Cities & Urban Land-Use

Flashcards based on lecture notes about Cities & Urban Land-Use

Urbanization

The movement of people from rural areas to cities.

Urban

Relating to a city

City

Relatively large, densely populated settlement with a much larger population that rural towns and villages; cities serve as important commercial, governmental and cultural hubs for surrounding regions.

Rural

Area located outside of towns and cities; all the space, population and housing not included in an urban area.

First Urban Revolution

Agricultural and socioeconomic innovations that led to the rise of early cities.

Urban Hearth Areas

An area, like Mesopotamia or the Nile Valley, where large cities first existed

Socioeconomic Stratification

Differentiation of society into classes based on wealth, power, production or prestige.

Streetcar Suburbs

Settlement outside of a city with streetcar lines; the streetcars take residents into and out of the city easily.

Rural to Urban Migration

Movement of people (typically farmers) from rural settlements to urban center in search of jobs.

Second Urban Revolution

Industrial innovations in mining and manufacturing that led to increased urban growth.

Redevelopment

Set of activities intended to revitalize an area that has fallen on hard times.

Site

The place where the settlement is located – CONDITIONS! Absolute location of a city City’s static location, often chosen for trade, defense or religion Ex. on a hill or in a sheltered valley

Situation

Describes the settlement in relation to other settlements and features of the surrounding area – CONNECTIONS! Relative location of a city City’s place in the region and the world around it. Ex. the settlement surrounded by forest or next to a large city

Metropolis

Very large and densely populated city, particularly the capital or major city of a country or region.

Megacities

10 million inhabitants or more (definitions vary)

Metacities

20 million inhabitants or more

Suburbanization

Movement of people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts of a city

Sprawl (or urban sprawl)

Tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner Ex. automobile cities: cities whose size and shape are dictated by and almost require individual automobile ownerships

Decentralize

In an urban context, to move business operations from core city areas into outlying areas such as suburbs.

Exurbs

A district outside a city, especially a prosperous area beyond the suburbs.

Boomburbs

Large, rapidly growing, incorporated communities of more than 100,000 residents that are not the biggest city in their region.

Edge Cities

Nodes of economic activity that have developed in the periphery of large cities.

World City

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

Transportation Services

Those activities designed to assist a person to travel from one place to another to obtain services or carry out life’s activities.

Communication Systems

Advanced communication systems that provide immediate access to information.

Business Services

Services which serve as links to the corporate headquarters of international companies.

Urban System

A set of interdependent cities or urban places connected by networks

Urban Hierarchy

Refers to a ranking of cities with the largest and most powerful cities at the top of the hierarchy

Rank-size rule

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

Primate cities

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

Central place

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

High-order goods

Specialized items - cars, jewelry, and other things bought less often

Low-order goods

Products that are replenished frequently - food and other routine household items

Threshold

The minimum number of people needed for a business to prosper

Gravity Model

The idea that the closer two places are, the more influence they will have on each other.