Cities develop as a result of funct

Cities develop as a result of functions that they can perform. Some functions result
directly from the ingenuity of the citizenry, but most functions result from the needs of
the local area and of the surrounding hinterland (the region that supplies goods to the
city and to which the city furnishes services and other goods). Geographers often make a distinction between the situation and the site of a city. Situation refers to the general
position in relation to the surrounding region, whereas site involves physical
characteristics of the specific location. Situation is normally much more important to
the continuing prosperity of a city. if a city is well situated in regard to its hinterland, its
development is much more likely to continue. Chicago, for example, possesses an almost unparalleled situation: it is located at the southern end of a huge lake that forces east-west
transportation lines to be compressed into its vicinity, and at a meeting of significant land
and water transport routes. It also overlooks what is one of the world’s finest large
farming regions. These factors ensured that Chicago would become a great city regardless
of the disadvantageous characteristics of the available site, such as being prone to flooding during thunderstorm activity.
Similarly, it can be argued that much of New York City’s importance stems from its
early and continuing advantage of situation. Philadephia and Boston both originated at
about the same time as New York and shared New York’s location at the western end of
one of the world’s most important oceanic trade routes, but only New York possesses an easy-access functional connection (the Hudson-Mohawk lowland) to the vast Midwestern
hinterland. This account does not alone explain New York’s primacy, but it does include
several important factors. Among the many aspects of situation that help to explain why
some cities grow and others do not, original location on a navigable waterway seems
particularly applicable. Of course, such characteristic as slope, drainage, power resources, river crossings, coastal shapes, and other physical characteristics help to
determine city location, but such factors are normally more significant in early stages
of city development than later.