unit 6

What is the action space?

The geographical area that contains the space an individual interacts with on a daily basis.

What does Beau Arts refer to in city planning?

A movement that stresses the marriage of classical forms with newer, industrial ones, featuring characteristics like wide thoroughfares and spacious parks.

What is blockbusting?

A practice where real estate agents encourage white property owners to sell at a loss by stoking fears of racial or ethnic minorities moving in.

Define boomburb.

A large, rapidly growing city that is suburban in character but has population totals resembling large urban cores.

What are Borchert’s Epochs?

Five major periods of American urban development shaped by transportation and communication: sail-wagon, iron horse, steel rail, auto-air-amenity, and satellite-electronic.

What is the central business district?

The downtown area of a city where retail, offices, and cultural activities are concentrated and building densities are high.

Who formulated the Central-Place Theory and what does it explain?

Walter Christaller formulated it to explain the size and distribution of cities based on competitive supply of goods and services.

What was the City Beautiful Movement?

An environmental design movement aiming to create urban spaces conveying morality and civic pride, drawing from the Beaux Arts school.

What are colonial cities?

Cities established by colonizing empires as administrative centers, often overtaking existing native city infrastructures.

Explain the Concentric-Zone Model.

A model that describes urban environments as concentric rings of distinct land uses radiating from a central core.

What are edge cities?

Cities located on the outskirts of larger cities serving many urban functions in a decentralized suburban environment.

Define environmental justice.

Fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental laws and policies, regardless of race or income.

What characterizes European cities developed during the Medieval Period?

Extreme density, narrow buildings, winding streets, a prominent church center, and high defensive walls.

What is an exurbanite?

A person who has left the inner city to move to the suburbs or rural areas.

Describe feudal cities.

Cities from the Middle Ages representing stagnation in urban growth, fostering dependency between wealthy landowners and peasants.

What is a forward capital?

A capital city placed in a remote area for economic, strategic, or symbolic reasons.

What does the Galactic City Model illustrate?

A circular city model highlighting the role of the automobile in the post-industrial era.

Define gateway cities.

Cities that act as ports of entry and distribution centers due to their geographic location.

What is gentrification?

The trend of middle- and upper-income Americans moving into city centers, rehabilitating architecture while displacing low-income populations.

What does ghettoization involve?

The decline of inner cities into poverty centers as affluent populations move out and marginalized groups vie for resources.

What was the Great Migration?

The early 20th-century mass movement of African Americans from the Deep South to the industrial North.

What are basic industries?

Export-oriented industries that bring money into a city, such as manufacturing and tourism.

Define non-basic industries.

Service industries primarily serving local populations, like restaurants and retail.

What is Bid-Rent Theory?

A theory explaining how land value decreases as distance from the central business district increases.

What are brownfields?

Former industrial or commercial sites affected by real or perceived environmental contamination.

What is counterurbanization?

A demographic process where people move from urban areas to rural areas.

What is deindustrialization?

The decline of industrial activity in a region or economy.

What is filtering in housing?

The transition of housing units from higher-income to lower-income occupancy over time.

What are food deserts?

Areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

What are greenbelts?

Rings of open space maintained around cities to limit urban sprawl.

Define infrastructure.

The basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

What does in-filling refer to?

The development of vacant or underutilized land within existing urban areas.

What is a megacity?

A city with a population over 10 million people.

Define megalopolis.

A chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas.

What is mixed-use development?

Urban development combining residential, commercial, cultural, and industrial uses.

Describe the Multiple Nuclei Model.

A model of urban structure showing that cities have multiple centers of activity.

What is a primate city?

The largest city in a country that dominates its economic, political, and cultural life.

What does the Rank-Size Rule indicate?

A pattern where the nth largest city is approximately 1/n the size of the largest city.

What is redlining?

A discriminatory practice where financial institutions deny loans based on geographic areas often related to race.

Define residential segregation.

The spatial separation of different population groups within urban environments.

What are slums or squatter settlements?

Informal settlements characterized by inadequate housing and poor infrastructure.

What is urban sprawl?

The expansion of low-density development outward from a city center.

What does suburbanization refer to?

The growth of residential areas on the outskirts of cities.

What is sustainable urban development?

Urban development that meets current needs without compromising future generations.

What is urban hierarchy?

A ranking of cities based on their size and functions.

Define urban morphology.

The study of the physical form and structure of urban places.

What is urban renewal?

Programs aimed at redevelopment in blighted urban areas, which can lead to population displacement.

What are world cities?

Cities that serve as major centers for finance, trade, and culture, playing significant roles in the global economy.