Classifying Cities. Industrial Cities

Cities are frequently classified on the basis of their most important economic functions. Contemporary cities prosper and grow when their activities generate income from elsewhere. Products and services produced in a city and sold elsewhere represent that city's economic base. These sales bring outside revenue into the city's economy. Without a sound economic base, cities will decline.

Basic economic activity also supports nonbasic industries, sometimes called local service industries. These industries serve customers within the urban area. Teachers, doctors, mechanics, grocers, insurance agents, hairdressers, and police officers are nonbasic employees.

Demand for nonbasic employment in a city depends on the health of its economic base. When times are bad in the basic industry of a city, employees are let go or laid off. When this happens, demands for nonbasic services are reduced. Employers of nonbasic workers are often forced to lay off their employees. This relationship between basic and nonbasic employment underlies com- munity competition for industrial development. In general, the prosperity of a city depends on the prosperity of those activities that make up its economic base.

Industrial Cities. Some cities specialize in the production of manufactured goods. Detroit, whose economy relies heavily on the production of automobiles, is an important example. Others include Battle Creek, Michigan (breakfast cereals); Elkhart, Indiana (musical instruments); and Akron, Ohio (tires and rubber products). Many U.S. cities whose economic base involves the manufacture of durable goods are located in the heavily industrialized Rust Belt (Figure 10-6).

Figure 10-6 Manufacturing Centers of the United States. Most of the cities whose economic bases involve the manufacture of durable goods are found in the northeastern quarter of the United States. These bases are distinguished by comparing city employment patterns to the national pattern of employment

The economic fortunes of industrial cities depend on market conditions associated with the goods or services produced there. Following the establishment of the auto- mobile industry in Detroit, the Motor City began to grow very rapidly.

Detroit's population mushroomed from 286.000 in 1900 to over 1.7 million in 1950. The population of the Detroit area continued to grow during the 1950s and 1960s, when automobile production reached record levels. In the 1970s, however, demand for American-made automobiles declined in response to high fuel prices, worldwide recession, and foreign competition. Detroit's economy suffered as a result, and many people moved out of the area.

Industrial cities that depend on a single industry are especially prone to economic fluctuation in response to national or world market conditions. Accordingly, many manufacturing cities are eager to diversify their economic bases. In contrast to Detroit, most large industrial cities are centers for several major industries. Los Angeles is an important center for aviation, entertainment, and garment manufacturing. Diversity helps to cushion a city's economy from the effects of changing market conditions on a particular local industry.