Human Geography Unit 6 Vocabulary

City

A relatively large, densely populated settlement with a much larger population than rural towns and villages; cities serve as important commercial, governmental, and cultural hubs for their surrounding regions

Urban

Relating to a city

Urbanization

The movement of people from rural areas to cities

Agricultural surplus

Crop yields that are sufficient to feed more people than the farmer and his or her family

Socioeconomic stratification

The structuring of society into distinct socioeconomic classes, including leadership (for instance, a government or ruling class) that exercise control over goods and people

First urban revolution

The agricultural and socioeconomic innovations that led to the rise of the earliest cities

Urban hearth areas

Regions in which the world’s first cities evolved

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 owned and run by the state

Communism

An economic and political system in which all property is publicly owned and managed

Streetcar suburb

A settlement outside of a city with streetcar lines; the streetcars take residents into and out of the city easily

Second urban revolution

The industrial innovations in mining and manufacturing that led to increased urban growth

Redevelopment

A set of activities intended to revitalize an area that has fallen on hard times

Metropolis

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

Urban area

Any self-governing place i the United States that contains at least 2500 people

Urbanized area

In the United States, an urban area with 50000 people or more

Urban cluster

In the United States, an urban area with fewer than 50000 inhabitants

Metropolican 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 region with one or more urban clusters of at least 10000 people as its cores

Suburb

A populated area on the outskirts of a city

Urbanizing rate

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

Suburbanization

The movement of people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts of a city

Sprawl

The tendency of cities of grow outward in an unchecked manner

Automobile cities

Cities whose size and shape are dictated by and almost require individual automobile ownership

Decentralize

In an urban context, to move business operations from core city areas to 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

Boomburb (also called boomburg)

A place with more than 100000 residents that is not a core city in a metropolitan area; a large suburb with its own government

Infill development

The building of new retail, business, or residential spaces on vacant or underused parcels in already-developed areas

Exurb

A semi rural district located beyond the suburbs that is often inhabited by well-to-do families

World 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 (also called a global city)

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, with the largest and most powerful cities at the top of the hierarchy

Rank-size rule

The population of a settlement is inversely proportional to its rank in the urban hierarchy

• E.g. the city in the third rank will have a population 1/3 of the city in the first rank, the fourth ranked city would have ¼ the population of the first ranked city, and so on

• More common in developed countries rather than developing countries

Primate city

A city that is much larger than any other city in the country that dominates the country’s economic, political, and cultural life

• Common in developing countries and countries that were once colonial powers

Central place theory

A mode, developed by Walter Christaller, that attempts to understand why cities are located where they area

Assumptions:

1. The surface or a region is flat with no physical barriers, such as mountain ranges or rivers

2. Soil quality is the same everywhere

3. Population and purchasing power are evenly distributed

4. The region has uniform transportation networks that permit direct travel from each settlement to the others

5. From any given place, any good or service, can be sold in all direction out to a certain distance

Predictions:

• People will travel a certain distance to acquire goods produced by central places

• The order of a good determines how far people travel to get it

  • People are more willing to travel long distances to get higher order goods

Threshold

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

Central place

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

Range

In central place theory, the distance people will travel to acquire a good

Gravity model

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

The interaction is proportional to the product of the two cities’ populations divided by the square of the distance between them

• Interaction = p1*p2/d²

Concentric zone model

A model of a city’s internal organization developed by E. W. Burgess organized five concentric rings that model the arrangement of different residential zones radiating outward from a central business district

The zones are:

1. Central business district (CBD)

2. Zone of transition

3. Zone of independent workers’ homes

4. Zone of middle-class residences

5. Commuters’ zone

Findings

• Businesses locate in the central business district

• The lowest class and immigrants live in the zone of transition, and gradually move outward as they gain income

• Landlords allowed housing to deteriorate in anticipation of an expansion of the CBD

Hoyt model of sector model

A model of a city’s internal organization, developed by Homer Hoyt, that focuses on transportation and communication as the divers of the city’s layout

Zones:

1. CBD

2. Manufacturing and industry

3. Low-income residential

4. Middle'-income residential

5. high-income residential

Findings:

• People move to higher income residential zones as they gain wealth

• The zones expand outward like sectors (or pie slices) from the CBD so almost all zones have some overlap with the CBD

Multiple-nuclei model

A model of a city’s internal organization, developed by Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, showing residential districts organized around several nodes (nuclei) rather than one central business district

Galactic city model or peripheral model

A model of a city’s internal organization in which the central business district remains central, but multiple shopping areas, office parks, and industrial districts are scattered throughout the surrounding suburbs and linked by metropolitan expressway systems

• The city is decentralized

Urban realms model

A model of a city’s internal organization, developed by Vance, in which a city is separated into different realms (sectors) with a different purpose for each. Realms link together to form a larger city and is automobile-dependent so that people can travel around to all the different realms.

Bid-rent theory

• Land rent (land value) will decrease as one gets farther away from central markets.

• Rent is highest in the closest proximity to urban markets

Griffin ford model for Latin American cities

A model of the internal structure of a Latin American city developed by Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford

• A combination of concentric zones and radial sectors

• Has a commercial “spine” connecting the CBD to a mall/church, which is flanked by elite residences

• Zone of maturity: Rings the CBD/market center and is occupied by the middle classes and contains the best housing outside of the elite sector - also contains a small gentrification sector

• Zone of situ accretion: A transitional area between the zone of maturity and the poorest parts of the city

• Disamenity sector: A zone that offers very few services and is home to the very poor. They are also known as peripheral squatter settlements and the quality of life here is very poor

Gentrification

The displacement of lower-income residents by higher-income residents as an area or neighbourhood improves

Southeast Asian city model

A model of the internal city structure of Southeast Asian cities by T. G. McGee which has a focal point of a colonial port rather than a CBD.

• Zones radiate outwards from the port

• Alien commercial zones are populated primarily by Chinese merchants

• Squatter settlements and new suburbs are mixed into similar areas

• There is also a market gardening zone and a recently built industrial park

Sub-Saharan Africa City Model

A model of the internal structure of Sub-Saharan African cities by De Blij. The city has three CBDs, the traditional, colonial, and market zone. The colonial CBD is a place for informal markets and is a transitional business center with makeshift stalls. The traditional CBD has one-storey buildings. The market zones is an open air, informal business district. Ethnic neighbourhoods, mining and manufacturing, and squatter settlements and townships circle the CBDs.

Perceived density

The general impression of the estimated number of people present in a given area

Zoning regulations

Laws that dictate how land can be used

Fiscal squeeze

Occurs when city revenues cannot keep up with increasing demands for city services and expenditures on decaying urban infrastructure

Built environment

The human-made space in which people live, work, and engage in leisure activities on a daily basis

Smart growth

Policies that combat regional sprawl by addressing issues of population density and transportation

Compact design

Development that grows up (in the form of taller buildings) rather than out (in the form of urban sprawl)

Diverse housing options

Policy that encourages building quality housing for people and families of all life stages and income levels in a range of prices within a neighbourhood

Mixed land use

The primary driver behind mixed land use is the interspresal of different types of development in a neighbourhood, such as residential, business, and entertainment to bring people to a neighbourhood at a variety of different times

New Urbanism

An approach to city planning that focuses on fostering European-style cities of dense settlements, attractive architecture, and housing of different types and prices within walking distance to shopping, restaurants, jobs, and public transportation.

• Mixed commercial/residential areas that are walkable

Greenbelt

A zone of grassy, forested, or agricultural land separating urban areas. Building is restricted in these areas.

Zoning

The classification of land according to restrictions on its use and development

Slow-growth city

A city that changes its zoning laws to decrease the rate at which the city spreads horizontally, with the goal of avoiding the negative effects of sprawl

Anti-displacement tenant activists

Advocates for poor and working-class residents who are at risk of losing their affordable housing to new development

De facto segregation

Racial segregation that is not supported by law but is still apparent

Census

an official count or survey of a population

Survey data

information collected from individuals answering surveys that can be used for statistical analysis.

Field studies

the study of geographic phenomena by visiting places and observing how people interact with and thereby change those places.

Narratives

individuals personal experiences recorded as data.

Disamenity zones

Zones within cities that lack desirable features or infrastructure

Zones of abandonment

Areas within cities that have been deserted for economic or environmental reasons

Mortgage

A loan that is taken out to purchase a home

Redlining

The practice of identifying high-risk neighbourhoods on a city map and refusing to lend money to people who want to buy property in those areas

Blockbusting

The practice of persuading owners to sell property cheaply because of the fear of people of another race or class moving into the neighborhood, and thus profiting by reselling at a higher price.

White flight

The mass movement of white people from the city to the suburbs

Affordability

Unequal treatment when trying to buy, rent, lease, sell or finance a home based on certain characteristics, such as race, gender, and religion.

Housing choice voucher program

A federal government program to assist very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled with affordable, decent, safe, and sanitary housing

Violent crime

A category of crime that includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Social controls

Formal or informal institutions that help maintain law and order in a place

environmental justice

Occurs when certain groups carry a larger share of environmental risks and hazards than groups who have the power to influence decisions about the environment

Environmental racism

Occurs when areas inhabited by low-income people of color are targeted for environmental contamination

Environmental justice

The movement to fix environmental discrimination

Squatter settlement

An area of degraded, seemingly temporary, inadequate, and often illegal housing

Land tenure

The right to own or hold property; it defines the ways in which rights to that property area managedIn

Inclusionary zoning (IZ)

Municipal and county planning ordinances that require a gibven share of new construction to be affordable for people with low to moderate incomes

Exclusionary zoning

Zoning that attempts to keep low to moderate income people out of a neighbourhood

NIMBYs

Abbreviation for “not in my backyard”; term for people who try to prevent the construction of affordable housing and other types of development in their neighbourhood

Below market rate housing

Housing that costs much less than the going rate

Urban renewal

Large-scale redevelopment of the built environment in downtown and older inner-city neighbourhoods to increase sense of place

Fiscal imbalance

Occurs when a government must spend more than it receives in taxes

Fiscal zoning

The practice of using local land use regulation to preserve and possibly enhance the local property tax base

Ecological footprint

The total amount of natural resources used and their impact on the natural environment

Urban heat island

A mass of warm air in cities, generated by urban building materials and human activities, that sits over a city

Brownfield

Properties whose use or development may be complicated by the potential presence of hazardous substances or pollutants

Greyfield

Are not contaminated, but have large developed spaces (parking lots, old buildings etc.) that are now unused

Urban footprint

The spatial extent of an urban area’s impacts on the natural environment

Urban risk divide

The idea that disasters and disaster risk become urban phenomena as the world’s population become

Brownfield remidiation

The process of removing or sealing off contaminants so that a site may be used again without any health concerns

Phytoremidiation

The removal of contaminants with plant species that react or degrade contaminants or draw up contaminants from the soil into shoots and leaves

Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA)

U. S. law that grants municipalities oversight over federally funded development projects on farmland