Human geo Unit 6 part 1 Flashcards
Basic sector
those products or services of an urban economy that are exported outside the city itself, earning income for the community.
Central city
the urban area that is not suburban; generally, the older or original city that is surrounded by newer suburbs
Central Place Theory
a theory that seeks to explain the relative size and spacing of towns and cities as a function of people’s shopping behavior.
City
a multifunctional nucleated settlement with a central business district and both residential and nonresidential land uses.
Economic base
A community’s collection of basic industries.
Emerging City
cities experiencing population growth as well as increasing economic and political clout throughout their region.
Gateway city
a city that serves as a link between one country or region and others because of its physical characteristics.
Hamlet
may only include a few dozen people and offer few basic services, such as a gas station, a general store, or a coffee shop.
Hinterland (market area)
the area surrounding a central place, from which people are attracted to use the place’s goods and services.
Informal sector
economic activities that take place beyond official record, not subject to formalized systems of regulation or remuneration.
Megacities
a city with a population of over ten million people.
Megalopolis (conurbation)
where several metropolitan areas are linked together to form one huge urban area. One example is BosWash, which includes the land between the cities of Boston, MA and Washington D.C.
Metropolitan area (Metropolis)
in the U.S., a large functionally integrated settlement area comprising one or more whole country units and usually containing several urbanized areas: discontinuously built up, it operates as a coherent economic whole.
Nonbasic sector (service sector)
those economic activities of an urban unit that supply the resident population with goods and services and that have no “export” implication.
Primate city
a city of large size (over twice the size of the next largest city within that country) and dominant power within a country; a country’s largest city, ranking atop the urban hierarchy, most expressive of the national culture and usually (but not always) the capital city as well.
Range
in central-place theory, the average maximum distance people will travel to purchase a good or service.
Rank-size rule
in a model urban hierarchy, the idea that the population of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy.
Tertiary Sector
the portion of the economy concerned with transportation, communications, and utilities, sometimes extended to the provision of all goods and services to people in exchange for payment.
Threshold
in central-place theory, the size of the population required to make provision of services economically feasible.
Towns
may consist of 50 to a few thousand people. Towns are considered an urban area with a defined boundary but are smaller than a city in terms of population and area.
Urban area
the central city and the surrounding suburbs.
Urban hearth area
a region in which the world’s first cities evolved.
Urban hierarchy
a ranking of settlements according to their size and economic function, e.g., hamlet – village – town – city – metropolis - megalopolis.
Urbanization
the proportion of a country’s population living in an urban area; the movement of people to, and clustering of people in, towns and cities.
Village
larger than hamlets and will likely offer several dozen services that are more specialized than those of a hamlet.
World city (Global City)
a city that plays an especially important role in global business services.
