Site
The relationship between a city and the physical environment and landscape in which it is located
Situation
The relationship between a city and the rest of the urban system in which it is located
Urbanization
The process by which the population of urban settlements grows. Includes a growth in the percent of people, and the number of people living in urban areas
Business services
Principle purpose is to facilitate the activities of other businesses
Consumer services
Principle purpose is to provide services to individual consumers who desire them and can afford them
Public services
The purpose is to provide security and protection for citizens and business
Service
Any activity that fulfills a human want or need and returns money to those who provide it
Settlement
A permanent collection of buildings where people reside, work, and obtain services
Globalization
The increasing connection of economic, cultural, and political characteristics across the world
Megacity
A place with 10 million or more residents
Metacity
A place with 20 million or more residents
World city (global)
Urban settlements that play an especially important role in global business
Borchert Model of Urban Growth
Focuses on the development of cities in relation to the development of transportation and communication.
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; larger settlements are fewer and further apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel further
Food Desert
An area that has a substantial amount of low-income residents and has poor access to a grocery store, defined in most cases as further than 1 mile
Gravity Model
A model which hold that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely re;aed to the distance people must travel to reach the service
Law of The Primate City
A pattern of settlements in a country that is the largest settlement had more than twice as many people as the second ranking settlement
Market Area/ Hinterland
The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the place’s goods and services
Range
The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service
Rank-Size Rule
A pattern of settlements in a country that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement
Threshold
The minimum number of people needed to support a service
Urban Hierarchy
The hierarchy of cities from smallest to largest is hamlet, village, town, city, metropolis, and megalopolis
Central Business District (CBD)
The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered
Qualitative Data
Descriptive information
Quantitative Data
Any pieces of information that can be displayed using numbers
African City Model
A generalized diagram of an urban area in sub-Saharan Africa that contains pre-colonial, European colonial, and post-colonial elements and is or was segregated by race
Bid-Rent Theory
A geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand for real estate change as the distance from the central business district (CBD) increases.
Burgess Concentric-Zone Model
Describes expansion in concentric rings around the central business district.
Census Tract
An area delineated by the U.S Beuro of the Census for which statistics are published. In urban areas, census tracts correspond roughly to neighborhoods
Disamenity Zones
The very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not even connected to city services (amenities) and are controlled by gangs and drugs
Edge Cities
A large node of office and retail offices on the edge of urban areas
Galactic City Model (Peripheral Model)
A city with growth independent of the CBD that is traditionally connected to the central city by means of an arterial highway or interstate.
Harris- Ullman Multiple-Nuclei Model
A city that does not have one central area, but instead has several nodes that act as regional centers for economic or residential activity within one larger city
High Density Housing
Real estate developments that have a higher population than average
Hoyt Sector Model
Suggests that people will live in different sectors based on income levels.
Infrastructure
The basic structure of services, installations, and facilities needed to support industrial, agricultural, and other economic development
Latin America City Model
Combines elements of Latin American Culture and globalization by combining radial sectors and concentric zones.
Low Density Housing
Typically made up of single- family homes that are detached with green space between properties- typically owned by the residents.
Medium Density Housing
Typically made up of multiple- family apartments or townhouses- residents typically pay monthly rent to a landlord who owns the property
Southeast Asian City Model
Feature high-class residential zones that stem from the center, middle-class residential zones that occur in inner-city areas, and low-income squatter settlements that occur in the periphery.
Zones of Abandonment
Areas that have been deserted in a city for economic or environmental reasons.
Boomburbs
Rapidly growing (double-digit growth) suburban cities with a population greater than 100
Decentralization
The tendency of people or businesses and industry to locate outside the central city
Exurbs
The small communities lying beyond the suburbs of a city
Fragmentation (of governments)
There are a large number of local governments throughout the country
Greenbelts
A ring of lang maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area
Infilling
Occurs where open space presents an economic opportunity for landowners to build small multi-family housing units
Megalopolis
One continuous urban complex, extending from north of Boston to south of Washington, D.C.
Mixed Land Use
Cities that blend a use of residential, commercial, institutional, or industrial uses
New Urbanization
Seeks to encourage local community development and sustainable growth in an urban area
Slow-Growth Cities
Urban communities where the planners have put into place smart growth initiatives to decrease the rate at which the city grows
Smart- Growth (policies)
Policies that combat regional sprawl by addressing issues of population density and transportation
Sprawl
The tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner
Suburb
A residential or commercial area situated within an urban area but outside the central city
Suburbanization
The growth of cities outside of an urban area
Sustainable Design Initiatives
Seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, and the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance
Transportation Oriented Development
A type of urban development that clusters jobs, housing, services and amenities around public transport hubs.
Urban Growth Boundaries
Geographical boundaries placed around a city to limit suburban growth within that city
Walkability
A term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot
Zoning Ordinance (practices)
A law that limits the permitted uses of land and maximum density of development in a community
Blockbusting
A process by which real estate agents convince white home owners to sell their homes at low prices because of a fear that a black person would move in to their neighborhood
Brownfields
An abandoned, idled, or underused industrial or commercial facility in which redevelopment is burdened by real or potential environmental contamination
De Facto Segregation
People are segregated into separate areas by fact rather than by law or policy
Farmland Protection Policies
Passed to help protect farmland from being unnecessarily or irreversibly converted without first undergoing a land evaluation by the city government, even if the project was being federally funded
Filtering
A process of change in the use of a house, from single family owner occupancy to abandonment
Gentrification
A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low income, renter occupied area to a predominantly middle class, owner occupied area
Inclusionary Zoning
Municipal and county planning ordinances that require a given share of new construction to be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes
Local Food Movement
Movement which aim to connect food producers and food consumers in the same geographic region
Redlining
A process by which financial institutions draw red-colored lines on a map and refuse to lend money to people for purchase or improve property lines
Squatter Settlements
An area within a city in a less developed country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect homemade structures
Urban Renewal
Program in which cities identify blighted inner-city neighborhoods, acquire the properties from private owners, relocate the residents and businesses, clear the site, build new roads and utilities, and turn the land over to private developers