semester 2 final vocab final

Annexation

Legally adding land area to a city in the United States

Boomburbs*

Rapidly growing city in the United States that remains essentially suburban in character, even as it reaches populations more typical of urban core cities

Brownfields*

A property which has the presence or potential to be a hazardous waste, pollutant or contaminant

Census Tract

An area delineated by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for which statistics are published; in urban areas, census tracts correspond roughly to neighborhoods

Central Business District (CBD)

The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered

Central City (city)

An urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent, self governing unit known as a municipality

Concentric Zone Model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings

Density Gradient

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

Disamenity Zones*

Closely gathered settlements that do not have proper services.

Edge City

A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area.

Exurbs

An area outside the typically denser inner suburban area of a metropolitan area, which has an economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing density, and growth, might be more rural in nature than suburbs

galactic (peripheral) model

A model of North American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road.

Gentrification

A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area

Greenbelt*

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area

Informal (Squatter) Settlement

An area within a city in a less developed country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect homemade structures.

Megacity*

A giant urban area that includes surrounding cities and suburbs

Megalopolis*

A continuous urban complex in the northeastern United States

Metacity

An urban settlement with a total population of 20 million people or more

Metropolitan Area*

A major population center made up of a large city and the smaller suburbs and towns that surround it

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

In the United States, a central city of at least 50,000 population, the county within which the city is located, and adjacent counties meeting one of several tests indicating a functional connection to the central city.

Micropolitan Statistical Area (uSA)

An urbanized area of between 10,000 and 50,000 inhabitants, the county in which it is located, and adjacent counties tied to the city.

Multiple Nuclei Model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities.

New Urbanism*

Development, urban revitalization, and suburban reforms that create walkable neighborhoods with a diversity of housing and jobs

Peripheral Model

A model of North American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road.

Public Housing

Government-owned housing rented to low-income individual, with rents set at 30 percent of the tenant's income.

rush hour

The four consecutive 15-minute periods in the morning and evening with the heaviest volumes of traffic.

Redlining

A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries

Sector Model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges, radiating out from the central business district (CBD)

Smart Growth

Legislation and regulations to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland

Social Area Analysis

Statistical analysis used to identify where people of similar living standards, ethnic background, and life style live within an urban area

Sprawl

Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built-up area

Suburb

A residential or commercial area situated within an urban area but outside the central city

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Underclass

A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics.

Urban Renewal*

Program in which cities identify blighted inner-city neighborhoods, acquire the properties from private members, relocate the residents and businesses, clear the site, build new roads and utilities, and turn the land over to private developers.

urban area

A dense core of census tracts, densely settled suburbs, and low-density land that links the dense suburbs with the core

urban cluster

In the United States, an urban area with between 2,500 and 50,000 inhabitants.

urbanized area

In the United States, an urban area with at least 50,000 inhabitants.

Zoning Ordinance

A law that limits the permitted uses of land and maximum density of development in a community.

Basic Businesses

A business that sells its products or services primarily to consumers outside the settlement

Business Services

A service that primarily meets the needs of other businesses, including professional, financial, and transportation services

Central Place

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

Central Place Theory

A theory that explains the distribution of services, based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services; larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel farther.

Clustered Rural Settlement

A rural settlement in which the houses and farm buildings of each family are situated close to each other, with fields surrounding the settlement

Consumer Services

A service that primarily meets the needs of individual consumers, including retail, education, health, and leisure services

Dispersed Rural Settlement

A rural settlement pattern characterized by isolated farms rather than clustered villages

Economic Base

A community's collection of basic businesses

Enclosure Movement

The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century

Food Desert

An area that has a substantial amount of low-income residents and has poor access to a grocery store, defined in most cases as further than 1 mile

Global City

a major center for the provision of services in the global economy

Gravity Model

A model which holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service

Market Area/Hinterland

The area surrounding a central place, from which people are attracted to use the place's goods and services

megacity

City with more than 10 million people

metacity

A city with a population over 20 million

Multiplier Effect*

The expansion of an area's economic base as a result of the basic and non-basic industries located there

Non-Basic Businesses

A business that sells its products primarily to consumers in the same settlement

Primate City

A city that is the largest settlement in a country and has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement

Primate City Rule

A pattern of settlements in a country such that the largest settlement has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement

periodic market

a collection of individual vendors who come together to offer goods and services in a location on specified days

Public Services

A service offered by the government to provide security and protection for citizens and businesses

Quaternary Economic Activities*

Service sector industries concerned with the intellectual organization in a society

Quinary Economic Activities*

Service sector industries that require a high level of specialized knowledge or attaining top management status

Range

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service

Rank-Size Rule

A pattern of settlements in a country such that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement

Service

Any activity that fulfills a human want or need and returns money to those who provide it

Settlement

A permanent collection of buildings and inhabitants

Threshold

The minimum number of people needed to support the service

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements

acid deposition

Sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, emitted by burning fossil fuels, enter the atmosphere-where they combine with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid-and return to Earth's surface

acid precipitation

Conversion of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides to acids that return to Earth as rain, snow, or fog

Active solar energy

solar radiation captured with photovoltaic cells that convert light energy to electrical energy

air pollution

Concentration of trace substances, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and solid particulates, at a greater level than occurs in average air

Animate Power

Power supplied by people or animals.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Amount of oxygen required by aquatic bacteria to decompose given load of organic waste; a measure of water pollution.

Biomass fuel

Fuel that derives from plant material and animal waste

Break-of-bulk point

A location where transfer is possible from one mode of transportation to another.

Bulk-gaining industry

An industry in which the final product weighs more or comprises a greater volume than the inputs.

Bulk-reducing industry

An industry in which the final product weighs less or comprises a lower volume than the inputs.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Chemical compounds used in aerosols, insulating materials, refrigerator and air-conditioner coolants, and other products. CFCs are widely banned today due to their damaging effect on the ozone layer.

combined statistical area

In the United States, two or more contiguous core based statistical areas tied together by commuting patterns.

Consumptive water usage

The use of water that evaporates rather than being returned to nature as a liquid

Cottage industry

Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution.

Demand

the quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy

Fission

The splitting of an atomic nucleus to release energy.

Fordist production

Form of mass production in which each worker is assigned one specific task to perform repeatedly.

Fossil fuel

An energy source formed from the residue of plants and animals buried millions of years ago

Fusion

Creation of energy by joining the nuclei of two hydrogen atoms to form helium.

Geothermal energy

Energy from steam or hot water produced from hot or molten underground rocks.

Just-in-time delivery

Shipment of parts and materials to arrive at a factory moments before they are needed

Labor-intensive industry

An industry for which labor costs comprise a high percentage of total expenses.

Maquiladora

Factories built by US companies in Mexico near the US border to take advantage of much lower labor costs in Mexico.

New international division of labor

Transfer of some types of jobs, especially those requiring low-paid less skilled workers, from more developed to less developed countries.

Nonconsumptive water usage

The use of water that is returned to nature as a liquid

non-point source pollution

water pollution that does not have a specific point of origin

Non-renewable energy

A source of energy that has a finite supply capable of being exhausted

Outsourcing

A decision by a corporation to turn over much of the responsibility for production to independent suppliers.

Ozone

A gas that absorbs solar radiation and is found in the stratosphere, a zone 15-50 kilometers (9-miles) above earth's surface

Passive solar energy systems

Solar energy systems that collect energy without the use of mechanical devices

photochemical smog

An atmospheric condition formed through a combination of weather conditions and pollution, especially from motor vehicle emissions.

point source pollution

pollution that enters a body of water from a specific source