APHUG: Unit 4

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing percentage of a population comes to live in urban areas.

Metropolitan Area

A region that includes a densely populated urban center and its less-populated surrounding territories.

Suburbanization

The movement of people from cities to suburbs.

Exurbanization

The migration of people from the city to the rural areas that are beyond the suburbs.

Central Place Theory

A spatial theory in urban geography that explains the size and distribution of human settlements.

Concentric Zone Model

A model that describes urban land use in which a city grows outward from a central area in a series of concentric rings.

Sector Model

A model of urban land use created by Homer Hoyt, which suggests that cities develop in sectors or wedges.

Multiple Nuclei Model

A model of urban land use developed by Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, suggesting that cities have multiple centers of development.

Edge City

A term used to describe a significant modern suburban downtown that is characterized by a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment.

Gentrification

A process of renewal and rebuilding that occurs in deteriorated urban neighborhoods, often displacing lower-income residents.

Urban Renewal

A program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use.

New Urbanism

An urban design movement that promotes walkable neighborhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types.

Smart Growth

Legislation and policies that encourage the development of sustainable, walkable urban environments.

Centrifugal Forces

Forces that cause people or businesses to move away from a center.

Centripetal Forces

Forces that draw people or businesses toward a center.

Public Transportation

A system of transport such as buses or trains that is available for use by the general public.

Zoning

The process of dividing land in a municipality into zones for different uses.

Housing Affordability

The relationship between income and housing costs in an area.

Social Stratification

A system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas.

Land Use

The management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements.

Urban Heat Island Effect

An urban area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.

Core-Periphery Model

A model describing the spatial hierarchy of economic, demographic, and urban development in which core regions dominate peripheral areas.

World Cities

Cities that serve as important nodes in the global economic system.

Spatial Interaction

The movement of people, goods, and ideas between different places.

Cultural Landscape

An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular area.

Population Density

The number of people living per unit of area, typically per square kilometer or square mile.

Site and Situation

Site describes the physical characteristics of a place, while situation refers to its location relative to other places.

Globalization

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