APHG Unit 6 Cities and Urban Land Use Vocabulary TWHS 9

African Cities Model

Usually has 3 CBDs - a traditional CBD with one story buildings that existed before colonization, more vertical colonial CBD, and informal economy zone that includes periodic markets; squatter settlements around the periphery

Bid Rent Theory

Geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes; land value decreases as distance from the Central Business District (CBD) increases

Blockbusting

Real estate agents convincing people to sell houses because of minorities or poor people moving into the area and making money by reselling the property for a higher price

Boomburb

Rapidly growing suburban cities that represent a new metropolitan form

Brownfield

A former industrial or commercial site that people perceive to be contaminated environmentally

Central Business District

The main business and commercial area of a town or city (downtown)

Central Place Theory

Walter Christaller's theory that was developed to explain the distribution of cities of goods and services across a region. The central place (a location where people go to receive goods and services) varies from tiny communities to major cities

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 American cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings. Created by E.W. Burgess in 1923

De Facto Segregation

Racial segregation that happens organically instead of being enforced by law

Disamenity Zone

The very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not even connected to city services and are controlled by gangs and drugs

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

Edge City

A relatively large node of office and retail activities on the outskirts of a city, typically beside a major road

Environmental Injustice

Disproportionate exposure to communities of color and the poor to pollution and its effects on health and the environment; includes inadequate access to healthy food, inadequate transportation, unsafe neighborhoods with poor air and water quality

Exurb

Prosperous residential districts beyond the suburbs

Farmland Protection Policy

Protect agricultural lands from suburban sprawl and development

Galactic City Model (Peripheral Model)

This model of U.S. cities by Chauncey Harris features a ring road and modern amenities like airports. It argues that edge cities are likely to pop-up around the ring road

Gentrification

People renovating housing in low-income areas to increase the value; rising property values/taxes will eventually force the original low-income residents out

Gravity Model

Predicts the degree of interaction and probability of mobility between two places; there are greater flows to bigger cities and between nearer cities

Greenbelt

An area of open land around a city where development is prohibited

Housing Density

Number of housing units per unit of land area

Inclusionary Zoning

Specifies inclusions within a development, such as a playground or that a percentage of homes must be affordable for low-income families

Infilling

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

Land Tenure

System regulating the rights to ownership and control and usage of land

Latin American City Model

Developed by Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford. The CBD has a traditional market center and a modern high-rise center. The elite residential sector is an the extension of the CBD in the "spine". Generally, poverty levels increase with distance from CBD

Market Area (Hinterland)

The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the place's goods and services

Megacity

A very large city, typically one with a population of over ten million people

Metacity

A large metropolitan area with a population higher than 20 million

Metropolitan Area

Includes a large city and all of its surrounding suburbs and towns

Mixed Land Use

Development that blends a combination of residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or industrial uses that provides pedestrian connections

Multiple Nuclei Model

Type of urban form wherein cities have numerous centers of business and cultural activity instead of one central place. Created by C.D. Harris and E.L. Ullman in 1945

New Urbanism

Smart growth policy that creates walkable, environmentally friendly, mixed land use neighborhoods with commercial and residential areas

Primate City

Lead city in a country in terms of size and influence. (More than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement)

Qualitative Data

Data associated with a more humanistic approach to geography, often collected through field studies and narratives

Quantitative Data

Data that can be measured in numbers

Range (of a service)

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service or purchase goods

Rank-Size Rule

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

Redlining

The now illegal (in the USA) practice of banks refusing to loan money to specific areas because of poverty in the area

Sanitation

Conditions relating to public health, especially the provision of clean drinking water and adequate sewage disposal

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. Created in 1939 by Homer Hoyt

Site

A way of describing where a place is based on the physical characteristics of the surrounding area

Situation

A way of describing where a place is based on its relationships with the surrounding areas

Slow-Growth Cities

Cities that are actively trying to control their growth to promote sustainability; emphasis on preserving cultural traditions, historical character and daily quality of life

Smart Growth

Legislation and regulations to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland

Southeast Asian City Model

Model developed by T.G McGee. The focal point of the city is the colonial port zone combined with the large commercial district that surrounds it

Squatter Settlement

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. Characterized by poverty and lack of infrastructure. Can also be called shantytown, favela, barrio or slum

Suburbanization

A population shift from central urban areas into surrounding outskirts, especially by middle/upper class

Threshold (of a service)

The minimum number of people needed for a service to be profitable

Transit-oriented development

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

Urbanization

The process of developing cities and towns; population shifting from rural to urban areas

Urban Decentralization

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

Urban Growth Boundary

A restriction on development outside a designated area

Urban Hierarchy

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

Urban Renewal

The redevelopment of areas within a large city, typically involving the clearance of slums

Urban Sprawl

Unrestricted growth in urban areas of housing, commercial development and roads over large expanses of land

Walkability

A measure of how friendly a city is to getting around by walking

World City (global city)

A large city that has a great global influence

Zone of Abandonment

Areas or neighborhoods where most people migrate away often due to lack of jobs

Zoning Practice

Local laws that define which types of economic activities can take place in specific areas of a city