my will to live

absolute location

A precise position on Earth's surface

census

An official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details about individuals, such as age, sex, and race

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A software application for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface; allows the rapid manipulation of geospatial data for problem-solving and research

globalization

The process by which businesses and other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale

blockbusting

A practice in which realtors persuade white homeowners in a neighborhood to sell their homes by convincing them that the neighborhood is declining due to black families moving in

brownfield

A property whose use or development may be complicated by the potential presence of hazardous substances or pollutants

New Urbanism

An approach to city planning that focuses on fostering European-style cities of dense settlements, attractive architecture, and housing of different types and prices within walking distance to shopping, restaurants, jobs, and public transportation

redlining

The practice of identifying high-risk neighborhoods on a city map and refusing to lend money to people who want to buy property in those neighborhoods

squatter settlement

An area of degraded, seemingly temporary, inadequate, and often illegal housing

urban heat island

A mass of warm air in cities, generated by urban building materials and human activities, that sits over a city

urban renewal

Large-scale redevelopment of the built environment in downtown and older inner-city neighborhoods

white flight

The mass movement of white people from the city to the suburbs

zoning

The classification of land according to restrictions on its use and development

zoning regulations

Laws that dictate how land can be used

automobile cities

Cities whose size and shape are dictated by and almost require individual automobile ownership

boomburb (also called boomburg)

A place with more than 100,000 residents that is not a core city in a metropolitan area; a large suburb with its own government

capitalism

An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than owned and run by the state

central place

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

central place theory

A model, developed by Walter Christaller, that attempts to understand why cities are located where they are

city

A relatively large, densely populated settlement with a much larger population than rural towns and villages; cities serve as important commercial, governmental, and cultural hubs for their surrounding regions

communism

An economic and political system in which all property is publicly owned and managed

concentric zone model

A model of a city's internal organization developed by E. W. Burgess that shows rings of factory production and different residential zones radiating outward from a central business district

decentralize

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

disamenity zone

the very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not even connected to city services (amenities) and are controlled by gangs and drugs

edge city

A concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment that developed in the suburbs, outside of a city's traditional downtown or central business district

exurb

A semirural district located beyond the suburbs that is often inhabited by well-to-do families

galactic city model / peripheral model

A model of a city's internal organization in which the central business district remains central, but multiple shopping areas, office parks, and industrial districts are scattered throughout the surrounding suburbs and linked by metropolitan expressway systems

gentrification

The displacement of lower-income residents by higher-income residents as an area or neighborhood improves

gravity model

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

Griffin-Ford / Latin American city model

A model of the internal structure of the Latin American city developed by Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford

Hoyt sector model

A model of a city's internal organization, developed by Homer Hoyt, that focuses on transportation and communication as the drivers of the city's layout

infill development (infilling)

The building of new retail, business, or residential spaces on vacant or underused parcels in already developed areas

megacity

A city with more than 10 million residents

metacity

A city with more than 20 million residents

metropolis

A very large and densely populated city, particularly the capital or major city of a country or region

metropolitan area

An area composed of a heavily populated urban core and its less populated surrounding areas

metropolitan statistical area

In the United States, a region with at least one urbanized area as its core

micropolitan statistical area

In the United States, a region with one or more urban clusters of at least 10,000 people as its cores

multiple-nuclei model

A model of a city's internal organization, developed by Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, showing residential districts organized around several nodes (nuclei) rather than one central business district

primate city

A city that is much larger than any other city in the country and that dominates the country's economic, political, and cultural life

range

In central place theory, the distance people will travel to acquire a good

rank-size rule

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

redevelopment

A set of activities intended to revitalize an area that has fallen on hard times

site

An absolute location of a place on Earth

situation

The relative location of a place in reference to its surrounding features, or its regional position with reference to other places

sprawl

The tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner

suburbanization

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

suburbs

A populated area on the outskirts of a city

threshold

In central place theory, the number of people required to support businesses

urban

Relating to a city

urban hierarchy

A ranking of cities, with the largest and most powerful cities at the top of the hierarchy

urbanization

The movement of people from rural areas to cities

world cities

A world center of trade, finance, information, and migration

agriculture

The planting and harvesting of domesticated plants and the raising of domesticated animals for food

biodiversity

The variety and variability among species and ecosystems

cash crop

A crop raised to be sold for profit rather than to feed the farm family and the livestock; common cash crops are cotton, flax, hemp, coffee, and tobacco

climate

The average pattern of weather over a 30-year period for a particular region

clustered settlement

A tightly bunched farm settlement that has anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred inhabitants

Columbian Exchange

The interaction and widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, disease, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

commercial agriculture

Farming oriented exclusively toward the production of agricultural commodities for sale in the market

dairying

A farming system that specializes in the breeding, rearing, and utilization of livestock (primarily cows) to produce milk and its various by-products, such as yogurt, butter, and cheese

dispersed settlement (isolated settlement pattern)

A settlement pattern in which families live relatively distant from one another

domestication

The long-term process through which humans selectively breed, protect, and care for individuals taken from populations of wild plant and animal species to create genetically distinct species, known as domesticates

environmental contamination

Chemical residue that builds up with each application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

extensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that require little hired labor or monetary investment to successfully raise crops and animals

feedlot

A fenced enclosure used for intensive livestock feeding that serves to limit livestock movement and associated weight loss

First Agricultural Revolution

Period during which the early domestication and diffusion of plants and animals and the cultivation of seed crops led to the development of agriculture

grain farming

A highly mechanized commercial farming system that specializes in the production of cereal grains; requires large farms and widespread use of machinery, synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, and genetically engineered seeds

Green Revolution

The U.S.-supported development of high-yield seed varieties that increased the productivity of cereal crops and accompanying agricultural technologies for transfer to less developed countries

hearth

A center where innovations or new practices develop and from which the innovations or new practices spread or diffuse

hybrid

The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties

intensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that use high levels of labor and capital relative to the size of the landholding

linear settlement pattern

A settlement pattern in which buildings are arranged in a line, often along a road or river; limited to areas where legal systems dictated that property lines must be rectangular

livestock ranching

The practice of using extensive tracts of land to rear herds of livestock to sell as meat, hides, or wool

long-lot survey system

A unit-block surveying system whose basic unit is a rectangle that is typically 10 times longer than it is wide; A linear settlement pattern in which each farmstead is situated at one end of a long, narrow rectangular lot; each lot has access to a major linear resource, usually a river or a major road

market gardening

A small-scale farming system in which a farmer plants one to a few acres that produce a diverse mixture of vegetables and fruits, mostly for sale in local and regional markets

Mediterranean climate

A climate with winter precipitation, unusually mild winters, and clear skies with abundant sunshine; found along the Mediterranean Sea and a few coastal regions

metes and bounds

Survey system that uses natural features such as trees, boulders, and streams to delineate property boundaries

mixed crop / livestock agriculture

A diversified system of agriculture based on the cultivation of cereal grains and root crops (such as potatoes and yams) and the rearing of herd livestock

nomadic herding (nomadic pastoralism or pastoralism)

A system of breeding and rearing herd livestock, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, by following the seasonal movement of rainfall to areas of open pasturelands

plantation

Large landholding devoted to capital-intensive, specialized production of a single tropical or subtropical crop for the global marketplace

rural area

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

Second Agricultural Revolution

Period that brought improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce that began in the late 1600s and continued through the 1930s

shifting cultivation

The cultivation of a plot of land until it becomes less productive, typically over a period of about three to five years; when productivity drops, the farmer shifts to a new plot of land that has been prepared by slash-and-burn agriculture

slash-and-burn (swidden) agriculture

Agriculture that involves cutting small plots in forests or woodlands, burning the cuttings to clear the round and release nutrients, and planting in the ash of the cleared plot

soil salinization

The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

subsistence agriculture

Food production mainly for consumption by the farming family and local community, rather than principally for sale in the market

synthetic fertilizer

Industrially manufactured nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, made from petroleum by-products; contains higher concentrations of nutrients for plants than natural fertilizers

topography

The arrangement of shapes on Earth's surface

township and range

Land survey system created by the U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785, which divides most of the country's territory into a grid of square-shaped townships with 6-mile sides

truck farm

A scaled-up version of market gardening, with more acreage, less crop diversity, and a stronger orientation toward more distant markets

agribusiness

Large corporation that provides a vast array of goods and services to support the agricultural industry

aquaculture

The cultivation and harvesting of aquatic organisms under controlled conditions

bid-rent theory

Explains how the demand for and price of land decrease as its distance from the central business district increases

biofuel

A fuel derived from organic wastes or plant materials

CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation)

Animal rearing system that confines livestock (such as cattle, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and hogs) in high-density cages only large enough to allow the animal body to grow and to accommodate equipment for feeding and waste removal

Central Business district (CBD)

A dense cluster of offices and shops located at a city's most accessible point, usually its center

commodity

A primary agricultural product or raw material that is bought, sold, and traded

commodity chain

A series of links connecting a commodity's many places of production and distribution

contract farming

Arrangement between an independent farmer and an agribusiness company to produce a crop; the agribusiness provides the farmer with all the supplies needed to produce a crop in exchange for a guaranteed price and buyer