AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY UNIT 6/7 VOCAB

Agglomeration

The clustering of businesses in the same industry in a specific location to benefit from shared resources, infrastructure, and knowledge. Example: Silicon Valley, where tech companies cluster.

Assembly Line

A manufacturing process where parts are added sequentially to create a finished product. Example: Car manufacturing.

Bid-Rent Theory

The price and demand for real estate change as the distance from the central business district (CBD) increases. Example: Land closer to the city center is more expensive.

Break-of-Bulk

A location where goods are transferred from one mode of transportation to another. Example: A port where goods are transferred from ships to trucks.

Brownfield

A former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination. Example: An old factory site that needs cleanup before redevelopment.

Bulk-Gaining Industry:

An industry where the finished product weighs more than the raw materials. These industries locate closer to the market. Example: Beverage bottling.

Bulk-Reducing Industry

 An industry where the finished product weighs less than the raw materials. These industries locate closer to the raw materials. Example: Copper smelting.

Capital

Wealth in the form of money or other assets used for investment. Example: A company using profits to build a new factory.

Complementarity

The relationship between two places where one place can supply something the other needs. Example: Country A exports oil to Country B, which exports manufactured goods to Country A.

Cottage Industry

 A small-scale industry carried on at home by family members. Example: Knitting sweaters at home for sale.

Cumulative Causation

The process where initial advantages lead to further development, creating a cycle of growth. Example: A city with good infrastructure attracts more businesses, leading to more infrastructure development.

Deindustrialization

The decline of manufacturing industries in a region or country. Example: The Rust Belt in the United States.

Ecotourism

Tourism directed toward natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts. Example: Visiting a national park and paying entrance fees that support park maintenance.

Export Processing Zone (EPZ)

Areas where governments create favorable investment and trading conditions to attract export-oriented industries. Example: Zones in Mexico where goods are assembled for export to the US.

Footloose Industry

An industry that can locate in a wide variety of places without a significant impact on its cost. Example: Software development.

Fordism" (Post-Fordism)

 Fordism is mass production using assembly lines. Post-Fordism is flexible production, often using technology and specialized labor. Example: Fordism - early 20th century car manufacturing. Post-Fordism - modern car manufacturing with customization options.

Growth Poles

A concentration of industries that stimulate economic development in a region. Example: Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

Industrial Inertia

The tendency for industries to remain in a location even after the factors that led to their initial establishment have changed. Example: A factory staying in a location due to established infrastructure and workforce, even if cheaper locations exist.

Infrastructure

The basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. Example: Roads, bridges, power grids, and communication networks.

International Division of Labor

The specialization of countries in particular kinds of economic activities. Example: Developing countries providing raw materials, while developed countries focus on manufacturing and services.

Labor-Intensive Industry

 An industry where labor costs make up a high percentage of total expenses. Example: Garment manufacturing.

Least-Cost Theory

 Alfred Weber's theory that industries locate where they can minimize costs, considering transportation, labor, and agglomeration.

Mass Production

The manufacturing of large quantities of standardized products, often using assembly lines. Example: Producing millions of identical smartphones.

Maquiladora

 A factory in Mexico run by a foreign company and exporting its products to the company's country. Example: A US company operating a factory in Mexico to assemble electronics.

NAFTA (Now USMCA)

 A trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada (now replaced by USMCA). Example: Reduced tariffs on goods traded between the three countries

Outsourcing

Contracting out a business process to another party. Example: A US company hiring a call center in India.

Raw Materials

The basic substances used in manufacturing. Example: Iron ore, timber, and cotton.

Specialized Economic Zones (SEZs)

Designated areas with special economic regulations that differ from other areas in the same country. Example: Shenzhen, China, which attracted foreign investment and spurred economic growth.

Substitution Principle

 The idea that businesses can substitute one factor of production for another to optimize costs. Example: A company using more automation to reduce labor costs.

Topocide

The deliberate destruction or alteration of a place by powerful economic forces. Example: Demolishing a historic neighborhood to build a shopping mall.

Varignon Frame

A system of weights and pulleys used to determine the optimal location of a factory based on transportation costs (related to Weber's Least-Cost Theory).

Weber, Alfred

A German economic geographer who developed the Least-Cost Theory of industrial location.

Annexation

The process of legally adding land area to a city. Example: A city expanding its boundaries to include a new residential development.

Barriadas

Squatter settlements or slums in Latin American cities. Example: Makeshift housing on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.

CBD (Central Business District)

The commercial and often geographic heart of a city. Example: Downtown Manhattan in New York City.

central Place Theory

A theory that explains the distribution of services based on the size and spacing of settlements. Example: Larger cities offer more specialized services than smaller towns.

Census Tract

A geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Example: Used to analyze population and demographic data within a city.

Centrality

 The functional dominance of cities within an urban system. Example: London's role as a global financial center.

Christaller, Walter

 A German geographer who developed Central Place Theory.

Cityscapes

The visual appearance of a city, including its buildings, streets, and other features.

Colonial City

Cities established by colonizing powers, often with a distinct layout and architecture. Example: Delhi, India, with its British colonial architecture.

Command and Control Centers

Cities that serve as major centers of economic and political power. Example: New York City, London, and Tokyo.

Commercialization

The process of introducing commercial activities into an area. Example: Converting residential buildings into shops and restaurants.

Commuter Zone

The outer rings of a city from which people commute to work in the city center. Example: Suburbs surrounding a major city.

Concentric Zone Model

A model of urban structure that divides a city into concentric rings, with the CBD at the center.

Counterurbanization

 The movement of people from urban areas to rural areas. Example: People moving from cities to small towns for a quieter lifestyle.

Decentralization

The movement of activities away from the city center. Example: Businesses relocating to suburban office parks.

Density Gradient

The change in population density from the center of the city to the periphery. Example: Density decreases as you move away from the CBD.

Dendritic Street Pattern

 A street pattern characterized by branching, irregular streets, often found in older cities.

Edge Cities:

Suburban nodes of employment and commerce. Example: Tysons Corner, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C.

Employment Structure:

The distribution of jobs across different sectors of the economy within a city.

Entrepot

A port city where goods are imported, stored, and then re-exported. Example: Singapore.

European City Model

 A model of urban structure common in European cities, characterized by a historic core, high density, and mixed land use.

Favela

A slum or shantytown in Brazil. Example: Makeshift housing on the hillsides of Rio de Janeiro.

Filtering (Filter Process

The process by which housing units transition from being occupied by high-income families to low-income families.

Galactic City

A model of urban structure characterized by a decentralized pattern of edge cities and specialized nodes.

Gateway City

A city that serves as a major entry point to a country or region. Example: New York City for immigrants entering the United States.

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving deteriorated urban neighborhoods by wealthier residents. Example: The revitalization of a run-down neighborhood with new businesses and housing

Great Cities

Cities with significant global influence and importance. Example: New York City, London, Tokyo.

Greenbelts

 Areas of undeveloped land around a city, intended to limit urban sprawl. Example: Protected areas around London.

Griffin-Ford Model (Latin American City Model)

 A model of urban structure common in Latin American cities, characterized by a spine of commercial development extending from the CBD.

Harris and Ullman Model (Multiple Nuclei Model)

A model of urban structure that suggests cities develop around multiple nodes or centers of activity.

High-Tech Corridors

 Areas along highways that are home to many high-tech businesses. Example: Silicon Valley.

Hinterland

The area surrounding a city that is served by its services and industries.

Hydraulic Civilization

A civilization based on large-scale irrigation systems. Example: Ancient Mesopotamia.

In-Filling

The process of building on vacant or underutilized land within a city.

informal Sector

The part of the economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by the government. Example: Street vendors and day laborers

Lateral Commuting

 Commuting between suburbs or from one suburb to another.

Market Area

The geographic region from which a business draws its customers.

Megacities

Cities with a population of over 10 million people. Example: Tokyo, Mumbai, Mexico City.

Megalopolis/Conurbation

A continuous urban complex formed by the merging of multiple cities. Example: BosWash (Boston to Washington, D.C.).

Metes and Bounds

A system of land surveying that relies on natural features and distances to define property boundaries.

Metropolitan Area/Suburbs

 A major population center consisting of a large city and its surrounding suburbs.

MSA/CSA (Metropolitan/Combined Statistical Area)

 A statistical area defined by the US Census Bureau to represent an urban area. It includes a core urban area (with a population of at least 10,000 for a MicroSA or 50,000 for an MSA) and surrounding counties that are economically and socially integrated with that core, as measured by commuting patterns. CSAs are combinations of adjacent MSAs and MicroSAs that demonstrate a high degree of social and economic integration. Example: The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA in Washington state includes not only the city of Seattle, but also surrounding cities like Tacoma and Bellevue, as well as several counties where many residents commute to Seattle for work.

Multiple Nuclei Model (Harris & Ullman)

 A model of urban structure that proposes that cities develop around several distinct nuclei or centers, rather than solely around a central business district (CBD). These nuclei may include industrial areas, residential districts, shopping centers, or other specialized areas. Example: Metro Manila in the Philippines is a great example. It doesn't have one dominant center. Instead, it has several major business and commercial hubs like Makati, Ortigas Center, and Bonifacio Global City, each acting as a nucleus for surrounding development.

Multiplier Effect

The economic effect in which an increase in spending produces an increase in national income and consumption greater than the initial amount spent. Example: A new factory creating jobs, leading to increased spending in the local economy.

new Urbanism

 A planning and development approach based on the principles of walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods.

Peak Land Value Intersection

The point in a city with the highest land value, typically in the CBD.

Peripheral Model

A model of urban structure that describes the growth of cities around a beltway or ring road

Planned Communities

Residential areas designed with specific goals in mind, such as sustainability or social equity.

Primate City:

A city that is significantly larger and more dominant than other cities in a country. Example: Paris, France

Public Housing

Government-subsidized housing for low-income residents.

Rank-Size Rule

A pattern of settlement sizes in a country, where the nth largest city is 1/n the size of the largest city.

Redlining

The practice of denying services, such as loans, to residents of certain neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity.

Renovated Housing

1. Older housing that has been improved and modernized.

Restrictive Covenants:

Agreements that restrict the use of property, often used to exclude certain groups of people.

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Rural Settlement Patterns (Dispersed, Clustered)

 Dispersed settlements are spread out, while clustered settlements are grouped together.

Scattered Site

Public housing units dispersed throughout a city, rather than concentrated in one area.

Sector Model

A model of urban structure that divides a city into sectors radiating out from the CBD.

Slum

A densely populated urban area characterized by substandard housing and poverty.

Squatter Settlement

An informal settlement where residents do not have legal rights to the land.

Smart Growth

Urban planning that focuses on sustainable development and reducing urban sprawl.

Survey Systems

Methods used to divide and measure land, such as the Township and Range System.

Sprawl

The expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural areas.

Tenement

A multi-family dwelling, often overcrowded and poorly maintained.

Threshold/Range

Threshold is the minimum number of people needed to support a service. Range is the maximum distance people are willing to travel to access a service.

Township and Range System

 A land survey system used in the United States, based on square grids.

Underclass

A group of people who are persistently poor and disadvantaged.

Underemployment

A situation in which people are working at jobs that do not fully utilize their skills or education.

Urban Primacy

The condition in which a country's largest city is disproportionately larger than its other cities.