AP Human Geo - Unit 6 - Vocabulary (copy)

Globalization

growth to a global or worldwide scale

World City

Centers of economic, culture, and political activity that are strongly interconnected and together control the global systems of finance and commerce.

hierarchy

The ranking of cities from smallest to largest

rank-size rule

the rank of a city's population within a country will be approximately the largest city's population divided by the rank of the city in question.

primate city

the largest settlement in a country with more than twice as many people as the second ranking settlement

Gravity model

A mathematical formula that describes the level of interaction between two places, based on the size of their populations and their distance from each other. (population of city x) * (population of city y) divided by the distance between them ^2=the level of interaction

Christaller's 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.

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings.

Hoyt Sector Model

the theory of urban structure that a city develops in a series of certain sectors that are based off an individual's income

Harris-Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of multiple nodes

Galactic City Model

represents the post-industrial city with its several, dispersed business districts. This model represents a distinct decentralization of the commercial urban landscape as the economy has transitioned to services as the leading form of production. Manufacturing has declined significantly and become specialized.

Bid rent theory

geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards an urban center decreases

low-density housing

land use pattern meant for a small number of residential homes that include a lot of open space and contain the fewest people per geographic unit

medium-density housing

land use pattern in which residential units include multi-unit housing, such as townhomes as well as single-unit housing

high-density housing

land use pattern in which land is occupied by residential units that include multi-unit housing such as high-rise buildings and contain the highest people per geographic unit

Infilling

The process by which population density in an urban centre is increased by building on waste land or underused land.

infrastructure

Fundamental facilities and systems serving an area to keep it's economy going

Sustainable Design Initiatives

Communities that use smart growth and green building techniques to create neighborhoods that are economically thriving and environmentally responsible

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural areas to cities

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the surrounding outskirts

Site

exact location of a city

Situation

the location of a place relative to other places

Megacities

cities with more than 10 million people

Metacities

cities with populations over 20 million

periphery countries

the least developed and least powerful nations; often exploited by the core countries as sources of raw materials, cheap labor, and markets

semi-periphery countries

nations ranking in between core and periphery countries, with some attributes of the core countries but with less of a central role in the global economy

urban sprawl

The process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land.

Decentralization

the tendency of people or businesses and industry to locate outside the central city

edge cities

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

Exurbs

communities that arise farther out than the suburbs and are typically populated by residents of high socioeconomic status

Boomburbs

rapidly growing city that remains essentially suburban in character even as it reaches populations more typical of a large city

Built Landscape

an area of land represented by its features and patterns of human occupation and use of natural resources

de facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice, not laws or policy

housing discrimination

The illegal practice of denying an individual or group the right to buy or rent a home based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or family status.

Redlining

a practice in which banks refuse to make loans to people living in certain geographic locations usually based off race

Blockbusting

A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that persons of color will soon move into the neighborhood

affordability

Financial capacity of people to rent/buy adequate housing

Disamenity Zones

The very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not connected to regular city services and are controlled by gangs and drug lords.

Zones of Abandonment

areas that have been deserted in a city for economic or environmental reasons

Squater settlement

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.

land tenure

system regulating the rights to ownership and control and usage of land

urban renewal

rebuilding of the poor areas of a city

Gentrification

A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area.

Urban sustainability

the idea that a city can meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same

sanitation

maintaining a clean condition in order to promote hygiene and prevent disease for public safety

Brownfeilds

abandoned formerly developed lands that may be contaminated with toxic and other materials

urban growth boundaries

placed restrictions on development outside a designated area

Zoning

regulations that specify which land areas may be used for homes and which areas may be used for different types of businesses

mixed land use

More than one type of zoning, such as a building complex that has residential and commercial units.

Walkability

the overall level of comfort, access, enjoyment, and connectivity of an area that facilitates walking

transportation oriented development

is a mixed-use residential and commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport

smart growth policies

urban planning that avoids urban sprawl and focuses on long term implications with sustainable design initiatives and guides development into more convenient patterns and into areas where infrastructure allows growth to be sustained over the long term

new urbanism

A movement in urban planning to promote mixed use commercial and residential development and pedestrian friendly, community orientated cities.

greenbelts

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of 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 horizontally to avoid the adverse affects of sprawl

sprawl

unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning (answer does not have urban in front)

livability

All the characteristics of a community that contribute to the quality of life of the people who live there