Term	Definition
Site	This refers to the actual ground on which a settlement is located; it is also known as the absolute location of a place, usually indicated by the Longitude and Latitude of the given settlement (absolute location)
land use/function	The function of a settlement refers to the main activities taking place there
Hierarchy	The hierarchy of a settlement refers to the arrangement of a settlement in terms of its importance or significance
Megacities	Megacities are cities that have a population of over 10 million
The Central Business District (CBD)	The centre of all economic activities in an urban area. Most cities in the world have ___ located either in the centre of the city or close to a major seaport.
Urbanization	An increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities.
Urban Growth	The increase in the size of a particular settlement or an increase in the number of people living in urban centres.
Urban Sprawl	The unplanned and uncontrolled physical expansion of an urban area into the surrounding countryside. It is closely linked to the processes of suburbanization.
Ecological footprint	The theoretical measurement of the amount of land and water a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing technology.
Suburbanization	The outward growth of towns and cities to engulf surrounding villages and rural areas. This may result from the out‑migration of population from the inner urban area to the suburbs or from inward rural–urban movement.
Suburb	A residential area within or just outside the boundaries of a city.
Brownfield site	Abandoned, derelict or under‑used industrial buildings and land that may be contaminated but have potential for redevelopment.
Counter‑urbanization	The movement of population away from inner urban areas to a new town, a new estate, a commuter town or a village on the edge or just beyond the city limits/rural–urban fringe.
Reurbanisation	The development of activities to increase residential population densities within the existing built-up area of a city. This may include the redevelopment of vacant land, the refurbishment of housing and the development of new business enterprises.
Centripetal (inward)	movement which includes Rural-urban migration, Gentrification, Reurbanisation (urban renewal)
Centrifugal (outward)	A type of movement which includes Suburbanisation, Counter urbanisation, Urban sprawl.
Rural-Urban Migration	This is the movement of people from rural to urban areas. It is caused by urban “pull” and rural “push” factors.
Reurbanisation (Urban renewal)	It is the process of revitalising urban areas and a movement of people from the outskirts of cities into these places. This process includes the process of gentrification.
Sub-urbanisation	The movement of people, industries or shops from inner cities to live in areas outside the city. opposite of gentrification. Due to improvement in transport network, decline in the price of farmlands, rising wages.
Counter-urbanization	The movement of population away from inner urban areas to a new town, a new estate, a commuter town or a village on the edge or just beyond the city limits/rural-urban fringe. Also called de-urbanization.
Urban Sprawl	Unplanned, uncontrolled physical expansion of an urban area into the surrounding countryside, linked to sub-urbanization. People in sprawled neighbourhoods drive to CBD to work.
Urban Systems Growth	A city is a system; the city consists of inputs processes and outputs. input = various resources, both human and physical, that the city needs to function effectively. As these inputs ‘enter’ the city, they undergo various processes, including manufacturing/industrial processes and urban infrastructural processes. The processes would lead to the production of outputs, some of which could be positive or negative. Positive outputs may include manufactured goods and negative output may be pollution and waste production as a result of the use of inputs.
Deindustrialization	The sustained decline in manufacturing activity and capacity. The opposite of deindustrialization is industrialization, which is the growth in secondary/ manufacturing industries.
Urban microclimate	a set of atmospheric conditions that differ from the climate of the surrounding area. It is could be a small area or a large piece of land
Urban heat island, or UHI,	A metropolitan area that’s a lot warmer than the rural areas surrounding it.
Anthropogenic heat release	Heat derived from industry and domestic central heating radiates from cities. They may include dust from construction sites or deserts blown into cities, smoke and carbon monoxide from wild fires, methane gas from animals etc.
Eutrophication	A condition where high amount of nitrogen present in some pollutants gets developed on sea’s surface and turns itself into algae and adversely affect fish, plants and animal species. The green colored algae that is present on lakes and ponds is due to presence of this chemical only.
Urban Social deprivation	When people in urban areas lack or have limited access to social services such as housing, education, health services, roads, sewerage or drainage facilities. This may change over time and from one place to another, depending on the effort made by the individual, government of non-governmental organization.
Social exclusion	When a member in a particular society is ostracized by other members of the society. The excluded member is denied access to jobs, social supports or peer networks, exclusion from services, and negative attitude of the local neighborhood, leading to poverty.
Resilient City Design	One in which individuals, businesses, communities and institutions can survive, adapt and grow notwithstanding the challenges or shocks the city experiences.
Eco-cities	Cities that are designed to be environmentally sustainable. A city is environmentally sustainable when resources are used to meet the needs of the present population of the city without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Smart Cities Design	A city that incorporates information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance the quality and performance of urban services such as energy, transportation and utilities to reduce resource consumption, wastage and overall costs.

OPTION G - urban environments