APHG unit 6

Ecumene

The variety of community types with a range of population densities.

Rural

Relating to farm areas and life in the country with low population.

Urban areas

Densely populated regions that include cities and the suburbs that surround them.

Suburbs

Residential areas surrounding a city.

Urbanization

The process of developing towns and cities that does not end when a city is formed.

Percent urban

An indicator of the proportion of the population living in cities and towns compared to those living in rural areas.

Site

Describes the characteristics at the immediate location of a place, for example, physical features, climate, labor force, and human structures.

Situation

The location of a place relative to its surroundings.

Settlement

A place with a permanent human population.

City-state

A city with its surrounding territory and agricultural villages.

Urban hearth

An area generally associated with defensible sites and river valleys that allowed for an agricultural surplus.

Metropolitan area

A collection of adjacent cities economically connected, with high and continuous population density.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

A central city of at least 50,000 population and adjacent counties with functional connections.

Micropolitan Statistical Area

Cities of more than 10,000 but less than 50,000 inhabitants with surrounding counties showing a high degree of integration.

Nodal region

A focal point in a matrix of connections.

Social heterogeneity

Greater variety of people in cities compared to rural areas.

Time-space compression

Globalization accelerates time and reduces the significance of space leading to urban growth.

Borchert's transportation model

Describes the evolution of cities based on transportation innovations over time.

Sprawl

The rapid expansion of the spatial extent of a city.

Leap Frog Development

Where developers build communities beyond the city's periphery, encouraging sprawl.

Boomburgs

Rapidly growing suburbs.

Edge cities

Nodes of economic activity on the periphery of large cities.

Counter urbanization

Urban residents leaving cities.

Exburbs

Regions beyond the suburbs.

Reurbanization

People returning to live in a city.

Megacities

Cities with more than 10 million people.

Metacities

Cities with greater than 20 million people.

Megalopolis

A chain of interconnected cities.

Conurbation

An uninterrupted urban area made of towns, suburbs, and cities.

World Cities (Global Cities)

Cities that exert influence beyond national boundaries.

Urban hierarchy

Ranking based on influence or population size.

Nodal cities

Command centers on a regional level with significant but lesser power than world cities.

Urban system

An interdependent set of cities interacting on various scales.

Rank-size rule

The population of a city or town is inversely proportional to its rank in a hierarchy.

Higher-order services

Expensive services that people buy occasionally, found in larger towns.

Lower-order services

Less expensive services that require a small population to support, used frequently.

Primate city

The city that ranks first in population and economy in a nation.

Gravity model

Larger and closer places have more interactions than smaller, farther places.

Central place theory

Explains the distribution of services, where larger settlements provide for more people and are fewer and farther apart.

Central place

A location where people go to receive goods and services.

Market area

Contains people who purchase goods from the central place.

Hexagonal hinterlands

A compromise shape for market areas to avoid overlapping service areas.

Threshold

The population size necessary for a service to exist and be profitable.

Range

The distance people are willing to travel for specific goods or services.

Functional zonation

Portions of an urban area that serve specific and distinct purposes.

Central Business District (CBD)

The downtown area with high retail and office concentration.

Bid rent theory

Land nearer to the city center has greater value than land further away.

Comensal relationship

Commercial interests that benefit each other.

Residential zones

Areas where people live in a city.

Concentric zone model

Describes a city as a series of rings around a central business district.

Transition zone

The first ring in the concentric zone model, mixing industrial and low-cost housing.

Sector Model (Hoyt Model)

Describes how urban growth occurs along sectors radiating from the CBD.

Harris-Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model

A model where social groups are arranged around multiple nodes of activity.

Peripheral model

Suburban neighborhoods surround an inner city, served by nodes of commercial activity.

Galactic city model

Describes a city with smaller nodes of commerce around the original CBD.

Suqs

Traditional outdoor markets found in Islamic cities.

Griffin-Ford Model

Describes Latin American cities with a wealthy CBD and commercial spine.

Favelas

Neighborhoods characterized by extreme poverty and lawlessness.

Disamenity Zones

Areas not connected to city services and controlled by gangs.

Traditional CBD

Characterized by small shops clustered along narrow streets.

Colonial CBD

Features broad avenues and administrative centers.

Informal economy zone

Includes temporary and unregulated curbside and stall-based businesses.

Periodic markets

Markets where small-scale merchants gather periodically.

Informal settlements

Densely populated areas lacking coordinated planning or public services.

Squatter settlements

Developments characterized by extreme poverty on unowned land.

McGee model

Describes land use in many large Southeast Asian cities focused around former colonial port zones.

Zoning ordinances

Regulations defining how property in specific regions can be used.

Urban planning

The process of promoting growth and controlling land use changes.

Residential density gradient

Population density declines as one moves away from the inner city.

Filtering

The process of houses passing from one social group to another.

Invasion and succession

Process where one social or ethnic group replaces another.

Urban infill

Increasing residential density by replacing open spaces within a city.

Suburbanization of business

Commerce moving from cities to cheaper suburban locations.

Infrastructure

Facilities and systems serving the urban population.

Municipal

The local government and services provided by a city.

Municipality

A local entity under a single jurisdiction.

Annexation

Legally adding land to a city.

Incorporation

The act of legally forming a new city.

Bedroom community

Commuter suburbs.

Unincorporated areas

Populated regions not within any legal city boundaries.

Public transportation

Transportation service operating regularly for the general public.

Sustainability

Using resources without causing permanent environmental damage.

Smart growth policies

Legislation to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland.

Greenbelts

Undeveloped land around urban areas.

Slow-growth cities

Cities that limit outward spread and encourage density.

New urban design

Strategies for implementing smart growth in communities.

Mixed-use neighborhoods

Vibrant neighborhoods that combine residential and commercial areas.

Transit-oriented development (TOD)

Development located near mass transit to decrease automobile dependency.

Livability

Principles supporting sustainable urban design.