Cities and Urban Land Use Patterns and Processes Part 3

Question 1

Sustainability

Answer 1

Using the earth’s resources while not causing permanent damage to the environment.

Question 2

Smart Growth Policies

Answer 2

Policies designed by urban planners and policymakers to combat urban sprawl and create a new vision for cities that are more sustainable and equitable. Smart growth focuses on city planning and transportation systems of an urban region.

Question 3

Greenbelts

Answer 3

Areas of undeveloped land around an urban area.

Question 4

Slow-Growth Cities

Answer 4

Cities that adopt policies to slow the outward spread of urban areas and place limits on building permits in order to encourage a denser, more compact city.

Question 5

New Urban Design

Answer 5

A group of developers in the 1990s created this set of strategies to put smart growth into action within communities. Some strategies of new urbanism include creating human-scale neighborhoods (designed for optimum human use), reclaiming neglected spaces, giving access to multiple modes of transportation, increasing affordable housing, and creating mixed-use neighborhoods.

Question 6

Mixed-Use Neighborhoods

Answer 6

These neighborhoods have a mix of homes and businesses and are vibrant, livable, and walkable. Homes include a variety of sizes and price ranges to create a socially diverse community.

Question 7

Urban Infill

Answer 7

The process of building up underused lands within a city.

Question 8

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

Answer 8

This concept locates mixed-use residential and business communities near mass transit stops, resulting in a series of more compact communities which decreases the need for automobiles.

Question 9

Livability

Answer 9

A set of principles that supports sustainable urban designs. Livable communities have affordable and equitable housing, access to employment and community services, multiple and accessible transportation modes, and social and civic engagement.

Question 10

Quantitative Data

Answer 10

Information that can be counted, measured, or sequenced by numeric value.

Question 11

Population Composition

Answer 11

In addition to showing where people live, this gives a description of people’s income, age, gender, ethnicity, race, family size, and other details.

Question 12

Census Tracts

Answer 12

Contiguous geographic regions that function as the foundation of a census.

Question 13

Census Block

Answer 13

In a densely populated urban area, these are 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.

Question 14

Qualitative Data

Answer 14

Data based primarily on surveys, field studies, photos, video, and interviews from people who provide personal perceptions and meaningful descriptions.

Question 15

Redlining

Answer 15

The process by which banks refuse loans to those who want to purchase and improve properties in certain urban areas.

Question 16

Racial Segregation

Answer 16

In housing, this occurs when people live in separate neighborhoods based on their ethnicity or race.

Question 17

Blockbusting

Answer 17

When people of an ethnic group sold their homes upon learning that members of another ethnic group were moving into the neighborhood.

Question 18

Ghettos

Answer 18

Areas of poverty occupied by a minority group as a result of discrimination.

Question 19

Inclusionary Zoning

Answer 19

Practices that offer incentives for developers to set aside a percentage of housing for low-income renters or buyers.

Question 20

Scattered Site

Answer 20

In this approach to alleviate the problems of public housing, the city or government provided rental assistance for individuals to disperse public housing throughout the area.

Question 21

Urban Renewal

Answer 21

A policy that allowed governments to clear out the blighted inner-city slums, which usually displaced the residents to low-income government housing complexes, and built new development projects.

Question 22

Eminent Domain

Answer 22

A legal concept that allows the government to claim private property from individuals, pay them for the property, and then use the land for the public good.

Question 23

Gentrification

Answer 23

The process of converting an urban inner-city neighborhood from a mostly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominately wealthier, owner-occupied area of a city.

Question 24

Informal Settlements

Answer 24

Densely populated areas built without coordinated planning and without sufficient public services for electricity, water, and sewage.

Question 25

Land Tenure

Answer 25

The legal protection of contracts to show ownership of the land or structures.

Question 26

Zones of Abandonment

Answer 26

Areas of a city that have been deserted by their owners for either economic or environmental reasons.

Question 27

Environmental Injustice (Environmental Racism)

Answer 27

The disproportionate exposure of minorities and the poor to pollution and its impacts, plus the unequal protection of their rights under the law.

Question 28

Gated Communities

Answer 28

Walled or fenced neighborhoods with limited access and entry points.

Question 29

Urban Canyons

Answer 29

Streets lined with tall buildings.

Question 30

Urban Heat Island

Answer 30

An area of a city warmer than surrounding areas.

Question 31

Urban Wildlife

Answer 31

Organisms that live in urban environments, such as rats, raccoons, and pigeons.

Question 32

Rush Hour

Answer 32

A time during which the commuting periods in early morning and in late afternoon or early evening when many people travel to and from work. During this time, idling cars on roads increase, and concentrate air pollutants in the city.

Question 33

Suburban Sprawl

Answer 33

A rapid spread of development outward form the inner city.

Question 34

Ecological Footprint

Answer 34

The impact of human activity on the environment.

Question 35

Brownfields

Answer 35

Visual reminders on the landscape of how the centers of cities have changed over time. They typically consist of dilapidated buildings and polluted or contaminated soils.

Question 36

Urban Redevelopment

Answer 36

A process that involves renovating a site within a city by removing the existing landscape and rebuilding form the ground up.