The Role of Immigration in Shaping American Cities
Immigration has played a significant role in shaping the growth and development of urban cities within America. Kaplan, Wheeler & Holloway (2004) expand on this idea in Chapter 11 of their work, Urban Geography. The authors hypothesize that immigration is largely responsible for the reconfiguration, shaping and expansion of many major metropolitan cities in the United States, Canada and other outlying regions. The authors support this fact using statistics and geographical maps of the U.S. and major cities in Canada. Had the immigrants not populated many coastal cities in the United States and elsewhere, the country may not have the flavor of diversity it has today especially among urban dwellers.The authors introduce the concept of urban geography, and note how the development and evolution of the American Urban system came about largely because of the influx of immigrants into major Metropolitan cities. The authors demonstrate the distribution of immigrants in various metropolitan areas focusing primarily on the United States but also offering detailed statistics from Canada, where urban immigrants also helped shape, restructure and distinguish many urban cities. For example, in Canada, from 1991-1996, Toronto was the city
In areas where Hispanics and Latinos did not comprise 90 percent or more of the population in these areas, they did comprise anywhere from 40 to 80 percent on average according to the authors. Toronto however, realized an influx of almost 2 million people during this brief, six-year time. In the New England States, Florida, California and Canada, the total number of immigrants exceeded either 500,000 or 1,000,000 of the population totals. Top immigration destinations in the United States included California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut and other New England territories. Map 1 in Chapter 11 provides a visual aid that demonstrates the distribution of immigrant Irish settlers in the year 1950 in Boston. During this time-period, the immigrants flooding these cities largely influenced the way cities and urban landscapes were changed and segregated. German and Irish immigrants tended to settle in the United States, with much of the immigrant population representing German or Irish descendants, many of whom settled on the coasts, in cities like New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Baltimore and New Orleans (though there were many other non-coastal cities where people settled like Kansas City). To understand just how influential immigration was to the development of major urban areas, one must understand just how prevalent immigration in major United States cities was. In the United States, using maps and other diagrams, Kaplan, Wheeler and Holloway (2004) demonstrate just how insidious the influence of immigrants were on cities in the United States. People of Puerto Rican ethnicity make up the next largest slice of the pie at just 10 percent of the Hispanic and Latino settlers. Kaplan, Wheeler and Holloway (2004) also note how many cities were formed following major historical events including the Vietnam War and World Wars I and II. Many smaller urban areas began to sprawl, in Canada and especially within the United States. During the years 1900 through 1921 and the years following 1981, the largest influx of immigrants occurred in cities.
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Acceptance Essays
