UNIT 6 KBAT

African city model – Shows how cities in Africa have a colonial center, a traditional market, and squatter settlements on the edges.

Annexation – When a city adds land from nearby areas into its boundaries.

Bid-rent theory – Land closer to the city center is more expensive because more people want to be there.

Blockbusting – When real estate agents scare white people into selling homes cheap, then resell to Black families at high prices.

Boomburbs – Fast-growing suburban cities that are big but not the main city.

Brownfields – Abandoned or polluted industrial sites.

Built area (landscape) – Land that has buildings, roads, and other human-made structures.

Central business district (CBD) – The downtown area where businesses and offices are concentrated.

Central place theory – Explains why cities and towns are located where they are and how they serve surrounding areas.

Census tract – Small area used by the government to collect data about people.

City-state – A city that acts like an independent country (like ancient Athens).

Concentric zone model – A model showing a city in rings, with the CBD in the center.

Conurbation – A big urban area formed when cities grow and merge together.

Density gradient – How the number of people per area changes as you move out from the city center.

Disamenity zones – Poor areas in a city with few services and often unsafe conditions.

Edge city – A new city area on the edge of a bigger city, with offices, malls, and homes.

Eminent domain – The government’s power to take private land for public use (with payment).

Exurbanization (exurbs) – People moving even farther out than the suburbs.

Filtering (filter process) – When wealthy people move out of homes and poorer people move in.

Food desert – A place with limited access to affordable and healthy food.

Galactic (peripheral) model – A model showing a city with a central area and edge cities connected by highways.

Gateway city – A city that connects two places, like immigrants arriving or goods being traded.

Gentrification – When wealthier people move into poor areas, raising property values and pushing out low-income residents.

Gravity model – Predicts interaction between places based on size and distance (like cities attracting people).

Greenbelts – Areas of open land around a city where building is restricted.

Infilling – Building on empty land within a city instead of expanding outward.

Infrastructure – Roads, water, power, and systems that support a city.

Latin American city model – Shows a city with a strong CBD and spine of business leading to wealthy neighborhoods.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) – A large area with a city and its suburbs, used for census data.

Megacities – Cities with over 10 million people.

Megalopolis – A huge area where several large cities have grown together.

Metacities – Cities with more than 20 million people.

Mixed-use neighborhoods – Areas where homes, shops, and offices are close together.

Multiple nuclei model – A city with several centers of activity, not just one CBD.

New urbanism – City design that promotes walkable neighborhoods and mixed-use buildings.

Planned community – A town built from scratch with a clear plan.

Primate city – A city that is much bigger than any other city in the country.

Public housing – Housing owned by the government for low-income people.

Range – The distance people are willing to travel for a service.

Rank-size rule – A pattern where the second-largest city is half the size of the largest, and so on.

Redlining – Denying loans or insurance to people in certain neighborhoods (often based on race).

Reurbanization – Moving back into the city after living in the suburbs.

Sanitation – The systems for keeping water clean and handling waste.

Sector model – A model showing a city in slices, with sectors of housing and industry.

Segregation – Separation of people based on race, income, or other factors.

Slum (favela) – A very poor, crowded neighborhood with bad housing and little infrastructure.

Smart growth – Building cities in ways that reduce sprawl and protect the environment.

Southeast Asia city model – A city model with a port zone, colonial influence, and squatter areas.

Squatter settlement – Homes built illegally on land people don’t own.

Urban sprawl – When cities spread out over more land in a messy or unplanned way.

Suburbanization – When people move from the city to the suburbs.

Threshold – The minimum number of people needed to support a service.

Transit-oriented development – Building homes and businesses around public transport.

Urban growth boundaries – Limits placed on where cities can grow to stop sprawl.

Urban heat island – Cities are warmer than nearby rural areas because of buildings and pavement.

Urban hierarchy – A ranking of cities based on size and services.

Urban renewal – Rebuilding run-down city areas.

Urbanized area – A place with a high population density and lots of development.

White flight – When white people move out of neighborhoods as Black or minority families move in.

World (global) city – A major city that influences the world’s economy and culture.

Zones of abandonment – Areas in a city that have been deserted or neglected.

Zoning ordinance – Rules about how land in a city can be used (like housing, business, or parks).