Natural Space

Upon reading “The City” by Park, Burgess and McKenzie I had a very vague understanding of what natural space was defined as, but these reading illustrated how it is easy to see through a metropolitan area. According to the articles a natural space is not just a physical mechanism and artificial construction, it is a product of nature better understood as human nature. The authors understood that humans are social beings so to create a space of interaction from business, to relationship and commerce was a foundation to natural human functioning. Human ecology was being evaluated and that is defined by the study of the special and temporal relations of humans as affected by the selective, distributive, and accommodative forces of the environment. Here we are interested in finding out how the effect of time and space is presented upon human institutions and their behavior. The study of this field can be directly linked to being able to understand “natural space” because a city displays how the environment and current time shape a person through their behavior and the social institutions they have been a part of.

One of the main components according to “The City” is understanding why the city is civilized man’s natural

habitat. In current day society there is an influx of need for technology and work, which the city provides. When jobs are available in the area it can automatically be linked to sources such as transportation and sources of communication. These are directly linked to money, which is the driving force of keeping a city afloat as well as the residents living in it. When a city is flourished with residents the need for education, politics and communities is pushed throughout the community thus expanding the drive for business. The central idea around a “natural space” in a city is the how the area is shaped by the environment it is mean making it natural to its surroundings. Each factor that is accounted in the space that is being looked at stimulates another creating a natural space for the dwellers. An example was given in the reading about how in Chicago, Little Italy is a construct of Italian traditions, products, community and values that have it operating in that space in a natural way.
An example of natural space in the Bloomington-Normal area would be Uptown Normal. This is a natural space because it is a direct reflection of the environment it is located in which is an urban college town. Normal in itself is a prosperous city with businesses that stimulate growth and job opportunities in it such as the new Marriot hotel being built and local business flourishing among the small two-way streets. Although when we look past the small business we see how much Illinois State University has shaped the space to it’s natural setting of a college town versus a regular suburb. Much of the city’s source for work and income comes from the university whether being affiliated by promoting the institution through sponsoring, or bringing in students to purchase the products business’s offer. The community is stimulated by a young crowd so it’s seen how Uptown has a younger feel to it with the business and community surrounding it trying to drive customer’s will to be a part of that business community.
Another reason why this is a natural space is because of the community relationships, from school’s, churches to neighborhoods.

These are constructs that set ethics and morals around people allowing a natural flow of work among people to be attained. In Uptown Normal there is a safe community feel where it is okay to ask a person a question and not feel violence in the community. This is a part of the natural structure of normal here because this is a more predominantly wealthy area. When you move towards the poorer area of Bloomington there is a natural space of more crime and poverty in comparison to areas like Uptown Normal. The community creates a natural space that meshes in part with the culture, history and social organization of the

space.
In conclusion there natural space is clearly illustrated by just looking at the contexts within a community whether it being small and urban or a large metropolitan area. It is important to but in account all the factors of human ecology to the study because this enables the observer to understand how the behavior and institutions are impacted by space