distribution of temperatures occurs at the same time as temporal changes, both causally related to anthropogenic sources.

The urban environment has two atmospheric layers in addition to the planetary boundary layer that lies outside and extends far above the city: (1) The urban boundary layer is due to spatially integrated heat and moisture exchanges between the city and its overlying air. (2) The surface of the city corresponds to the level of the urban canopy layer. Flows across this plane include flows from individual units, such as rooftops, canyon tops, trees, grass, and roads, integrated into broader land use divisions (e.g., suburbs). The urban heat island effect has been one of the main focuses of attention in urban climatological studies and, in general, the effect that the urban environment has on local meteorological conditions.

This field also includes the topics of air quality, radiation fluxes, microclimates and even issues traditionally associated with architectural design and engineering, such as wind engineering. The causes and effects of pollution, as understood through urban climatology, are increasingly important for urban planning.[20]​.

Changes in winds and convection patterns over and around cities affect precipitation. Contributing factors are believed to be the urban heat island, increased surface roughness, and increased aerosol concentration.[21]​.

Decay

"Urban decay" (also known as urban rot, urban death and urban plague) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of it, falls into deterioration and decrepitude. It can be characterized by deindustrialization, depopulation or disorganization, economic restructuring, abandoned buildings and infrastructure, high local unemployment, increased poverty, family fragmentation, general low standard and quality of life, Political disenfranchisement, crime, high levels of pollution and a desolate urban landscape, known as greyfield or urban prairie, have been associated with Western cities since the 1970s and 1980s, especially in North America and parts of Europe (especially the United Kingdom and France). Since then, major structural changes in global economies, transportation and government policy have created the economic and then social conditions that gave rise to urban decay.[22]

There are different ways of seeing and reading the city. One of the most important notions is the city as a space of multiple exchanges. The city can be proposed as a cultural space that brings together several functions: the official and the recreational; the material and the symbolic. It contains the village, the temple, the plaza and the theater, it is a “locus of collective memory, a space of desire, of the imaginary and of writing.” The city represents power and sacralizes it, but even more so, “it polarizes, stores and transmits culture.” Curiously, language represents culture better than the city could ever represent it.

On the other hand, according to Henri Lefebvre, the city is the "projection of society on a terrain; not only on the sensible space but on the specific plane perceived and conceived by thought, which determines the city and the urban." Furthermore, he adds that “the space of a city is characterized by its simultaneity”, it is governed by a relationship between time and space.

Holland Izquierdo proposes reading the city as if the city were a text, constructed by various economic, cultural and social conditions, where various social and mental forms are expressed. If we start from the notion of the city as a text, then it “has its own language.” Within the reading of it, we can find a relationship “between the urban and the textual structure” in which we can associate it with a walker walking through the city and a reader reading a text. The city is not only one system, but is built by several interrelated systems: the fundamental structure that occupies the urban space, factors such as zoning, location, history and development and infrastructure and finally, its “particular poetics” that determine the readings of that city. Which means that the textual structure of the city is like a “collage”, which we can explore inexhaustibly and which has a unique language. As Roland Barthes points out: the city speaks to its inhabitants and they speak to the city.[23]​.

• - Urbanization process.

• - Urbanization rate.

• - Metropolitan area.

• - City.

• - Megalopolis.

• - Urban vitality.