Cities and Urban Land-Use

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering critical concepts related to urbanization, city models, sustainability, and social implications within urban settings.

Urbanization

The process of the development of dense concentrations of people into settlements.

Site Factor

A place's absolute location and physical characteristics such as climate, natural resources, and landforms.

Situation Factor

A place’s location in relation to other places or surrounding features.

Megacity

A metropolitan area with a population of more than 10 million people.

Metacity

A metropolitan area with a population of more than 20 million people.

Suburbanization

The population shift into surrounding suburbs.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of low-density urban areas into surrounding rural areas.

Core Countries

Countries that are economically dominant in the global context.

Edge City

A relatively large urban area situated on the outskirts of a larger city, characterized by a high concentration of office buildings and shopping malls.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations.

World City

A major urban center that exerts significant influence on a global scale, serving as a hub for trade, finance, culture, and politics.

Rank-Size Rule

A geographic concept that describes the relationships between population size of cities and their rank in the urban system.

Primate City

The largest settlement in a country that has at least twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement.

Gravity Model

A model that predicts the interaction between two locations based on their size and distance from each other.

Central Place Theory

A theory that explains the size, number, and distribution of human settlements using hexagonal patterns.

Bid-Rent Theory

A theory that explains how the cost of land changes as the distance from the central business district changes.

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

A model that describes urban land use in concentric rings around the Central Business District (CBD).

Hoyt Sector Model

A model that represents urban growth in sectors rather than rings, based on income.

Harris and Ullman Multiple-Nuclei Model

A model that suggests cities develop multiple centers of growth rather than a single center.

Gentrification

The process where middle-class residents replace working-class and poor residents in a neighborhood, leading to improved infrastructure and increased property values.

Redlining

A discriminatory practice where financial institutions refuse loans to residents of specific neighborhoods based on racial or ethnic composition.

Environmental Injustice

The unfair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens, particularly affecting marginalized groups.

Urban Sustainability

The ability of a city to support economic, social, and environmental well-being without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Inclusionary Zoning

Local government policies that require developers to include a certain percentage of affordable housing units in new residential developments.

Boomburbs

a suburb that has grown rapidly into a large and sprawling city with a population exceeding 100,000, typically characterized by a high growth rate due to urban sprawl.

Exurb

a typically fast growing community outside of or on the edge of a metropolitan area where the residents and community are closely connected to the central city and suburbs.

Infill

redevelopment that identifies and develops vacant parcels of land within previously built areas

Threshold

The number of people needed to support a business

Range

the maximum distance consumers are willing to travel to purchase goods or services.

Galactic City Model

a model of urban development depicting a city where economic activity has moved from the central business district toward loose coalitions of other urban areas and suburbs; also known as the peripheral model

Latin American City Model

model of urban development that describes the unique spatial structure and organization of cities in Latin America, characterized by a central plaza, commercial zones, and a mix of socio-economic classes.
Griffin-Ford

Disamenity Zones

areas in a city characterized by declining economic conditions, inadequate housing, and high levels of poverty, often located near the periphery.

Squatter Settlements

informal housing areas typically located on the outskirts of urban areas, often lacking infrastructure and legal recognition. Residents commonly face issues such as poverty, inadequate services, and vulnerability to eviction.

African City Model

model of urban development that has three CBDs growing outward in concentric rings and along multiple nodes, reflecting diverse socio-economic and cultural influences.

1. Colonial CBD

2. Traditional CBD

3. Market CBD

Southeast Asian Model

a model of urban development depicting a city oriented around a port and lacking a formal CBD, growing outwards in concentric rings and along multiple nodes

Ecological Footprint

Impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources

Mixed Use development

a single planned development deigned to include multiple uses, such as residential, recreational, industrial, and office spaces.

Walkability

a measure of how safe, convenient, and efficient it is to walk in an urban development

Smart Growth Policies

policies implemented to create sustainable communities by placing development in convenient locations and designing it to be more efficient and environmentally responsible

Slow Growth cities

city where planner have used smart growth policies to decrease the rate at which the city grows outward

Greenbelt

a ring of parkland, agricultural land, or other type of open space maintained around an urban area to limit sprawl

De Facto Segregation

segregation that results from residential settlement patterns rather than from prejudicial laws

Blockbusting

practice by real estate agents who would stir up concern that Black families would soon move into the neighborhood; agents would convince white homeowners to sell at low prices, paving the way for racial transition in neighborhoods.

Zones of Abandonment

area that has been largely deserted due to lack of jobs, declines in land value, and falling demand

Eminent Domain

a governments right to take over privately owned property for public use or interest

Brownfields

abandoned or underused industrial sites, often contaminated, that require cleanup before reuse.

Traditional zoning

a land-use planning tool that designates specific areas for different types of development, such as residential, commercial, or industrial, to control growth and development patterns.