Unit 6 AP Human Geography

Study for AP Human Geography with this Set!

Site

The physical character of a place due to its location.

Situation

the location of a place relative to other places

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural areas to cities

Megacities

cities with more than 10 million people

Metacities

cities with populations over 20 million; also called hypercities

Semi-Periphery

Those newly industrialized countries with median standards of living, such as Chile, Brazil, India, China, and Indonesia that have both peripheral and core processes occuring. Exploited by the core countries and in turn exploit peripheral countries.

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe; post-WWII USA.

urban sprawl

The process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land. Often uncontrolled and unplanned expansion.

urban decentralization

metropolitan areas sprawl in all directions and suburbs take on many of the characteristics of traditional downtowns

Edge City (Galactic City)

Cities that are located on the outskirts of larger cities and serve many of the same functions of urban areas, but in a sprawling, decentralized suburban environment; office, retail space.

Exurb

an area similar to a suburb, but unconnected to any central city or densely populated area

Boomburb

A city with more than 100,000 residents located within a metropolitan area but that is not the central city and that has maintained a double-digit growth rate in recent years.

world city (global city)

Centers of economic, cultural, and political activity that are strongly interconnected and together control the global systems of finance and commerce for the world economy.

urban hierarchy

A ranking of settlements (hamlet, village, town, city, metropolis) according to their size and economic functions.

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

rank-size rule

A pattern of settlements in a country, such that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

primate city

The largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement.

Gravity Model

A mathematical formula that describes the level of interaction between two places, based on the size of their populations and their distance from each other.

Christaller's Central Place Theory

This model explains and predicts patterns of urban places across the map. In his model, Christaller analyzed the hexagonal, hierarchical pattern of cities, villages, towns, and hamlets arranged according to their varying degrees of centrality, determined by the central place functions existing in urban places and the hinterlands they serve. Assumptions:

• Flat plane with uniform geography and nature

• Uniform population

• single mode of transportation

• evolution towards the growth of cities

• all persons have a similar income

• all persons have similar consumption patterns

Burgess's Concentric Zone Theory

Views cities as growing outward in concentric rings.
Made up of 5 Zones:
1.) Central Business District
2.) Zone of Transition
3.) Zone of Independent workers' homes
4.) Zone of better residences
5.) Commuters Zone
Crime is highest in the zone of transition (Zone 2), and declines as one moves farther out from the rings

Hoyt Sector Model

A model of the internal structure of a city in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors or wedges radiating out from the CBD.

Harris-Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model

this model explains the changing growth pattern of urban spaces based on the assumption that growth occurred independently around several major foci (or focal nodes), many of which are far away from the central business district and only marginally connected to it and was developed in the 1950s.

Galactic City Model

mini edge city that is connected to another city by beltways or highways; represents the post-industrial city with its several, dispersed business districts. This model represents a distinct decentralization of the commercial urban landscape as the economy has transitioned to services as the leading form of production. Manufacturing has declined significantly and become specialized.

Bid rent theory

the geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the Central Business District (CBD) increases. The further out from the CBD the less the land costs.

Latin American City Model

Blends traditional Latin American culture with the forces of globalization. The CBD is dominant; it is divided into a market sector and a modern high-rise sector. The elite residential sector is on the extension of the CBD in the "spine". The end of the spine of elite residency is the "mall" with high-priced residencies. The further out, less wealthy it gets. The poorest are on the outer edge.

Southeast Asian City Model

The focal point of the city is the colonial port zone combined with the large commercial district that surrounds it. McGee found no formal CBD but found separate clusters of elements of the CBD surrounding the port zone: the government zone, the Western commercial zone, the alien commercial zone, and the mixed land-use zone with misc. economic activities. The author is McGee.

African City Model

a model that suggests that cities have more than one CBD, which is a remanence of colonialism; colonial CBD,
traditional CBD, market zone, surrounded by neighborhoods, and ethnic neighborhoods or informal satellite townships

Infilling

new development that is placed on vacant or undeveloped land within an existing community

infrastructure

the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

sustainable design

An environmental responsibility that considers the protection of the health and welfare of global ecosystems for current and future generations.

mixed land use

More than one type of zoning, such as a condominium that has residential and commercial units.

urban walkability

A measure of how friendly an area is to walking in order to cater to a new generation of urbanites and people who would like to move from the cul de sac life in the suburbs to downtowns are seeking neighborhoods where they can walk to shops, theaters, restaurants and to see their friends

transportation (transit)-oriented development

Development that attempts to focus dense residential and retail development around stops for public transportation is a component of smart growth.

smart-growth policies

urban planning that avoids urban sprawl and focuses on long term implications with sustainable design initiatives and guides development into more convenient patterns and into areas where infrastructure allows growth to be sustained over the long term

New Urbanism

A movement in urban planning to promote mixed-use commercial and residential development and pedestrian-friendly, community-orientated cities; a reaction to the sprawling, automobile-centered cities of the mid-twentieth century.

de facto segregation

Occurs as a result of economic, social conditions, or personal choice rather than de jure (the law).

Qualitive data

type research based on observation, that does not include numerical data (no graphs)

quantitative data

numerical data

census data

systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population

survey data

Data produced by recording respondents answers to questions

field study

scientific study that takes place in a natural setting

field narrative

conducting field study by looking at journals, photos, or narratives of other individuals

housing discrimination

The illegal practice of denying an individual or group the right to buy or rent a home based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or family status.

Redlining

A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.

blockbusting

A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that persons of color will soon move into the neighborhood

Housing Affordability

A measure of how easy it is for people to buy their own house (based on factors such as average house prices, average incomes, and interest rates)

environmental injustice

the unequal distribution of environmental hazards based on racial or socioeconomic status

Disamenity Zones

The very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not connected to regular city services and are controlled by gangs and drug lords.

Zones of Abandonment

areas with lack of jobs, declining land values and falling demand that cause people to leave and businesses to close

Squatter Settlement

Residential developments characterized by extreme poverty that usually exist on land just outside of cities that is neither owned, nor rented by its occupants.

Local food movement

Purchasing food from nearby farms because you want to minimize the pollution created from the transportation of food around the world

urban renewal

Program in which cities identify blighted inner-city neighborhoods, acquire the properties from private members, relocate the residents and businesses, clear the site, build new roads and utilities, and turn the land over to private developers.

food desert

An area in a developed country where healthy food is difficult to obtain

Urban sustainability

The goal of improving the social and economic conditions of an increasingly urbanized population while maintaining environmental quality

Gentrification

A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area.

ecological footprint

the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

remediation

Containment, treatment or removal of contaminated groundwater. May also include containment, treatment or removal of contaminated soil above the water table. Most often used with cleanup of chemical contaminants in a polluted area.

redevelopment

The renovation and improvement of areas that were previously run down.

Brownfields

abandoned polluted industrial sites in central cities, many of which are today being cleaned and redeveloped

Urban growth boundary

a line used by city planners to separate areas that will remain urban from areas that will remain rural

Farmland protection policies

Policies enacted by governments that protect farmland and prevent it from being sold into other use. Uses zoning to identify areas of agricultural land use only.

Globalization

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