AP HUG Unit 6 Vocabulary Terms

Urban Area

A geographic area with a high population density and infrastructure of built environments.

Urbanization

The process by which rural areas develop into urban areas, with increasing population and infrastructure.

Central Business District (CBD)

The commercial and business center of a city, often characterized by high-density development and tall buildings.

Threshold

The minimum number of people required to support a particular service or business.

Range

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

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving a district so that it conforms to middle-class taste, often displacing lower-income residents.

Megacity

A very large city with a population of over 10 million people.

Forward Capital

A symbolically relocated capital city, often to promote economic development or political power in a particular area.

Edge City

A significant concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside the traditional downtown area in what had previously been a suburban residential or rural area.

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within cities to the rural-urban fringe.

Metacity

A city with a population of over 20 million people.

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.

Primate City Rule

A pattern of settlements in a country where the largest city has more than twice the population of the second largest city.

Urban Renewal

The redevelopment of areas within a large city, typically involving the clearance of slums.

Megalopolis

A very large, heavily populated urban complex, often formed by the merging of multiple cities and their suburbs.

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.

Slum Upgrading

Improving the conditions of slum areas by providing basic services, legalizing land, and other improvements.

World City

A city that serves as an important node in the global economic system, often with significant influence in finance, politics, culture, and trade.

New Urbanism

An urban design movement promoting walkable neighborhoods with a range of housing and job types.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas.

Commercial Land

Land designated for business activities, including retail, office, and service industries.

Residential Land

Land designated for housing.

Central Place Theory

A theory that seeks to explain the number, size, and location of human settlements in an urban system.

Agglomeration

The clustering of productive activities and people for mutual advantage.

White Flight

The phenomenon of white people moving out of urban areas, particularly those with significant minority populations, and into suburban areas.

Redlining

The discriminatory practice of denying services, typically financial, to residents of certain areas based on their race or ethnicity.