URS 2000-90Discussion TopicsDiscussion Topic # 1: What is a city? (Due Aug. 29)This is the first of 8 semi-weekly discussions. Remember, for each discussion topic you are required to submit one original post and one response to another student's post. With your response, add something substantive. Don't just say "Nice job!" This first post is very simple, justto get you all started and signed in. Please complete it by the end of the first week. The deadline is 11.30 pm on Friday August 29.Here's the question: What is a city? How do you know when you are in a city, versus a rural area? Give a few obvious differences.Discussion Topic #2: Classic Models of Urban Structure (Due Sept. 12)Re-read the discussion on the three classic models of urban structure from the first lecture (slides 17 and 18). In this discussion you are attempting to apply one or more of these models toa North American city with which you are familiar, the bigger the city the better. In a paragraph or two, provide a rationale for which of the three models best fits your chosen city. Focus primarily on how residential areas are arranged in the city (by income, ethnicity etc.).It might be (as suggested in slide 18 on Social Areas) that all three fit, depending upon what characteristic you are using. For your response, find a post on a city you are also familiar with (could be the one you also used), and add additional insights. If by some remote chance you cannot find a post on a city you know, at least provide a thoughtful critique of someone else’s posting.Discussion Topic #3 Sustainable Cities (Due Sept. 26)This topic focuses on South American cities and sustainability. Check out the PowerPoint slide (#15) in Chapter 4 called Sustainable Urban Development. It gives links to 2 videos, on Bogota, Colombia and Curitiba, Brazil. For this discussion view the video on Bogota (http://vimeo.com/37143020) and give thoughtful answers to the following 3 questions:1) What were the main problems facing the city of Bogota, before the improvements were made?2) What specific improvements did the city of Bogota implement?3) Which, if any, of these improvements would you recommend for American cities like Dayton, and why?For your responses, fill in any gaps you see in the main post's answers. If you can't find any gaps,suggest other transportation improvements Bogota should consider implementing, in addition to those shown on the video.As an experiment, for this topic you must start a thread before you can read and reply to other threads. You can tell me later how challenging it was.Discussion Topic # 4 Transport for London (Due Oct. 12)This discussion topic requires you to view another video, this time on London: http://video.pbs.org/video/1145396186To complete this discussion you only need to watch the first half (about 13-14 minutes). Here arethree questions to address:1) What were the problems London was facing before creating Congestion Zones?2) What are Congestion Zones and Congestion Charges? How do they work?3) What have been the positive impacts, especially to the environment?For a response, fill in any gaps in the original post of another student, and provide some of the negative impacts of Congestion Zones (yes, you play Scrooge on this one!).As with the last topic, you have to start a thread before you can read and reply to other threads.Discussion Topic # 5 Greater Middle East CitiesThis discussion focuses on the three world cities in the Greater Middle East: Cairo, Jerusalem and Istanbul. These cities are discussed in some detail in our text (pages 313 to 322), and are also covered in the lecture notes (slides 20 to 35). You are welcome to do additional research.For your initial post, select one of these cities and provide two paragraphs:1) A brief description of the city, focusing on those elements that have given the city its unique qualities.2) Give reasons why the city is important, not just in its own country, but to the rest of the world. You might imagine what would be lost (besides people) if the city was suddenly gone, perhaps in a natural disaster.For your response to another student’s post, agree or disagree with their explanation of why the city is important to the rest or the world. Either way, provide additional factual support for your argument. You can respond to a post about the same city you chose, or a different city.Discussion Topic #6 Micro-Credit Comes to Main StreetThis topic focuses on micro-credit. In my slides there is only a short reference to it in the Sub-Saharan Africa lecture (slide 16). In your text, it is discussed more fully in Chapter 9, Cities of South Asia, on page 413. You might look for more research. I found a video on Youtube which was helpful (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgYes4bA7oM).The main breakthrough in micro-lending came with Mohammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank which began lending small amounts of money, mainly to women, to kick-start small businesses. In 2006 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.For your post, briefly address three issues:1) Explain how micro-credit works. 2) Secondly, give a good argument as to why Prof. Yunus deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.3) Suggest ways micro-credit can benefit cities (Main Street), as it has rural areas.For your response, give additional suggestions or arguments to strengthen another student’s post, on at least one of the three above issues.For this discussion, you have to start a thread before you can read and reply to other threads.Discussion Topic #7 East Asian World CitiesTwo cities in East Asia that are growing to prominence are Taipei, capital of Taiwan, and Seoul, capital of South Korea. Both are world cities (as identified on the map of world cities in Chapter 1 lecture notes), and both have grown rapidly in recent years. However, they are not examined in the lecture notes on Representative Cities. Let us rectify this! There is an extensive discussion of these two cities in our text (pages: 503-509, 515-17). If you don’t have access to the text, youmust do your own research.For your initial post, select only one of these cities and provide thoughtful answers to the following questions:1) How did the city rise to prominence from 1950 on? 2) What major challenges did the city have to face as it grew rapidly?3) How is it solving these challenges as it transforms into a world city?For your response, find a post on the same city you selected and provide additional insight on any of the three questions.For this