AP Human Geography Chapter 18

Ecumene

The portion of Earth's surface occupied by permanent human settlement.

Urban

In, relating to, or characteristic of a city or town.

Rural

Relating to farm areas and life in the country

Suburb

An outlying district of a city, especially a residential one.

Settlement

A permanent collection of buildings and inhabitants.

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.

Percent Urban

The percentage of a population that lives in a city

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the areas surrounding cities but not entirely to rural areas (ex. Levittown)

Reurbanization

When people who lived in the suburbs return to a city

Exurbanization

When people who lived in the suburbs move into rural areas and work remotely

Satellite city

When an established town near a large city grows into a city independent of the larger one

City-states

Prosperous agricultural settlements that grew into urban centers; cities surrounded by territory and agricultural villages

Urban Hearths

Areas associated with river valleys where seasonal floods and fertile soil helped in the production of agriculture

Metropolitan (metro) area

A collection of adjacent futures across which population density is high and continuous

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Consists of a city with at least 50,000 people and is continuous and adjacent to other counties with a high degree of social and economic integration

Micropolitan Statistical Area

Cities with more than 10,000 people but less than 50,000, that have a high degree of social and economic intergration

Nodal region

An area organized around a node or focal point

Social Heterogeneity

Diversity in cultural interests, sexual orientation, language, and professional pursuits

Time-space compression

When modern modes of transportation (Trains, buses, and cars) enable people to move further from cities, but still be able to visit or work in those cities.

Borchert's model

Model that describes urban growth based on transportation technology; each new form produced a new system that changed how people moved themselves and goods

Pedestrian cities

Chores shaped by distances people could walk (earliest urban centers)

Streetcar suburbs

Communities that grow along the course of rail lines

Gravity model

States that places that are larger and closer together will have a greater interaction with each other than places that are smaller and further away

Rank-size rule

States that the nth largest city in a region will be 1/n the size of the largest city; most apparent in countries with federal governments

Primate city

A city that is twice as large as the next largest city, usually the largest city in a country and a hub for social, political, and economic activity and most apparent in countries with a unitary government

Central place theory

Developed to explain the distribution of cities of different sizes across a region

Central place

A location where people go to receive goods and services

Market area

Surrounds a central place and provides goods and services

Hexagonal integration

The shape of market areas; designed to include all areas/corners of a market area and to connect to other market areas easily

Threshold

The size of a population needed for any particular service to exist and remain profitable

Range

The maximum distance people will travel to obtain specific goods and services

Megacity

The worlds largest cities; cities with more than 10 million people

Megapolis

A chain of connected cities

Conurbation

A single uninterrupted urban area

World City/Global City

Cities that exhert influence far beyond their national borders; usually have international corporation centers and a large media influence

Economic Sector

Structure of a country’s economy by distinct economic activities

3 main economic sectors

primary, secondary, and tertiary

Primary Sector

extraction of natural resources from the earth, focus on obtaining raw materials

Secondary sector

production of goods from the raw materials extracted or harvested in the primary sector.

Secondary Sector activities

Manufacturing, processing, and construction

Tertiary Sector

Provides services not finished goods

Quaternary Structure

workers process and handle information and environmental technology.

quinary sector

top leaders in government, science, universities, nonprofit organizations, health care, culture, and media.

Countries with little industrialization have what kind of structure

Primary

Why the Primary Sector is called “first-order”

Because no goods can be produced without the raw materials supplied by primary-sector activities.

Examples of Primary Sector Activities

Farming, fishing, oil drilling, coal mining, forestry, quarrying stone, extracting metal ores, sand, gravel, and natural gas.

Examples of Secondary Sector Activities

Automobile manufacturing, steel production, textile manufacturing, food processing, construction, electricity generation.

Why Secondary Sector Activities Cluster in Cities

High capital costs, access to labor, proximity to transportation networks, ports, and energy sources make industrial concentration more efficient.

Examples of Tertiary Sector Services

Banking, insurance, retail trade, tourism, health care, education, transportation, law, entertainment, and government services.

Spatial Distribution of Tertiary Activities

Widely distributed because services are needed wherever people live, though density increases with population size.

Examples of Quaternary Sector Jobs

Information technology, scientific research, higher education, libraries, data analysis, cultural activities.

Where Quaternary Sector Industries Cluster

Near universities and research institutions that supply a highly educated workforce.

Location of Quinary Sector Activities

Capital cities and major political or administrative centers.

Pattern of Sectoral Change During Development

As countries develop, employment shifts from the primary sector to the secondary sector and eventually to the tertiary, quaternary, and quinary sectors.

Industrialization

The process by which a country moves from primary-sector dominance to increased secondary-sector manufacturing, often leading to rapid urbanization.

Postindustrial Economy

An economic system characterized by extremely low primary-sector employment, declining secondary-sector employment, and dominant tertiary employment with growing quaternary and quinary sectors.

Examples of Postindustrial Countries

United States, Japan, Australia, Singapore.

Key Features of Postindustrial Economies

Emphasis on services over goods, growth of information technology, reliance on higher education, and outsourcing of manufacturing to peripheral regions.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of all goods and services produced by a country’s citizens and companies within the country in one year.

Why GDP Matters More Than Employment Alone

Some sectors contribute more economic value than others even if they employ fewer workers.

Dual Economy

A condition in which two distinct economic systems coexist within a country, typically a traditional primary-sector economy and a modern industrial or market-based economy.

Example of a Dual Economy

Vietnam, where a large agricultural workforce exists alongside a growing industrial and manufacturing sector.

Core-Periphery Model

Core countries have high levels of development, a capacity at innovation and a convergence of trade flows. Periphery countries usually have less development and are poorer countries.

Why Agricultural Workers May Remain in the Primary Sector

Cultural traditions, limited perceived benefits of industrial work, lack of access to education, or geographic isolation from core regions.

Relationship Between Economic Sectors

Primary provides raw materials, secondary transforms them into goods, tertiary distributes and services them, quaternary manages information, and quinary makes policy and high-level decisions.