Unit 7 Vocabulary – Cities & Urban Land-Use Patterns

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards related to urban geography and land-use patterns.

Agglomeration

The clustering of people or activities in an area.

African city model

A model that depicts urban land-use patterns in African cities.

Blockbusting

A practice of persuading owners to sell property cheaply by alleging that racial minorities are moving into the area.

Boomburb

A rapidly growing suburb that has transformed into a larger urban area.

Brownfields

Abandoned industrial or commercial sites that may be contaminated.

Basic Industries

Industries that provide goods and services to areas outside the local economy.

Business services

Services that primarily support the business needs of other businesses.

Central business district (CBD)

The commercial and business center of a city.

Central place

A market center for the exchange of goods and services by people attracted from the surrounding area.

Central place theory (Christaller)

A theory that explains the size and distribution of cities based on the market principle.

Consumer services

Services that provide for the satisfaction of individual consumers.

Concentric Zone Model (Burgess)

A model of urban land use that describes a city as growing outward from a central area.

De facto segregation

Segregation that occurs without legal enforcement.

Disamenity

An area that is undesirable or in poor condition.

Exurb

A small, usually affluent community outside a major urban area.

Footloose industry

Industries that can be placed and located at any location without effect from factors like resources or transport.

Gravity model

A model used to predict the interaction between two cities.

Hinterland

The area surrounding a city that is economically tied to it.

Nonbasic industries

Industries that provide goods and services primarily for the local economy.

Primate city

A city that is significantly larger than any other city in a country.

Primate city rule

A pattern of a country's cities where the largest is more than twice the size of the second largest.

Public services

Services provided by the government to its citizens.

Range (of a service)

The maximum distance consumers are willing to travel to purchase a service.

Rank-size rule

A pattern in urban systems where the population of a city is inversely proportional to its rank.

Service

An activity that fulfills a human want or need.

Threshold

The minimum market size required for a business to open.

Annexation

The process of legally adding land area to a city.

Bid Rent Theory

The theory that land prices decrease as one moves away from the city center.

Blockbusting

(Repeated Term) A practice of persuading owners to sell property cheaply by alleging that racial minorities are moving into the area.

Commuter zone

The outer ring of a city's metropolitan area where people reside but commute to work in the city.

Density Gradient

The change in density in an urban area from the center to the periphery.

Disamenity sector

A sector of a city where the highest levels of decline and disorder occur.

Edge city

A suburban area that has developed its own economic base and has become a viable alternative to the central city.

Entrepot

A port city or trading post where goods are imported and exported.

Filtering

The process of moving from larger homes to smaller homes or from higher rent areas to lower.

Food Desert

An area where people have limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

Gateway city

A city that serves as a key point of entry into a country or region.

Gentrification

The process of wealthier individuals moving into a neighborhood, thereby displacing poorer residents.

Greenbelt

An area of open land around a city without development.

Latin American City Model

A model that describes the structure of cities in Latin America.

New Urbanism

An urban design movement promoting walkable neighborhoods and sustainable communities.

Megaolopolis/conurbation

A large area formed when several metropolitan areas grow together.

Megacity

A city with a population of over 10 million people.

Metacity

A term used to describe cities with more than 20 million people.

Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)

A geographical region with a high population density and close economic ties.

Micropolitan statistical area

A smaller urban area with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000.

Mixed-use zoning

Zoning that allows for a variety of uses in a particular area.

Mixed-use development

A type of development that combines residential and commercial uses.

Multiple nuclei model (Harris & Ullman)

A model that suggests cities develop around multiple centers of activity.

Redlining

A discriminatory practice in which banks refuse loans for certain neighborhoods.

Sector Model (Hoyt)

A model suggesting that a city develops in sectors rather than rings.

Smart growth

Urban planning aimed at fostering sustainable and environmentally friendly development.

Slow growth policies

Policies designed to limit the physical expansion of urban areas.

Southeast Asia City Model

A model depicting urban land use patterns in Southeast Asian cities.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas.

Squatter settlement

An area where people build homes on land they do not own or rent.

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing percentage of a population lives in cities.

Urban cluster

An area with a population of at least 2,500 but less than 50,000.

Urbanized area

A region with high population density and infrastructure of built environment.

Urban Realm Model

A model that describes the spatial structure of cities in the post-industrial era.

World Cities

Cities that have significant global influence economically, politically, and culturally.