HUG AP VOCAB 6

Unit 6 Vocabulary Terms

Directions: Define the following vocabulary terms.

1. Urban Area - a densely populated region with a high concentration of human activity, characterized by numerous buildings, infrastructure, and a distinct contrast to less populated rural areas, typically including cities and towns that serve as centers for economic, social, and cultural activities

2. Urbanization - the process where a large population shifts from rural areas to urban areas, resulting in the growth of cities and a higher concentration of people living in towns and cities

3. Central Business District - refers to the concentrated commercial and business center of a city, typically located downtown, where most business services are clustered and characterized by high land values and dense construction

4. Threshold - the minimum number of people required to support a particular service or business in a given area

5. Range - the maximum distance people are willing to travel to access a particular good or service

6. Gentrification - the process where a previously low-income or deteriorated urban area experiences an influx of wealthier residents, leading to increased property values, renovated buildings, and often the displacement of the original lower-income population due to rising costs of living;

7. Megacity - a very large city with a population exceeding 10 million people, often characterized by rapid growth and high levels of immigration, typically found in developing countries

8. Forward Capital - a capital city that is deliberately relocated to a peripheral or underdeveloped region within a country, often for strategic or economic reasons, with the goal of encouraging development in that area and integrating it more fully into the nation

9. Edge City - a suburban area located on the outskirts of a major city that has developed its own significant concentration of business, retail, and entertainment options

10. Suburbanization - refers to the process of people moving from urban areas into the surrounding suburbs, leading to the growth of these suburban communities and often resulting in a decline in the population of the central city, usually driven by the desire for more space, larger homes, and a quieter lifestyle; this often leads to the expansion of urban sprawl

11. Metacity - an urban area with a population exceeding 20 million people

12. Rank Size Rule - if you list a country's cities from largest to smallest, the second largest city will have roughly half the population of the biggest city, the third largest city will have about a third of the population, and so on, essentially meaning a city's population size is inversely proportional to its rank in the country

13. Primate City Rule - a phenomenon where a country's largest city (the primate city) is significantly larger than the second largest city, often having at least twice the population and dominating the country in terms of economic, political, and cultural influence

14. Urban Renewal - a process where governments or developers revitalize and redevelop blighted or declining urban areas by clearing out old structures and constructing new housing, businesses, and infrastructure

15. Megalopolis - a vast, interconnected urban region formed by the merging of several large metropolitan areas

16. Squatter Settlement - an informal housing area where people reside on land they do not legally own, typically lacking basic infrastructure and services like sanitation and electricity, often found on the outskirts of cities in developing countries, and usually occupied by people who cannot afford proper housing; essentially, a makeshift community built on land they do not have legal rights to occupy.

17. Slum Upgrading - the process of improving living conditions in informal settlements, or slums, by providing basic services like clean water, sanitation, proper housing, and infrastructure, often with a focus on community participation and securing land tenure for residents, aiming to enhance the quality of life and social conditions within a slum area without necessarily displacing residents

18. World City - a significant urban center that functions as a major hub for global economic, cultural, and political activities, acting as a node in the international flow of capital, information, and people, often hosting multinational corporations and influencing trends worldwide

19. New Urbanism - seeks to encourage local community development and sustainable growth in an urban area. An urban planning and development approach that encourages sustainable growth and community development

20. Urban Sprawl - the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land, characterized by low-density residential development, increased reliance on automobiles, and often a lack of comprehensive urban planning, resulting in the consumption of large amounts of land and potential environmental impacts

21. Commercial Land - land specifically zoned and used for the sale of goods and services to generate profit

22. Residential Land - any area of land primarily designated for housing, including single-family homes, apartment complexes, townhouses, and other residential structures, essentially land used for people to live on, as opposed to commercial or industrial areas 

23. Central Place Theory - a geographical model that explains the pattern of settlements based on the idea that people will travel the shortest distance possible to access goods and services, leading to a hierarchy of settlements with larger cities providing specialized goods to smaller surrounding towns and villages, all centered around a "central place" that serves a surrounding market area

24. Agglomeration - the clustering of businesses and industries within a specific geographical area, where companies in the same industry benefit from proximity to each other, sharing infrastructure, labor resources, and experiencing increased efficiency due to their close location

25. White Flight - the large-scale migration of white people from urban areas to suburban regions, often motivated by the increasing racial diversity in cities, leading to segregated neighborhoods and the decline of urban centers; essentially, white residents leaving cities as minority populations move in, usually due to racial tensions and fears about changing demographics

26. Redlining  - a discriminatory practice where banks and other lenders refuse to provide loans or financial services to residents of certain neighborhoods, usually based on racial or ethnic composition, effectively denying access to homeownership and economic opportunities in those areas, often marked on maps with red lines