Key Words Flashcards
Brownfield site
Land that has been used but then abandoned and sits waiting for use. Commonly found across urban areas, particularly in the inner city.
Dereliction
Abandoned buildings and wasteland
Economic opportunities
Chances for people to improve their standard of living through employment
Greenfield site
A plot of rural land that has not yet been used for any building development.
Inequalities
Differences between poverty and wealth, as well as in peoples’ wellbeing and access to things like jobs, housing and education. Inequalities may occur in housing provision, access to services, access to open land, safety and security.
Integrated transport systems
When different transport methods connect together, making journeys smoother and
therefore public transport more appealing. Better integration should result in more demand for public transport and should see people switching from private car use to public modes of transport, which should be more sustainable. It may also lead to a fall in congestion due to less road users.
Mega-cities
An urban area with a total population in excess of ten million people
Migration
When people move from one area to another with the intention of settling there.
Natural increase
The birth rate minus the death rate of a population
Pollution
The presence of chemicals, noise, dirt or other substances which have harmful or poisonous
effects on an environment
Rural-urban fringe
Where the rural area meets the urban area
Sanitation
Measures designed to protect public health, including the provision of clean water and the
disposal of sewage and waste.
Social deprivation
The degree to which an individual or an area is not able to access services, decent housing,
adequate income and local employment.
Social opportunities
Chances for people to improve their quality of life, for instance access to education and healthcare.
Squatter settlement
An area of poor-quality housing, at times lacking in amenities such as water supply, sewerage and electricity, which often develops spontaneously on land not owned by the occupants.
Sustainable urban living
A sustainable city is one in which there is minimal damage to the environment, the economic base is sound with resources allocated fairly and jobs secure, and there is a strong sense of community, with local people involved in decisions made. Sustainable urban living includes several aims including the use of renewable resources, energy efficiency, use of public transport, accessible resources and services
Traffic congestion
Occurs when there is too great a volume of traffic for roads to cope with, so traffic jams form and traffic slows to a crawl.
Urban greening
The process of increasing and preserving open space such as public parks and gardens in urban areas.
Urbanisation
The process by which an increasing percentage of a country’s population comes to live in towns and cities. Rapid urbanisation occurs in many LICs and NEEs.
Urban regeneration
The revival of old parts of the built up area by either installing modern facilities in old
buildings or opting for redevelopment (ie demolishing existing buildings
and starting afresh).
Urban sprawl
The unplanned growth of urban areas into the surrounding rural areas.
Waste recycling
The process of extracting and reusing useful substances found in waste.
