AP Human Geo - Cities and Urban Land-Use

Annexation

The process by which a city legally expands its boundaries to incorporate surrounding land or communities, often to increase tax revenue or control development.

Bid-Rent

A theory describing how the price and demand for land decreases as distance from the CBD increases, with different land users (commercial, residential, industrial) willing to pay different amounts at different distances.

Boomburbs

Large, rapidly growing suburban cities with populations over 100,000 that have maintained double-digit growth rates, typically found in the Sun Belt region of the U.S.

Borchert's Epochs

John Borchert's model describing four stages of U.S. metropolitan growth based on dominant transportation and energy technology: sail-wagon, iron horse, steel-rail, and auto-air-amenity epochs.

Brownfields

Previously developed or industrialized urban sites that are abandoned or underused, often requiring environmental cleanup before redevelopment.

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

A model of urban structure proposing that cities grow outward from the CBD in a series of concentric rings, each with a distinct land use: CBD, zone of transition, working-class homes, residential zone, and commuter zone.

Blockbusting

The discriminatory and illegal practice of convincing white homeowners to sell their homes at low prices by stoking fears that racial minorities were moving into the neighborhood, then reselling at higher prices.

CBD – Central Business District

The commercial and business core of a city, characterized by high land values, tall buildings, dense economic activity, and a concentration of retail, offices, and services.

Christaller's Central Place Theory

A theory by Walter Christaller explaining the size, number, and distribution of urban settlements based on the range and threshold of goods and services they provide to surrounding hinterlands.

Decentralization

The process by which people, businesses, and services move away from a central city to surrounding suburbs or smaller cities, reducing the dominance of the urban core.

Density Gradient

The change in population density from the center of a city outward toward the suburbs, typically decreasing as distance from the CBD increases.

Drivers of Globalization

The forces that accelerate economic and cultural integration across the world, including advances in communication, transportation, trade liberalization, and multinational corporations.

Edge City

A large suburban node of economic activity that has developed on the outskirts of a major city, containing significant amounts of office, retail, and entertainment space.

Exurbs

Communities beyond the suburbs that are inhabited by people who commute to the city; less densely developed and more rural in character than typical suburbs.

Galactic City

A model of urban structure by Chauncey Harris describing a dispersed, decentralized metropolitan area with multiple nodes of activity spread across a wide region, connected by highways.

Gentrification

The process by which wealthier residents move into a lower-income urban neighborhood, leading to renovation and rising property values but often displacing existing low-income residents.

Gravity Model (Population)

A model predicting that the interaction between two places is proportional to their populations and inversely proportional to the distance between them.

Greenbelts

Zones of undeveloped land surrounding urban areas that are protected from development, intended to limit urban sprawl and preserve open space.

Harris & Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model

A model of urban structure proposing that cities develop around multiple centers of activity rather than a single CBD, with different land uses clustering around different nuclei.

Hoyt Sector Model

A model of urban structure proposed by Homer Hoyt suggesting that cities grow outward from the CBD in pie-shaped sectors along transportation routes, with similar land uses clustering together.

Hinterland

The surrounding region served by a central city or urban area, from which it draws resources, population, and economic activity.

Inclusionary Zoning

A land-use policy requiring developers to include a percentage of affordable housing units in new residential developments in exchange for zoning approvals.

Infrastructure

The basic physical systems and structures that support urban life, including roads, bridges, water systems, sewage, and utilities.

Market Area

The geographic region from which a city or business draws its customers; the area served by a particular good or service.

Megacity

A city with a population of 10 million or more people, often experiencing rapid growth and significant urban challenges.

Metacity

An extremely large urban agglomeration with a population exceeding 20 million people, representing the highest level of urban concentration.

Megalopolis

A vast, interconnected chain of metropolitan areas that merge into a continuous urban region, such as the BosWash corridor in the northeastern United States.

MSA – Metropolitan Statistical Area

A U.S. Census Bureau designation for a region consisting of a core urban area with a population of at least 50,000 plus adjacent communities that are socially and economically integrated with it.

New Urbanism

An urban planning movement that promotes walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with accessible public transit, designed to reduce dependence on cars and foster community.

Periphery Model

In world-systems theory, a model describing how less-developed nations on the economic periphery are exploited by core nations; in urban geography, refers to development at the outer edges of a metropolitan area.

Semi-Periphery

Countries or regions that fall between the core and periphery in terms of economic development, serving as a buffer zone in the world economy.

Primate City

A city that is disproportionately large compared to all other cities in a country, dominating the nation's political, economic, and cultural life (e.g., Paris, Bangkok).

Public Housing

Government-owned and subsidized residential housing provided to low-income residents who cannot afford market-rate housing.

Rank-Size Rule

The observation that in many countries the population of a city is inversely proportional to its rank; the second-largest city is half the size of the largest, the third is one-third the size, and so on.

Redlining

The discriminatory and now illegal practice of denying services (especially loans and insurance) to residents of certain neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity, contributing to urban decline and segregation.

Site vs. Situation

Site refers to the physical characteristics of a place (terrain, climate, water access); situation refers to a place's location relative to surrounding areas and its connectivity to other places.

Smart Growth

Urban planning policies that encourage compact, transit-oriented, walkable development to limit sprawl, reduce environmental impact, and promote sustainable communities.

Slow Growth

Urban planning policies that deliberately limit or control the rate of population and development growth in a city or region to manage resources and maintain quality of life.

Site & Situation

Site refers to the physical attributes of a location; situation refers to its relative location and connections to surrounding areas. Both factors influence urban development and growth.

Sprawl

The uncontrolled, low-density expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land, typically car-dependent and characterized by strip malls, subdivisions, and lack of walkability.

Squatter Settlement

An area where people illegally occupy land and build informal housing, typically lacking access to clean water, sanitation, and other basic services; common in developing world cities.

Suburban Sprawl

The rapid, unplanned expansion of suburban development outward from a city, often consuming agricultural land and increasing car dependency and infrastructure costs.

Suburbanization

The process by which people and businesses move from urban centers to surrounding suburban areas, driven by factors such as affordable housing, cars, and highways.

Uptown

A term referring to a residential or commercial area located away from the CBD, often at higher elevation or to the north; generally associated with wealthier or more prestigious neighborhoods.

Urban Hierarchy

The ranking of settlements according to their size and the range of services they offer, from small towns at the bottom to megacities at the top.

Urban Renewal

Government programs aimed at redeveloping and revitalizing deteriorated urban areas, often through demolition of older buildings and construction of new housing, businesses, or infrastructure.

Zone in Transition

In the Burgess Concentric Zone Model, the ring surrounding the CBD characterized by mixed land use, older housing, factories, and immigrant communities; subject to change as the city grows.

Zoning

The legal division of a city or region into designated areas where specific land uses are permitted, such as residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural zones.