Unit 7 Vocabulary

Non basic Industry

Industries that sell their products primarily to consumers in the community (ex. local hospital)

Primate City

The largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many peaople as the second-ranking settlement

Rank-size rule

A pattern of settlements in a country such that the “nth” largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

Redlining

A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.

Smart Growth

Legislation and regulations to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland.

Megaloplolis

A continuous urban complex in the northeastern United States

Filtering

A process of change in the use of a house, from single-family owner occupancy to abandonment

Underclass

A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics.

Urban area

A dense core of census tracts, densely settled suburbs, and low-density land that links the dense suburbs with the core

Urban cluster

An urban area with between 2,500 and 50,000 inhabitants

Greenbelt

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area

Annexation

Legally adding land area to a city in the U.S.

Edge City

A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area

Sprawl

Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built-up area

Market Area (Hinterland)

The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to yse the place’s goods and services

Gravity Model

A model which holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related tot eh number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service

Threshold

The minimum number of people needed to support a service

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 farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel farther

Range (of a service)

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service

Basic Industry

Industries that sell their products or services primarily to consumers outside the settlement (ex. car factory)