Chapter 15 | Urban Settlements

Urban area

A city and its surrounding suburbs

Metropolitan area

A city and the surrounding areas that are influenced economically and culturally by the city

Urban sprawl

Areas of poorly planned, low-density development surrounding a city

Edge city

A type of community located on the outskirts of a larger city with commercial centers with office space, retail complexes, and other amenities typical of an urban center

Boomburb

A suburb that has grown rapidly into a large and sprawling city with more than 100,000 residents

Exurb

A typically fast-growing community outside of or on the edge of a metropolitan area where the residents and community are closely connected to the central city and suburbs

Infill

Redevelopment that identifies and develops vacant parcels of land within previously built areas

Rank-size rule

Explanation of size of cities within a country; states the second-largest city will be one-half the size of the largest, the third largest will be one-third the size of the largest, and so on

Primate City

The largest city in a country, which far exceeds the next city in population size and importance

Central place theory

A theory used to describe the spatial relationship between cities and their surrounding communities

Threshold

In central place theory, the number of people needed to support a certain good or service

Range

In central place theory, the distance that someone is willing to travel for a good or service

Megacity

A city with a population of more than 10 million

Metacity

A city with a population of more than 20 million

World city

A city that wields political, cultural, and economic influence on a global scale