3.2 Urban trends and issues of urbanisation Flashcards
Define sphere of Influence
The distance or area people travel from to access a service
Define threshold population
The minimum amount of people required for a service to be offered and remain open.
Define comparison and convenience goods
- High Order Goods (Comparison): Goods that people buy less frequently. They tend to be more expensive and people will normally compare quality and price before purchasing e.g. a TV, car or holiday.
- Low Order Goods (Convenience): Goods that people buy every day. They don’t usually cost much money and people would not normally travel far to buy them e.g. bread and milk.
Define urbanisation
Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
Define suburbanisation
the outward growth of urban development which may engulf surrounding villages and towns into a larger urban agglomeration
Define urban growth
The absolute increase in physical size and total population of urban areas
Difference between urbanisation and urban growth
- Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people living in cities
- Urban growth is the when the cities are growing in the size and population size
Define counterurbanistion
when large numbers of people move from urban areas into surrounding countryside or rural areas
Define reurbanisation
After a period of decline,the population of a city begins to increase again
Cycle of urbanisation
- Compromises the stages of urban change
- Urbanisation -> Suburbanisation -> Counterurbanisation ->Reurbanisation
Issues with urbanisation
- Congestion (an increase in the amount of traffic leading to traffic jams)
- Destruction of greenfield sites
- Pollutions (air, water, noise, visual)
- Electricity blackouts
- Water shortages
- Unemployment
- Homelessness
- Growth of informal settlements
- Crime
- Imbalance between urban and rural population
- Core periphery
Define land use zoning
A mapping exercise by local government which decides how land should be used in the various parts of the of the city
Define urban decay
The process by which an urban area becomes economically depressed and through this environmentally derelict.
Competiton for land in urban area
- The best measures for competition are the land price and the costs of rents
- However, planning measures such as land use zoning complicate the free market process
- Some areas are derelict for a long period because it is unattractive for both residential and business purpose and may require governement substantial investment to be back in active use
Define urban redevelopment
the complete clearance of existing buildings and site infrastructure and construction of new buildings, often for a different purpose, from scratch.
Define urban renewal
keeping the best elements of the existing urban environment and adapting them to new usages.
Define urban regeneration
improve an urban area in decline with a mixture of urban redevelopment and urban renewal
Define cumulative causation
The process whereby impulses for economic growth are self-reinforcing, resulting in an upward spiral of economic development
Define filtering
Occurs as housing deteriorates and it moves downwards through the social groups
Define gentrification
Process in which wealthier people move into, renovate and restore run-down housing in an inner city or other neglected area
Why does gentrification occur?
An area which was once a low -income area can become fashionable through gentrification normally because it has certain features which draw higher social groups towards it. e.g. an attractive park, larger than average housing, close proximity to a railway station or the city centre
Effects of gentrification
– House prices rise as demand rises for them
– Many derelict or deteriorating housing is renovated
– Trendier shops and restaurants open in the area
– Working classes are displaced by middle classes as house prices become too high
– A change in housing tenure from renting to owning
Issues with gentrification
– Lower classes feel pushed out by middle classes
– House prices are too expensive for low income groups to afford
– Often ethnic minorities in lower income groups are dispersed from the area and the area becomes “white middle class
Define accessibility
Refers to the relative ease with which a place can be reached from other locations. Accesibility increases due to the increase in car ownership
Reasons for increase in car ownership
- Rising incomes
- High cost and low quality of public transportation
- Decentralisation and suburbanisation which has resulted in people living further from their places of work
Effects of the increase in car ownership
- Quality of the environment deteriorates
- Population increase along with car usage outstrips investment in urban infrastructure
- Economic costs of pollution
- Aesthetics issues that have adverse effects on tourism industry
Define global/world city
A city that is judged to be an important nodal point in the global economic system. Are defined by influence rather than size
Define mega/millionaire city
A city with more than 1 million inhabitants. Are defined by size rather than influence
Reasons for the growth of global cities
- Globalisation has deepened => more aware of opportunities in other cities
- Development in transport nodesin global trading system
- Demographic trends - significant rate of natural increase and in-migration. Large population clusters offer potential in terms of workforce and markets
- Many global cities are capital cities benefitting from high levels of investment and infrastructure
How are global cities being ranked?
Measures over five areas:
- Business activity
- Human capital
- Information exchange
- Cultural experience
- Political engagement
