YESTERDAY AS TOMORROW'S SONG: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE 1960S "CHICAGO SCHOOL" TO URBAN GEOGRAPHY

Abstract

On December 17,1971, a 33-column-inch article by Alan Wilson appeared on the front page of the "books" section of The Times (London, UK), titled "Big boost for new geography." In it, Wilson reviewed four textbooks: Spatial Organization (Abler, Adams, and Gould); Industrial Location (Smith); Internal Structure of the City (ISC) (edited by Bourne); and The North American City (NAC) (Yeates and Garner). Given that at least two of these books {ISC and NAC) are firmly in the realm of urban geography, what had happened in the field to warrant this banner treatment? Examination of ISC and NAC indicates that both are in large part rooted in research themes pursued in the Department of Geography (particularly by Brian Berry, and graduate students) at the University of Chicago from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Some of these themes are as follows: the emphasis on process over place; the notion of the geographical matrix; the idea of systems within systems; the spatial topology of commercial structure; social theory and the internal structure of cities; the connection between social space and housing space in a race-determined society; the need for research relevance; and the importance of "professionalism" to the geographical research enterprise. The paper concludes by situating the collective work of this group within the proud tradition of the Chicago School of urban studies and by identifying the ways in which this efflorescence of activity continues to energize developments in urban geography and in the discipline at large. [Key words: urban geography, research themes, Chicago School, Brian Berry.]