6.1 -6.4

first urban revolution

The innovation of the city, which occurred independently in six separate hearths.

site

an absolute location of a place on Earth

situation

The relative location of a place in reference to its surrounding features, or its regional position with reference to other places

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Communism

an economic and political system in which the government makes almost all economic decisions and owns almost all the major factors of production

Second Urban Revolution

last decades of the 18th century, coincided with the industrial revolution and thousands migrated to cities which had exploding populations.

metropolis

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

urbanized area

In the United States, an urban area with at least 50,000 inhabitants.

metropolitan statistical area

In the United States, a region with at least one urbanized area as its core

Micropolitan Statistical Area

In the United States, a regions with one or more urban clusters of at least 10,000 people at its cores

suburb

a populated area on the outskirts of a city

urbanization rate

The percentage of a nation's population living in towns and cities

sprawl

The tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner

decentralize

In an urban context, to move business operations from core city areas into outlying areas such as suburbs

Edge City

A concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment that developed in the suburbs, outside of a city's traditional downtown or central business district

world city (global city)

a city that is a control center of the global economy, in which major decisions are made about the world's commercial networks and financial markets

gated community

Privately governed and highly secure residential area within the bounds of a city; often has a fence or a gate surrounding it

urban system

a set of interdependent cities or urban places connected by networks

urban hierarchy

a ranking of cities based on their size and functional complexity

rank-size rule

In a model urban hierarchy, the idea that the population of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy.

primate city

a city that dominates a country's economy, culture, and government and in which population is concentrated; usually the capital

Central Place Theory

Theory proposed by Walter Christaller that explains how and where central places in the urban hierarchy should be functionally and spatially distributed with respect to one another.

Central Place

a settlement that makes certain types of products and services available to consumers

threshold

In central place theory, the number of people required to support businesses

range

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

Gravity Model

The idea that the closer two places are, the more they will influence each other