Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land Use Patterns and Processes

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts from Unit 6 of AP Human Geography, focusing on cities and urban land use.

Urbanization

The growth and expansion of cities and towns.

Site

The physical characteristics of a city's exact location, including access to water, elevation, soil quality, natural resources, and climate.

Situation

A city's location relative to other places, including its connectivity to trade routes or other cities.

Mega cities

Cities with more than 10 million residents.

Meta cities

Urban areas with more than 20 million people, made up of multiple large urban zones.

Suburbanization

The movement of people from dense urban cores into lower density residential areas at the city's edge.

Sprawl

The unplanned and low-density spread of development over large distances.

Decentralization

The movement of jobs, shopping centers, schools, and services out of central business districts and into the periphery.

Edge cities

Clusters of commercial and business activity located on the outskirts of a metropolitan area.

Bid rent theory

The theory stating that land closest to the city center is the most expensive while land becomes cheaper as distance from the center increases.

Primate city

A city that is more than twice as large as the next biggest city in a country, often dominating the culture, politics, and economy.

Central place theory

A theory explaining how cities and towns are spaced out and their locations based on the goods and services they offer.

Gentrification

The process where middle or upper-income people move into a lower-income neighborhood, causing property values to rise and resulting in displacement.

Environmental injustice

The disproportionate placement of polluting industries and waste facilities in low-income or minority communities.

Inclusionary zoning

A policy that requires developers to include affordable housing units in new residential projects.

Urban sustainability

The ability of cities to meet the needs of today without harming the needs of future generations.

Mixed land use

Combining different types of buildings and functions, such as housing, offices, and shops within the same area.

Regional planning efforts

Cooperation among different local governments to manage urban growth in a coordinated way.

Brownfield remediation

The process of cleaning up and redeveloping contaminated former industrial or commercial sites.

Squatter settlements

Areas where people live without legal claims to the land, often vulnerable to eviction.

Infrastructure strain

The pressure on local services and facilities that occurs when fast-growing areas add residents without adequate support.

Cultural values

The norms and values of a society that influence a city's housing style and neighborhood layout.

Infilling

The process of building on empty or underused land within existing urban areas.