Cities and Urban Land Use Flashcards
Sustainability
-using the earth’s resources without doing permanent damage to the environment
Ecumene
-the permanently inhabited portion of the earth’s surface
Urbanization
-process of developing towns and cities
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
-another way to define a city (consists of a city of at least 50,000 people, adjacent counties have a high degree of social/economic integration with urban core)
Micropolitan statistical areas
-cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants (less than 50,000)
Social heterogeneity
-the population of cities, as compared to other areas, contains a greater variety of people (diversity in cultural interests, sexual orientations, languages spoken, professional pursuits, etc)
Borchert’s transportation model-
John Borchert developed this model to describe urban growth based on transportation technology (divided urban history into four periods called epochs)
Pedestrian cities
-cities shaped by the distances people could walk
Streetcar suburbs
-communities that grew up along rail lines
Suburbanization
-involves the process of people moving, usually from cities, to residential areas on the outskirts of cities
Leapfrogging
-specific process that encourages sprawl (where developers purchase land and build communities beyond the periphery of the city’s built area)
Edge cities-
nodes of economic activity that have developed in the periphery of large cities
Counter-urbanization
counter-flow of urban residents leaving cities
Exurbanization-
when people move from cities to rural areas
Reurbanization-
when suburbanites return to live in the city
Megacities
-have a population of more than 10 million people (world’s largest cities, rapid growth)
Megalopolis
-describes a chain of connected cities (ex: string of cities from Boston, through NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, to Washington DC)
Conurbation
-uninterrupted urban area made of towns, suburbs, and cities
World city/global city-
large cities that exert influence far beyond their national boundaries(ex: New York, London, Tokyo, Paris)
Urban hierarchy
-ranking based on influence or population size
Urban system
-an interdependent set of cities that interact on the regional, national, and global scale
Primate city-
more developed than other cities in the system, and consequently, disproportionately more powerful (social, political, and economic hub for the system)
Rank-size rule
-describes one way in which the sizes of cities within the region may develop (states that “x”th largest city in any region will be 1/x the size of the largest city)
Central place theory-
proposed by Walter Christaller, explains the distribution of cities of different sizes across a region; used consumer behavior related to purchasing goods and services to explain the distribution of settlements
Market area
zone that contains people who will purchase goods or services
Functional zonation
-the idea that portions of an urban area-regions, or zones, within the city- have specific and distinct purposes
Central Business District (CBD)-
commercial heart of a city, focus of transportation and services
Residential zone-
areas where people live
Concentric zone model/Burgess model
-describes a city as a series of rings that surrounds a central business district (CBD)
Sector model/Hoyt’s model
-described how different types of land use and housing were all located near the CBD early in a city’s history
Multiple-nuclei model
-suggested that functional zonation occurred around multiple centers, or nodes
Galactic city model
-an original CBD became surrounded by a system of smaller nodes that mimicked its function (mini-downtowns of hotels, malls, restaurants, and office complexes)
Citadel
a fort designed to protect the city
Suqs
traditional outdoor markets or covered bazaars
Griffin-Ford model-
most desirable housing in the city is located there, next to the developed center of the city (often used to describe Latin American cities, places a two-part CBD at the center of the city-a traditional market center adjacent to a modern high-rise center)
Periferico
-outer ring of the city (poverty, lack of infrastructure, shantytowns)
Favelas/barrios
-neighborhoods marked by extreme poverty, homelessness, and lawlessness
Disamenity zones-
areas not connected to city services and under the control of criminals/gangs (often in physically unsafe locations, such as on steep, unstable mountain slopes)
Colonial CBD
-broad, straight avenues and large homes, parks, and administrative centers
Informal economy-
thrives with curbside, car-side, and stall-based businesses that often hire people temporarily and do not follow all regulations
Periodic markets-
where small-scale merchants congregate weekly or yearly to sell their goods
Informal settlements-
area in city that is less developed and in the periphery; often lack sufficient public services for electricity, water, and sewage
McGee model-
describes the land use of many large cities in Southeast Asia, where the focus of the modern city is often a former colonial port zone
Zoning ordinance
-regulations that define how property in specific geographic regions may be used
Urban planning
-a process of promoting growth and controlling change in land use
Inner city-
residential areas surrounding the CBD (apartment buildings, townhomes)
Filtering
-houses pass from one social group to another (usually occurs when people with less wealth move into the houses after wealthier residents move)
Urban infill
-process of building up underused lands within a city/process of increasing the residential density of an area by replacing open space and vacant housing with residences
Suburbanization of business-
the movement of commerce out of cities to suburbs where rents are cheaper and commutes for employees are shorter
Annexation
-the process of adding land to a city’s legally defined territory
Incorporation
-the act of legally joining together to form a new city
Bedroom communities-
commuter suburbs/commuter towns inhabited by people who drive or take public transport to another city for work (mostly for residential to travel)
Public transportation-
-buses, subways, light rail, trains (operated by a government agency)
Smart-growth (policies)-
focuses on city planning and transportation systems of an urban region (goal is to slow sprawl by creating concentrated growth in compact centers)
Greenbelts-
areas of undeveloped land around an urban area
Mixed-use neighborhoods
-have a mix of homes and businesses (vibrant, livable, and walkable)
Census tract-
contiguous geographic regions that function as the foundation of a census (typically consists of between 4,000 and 12,0000 people)
Census block-
in a densely populated urban area, it is often very small, consisting of a single block bounded by four streets; in suburban and rural areas, because of their lower population densities, a census block typically covers a larger area
Redlining
-the process by which banks refuse loans to those who want to purchase and improve properties in certain urban areas
Blockbusting
-when people of an ethnic group sold their homes upon learning that members of another ethnic group were moving into the neighborhood
Ghettos-
areas of poverty occupied by a minority group as a result of discrimination
Scattered site
-site in which things are dispersed rather than clustered
Municipality
-refers to a local entity that is all under the same jurisdiction
Eminent domain
-allows the government to claim private property from individuals, pay them for the property, and then use the land for the public good
Gentrification-
the process of converting an urban inner-city neighborhood from a mostly low income, renter occupied area to a predominantly wealthier, owner-occupied area of a city
Food desert-
urban zones that lack food stores (contribute to health problems, such as obesity and diabetes, for poorer urban residents)
Urban canyon-
streets lined with tall buildings, can channel and intensify wind and prevent natural sunlight from reaching the ground
Urban heat island-
an area of a city warmer than surrounding areas
Urban wildlife-
rats, raccoons, pigeons, etc can thrive in cities, but they can spread diseases and be a nuisance to people
Urban redevelopment
-involves renovating a site within a city by removing the existing landscape and rebuilding from the ground up
Big-box retail-
stores that sell things in bulk so they are cheaper per unit
Consolidation
-a government policy which attempts to reduce urban sprawl by increasing the population density in an area
Culture of Poverty
-a way of living that reflects a lack of income and accumulated wealth
New urbanism
-a form of growth that is designed in order to limit the amount of urban sprawl and preserve nature and usable farmland
Public housing
-housing owned by the government and provisioned at low cost to impoverished families
Rural
-sparsely settled places separated from the influence of large cities
Satellite city-
when an established town near a very large city grows into a city independent of the larger one
Social area analysis
uses qualitative and quantitative data in order to gain an overall understanding of the lives and characteristics of people living within urban areas
Special Districts
-districts that attempt to solve a specific need, such as for public transportation, over a larger region
Underclass
-people who face social hardships that contribute to their poverty
Urban colony
-where new residents can be close to religious institutions, stores that sell familiar goods, and friends and relatives who speak their language
Urban hearths
-areas generally associated with river valleys in which seasonal floods and fertile soils aided in the production of an agricultural surplus
Urban sprawl-
the rapid spread of development outward from the inner city
Zone of Transition-
the first ring surrounding the CBD that includes industrial uses mixed with poorer quality housing
