AP Human Geography Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land Use

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on the key concepts discussed in Unit 6 of AP Human Geography related to cities and urban land use.

Ecumene

The permanently inhabited portion of the earth, made up of all types of communities including rural, urban, and suburbs.

Megalopolis

A chain of connected cities that cross state boundaries and include suburbs.

Metropolis

A major city, especially the chief city in a region or country, also known as the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), consisting of at least 500,000 residents.

City

A large permanent human settlement consisting of at least 100,000 residents.

Town

A permanent settlement that is smaller than a city, typically with a population between 10,000 and 100,000 residents.

Village

A community that contains a few hundred to a few thousand residents.

Hamlet

A small settlement with a population of 100 or fewer residents.

Urban Hearths

The locations where cities develop, influenced by its site and situation.

Urban Land

Land in cities that serves as a source of income and has increased in value.

Gravity Model

A formula that estimates the interaction between two places based on their populations and the distance between them.

Rank-Size Rule

A principle that indicates in a country, the second-largest city is about half the size of the largest city, and the third about a third the size, and so on.

Primate Cities

The largest city in a state, which has more than twice the population of the second largest city.

Bid-Rent Theory

The economic theory predicting that land prices decrease as one moves away from the center of a city.

Megacities

Urban areas that typically contain more than 10 million people.

Metacities

Large urban areas that contain more than 20 million people.

Central Place Theory

A spatial theory in urban economics that explains the size and distribution of human settlements.

Range

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

Threshold

The minimum number of people required to support a service.

Burgess Concentric Model

A model of urban land use that depicts cities as growing outward from a central point.

Hoyt Sector Model

A model that describes urban land use in the form of sectors emanating out from the city center.

Multiple Nuclei Model

A model explaining urban layout where cities develop around multiple centers or nuclei.

Latin American City Model

An urban model characterized by a city layout that reflects its colonial past and includes various residential and commercial areas.

Southeast Asian City Model

A model that describes urban formation in Southeast Asia with a non-traditional central business district and mixed zones.

Sub-Saharan City Model

An urban model reflecting colonial influence, including features like informal settlements and various residential zones.