Chapter 10 Flashcards
Centrality
The functional dominance of cities within an urban system.
Central place theory
A theory that seeks to explain the relative size and spacing of towns and cities as a function of consumer behaviour.
Counterurbanization
The net loss of population from cities to smaller towns and rural areas.
Central places
Settlements in which certain products and services are available to consumers.
Informal sector
Economic activities that take place beyond official record are not subject to formalized systems of regulation and remuneration.
Colonial cities
Cities that were deliberately established or developed as administrative or commercial centres by colonial or imperial powers.
Mega city
A very large city characterized by both primacy and a high degree of centrality within its national economy.
Reurbanization
Involves the growth of population in metropolitan central cores following a period of absolute or relative decline in population.
Overurbanization
A condition in which cities grow more rapidly than the jobs and housing they can sustain.
Gateway city
A city that serves as a link between one country or region and others because of its physical situation.
Primacy
A condition in which the population of the largest city in an urban system is disproportionately large in relation to the second and third largest cities in that system.
Squatter settlements
Residential developments on land that is neither owned nor rented by its occupants.
Rank-size rule
A statistical regularity in city-size distributions of countries and regions.
Shock city
A city that is seen as the embodiment of surprising and disturbing changes in economic, social, and cultural lives.
Urbanism
The way of life fostered by urban settings, in which the number, physical density, and variety of people often result in distinctive attitudes, values, and patterns of behaviour.
