In “What is an American city?,” Michael B. Katz discusses how American cities formed and changed over time. He explains that these changes make it nearly impossible to provide an accurate definition of what an American city is. The different cities in America developed under different circumstances and evolved to accommodate changing times. I agree with the idea that older models of defining American cities are no longer suitable.

Historically, most cities in America were formed around industry but, as Katz describes, this is no longer the case. Over time, the economy of America has switched from being industry-based to service-based. Some cities declined due to this transformation but others evolved and continued to thrive. These changes mean that the old characterization of American Cities as ones centered around industry is unsuitable.

I agree with Katz that we can no longer use the old characterization of American cities. I am not sure, however, if it would even be possible to come up with a new characterization of American cities. As cities evolved, each one became unique. At the same time, however, cities around the world have become more similar as the world became more globalized and cultures influenced each other.

In most cases, I don’t believe that it is appropriate to define cities based on the countries in which they are located. We live in a globalized world and major cities today function as hubs for international interactions. Cities like New York have substantial immigrant populations and, at any given time, usually contain a large number of people visiting from other parts of the world. Because of this, labeling a city as “American” seems unfitting.

In the world we live in, I am not sure that the different cities within one country are similar enough to come up with a characterization of what a city in that country is like. I don’t believe that two American cities are any less different from each other than from many other cities around the world. While every city has its own history and cultural influences that may differentiate it from or relate it to other cities, I don’t believe that it is possible to properly characterize a city as American.