AP Human Geography Unit 7

Ecumene

Portion of the Earth's surface permanently inhabited or occupied by a human settlement

Percent Urban

An indicator of the proportion of the population that lives in cities and urban areas compared to those living in rural areas

Social Heterogenity

A population with high diversity in ethnic,linguistic,cultural and socioeconomic characteristics

Borchert’s Transportation Model

A model that describes urban growth based on transportation technology dividing urban history into four periods or epochs

Sprawl

Rapid expansion of the spatial extent of a city

Leap-front development

Developers purchase and build communities outside the periphery of the city's built area

Exurbs

Residential districts outside the bounds of suburbs and are included in a city’s metropolitan area.

Reurbanization

Process in which suburbanites return to live in the city

Conurbation

An uninterrupted urban area made up of cities,towns,and subrubs

Urban hierarchy

Ranking of cities based on population size or influence

Nodal cities

Command centers of a regional or national level(Ex:Denver, Phoenix,and Minneapolis)

Higher order services

Goods and services that are usually expensive and need a large number of people to support which makes it only occasionally utilized

Lower order services

Services less expensive than higher order,require a small population to support and are used on a daily or weekly basis.

Gravity Model

Model that states larger and closer places will have more interaction with each other than places that are smaller and farther away from each other

Central Place Theory

A theory that explains that distribution of cities of different sizes across a region by using consumer behavior to explain the distribution of settlements

Hexagonal Hinterlands

Threshold

The population size required for a particular service to exist and remain profitable

Range

The distance people will have to travel to obtain certain goods and services

Functional Zones

Geographic areas defined by a central node and the focal point as well as surrounding areas that make up interaction through activities like trade, transportation and communication.

Central Business District

Commercial heart of a city, often located near the center of a city or crossroads where the city was found

Residential Zones

Areas in which citizens inhabit

Traditional CBD

CBD that existed before European colonization,characterized by small shops clustered along narrow twisting streets(includes the formal economy)

Colonial CBD

CBD that exists after European colonization which has broad,straight avenues as well as large homes,parks and administrative centers.