⭐🏙️ Unit 6: Urban Patterns & Processes

Urbanization

The growth of cities

Metropolitan Area

A city and its surrounding suburbs

Megacity

A city with over 10 million people

Gentrification

Wealthy people moving into poorer areas

Urban Sprawl

Expansion of cities into rural areas

Burgess Model

City grows in rings from the center (CBD)

Hoyt Sector Model

City grows in wedge-shaped sectors

Multiple Nuclei Model

City has multiple centers of activity

Central Business District (CBD

The economic center of a city

Suburbanization

Movement from cities to suburbs

Primate City

the leading city in a country, disproportionately larger (often >2x) and more influential than any others, acting as the economic, political, and cultural hub

Site

the physical characteristics of a specific location, including absolute location, topography, climate, vegetation, soil, water sources, and elevation

Situation

a place's location relative to its surrounding environment, focusing on connectivity, accessibility, and proximity to other features like resources, transportation routes, and markets

urban

high population density, extensive human-made infrastructure (cities, towns, suburbs), and specialized economic functions

suburb

residential or mixed-use areas on the outskirts of a central city, characterized by lower population density, single-family housing, and high automobile reliance

rural

sparsely populated areas located outside cities and towns, characterized by open space and economies focused on agriculture or natural resource extraction