Unit 6 GEO

city

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

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

second urban revolution

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

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 in the united states that contains at least 2500 people

urbanized area

in the united states, an urban area with 50,000 people or more

urban cluster

in the united states, an urban area with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants

metropolitan statistical area

in the united states, a region with at least one urbanized area as its core

micropolitan statistical area

in the unites states, a region with one or more urban clusters of at least 10,000 people as its core

urbanization rate

the percentage of a nation’s populations living in towns and cities

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 (boomburg)

a place with more than 100,000 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 semirural district located beyond the suburbs that is often inhabited by well-to-do families

world city

a city that is control center of the global economy, in which major decisions are made about the world’s commercial networks and financial markets

urban hierarchy

a ranking of cities, with the largest and most powerful cities at the top of the heirarchy

rank-size rule

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

primate city

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

central place theory

a model, developed by Walter Christaller, that attempts to understand why cities are located where they are

• according to christaller, the shape of the service areas of central place is a hexagon where a large first order city provides high-order goods and fourth-order villages and hamlets provide lower-order goods

• series in small urban places have lower threshold and smaller range than services at higher levels

  • advances in technology, communications, and transportation have made christsller’s model less applicable in modern times, although the model still offers useful insights

central place

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

gravity model

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

concentric zone model

a model of a city’s internal organization developed by E.W Burgess organized on 5 _____ rings that model the arrangement of different residential zones radiating outward from a central business district

Hoyt model or sector model

a model of a city’s internal organization, developed by ___ ___, that focuses on transportation and communication as the drivers of the city’s layout

multiple-nuclei model

a model of a city’s internal organization, developed by Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, showing residential district organized around several nodes 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

griffin-ford model (Latin America city model)

a model of the internal structure of the ____ _____ ____ developed by Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford

• a combination of concentric sones and radical sectors with central business district divided between a traditional market and a more modern sector

gentrification

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

perceived density

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

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, engage in leisure activities on a daily basis

smart growth

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

blockbusting

a practice in which realtors persuade white homeowners in a neighbourhood to sell their homes by convincing them that the neighbourhood is declining due to black families moving in

white flight

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

redlining

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

squatter settlements

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

brownfields

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

brownfield remediation

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

megacities

cities with 10 million or more residents

metacities

sprawling urban areas with more than 20 million residents