ap hg chapter 13: urban patterns

urbanization

an increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements

urbanized areas

in the United States, an urban area with at least 50,000 inhabitants

metropolitan statistical area (MSA)

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

consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA)

in the United States, two or more adjacent metropolitan statistical areas with overlapping commuting patterns

squatter settlements

an area within a city in a less developed country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect homemade structures

filtering

a process of change in the use of a house, from single-family owner occupancy to abandonment; sub division of a residence until it becomes unsustainable

redlining

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

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

public housing

housing owned by the government; in the United States, it is rented to low-income residents, and the rents are set at 30 percent of the families' incomes

gentrification

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

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

primary metropolitan statistical area (PMSA)

in the United States, a metropolitan statistical area exceeding 1 million population located within a consolidates metropolitan statistical area

concentric zone model

a model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings

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)

multiple nuclei model

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

census tracts

an area delineated by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for which statistics are published; in urbanized areas, census tracts correspond roughly to neighborhoods

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

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

density gradient

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

sprawl

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

greenbelts

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

rush hour

the four consecutive 15-minute periods in the morning and evening with the heaviest volumes of traffic

council of government

a cooperative agency consisting of representatives of local governments in a metropolitan area in the United States