Opt. G Urban Environments terminology - Geography SL

Urban area

built up area that forms part of a city

Site

actual land on which a settlement was established

Function

Main economic activity that takes place on a site/urban area

Formal sector

taxed activities ie. working in an office or factory

Informal sector

untaxed activities and unregulated jobs

Deindustrialization

Process of social and economic change with reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a city/country

Post industrial city

A city's economy shifted from industrial (secondary) to mainly offering services (tertiary)

Informal housing or slums

Residential areas that have been built illegally by residents (usually poor state)

Cycle of deprivation

The persistence of poverty and other socio-economic disadvantages from generation to generation

Urbanization

Increase in proportion of people living in towns and cities versus rural areas

Centripetal

movement towards an urban area

Centrifugal

movement away from an urban area

Suburbanization

Outward growth from cities and towns to engulf villages and rural areas - gets bigger

Counter-urbanization

migration from urban to rural areas - gets smaller or stays the same

Re-urbanization/urban renewal

development of activities to increase residential population densities within the existing built-up area of a city

Gentrification

Arrival of wealthier immigrants or residents to an existing urban district, with an economic dimension of retailing and services

Central business district

Is the commercial and economic core of a city

Range

The maximum distance people are willing to travel for a good or a service

Threshold

The minimum number of people needed to support the service

Low order goods

necessity goods or convenience goods bought frequently, such as bread, newspapers

High order goods

luxury or shopping goods bought or used infrequently, for example watches, cars

Sphere of influence

area served by a settlement

Urban ecological footprint

The amount of land required to sustain a population with the resources they need, and to assimilate their waste.

Urban circular system

A sustainable city with recycling, reuse and reduction of resources, renewable forms of energy, and measures taken to reduce the ecological footprint.

Resilient city design

vulnerable cities to climate change, mitigation, adaptation urban policies and design

Albedo

amount of solar energy coming in reflects back into the atmosphere by different Earth's surface

Microclimate

Distinct climate of a small-scale area such as a garden, park, valley or a part of a city

Urban heat islands

urban areas where temperatures are higher than rural areas

Bid rent theory

economic theory to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the CBD increases

Vertical zoning

where the same building is used for different functions on different floors

Footloose industry

Industry that locate in a wide variety of places without a significant change in its cost of transportation, land, labor, and capital

Greenfield site

A plot of land, often in a rural or on the edge of an urban area, that has not yet been subject to any building development.

Brownfield site

Abandoned, run-down or under‑used industrial buildings and land that may be contaminated but have potential for redevelopment.