AMSCO Unit 6 KC#3/Mini-Summative (6.8-6.11) Terms 98-140

Sustainability

Process of using the earth's resources while not causing permanent damage to the environment.

Smart Growth Policies

Developed to combat urban sprawl and create a new vision for cities that are more sustainable and equitable.

Greenbelts

Areas of undeveloped land around an urban area, have been created to limit a city's growth and preserve farmland.

Slow-growth Cities

Adopt policies to slow the outward spread of urban areas and place limits on building permits in order to encourage a denser, more compact city.

New Urban Design

A set of strategies cr\eated by a group of developers in the 1990s to put smart growth into action within communities.

Mixed-use Neighborhoods

City or town that contain both housing and commercial/retail spaces.

Urban-infill

The process of building up underused lands within a city.

Transit-oriented Development (TOD)

Concept of which locates the mixed-use residential and businesss communities near mass transit stops, resulting in a series of more compact communities which decrease the need for automobiles.

Livability

Refers to a set of principles that supports sustainable urban designs.

Criticisms of Smart Growth (5)

It's not affordable to families because of increases in the cost of land and housing, smart growth limits peoples' choices for single-family housing, it creates high-population density areas that often have higher crime rates and provides less privacy for residents, smart growth can result in unintended segregation both ethnically and economically, it promotes the displacement of low-income and ethnic communities, and the destruction of historical buildings and unique places.

Quantitative Data

Information that can be counted, measured, or sequenced by numeric value.

Population Composition

Gives a description of people's income, age, gender, ethnicity, race, family size, and other details.

Census Tracts

Contiguous geographic regions that function as the foundation of a census.

Census Block

A densely populated urban area, is often very small, consisting of a single block bounded by four streets.

Qualitative Data

Is based primarily on surveys, field studies, photos, video, and interviews from people who provide personal perceptions and meaningful descriptions.

Urban housing challenges in Core (MDC) countries

Often the physical conditions of the buildings need updates to be safe.

Redlining

The process by which banks refuse loans to those who want to purchase and improve properties in certain urban areas.

Racial Segregation

Occurs when people live in separate neighborhoods based on their ethnicity or race.

Blockbusting

This is when people of an ethnic group sold their homes upon learning that members of another ethnic group were moving into the neighborhood.

Ghettos

Areas of poverty occupied by a minority group as a result of discrimination.

Inclusionary Zoning

These practices offer incentives for developers to set aside a percentage of housing for low-income renters or buyers.

Scattered Site

Community leaders in some cities used this to approach to alleviate the problems of public housing.

Urban Renewal

This policy allowed governments to clear out the blighted inner-city slums.

Eminent Domain

This allows the government to claim private property from individuals, pay them for the property, and then use the land for the public good.

Gentrification

The process of converting an urban inner-city neighborhoood from a mostly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly wealthier, owner-occupied area of a city.

Informal Settlements

Densely populated areas built without coordinated planning and without sufficient public services for electricity, water, and sewage.

Land Tenure

The legal protection of contracts to show ownership of the land or structures.

Zones of Abandonment

Areas of a city that have been deserted by their owners for either economic or environmental reasons.

Environmental Injustice (environmental racism)

The disproportionate exposure of minorities and the poor to pollution and its impacts, plus the unequal protection of their rights under the law.

Gated Communities

The building of walled or fenced neighborhoods with limited access and entry points.

Homelessness

The condition of not hacing a place to live.

Services

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

Food Deserts

Fresh, healthful food may be far less available than in wealthy nieghborhoods.

Regional Governance

A process of governing on a specific region by institutions which have authority to govern that are given by states voluntarily.

Urban Canyons

Streets lined with tall buildings. can channel and intensify wind and prevent natural sunlight from reaching the ground.

Urban Heat Island

An area of a city warmer than surrounding areas.

Urban Wildlife

Wildlife such as rats, raccoons, and pigeons that have been domesticated to live in cities. They also be carriers of diseases.

Rush Hour

The commuting periods in early morning and in late afternoon or early evening when many people travel to and from work.

Suburban Sprawl

Rapid spread of development outward from the inner city.

Reasons for Suburban Sprawl

Availability of automobiles, creation of interstate and other high-speed highways, the presence of inexpensive land outside in the urban area

Brownfields

Consists of dilapidated buildings and polluted or contaminated soils.

Urban Redevelopment

Involves renovating a site within a city by removing the existing landscape and rebuilding from the ground up.

More Sustainable - Urban vs. Suburban

Urban areas are slightly better for the environment due to their compacted size.