Tampa Urban Development - Essay Example

?Tampa Urban Development Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Urban Development in America 4 Geographical Analysis of Tampa Development 4 Urban Development of Tampa 5 Transportation of Tampa 7 Suburbanization of Tampa 10 Conclusion 12 Introduction The surface of the world is changing quickly. The changes are in the form of local, provincial, national, and even international in range. A number of changes occur due to several natural calamities, for example, earthquakes or flow of air and other changes happen due to human activities such as agricultural growth, resource mining, water resources improvement, and urban development. In the United States, the evolution of urban regions has been dramatic. Numerous situations have congregated over a number of years in the US, and in present days almost 80% of the countries’ residents live in metropolitan regions that occupy below 20% of land area. The amount of urbanized land inside these metropolitan regions is much less. The urban population development started gradually, enhanced in the 19th Century, and after that the development sustained gradually during the following hundred years. The methods and causes for urbanizations have transformed significantly over time. Urban Development in America American metropolises have developed progressively but remained comparatively small in geographic region and population. Major urban developments are situated beside ‘transportation access points’ at docks, navigable tidal, important national rivers, seaways, and great lakes. During the civil war the form of urban development had started to change. The capitals have become the hearts of industry for accessing domestic and national natural resources. Trains are one of the leading transportation mediums in the country which is the most inexpensive way to carry materials for construction. After the World War II, suburbanization gained importance in older capitals. Numerous aspects have promoted the spread of suburbanization. The improvement of highway system lets individuals to travel for their occupations in the metropolises from outside civic limitations. This tendency has started in the period of 1920s and enhanced significantly after 1940s. Several multilane highways had developed which contributed to further suburbanization. The suburbanization offers a way of linking small towns with metropolitan lifestyle (Auch & Et. Al., “Urban Growth in American Cities”). Geographical Analysis of Tampa Development Tampa is situated in the harbor of west and middle Florida with an area of 1030 square kilometers. It is regarded as one of the biggest open water bays in the southeastern side of America (Xian & Crane, “Assessments Of Urban Growth In The Tampa Bay Watershed Using Remote Sensing Data”). The width of water bays is almost 400 square miles and the size of drainage area is almost six times more. Tampa is affected by rapid development of human population and it is the second major metropolitan region in the US with almost 2.3 million people. It is anticipated that the population of metropolitan region will rise by approximately 20% by the year 2015. In the period of 1950s, the urban development of Tampa resulted in substantial corrosion in the water quality, environment and natural resources. Urban developments have transformed approximately 50% of Tampa’s original coastline. About 40% of Tampa’s sea-grass has been wiped out because of urbanization (Olsen & Ricci, “Introduction”). Urban Development of Tampa Development and urban extension have become a major concern for America. Throughout past 100 years, several towns have developed from small remote inhabitants to huge organized urban economical geographies. According to survey of ‘US Census Bureau’, almost 79% of American people live in urban areas. One of the major urban development’s of the US is Tampa which is situated in Florida. Tampa has been experiencing improvement since 1800. Several housing spaces were established in ‘Hillsborough River’ area, ‘Alafia River’ area, Seaside Hillsborough Bay area, ‘Boca Ciega Bay Drainage Basins’, and Central Tampa Bay Beach of Tampa (Xian & Crane, “Assessments Of Urban Growth In The Tampa Bay Watershed Using Remote Sensing Data”). The warm environment, seaside setting, and ample entertaining opportunities have contributed to the development of Tampa. Majority of development has concentrated in Pinellas and Hillsborough states where inhabitants have increased by 148% and 158% respectively from the period of 1960 to 2001. Latest urban development for utilization of land has prolonged in the north eastern region of Tampa (Xian & Et. Al., “An Analysis Of Urban Development And Its Environmental Impact On The Tampa Bay Watershed”). Population Development: One of the direct impacts linked with urban development in Tampa is increase of population. From 2000 to 2005, Tampa has experienced population progress of 10% i.e. from 303,447 persons to 333,040 persons. The mean increase in population is calculated as 5,900 per year. The population density was calculated as 2,868 people per square mile in the year 2005. The number is about 4.5 individuals per acre (Department of Strategic Planning and Technology, “Tampa Profile”). Residential Development: It has been observed that high population densities are linked with areas of high rigidities and major highways. From 2000 to 2005, the number of residents in Tampa has increased by 9%, i.e. from 135,776 to 147,880. The mean development rate is accounted as 2,400 houses per annum. It is being estimated that the development of number of residential buildings will increase by 17% by 2015. In the year 2005, Tampa had given permit to several residential buildings. Almost 5,236 new buildings had been permitted on that year. This development was motivated by large scale cooperative plans in the inner city of Tampa along with increased residential building in the New Tampa region. New Tampa is the major area of urban development where population has increased by 71% from 2000 to 2005. The center of Tampa includes central commercial region and network region. The network region has experienced residential building increase of 1200% from 2000 to 2005. In the year 2005, there was major residential development plans in several areas of Tampa, for example, ‘Ybor City Development Area’, ‘Downtown Central Business District’, ‘Tampa Heights’ and ‘Central Park Village Area’ among others (Department of Strategic Planning and Technology, “Tampa Profile”). Transportation of Tampa Air transport facility in Tampa is regarded as one of the best air transportation systems internationally. ‘Tampa International Airport’ is also recognized as America’s one of the most preferred airports. This airport accounts for almost 100,000 visitors per day. The airport of Tampa offers 273 daily constant scheduled flights to almost 68 national locations as well as 42 weekly scheduled flights to five global locations. The effective arrangement of the airport removes annoyances and interruptions, guaranteeing instant and comfortable transportation experience to people (Tampa Bay & Company, “Transportation”). A smaller air transport facility is located on Davis Island named ‘Peter O. Knight Airport’. This airport serves Tampa’s common flying transportations and managerial airplanes and even has a hydroplane basin and site (Advameg, “Tampa: Transportation”). There are broad options of transport in Tampa, such as motor coach, taxi, streetcar, rental vehicle, and bus. Tampa’s bulk transportation system is mainly based on bus and run by the ‘Hillsborough Area Regional Transit’ (HART) authority. HART controls almost 207 buses on 26 roads (Advameg, “Tampa: Transportation”). In the year 1992, Tampa was chosen by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for developing the transportation and traffic management system. The ‘Florida Department of Transportation’ made a deal with the ‘University of South Florida’ for developing the operation of ‘Transportation Information Center’ in Tampa region. ‘Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS)’ in any country can help to develop the security and decrease the overcrowding in urban transportation systems. The ATMS project of Tampa mainly includes managing traffic signals and timings in the urban zone so that every vehicle can run effectively. There are five traffic control centers in Tampa area which controls the traffic which are: Tampa Traffic Control Center, Pinellas Country Traffic Control Center, Clear-Water Traffic Control Center, St. Petersburg Traffic Control Center, and Hillsborough Traffic Control Center (Center for Urban Transportation Research, “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”). Traffic Control Center of Tampa: The traffic control center of Tampa supports the transportation system by effective traffic management. It maintains close relationship with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Hillsborough County. In the central of the system there are three ‘Concurrent Model 3210 processor’ which are able to manage around 256 connections and the processing capacity of existing transportation network. The present transportation network of Tampa consists of 710 connections of which 550 are administered by Traffic Control Center and the rest 160 are managed by Hillsborough County. The Traffic Control System covers the whole urban area within Tampa’s boundary. Throughout the system, information is transmitted to the center through copper cable system which controls two major trunks (Center for Urban Transportation Research, “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”). Pinellas Traffic Control Center: Pinellas Traffic Control Center acts as a satellite of key traffic network. The existing network includes 295 connections, out of which 235 connections are semi activated and the rest 60 are fully activated (Center for Urban Transportation Research, “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”). Clear-water Traffic Control Center: Clear-Water Traffic Control Center had initiated the operation from 1980 and was modernized in the year of 1992. There are almost 143 connections out of which 100 are completely activated and the rest 43 are semi activated. Unlike the other system this control center has loop sensors which are fitted in one track only. The information of traffic is communicated through twisted pair wire system (Center for Urban Transportation Research, “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”). St. Petersburg Traffic Control Center: St. Petersburg Traffic Control Center provides facilities with several associated organizations which comprises of parking administrations, traffic signals and markings and construction maintenance. Its existing networks include 288 connections out of which 96 are pre-timed and the rest are semi activated. The information is communicated by twisted pair wire system (Center for Urban Transportation Research, “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”). Hillsborough Traffic Control Center: The Hillsborough Traffic Control Center uses diverse devices for gathering information and the utilization of information is also different. One part of Hillsborough Traffic Control Center is situated in Tampa Traffic Control Center and the other part includes 57 connections in center of Tampa. The system has one Concurrent Model 3210 processor which monitors 20 count locations. In addition to 20 locations, there are also loops which are connected in 65 locations all over the country (Center for Urban Transportation Research, “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”). Suburbanization of Tampa The major challenge of Tampa for urban development is the explosive growth of population. The suburbanization of Tampa had started in the period of 1960s. The area has pushed away from the center of Tampa. Business enterprises such as outlets, movie theaters, and restaurants drifted to the suburbs areas. Presently, the downtown area of Tampa is regarded as a vital business region which is occupied throughout the working weeks. The roads and footways are populated at lunch time but Downtown Tampa is nearly abandoned in the dusks and weekends (Shiel, M. & Fitzmaurice, T., “Cinema and the City: Film and Urban Societies in a Global Context”). The major growth of Tampa was due to the urbanization of New Tampa which had begun in the year 1845. Despite certain barriers throughout Civil War, Tampa had developed progressively. In the year 1884, the development of additional railroads to the Hillsborough River helped to access new areas. New Tampa is a part of Florida which lies inside the boundary of Tampa. Since 1988, the area of New Tampa has developed quickly and several plans are already in progress (Zerivitz, “Tampa”). The suburbanization of New Tampa has occurred in terms of housing and business establishments. Another challenge for urbanization of Tampa is the amount of infrastructure developments for accommodating the rapid progression. Several housing developments which comprise of high density buildings continue to affect the lands, and numerous retail stores were planned for construction in recent years. For example, Riverwalk project comprises of the creation of center rievrwalk division from Curtis Hixon Park to Washington Street. It ultimately links the Convention Center with Garrison Seaport Center. Many roadways are developed and a few are widened to support the traffic problems (City of Tampa, “Downtown Tampa Its cultural and Historical Significance”). The federal government has augmented the suburbanization. Federal government and state government regulate the highway operations, which has caused serious deprivation of taxes in several metropolises. Conclusion The urbanization of Tampa is the result of massive development in industry which encouraged a boom of industrial growth and improvement of prosperity. The military has also stimulated the development of Tampa. Tampa was the key arming and embarkation harbor for the US armed forces during the Spanish-American war. With the help of transportation development, businesses had grown rapidly in the downtown area. Presently, the ‘Tampa International Airport’ is one of the best airports in Florida. Its port facilities had also developed considerably. ‘Port of Tampa’ is regarded as one of the biggest ports in the nation. At present, Tampa has developed into a multi–cultural, miscellaneous commerce hub with supportable societies for the people (City of Tampa, “Tampa History”). People travel there regularly for occupational purposes or visit the tourism places. The population density of Tampa has increased significantly due to urbanization and major number of increases in residencies can be seen from 2000 to 2005. The growing infrastructure, pleasant geographical locations and business opportunities have contributed to the development of Tampa. Works Cited Auch, Roger. & Et. Al. “Urban Growth in American Cities”. November 09, 2011. Glimpses of U.S. Urbanization, 2004. Advameg. “Tampa: Transportation”. November 09, 2011. Cities of the United States, 2009. Center for Urban Transportation Research. “Tampa Bay Area Integrated Transportation Information System”. November 09, 2011. University of South Florida, 1993. City of Tampa. “Downtown Tampa Its cultural and Historical Significance”. November 9, 2011. Tampa Connection Project, No Date. City of Tampa. “Tampa History”. November 09, 2011. Information Resource, 2011. Department of Strategic Planning and Technology. “Tampa Profile”. November 09, 2011. Land Development, 2006. Olsen, Stephen Bloye. & Ricci, Glenn. “Introduction”. November 09, 2011. Coastal Portal, 2011. Shiel, Mark. & Fitzmaurice, Tony. Cinema and the City: Film and Urban Societies in a Global Context. John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Tampa Bay & Company. “Transportation”. November 09, 2011. Meeting Professionals, 2011. Xian, George. & Crane, Mike. “Assessments Of Urban Growth In The Tampa Bay Watershed Using Remote Sensing Data”. November 09, 2011. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2005. Xian, George. & Et. Al. “An Analysis Of Urban Development And Its Environmental Impact On The Tampa Bay Watershed”. November 09, 2011. Journal of Environmental Management, 2007. Zerivitz, Marcia Jo. “Tampa”. November 09, 2011. Jewish Virtual Library, 2008. Read More