What is a City?

I agreed with most of the defining characteristics that Kostof elaborated on; however, I also saw Singapore as an exception to some of them. 

To begin with, I found it interesting that Kostof commented on both the physical aspects of cities such as cities being in clusters and engaged with the countryside, as well as the more social domains like the social hierarchies and high density of cities. I could connect many of these aspects to Singapore. For instance, it was interesting to me how the physical circumscription of Singapore is based on its geography as it is an island. Going back to the concept of modernism, I could also see monumental definition in Singapore with buildings that had significant form such as Marina Bay Sands and the Esplanade. I also believe that Singapore exemplifies Kostof's point of how cities cannot be homogenous and how a social hierarchy is necessary. Here, there is a diverse mix of races and religions, as well as an unequal distribution of wealth. I wondered if certain ethnic groups are disproportionately represented in the higher or lower classes, and I found that the upper class is unsurprisingly predominantly composed of European and Chinese men. The working class composes the bulk of the Singaporean population (75%), and current trends point towards Singapore being more divided in terms of class as opposed to religions or races. In regards to sources of income, Singapore doesn't have much land space for agriculture; however, utilizing its geographic resources, it is a large port and trading center. 

However, there are also some characteristics of cities that I don't think Singapore entirely mirrors. For example, Kostof explains how cities come in clusters which creates an urban hierarchy. But, there obviously aren't other cities within Singapore. Perhaps on a smaller scale, an urban hierarchy in terms of the districts in Singapore can be seen with Marina Bay being richer and more esteemed than the Woodlands. Kostof also adds how cities are intimately engaged with the countryside, but Singapore doesn't have a countryside. Instead, it relies heavily on imported goods and in return offers a source of income. 

Finally, Kostof writes how the most enduring feature of a city is its physical build (taking into account modern trends while preserving past urban culture). Although Singapore is a new country, I think that to a certain extent it exemplifies this concept well: it has higher-tech buildings like Keppel Bay, but also more antique places like the Sultan Mosque. Therefore, I believe that Kostof's definition of a city holds true to a large extent but perhaps cannot be generalized to fit all cities.