Urban Patterns and Processes

Annexation

The adding of a region to the territory of an existing political unit.

Census Tract

An area deliniated by the us beureau of the census for which statisitcs are published; in urbanized areas, census tracts correspond roughly to neighborhoods

Central Business District

The area of the city where consumer, business, and public services 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.

Edge city

a large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area

Gentrification

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

Metropolitan statistical area

In the United States, a central city of at least 50,000 population, the county within which the city is located, and adjacent counties meeting one of several tests indicating a functional connection to the central city.

Multiple nuclei model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities.

Galactic City/Peripheral model

A model of North American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road; edge cities found along outside ring

Sector model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges, radiating out from the central business district (CBD).

Sprawl

Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built-up area.

Squatter settlement / informal housing

An area within a city in a developing country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect homemade structures.

bid-rent curve

The concept that the concentric circles in Burgess's concentric zone model are based on the amount people are willing to pay for land in each zone

Central place theory

A theory developed by Walter Christaller that states theat cities exist for economic reasons and that people gather in cities to share goods and ideas.

gravity model

A law of spatial interaction that states that larger places attract people, ideas, and goods more strongly that smaller places.

hinterlands/market areas

The surrounding trade area of an urban area.

megacity

A metropolitan area with a total population of over 10 million people according to the United Nations.

megalopolis

A group of supercities that have merged together into one large urban area.

New Urbanism

An urban design movement that emphasizes the pedestrian-friendly return to earlier close-knit neighborhoods and a sense od community

primate city

A city that is at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant (not just the largest city in a country).

public housing /inclusionary housing

Government-constructed and regulated low-income housing in urban areas.

rank-size rule

The rule proposed by Zipf that states that if all cities in a country are placed in order from the largest to the smallest, the second largest city would have about 1/2 the population of the largest city, the third largest city would have about 1/3 the population of the largest city, the fourth largest city about 1/4 the population of the largest city, etc.

site

The physical location of a place.

situation

The location of a place based on its relation to other places.

suburbanization

The movement of people from urban core areas to the surrounding outer edges of the cities.

urban sprawl

A seperate-use system of residential housing neighborhoods on the outskirts of urban areas that don't contain retail activities. This is also called conventional suburban development (CSD).

world city

A global city that serves as an important linkage or conncetionpoint in the global economic system.

central city

The urban area that is not suburban; generally, the older or original city that is surrounded by newer suburbs.

density gradient

The change in density in an urban area from the center to the periphery.

filtering

A process of change in the use of a house, from single-family owner occupancy to abandonment.

greenbelt

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area.

redlining

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

underclass

A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics.

zoning ordinance

A law that limits the permitted uses of land and maximum density of development in a community.

Boomburbs

rapidly growing city that remains essentially suburban in character even as it reaches populations more typical of a large city

Metacity

A conurbation with more than 20 million people

Latin American City Model

Combines elements of Latin American Culture and globalization by combining radial sectors and concentric zones. Includes a thriving CBD with a commercial spine. The quality of houses decreases as one moves outward away from the CBD, and the areas of worse housing occurs in the Disamenity sectors.

African City Model

model that suggests that African cities have more than one CBD, which is a remanence of colonialism

smart growth

A set of principles for community planning that focuses on strategies to encourage the development of sustainable, healthy communities.

Greenbelt

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area.

qualitative data

Data associated with a more humanistic approach to geography, often collected through interviews, or surveys and providing opinion about urban change

quantitative data

Data associated with stats obtained from census information, traffic reports, crime data, health information, etc... not based on opinion

Gravity Model

A model that holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service; also explains migration trends