central place
A market center for the exchange of services by people from the surrounding area.
consumer services
Businesses that provide services primarily to individuals, like retail, education, health and leisure.
Central place theory
Explains the distribution of services based on the fact that settlements serve as centers from market areas for services.
economic base
A community's collection of basic industries.
Gravity model
A model that describes potential use of a service at a particular location is related to the number if people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service.
market area (hinterland)
The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the places goods and services.
non basic industries
Industries that sell their products primarily to consumers in the community.
primate city
a city that dominates a country's economy, culture, and government and in which population is concentrated; usually the capital
public services
Services offered by the government to protect citizens and businesses.
range (of services)
The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a business.
rank size rule
a pattern of predictable relationships within a country between populations sizes of cities and their rank in the urban system using the largest city as a baseline.
service
Any activity that fulfils a human want or need and returns money to those who provide it.
threshold
The minimum number of people needed to support a service.
urbanization
An increase in the percentage of the number of people living in the urban settlements.
annexation
Legally adding land area to a city in the United States.
central business district
The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered.
city
An urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent, self-governing unit.
Concentric zone model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings.
Council of government
A cooperative agency consisting of representatives of local government in a metropolitan area in the U.S.
Edge city
A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area.
Food desert
An area in a developed country where healthy food is difficult to obtain.
gentrification
A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class, owner-occupied area.
Greenbelt
A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area.
Megalopolis
a region in which several large cities and surrounding areas grow together
multiple nuclei model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities.
peripheral model
A model of North American urban areas consisting of and inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road.
Zoning
dividing an area into zones or sections reserved for different purposes such as residence and business and manufacturing etc.
Public housing
Housing owned by the government; in the U.S., it is rented to residents with low incomes, and the rents are set at 30% of the families' incomes.
Urban area
a city and its surrounding suburbs.
Redlining
A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.
sector model
A model of the internal structures of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges, radiating out from the CBD.
Urban cluster
In the U.S., an urban area with between 2,500 and 50,000 inhabitants.
Sprawl
Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing build-up area.
Urbanized area
In the U.S., an urban area with at least 50,000 inhabitants.
Exurbs
low density communities that arise farther out than the suburbs and are typically populated by residents of high socioeconomic status and/or small rural towns.
Boombergs
suburb that has rapidly grown into a sprawling city with more than 100,000 residents.
Cycles of Development
as a city goes through the cycles of development, the population will grow, fall, and grow again
Infilling
the use of vacant land and property within a built-up area for further construction or development
smart growth
A set of principles for community planning that focuses on strategies to encourage the development of sustainable, healthy communities.
Slow-growth cities
urban communities where the planners have put into place smart growth initiatives to decrease the rate at which the city grows horizontally to avoid the adverse affects of sprawl
metropolitan area
includes a central city and its surrounding suburbs that are influenced economically and culturally by the city.
urban sprawl
the unplanned and uncontrolled spreading of cities into surrounding regions
world city (global city)
Centers of economic, culture, and political activity that are strongly interconnected and together control the global systems of finance and commerce.
Galactic City Model
( peripheral model ) last half of the twentieth century, represents the post-industrial city as they became decentralized and suburbs were formed after automobile use became widespread
mixed-use development
the combination of different types of land use within a particular neighborhood such as residential, retail, educational, recreational industrial and office space.
New Urbanism
A movement in urban planning to promote mixed use commercial and residential development and pedestrian friendly, community orientated cities. New urbanism is a reaction to the sprawling, automobile centered cities of the mid twentieth century.
blockbusting
Illegal practice of inducing homeowners to sell their properties by telling them that a certain people of a certain race, national origin or religion are moving into the area
Inclusionary Zoning
zoning regulations that create incentives or requirements for affordable housing development
eminent domain
the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
urban renewal
the clearing, rebuilding and redevelopment of urban slums
conurbation
an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of one or more cities.