AP HUG Unit 6 Vocab

1. Edge city

a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment located on the outskirts of a city, often in what was previously a residential or rural area.

2. Gentrification

the process by which middle-class people move into deteriorated inner-city neighborhoods and renovate the housing, often displacing lower-income residents.

3. Greenbelt

a ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area

4. Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)

a functional area of a city including a central city of at least 50,000 people, the country it resides in, and adjacent countries with a high degree of social and economic integration

5. Public housing

government-owned housing provided to low-income individuals or families, often at subsidized rent

6. Smart growth

urban planning that concentrates growth in walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and preserve open space

7. Squatter settlement

An area where people illegally occupy land and build makeshift housing without the legal right or ownership to the land.

8. Urban renewal

The process that cities clear or redevelop areas with a deteriorated or underused urban core.

9. Zoning ordinance

A law or regulation established by a local government that controls how land in a city can be used.

10. Megalopolis

A large urban region made of multiple merged cities through urbanization.

11. Gateway city

An urban center that acts as the main entry and exit point for people and goods.

12. CBD (central business district)

The commercial and geographic heart of a city with a high concentration of business and activity.

13. Counter-Urbanization

the demographic trend of people moving out of densely populated urban centers and into rural or suburban areas

14. Ethnic neighborhood

a specialized urban area with a high concentration of residents sharing a common cultural, linguistic, or national background, often distinct from the surrounding population

15. Ghetto

a poor urban area occupied primarily by a minority group or groups.

16. Hinterland

the often uncharted areas beyond a coastal district or a river's banks.

17. Infrastructure

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

18. Megacities

a huge city, typically one with a population of over ten million people.

19. Planned communities

a large, master-designed residential area where homes, roads, parks, shopping, and amenities are carefully laid out from the start for convenience, lifestyle, and self-sufficiency

20. Primate city

The largest, most dominant city in a country

21. High-tech corridors

areas along major transportation arteries dedicated to research, development, and sales of high-technology products

22. Suburbanization

the post-WWII process of population deconcentration from urban centers to surrounding, low-density residential areas, driven by automobile reliance, the GI Bill, and the desire for space

23. Suburb

residential areas situated on the outskirts of a city or town

24. Threshold

the minimum number of people (population or customers) required to support a service, business, or industry to ensure its profitability and sustainability

25. World city

World cities are major urban centers that have a significant influence on global economic, political, and cultural activities

26. Slum/Favela/Barriadas

densely populated urban areas characterized by substandard housing, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to basic services such as clean water, sanitation, and healthcare