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
boomburg
A suburban city of at least 100,000 that has experienced double digit growth each decade since it became urban.
Brownfields
contaminated industrial or commercial sites that may require environmental cleanup before they can be redeveloped or expanded
Central Business District (CBD)
The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered.
City Government
the government of the local town or incorporate
City infrastructure
is made up of facilities, services, and communication systems water, power, and schools
de facto segregation
Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.
Decentralization
the location of a significant amount of authority in the lower levels of the organization
Disamenity Zones
areas not connected to city services and under the control of drug lords and gangs
ecological footprint
the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.
edge cities
A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area.
Exurb
area beyond the suburbs.
food desert
An area in a developed country where healthy food is difficult to obtain
galactic city
mini edge city that is connected to another city by beltways or highways
Gentrification
A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area.
Greenbelt
A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area.
Hinterland
The market area surrounding an urban center, which that urban center serves.
Housing Affordability
Relates to a person's ability to pay for their housing
Housing Density
the number of dwelling units per unit of area
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.
infilling
The process by which population density in an urban centre is increased by building on waste land or underused land.
megacity
City with more than 10 million people
metacity
A city with more than 20 million people
New Urbanism
A movement in urban planning to promote mixed use commercial and residential development.
periphery
a boundary line; perimeter; an outside surface
primate city
The largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement.
Quantative data
Data that can be measured in numbers
qualitative data
descriptive data
rank-size rule
A pattern of settlements in a country, such that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.
Redlining
A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.
range
The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service.
sanitation
maintaining a clean condition in order to promote hygiene and prevent disease. Removal of waste products.
semi-periphery
places that are exploited by the core but in turn exploit the periphery
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 effects of sprawl
smart growth policies
Legislation and regulations to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland.
sprawl
Development of new housing sites at relatively low density.
Squatter 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.
suburb
a residential district located on the outskirts of a city
Suburbanization
The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe.
survey data
A poll in which researchers ask respondents a series of questions about a specific topic and record their responses
Sustainable Design Initiatives
Communities that use smart growth and green building techniques to create neighborhoods that are economically thriving and environmentally responsible
threshold
The minimum number of people needed to support the service
Urban growth boundary
a restriction on development outside a designated area
Urbanization
An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.
urban renewal
rebuilding of the poor areas of a city
urban hierarchy
A ranking of settlements according to their size and economic functions.
Urban sustainability
a city can be organized without reliance on the surrounding countryside and power itself with renewable energy
walkability
A measure of how friendly an area is to walking.
world cities
cities generally considered to play an important role in the global economic system
Zones of Abandonment
areas that have been deserted in a city for economic or environmental reasons
Concentric Zone Model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings.
sector model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges, radiating out from the central business district (CBD).
Multiple Nuclei Model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities.
Galactic City Model
mini edge city that is connected to another city by beltways or highways
Latin American City Model
Includes a thriving CBD with a commercial spine. The quality of houses decreases as one moves outward away from the CBD, and the areas of worse housing occurs in the Disamenity sectors.
Sub-Saharan African City Model
The Europeans created prominent urban centers including ports along the coast. Africa also has certain cities that are neither traditional nor colonial.
SE Asian Cities Model
There's separate clusters of a CBD in the colonial zone, and residents live further away from the port zone.
mixed land use
Both Residential and Commercial Land can be in that area.