Population Growth and Migration

Urban growth

Occurs from two sources: migration from rural to urban areas and natural population increase.

Rural to Urban Migration

Movement of people, typically farmers, from rural settlements to urban centers in search of jobs.

Second Urban Revolution

Industrial innovations in mining and manufacturing that led to increased urban growth.

Metropolis

A very large and densely populated city, particularly the capital or major city of a country or region.

Megacities

Cities with a population of 10 million inhabitants, examples include Cairo, Mumbai, Beijing, Dhaka, and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto.

Metacities

Cities with a population of 20 million inhabitants, examples include Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, and Mexico City.

Suburbanization

The movement of people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts of a city.

Urban Sprawl

The tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner.

Decentralization

In an urban context, the movement of business operations from core city areas into outlying areas such as suburbs.

Edge Cities

A concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment developed in the suburbs outside of a city’s traditional downtown.

Exburb

A semi-rural district located beyond the suburbs, often inhabited by affluent families.

World City

A city that serves as a control center of the global economy.

Rank Size Rule

The population of a settlement is inversely proportional to its rank in the urban hierarchy.

Primate Cities

A city that is much larger than any other city in the country, dominating economic, political, and cultural life.

Christaller’s Central Place Theory

A model that explains the location of cities based on the trade pattern for goods and services.

Threshold

The minimum number of people required to support a business.

Range

The distance people are willing to travel to acquire a good.

Gravity Model

An idea that suggests the closer two places are, the more influence they will have on each other.