AP HUG Unit 6 Vocab

African City Model

A model showing African cities with three CBDs (colonial, traditional, and open-air market), ethnic neighborhoods, and informal settlements on the outskirts.

Bid-rent Theory

Theory that land value and rent decrease as you move away from the CBD; explains urban land use patterns.

Blockbusting

When real estate agents encouraged white homeowners to sell cheaply by stoking fears of incoming Black residents, then sold at higher prices to minorities.

Boomburbs

Rapidly growing suburban cities that are not the core of a metropolitan area but have city-like populations and economies.

Borchert's Transportation Model

Describes stages of U.S. urban growth linked to transportation: sail-wagon, iron horse (railroads), steel rail, auto-air, and high-tech.

Brownfields

Abandoned industrial or commercial sites, often contaminated, posing challenges for redevelopment.

Burgess Concentric-zone Model

Urban model with a series of rings around a CBD, each ring representing different types of land use or residential zones.

Census Block Qualitative Data

Descriptive, non-numerical information (e.g., interviews, photographs) collected at a very detailed geographic level.

Census Tracts

Geographic regions defined for the U.S. Census, typically containing about 4,000 people, used for statistical analysis.

Census Data

Population and housing data collected every 10 years; includes quantitative and demographic information.

Central Business District (CBD)

The downtown or commercial heart of a city, with high land values, skyscrapers, and business activity.

Central Place

A settlement that provides goods and services to surrounding areas; a market center.

Christaller's Central Place Theory

Explains how services are distributed and why settlements of different sizes exist in a regular pattern, using hexagonal hinterlands.

Citadel

A fortified center of ancient cities, often used for protection or elite residences.

City-State

A sovereign city and its surrounding territory, functioning as an independent political entity.

Colonial CBD

A central business district from colonial times, often with European-style architecture and grid street patterns.

Commensal Relationship

A relationship where one organism benefits and the other is unaffected; rarely applied in urban studies, sometimes metaphorically.

Commercial Spine

A major road in Latin American cities extending from the CBD and lined with businesses and commercial activity.

Concentric Zone Model

Burgess's model showing urban land use in rings radiating from the CBD outward into different residential zones.

Conurbation

A large urban region formed when multiple cities grow together, like the Northeast U.S. megalopolis.

Counter-Urbanization/Deurbanization

Movement of people from urban areas to rural areas, reversing the trend of urbanization.

De Facto Segregation

Segregation that happens by fact or custom, not by law—often the result of historical patterns and economic disparities.

Disamenity Zones

Areas in cities lacking services and infrastructure, often occupied by the poorest residents, such as informal settlements or slums.

Ecumene

The portion of Earth's surface that is permanently inhabited and used for agriculture or settlement.

Edge Cities

Newly developed urban centers on the outskirts of older cities, often near highways and offering commercial and retail services.

Eminent Domain

The government's power to take private property for public use, often controversial in urban redevelopment.

Environmental Injustice / Environmental Racism

Disproportionate exposure of minority and low-income communities to environmental hazards.

Exurbs

Low-density residential areas beyond the suburbs, often rural in character but connected to a city.

Favelas (Barrios)

Informal, self-built settlements in Latin American cities; typically lack infrastructure and legal housing rights.

Farmland Protection Policy

Government efforts to protect agricultural land from being converted to urban use.

Field Narrative

Descriptive account or story based on field observations, often used in qualitative geographic research.

Field Study

Direct observation or research conducted outside of a lab, often involving data collection in real-world settings.

Functional Zones

Divisions within a city based on land use, such as residential, commercial, or industrial areas.

Functional Fragmentation of Government

When local governments are numerous and divided, creating inefficiency in urban planning and services.

Galactic City Model

A model showing a post-industrial city with a decentralized CBD and multiple edge cities connected by beltways or highways.

Gentrification

The process of wealthier people moving into deteriorated urban areas, improving property but displacing poorer residents.

Geographic Fragmentation of Government

The presence of many overlapping local governments within a metropolitan area, often causing coordination challenges.

Ghettos

Urban areas where minority groups are concentrated, often due to discrimination or economic pressure.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of the world through economic, political, cultural, and technological exchange.

Gravity Model

Predicts interaction between places based on population size and distance—larger and closer places interact more.

Greenbelts

Rings of open land around cities where development is restricted to preserve nature and limit sprawl.

Griffin-Ford Model

A model of Latin American cities with a blend of traditional and colonial CBDs, a commercial spine, and surrounding poorer areas.

Harris and Ullman Multiple-Nuclei Model

A model proposing cities have multiple centers (nuclei) for different activities instead of a single CBD.

Hexagonal Hinterlands

Used in Central Place Theory to represent market areas with no overlap or gaps, maximizing coverage.

Historical Character

Features of a city or neighborhood tied to its past, often preserved through architecture, culture, or landmarks.

Higher-order Services

Specialized services (e.g., lawyers, surgeons, universities) that are found in larger settlements with wider market areas.

Housing Affordability

The extent to which people can afford housing; often measured as a percentage of income spent on rent or mortgage.

Housing Discrimination

Unfair treatment of individuals when renting, buying, or financing homes, often based on race or socioeconomic status.

Hoyt Sector Model

Urban model suggesting cities develop in sectors or wedges radiating from the CBD along transportation lines.

Inclusionary Zoning

Policies requiring or encouraging developers to include affordable housing in new developments.

Informal Economy Zone

Economic activity that is not regulated or taxed by the government—common in informal settlements or street vending.

Informal Settlements

Unregulated, self-built housing areas lacking official recognition, infrastructure, or legal land tenure.

Infilling

Developing vacant or underused parcels within already built-up urban areas, rather than expanding outward.

Infrastructure

Basic physical and organizational structures needed for society to operate—roads, water, electricity, etc.

Latin American City Model

Urban model showing a CBD with a commercial spine, surrounding elite housing, and peripheral squatter settlements.

Land Tenure

The way land is owned or legally occupied, often a challenge in informal settlements.

Leap-frog Development

When new development skips over undeveloped land, creating gaps and promoting sprawl.

Livability

A measure of how pleasant a city is to live in—includes housing, transportation, green space, safety, and services.

Local Food Movement

Effort to support locally produced food to reduce environmental impacts and support local economies.

Lower-order Services

Basic services (e.g., gas stations, grocery stores) that are needed frequently and located close to consumers.

Mall

A large enclosed shopping center, often located in suburban or edge city areas.

Market Area

The geographic area served by a central place offering goods or services.

McGee Model

Model of Southeast Asian cities with a port zone, lack of strong CBD, and zones based on colonial influence and industry.

Megacities

Cities with over 10 million residents, often struggling with infrastructure, pollution, and housing.

Megalopolis

A massive urban region formed when multiple metropolitan areas grow and merge, e.g., Boston to Washington D.C.

Metacities

Urban areas with more than 20 million residents, often in developing countries.

Metropolitan Area

A central city and its surrounding suburbs and exurbs that are socially and economically integrated.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a region with a city of 50,000+ people and surrounding counties with high integration.

Micropolitan Statistical Area

Urban area with a core city of 10,000-50,000 people and surrounding areas closely tied to it.

Mixed-use Neighborhoods

Areas that combine residential, commercial, and sometimes industrial uses within a walkable area.

Mosque

A Muslim house of worship, often a focal point in Islamic cities.

New Urbanism

A planning movement promoting walkable neighborhoods, mixed land use, and traditional town design to combat sprawl.

New Urban Design

Modern planning strategies focused on sustainability, accessibility, and livable public spaces.

Nodal Cities

Urban centers that act as focal points in a region's economy or transportation system.

Nodal Region

A region organized around a central node, such as a metropolitan area centered around a city.

Pedestrian Cities

Urban areas designed for walkability, with narrow streets and compact form, often found in pre-car era cities.

Percent Urban

The percentage of a population living in urban areas compared to the total population.

Periferico

The outer ring road or zone in Latin American cities where squatter settlements are typically located.

Periodic Markets

Markets held on certain days in specific places, common in developing regions.

Periphery

In world-systems theory, less-developed areas that provide labor and resources to core countries.

Peripheral Model

A model showing U.S. cities with a CBD and surrounding suburban areas tied together by a beltway or ring road.

Place Character

The unique feel or personality of a place, shaped by physical and human features.

Population Composition

The makeup of a population based on characteristics like age, gender, income, or ethnicity.

Primate City

A city that is disproportionately larger and more influential than any other city in the same country.

Qualitative Data

Descriptive information not based on numbers—used to understand people's perspectives or experiences.

Quantitative Data

Numerical data that can be measured or counted—used for statistical analysis.

Racial Segregation

The separation of people into different neighborhoods or areas based on race, whether legally enforced or by custom.

Range

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to access a service.

Rank-size Rule

A pattern in which the second-largest city in a country is half the size of the largest, and so on.

Redlining

The discriminatory practice of denying loans or insurance to people in certain neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity.

Redevelopment

Revamping or rebuilding parts of a city, often through demolition and new construction.

Remediation

Cleaning up polluted sites so that land can be reused safely.

Residential Zones

Areas within a city designated for housing and related amenities.

Reurbanization

Movement of people back into city centers after a period of decline or suburbanization.

Rural

Areas with low population density, often focused on agriculture or open space.

Rush Hour

Times during the day when traffic is heaviest due to commuting, usually morning and evening.

Scattered Site

Public housing units distributed across a city rather than concentrated in one area.

Sector Model/Hoyt's Model

Urban land use model showing cities developing in sectors along transportation routes from the CBD.

Settlement

A place where people establish a community.

Semi-periphery

Countries that are industrializing and positioned between the core and periphery in the world economy.