Cities & Urban Land Use Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms related to cities and urban land use.

Annexation

Legally adding land area to a city in the United States.

Central Business District (CBD)

The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered.

Central place theory

A theory that explains the distribution of services based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services.

Concentric zone model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings.

Conurbation

An extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of one or more cities.

Density gradient

The change in density in an urban area from the center to the periphery.

Edge city

A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area.

Filtering (filter process)

A process of change in the use of a house, from single-family owner occupancy to abandonment.

Galactic city

A mini edge city that is connected to another city by beltways or highways.

Gentrification

A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class, owner-occupied area.

Greenbelts

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area.

Hinterland

The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the place’s goods and services.

Latin American city model

Combines elements of Latin American culture and globalization by combining radial sectors and concentric zones.

Market area

The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the place’s goods and services.

Megalopolis

Term used to designate large coalescing supercities that are forming in diverse parts of the world.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

A central city of at least 50,000 population and adjacent counties meeting certain tests indicating a functional connection.

Micropolitan Statistical Area

An urbanized area between 10,000 and 50,000 inhabitants and the county in which it is found.

Multiple nuclei model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities.

New urbanism

An urban design that calls for development, urban revitalization, and suburban reforms that create walkable neighborhoods.

Peripheral model

A model of North American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas.

Primate city

The largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement.

Public housing project

Housing owned by the government rented to residents with low incomes.

Redlining

A process by which banks refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within certain boundaries.

Scattered site

Site in which dwellings are dispersed throughout the city rather than clustered in a large project.

Squatter settlement

An area within a city in a less developed country where people illegally establish residences.

Sector model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors radiating from the CBD.

Suburb

A subsidiary urban area surrounding and connected to the central city.

Sprawl

Development of new housing sites at relatively low density in locations not contiguous to the existing urban area.

Underclass

A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society.

Urban realms model

A spatial generalization of the large, late-twentieth century city in the U.S. consisting of independent zones.

Urban renewal

Program in which cities acquire properties from private owners, relocate residents, and build new developments.

World city

A dominant city in terms of its role in the global political economy.

Zone in transition

An area that is either becoming more rural or more urban.

Zoning ordinance

A law that limits the permitted uses of land and maximum density of development in a community.