Key Definitions - urban and changing places Flashcards
Define urbanisation
An increase in the proportion of a country’s population that lives in towns / cities
Define urban growth
An increase in the number of urban dwellers
Define urban sprawl
The spread of an urban area into surrounding countryside
Define megacity
An urban area with over 10 million people, incorporating several large towns / cities
Define metacity
A conurbation with over 20 million people
Define world city
A city with major global influence
Define suburbanisation
The movement of people from inner city to outer city
Define counter urbanisation
The movement of people from a large urban area to a smaller urban / rural area
Define urban resurgence
The economic / structural regeneration of an urban area which has suffered a period of decline
Define deindustrialisation
The loss of jobs in the secondary manufacturing sector
Define decentralisation
The movement of population / industry to outlying areas from the centre
Define gentrification
The buying and renovating of properties, often in more run down areas
Define regeneration
The attempt to reverse the decline of an area by improving both the physical structure and the economy
Define urban-rural migration
The movement of people from cities to the countryside
Define edge city
A relatively large urban area situated on the beyond the original boundary of a city, often beside a major road
Define fortress landscape
Landscapes designed around security, protection, surveillance and exclusion
Define central business district - CBD
The commercial / business centre of a city
Define urban morphology
The study of the form of settlements, the process of their formation / transformation
Define cultural diversity
The existence of a variety of cultural / ethnic groups within a society
Define diaspora
People who have spread / dispersed from their homeland
Define economic inequality
The unequal distribution of economic wellbeing / financial assets within a society
Define social segregation
The separation of race / class / ethnic group by enforced or voluntary means
Define urban social exclusion
Economic / social problems faced by residents in areas of multiple deprivation
Define brownfield site
An area of land previously used for industrial / commercial purposes
Define greenfield site
An area of undeveloped land in a city / rural area
Define dereliction
The state of having been abandoned
Define land remediation
The removal of pollutants / contaminants from the environment
Eg from soil , groundwater
Define urban transition
The process of urbanisation
Define push factor
Something that encourages someone to leave a rural area
Define pull factor
Something that encourages someone into an urban area
Define under employment
A job that doesn’t make use of a persons’ skills
Define GDP
Gross domestic product - refers to the total value of all goods and services in a country over a year
Define infrastructure
The basic physical and organisational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise
Eg. buildings, roads, power supplies
Define cultural and heritage quarters
Part of a city that has been redeveloped with cultural aspects
Eg museums, bars, galleries, shows
Define town centre mixed development
Having a variety of services etc in the city and what the city offers.
Involves developing attractions / new retail areas
Define post-modern western city
Describes a change to a western city during late 20th century.
Departure from traditions -> new purposes
Eg fortress landscapes / edge cities are features
Define functions
The main activities of a town / city.
Each function translates into a specific type of landuse.
Eg residential
Define landuse
What the land is used for.
Each landuse type has a range of distinctive characteristics, density, location.
Eg housing, retail, farming
Define inner city
Area of old housing and light manufacturing industry, dating back to Industrial Revolution.
Many have witnessed regeneration.
Define residential area
Consists of housing from a range of periods.
Has traditionally increased in size and price as it moves towards outskirts of a city
Define green areas
Green areas are dotted throughout an urban area.
Eg parks, botanical gardens, playgrounds
Define out of town retail developments
Originally developed by large supermarkets, now non-food and entertainment.
Government actively discouraged their development in 1994
Define business or science parks
Tend to be found on the edge of urban areas where there’s access to major roads
Define industry
Manufacturing industry often requires large areas of land and tend to be found towards edge of cities where land is cheaper.
Decline due to deindustrialisation
Define informal settlement
Slums / shanty towns that feature in LICs.
Often develop on edge of city / adjacent to transport routes / unpopular areas to live eg mountain side
What land use is included in commercial function?
Businesses, shops, hotels, banks, restaurants
What land use is included in administrative function?
Offices - central / local government, public utilities
What land use is included in public services function?
Schools, hospitals, police station, landfill sites
What land use is included in industry function?
Factories, farming, mining, quarrying
What land use is included in recreational function?
Parks, playing fields, allotments, woodland
What land use is included in non-functional function?
Derelict land, wasteland
Define periphery
The main zone of squatter settlements, occupied by the poorest groups
Define site
The area occupied by a settlement
Define IMD
Multiple Deprivation Index -
A U.K. Government qualitative study to measure deprivation st a small area level across England.
Based on 37 indicators, across 7 domains of deprivation.
Define indigenous
Indigenous people are native to that place
Define social segregation
When ethnic groups find themselves isolated from wider society
Define interculturalism
The attempt to create interaction and exchange of ideas between cultural groups
Define urban heat island effect - UHI
The temperature difference between urban / suburban areas and the surrounding rural areas
Define channelling
When wind is redirected down a long straight canyon.
Eg streets where there is less friction
Aka urban canyons
Define Venturi effect
The squeezing of wind into an increasingly narrow gap -> pressure decrease and velocity increase
Define turbulence
Rapid and abrupt changes in wind direction and speed
Define eutrophication
Excessive amounts of nutrients in water sources (due to fertiliser runoff / nitrogen in rain) -> excessive growth of plants eg algae -> lack of oxygen in water
Define water pollution
The contamination of water sources
Define ecological footprint
The total area of productive land and water required to produce the resources a population consumes and absorb the waste produced
Define sustainable development
Development that aims to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Define liveability
The characteristics of a city which improve the quality of life of the people living there
Define localism
An affection for / emotional ownership of a particular place
Eg home
Define regionalism
A consciousness of / loyalty to a distinct region with a population that shares similarities
Eg Yorkshire
Define nationalism
Loyalty / devotion to a nation -> sense of national consciousness
Eg British
Define belonging
To be part of a community
Influenced by eg age, gender, religion
Define locale
The place where something happens / is set / has particular events associated with it
Define location
Where a place actually is located
Define perception of place
The way in which a place is viewed by people.
Influenced by media representation / personal experience
Define place
Location with meaning.
Meaningful in personal / subjective ways.
Meaningful ad social / cultural level - these views shared by different groups
Define place making
The deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction / improve quality of life
Define sense of place
Subjective / emotional attachment people have to a place.
Develops through experience / knowledge of an area
Define descriptive approach to place
The idea that the world is a set of places and each place can be studied and is distinct
Define social constructionist approach to place
Sees place as a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time
Define phenomenological approach to place
How an individual experiences a place, recognising a highly personal relationship between place and person
Define insiders
Insiders have a stronger relationship with a particular place
Define outsiders
Outsiders don’t have a relationship with a particular place
Define time-space convergence
The impression that distances between two locations have decreased due to advancements in transport / communication
Define experienced places
Places that a person has spent time in
Define media places
Places that a person has only read about / seen on TV or film
Define exogenous factors
Characteristics which are external - relationship to other places.
Eg trade links, gov policy, migration rates, proximity to rivers
Define endogenous factors
Characteristics which have originated internally.
Eg soil / rock type, land use, age of housing, relief of land, ethnicity of population
Define character of a place
Physical and human features that help to distinguish it from another place.
Often a combination of natural and cultural features in the landscape (endogenous)
Define agents of change
People who have impact on a place
Eg residents, community groups, gov, media.
Eg by living, working, trying to improve the place
Define globalisation
The interconnection of the world’s economic, cultural and political systems by increased trade around the world / TNCs
Define clone towns
Settlements where high streets are dominated by chain stores -> difficult to determine where the place is as high streets rarely differ
Define dynamic in terms of place
The coming together of people, ideas, wealth and information
Define meaning in terms of place
Individual / collective perceptions of a place
Define representation of place
How a place is portrayed / seen in society
Define re-imaging of a place
Aims to discard negative perceptions of a place and generate new positive ones
Define rebranding of a place
Ways in which a place is redeveloped / marketed to gain a new identity
Define corporate body
An organisation / group of people that is identified by a particular name
Eg institutions, businesses, non-profit enterprises, government agencies
Define qualitative data
Non numerical information that is unstructured, open ended, descriptive
Define quantitative data
Data that can be quantified / verified, amenable to statistic manipulation
