Cities and Urban Land Use Patterns and Processes Vocabulary

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on terms associated with Cities and Urban Land Use Patterns and Processes.

Urban hearth area

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.

Metropolis

A very large and densely populated city, particularly the capital or major city.

Urban area

Any self-governing place in the United States that contains at least 2500 people.

Decentralize

To move business operations from core city areas into outlying areas such as suburbs.

Metropolitan statistical area

A region in the United States with at least one urbanized area as its core.

Suburbanization

The movement of people from cities to the suburbs.

Sprawl

The tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner.

Boomburbs

A place with more than 100,000 residents that is not a core city in a metropolitan area.

Exurbs

A semi-rural district located beyond the suburbs.

Infill development

The building of new retail, business, or residential spaces on vacant or underused parcels.

Central place theory

(HEXAGONAL)

explains the size, distribution, and function of settlements, arguing that cities serve as "central places" providing goods and services to surrounding areas in a hierarchical manner

Urban hierarchy

A ranking of cities, with the largest and most powerful cities at the top.

Primate city

A city that is much larger than any other city in the country and dominates its economic, political, and cultural life.

Rank Size Rule

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

Threshold

The number of customers that a type of business needs to stay in business.

Range

The distance people will travel to acquire a good.

Gentrification

The displacement of lower-income residents by higher-income residents as an area improves.

Urban renewal

Large-scale redevelopment of older inner-city neighborhoods.

Zoning regulations

Laws that dictate how land can be used.

Smart growth

Policies that combat regional sprawl by addressing issues of density and transportation.

New Urbanism

An approach to city planning focusing on walkable cities and mixed-use development.

Greenbelt

A zone of land separating urban areas, often grassy or agricultural.

De facto segregation

Racial segregation that is not supported by law but is still apparent.

Redlining

Discriminating by not lending money to those wanting to buy property in certain neighborhoods.

Blockbusting

A practice where realtors persuade homeowners to sell by instilling fear of declining neighborhoods.

White flight

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

Squatter Settlements

An area of inadequate housing that is often poor and informal.

Brownfields

A property whose use may be complicated by hazardous substances.

Urban heat island

A mass of warm air generated by urban materials that sits over a city.

Slow growth city

A city that changes its zoning laws to decrease the rate of urban expansion.