Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes Chapter 15: Topic 6.1 Flashcards
Permanently inhabited portion of the Earth’s surface, variety of community types with a range of population densities.
Ecumene
Farms and villages, low concentrations of people
Rural
Cities, high concentrations of people
Urban
Residential areas near cities
Suburbs
A place with a permanent human population
Settlement
Before, people survived by practicing hunting and gathering, living in temporary movable shelters. Over time, agricultural settlements became the 1st true urban settlements (cities):
- Agricultural surplus
- Rise of social stratification and a leadership class or urban elite
- The beginning of job specialization
Increased number of people in the same location. Cities developed as economic centers of services, manufacturing, and trade.
Factors driving urbanization
The process of developing towns and cities
Urbanization
An indicator of the proportion of the population that lives in cities and towns as compared to those that live in rural areas
Percent Urban
Describes characteristics at the immediate location (ex: physical features, climate, labor force, human structures).
Site
Refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and its connectivity to other places (ex: near a gold mine, on the coast, by the railroad)
Situation
Consisted of an urban center (city) and its surrounding territory and agricultural villages. Has its own political system and functions independently. Population in surrounding villages and territory receives services and protection from the urban center. These were often raided, therefore, defense was a primary consideration, military leaders evolved into political rulers or kings.
City-state
Area generally associated with defensible sites and river valleys in which seasonal floods and fertile soils allowed for an agricultural surplus.
- Tigris-Euphrates Valley (Mesopotamia) modern Iraq
- Nile River Valley and Nile Delta modern Egypt
- Indus River Valley modern Pakistan
- Huang-He floodplain modern China
Urban hearth (historical examples)
Usually defined as a central city plus land development for commercial, industrial, or residential purposes, and includes the surrounding suburbs
Urban area
Higher-density area with territory inside officially recognized political boundaries.
City
A collection of adjacent cities economically connected, across which population density is high and continuous. Ex: _______ of Denver, Colorado is Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Englewood, Greenwood Village, and other neighboring, legally defined cities.
Metropolitan Area (metro area)
Another way to define a city. 50,000 people, the county in which it is located, and adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration, or connection, with the urban core.
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
Cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants (less than 50,000), the county in which they are located, and surrounding counties with a high degree of integration.
Micropolitan Statistical Area
A focal point in a matrix of connections
Nodal region
Physical characteristics. Ex: buildings, streets, public places, homes, etc.
Morphology
- Social heterogeneity: population of cities contains a greater variety of people.
- Immigration- Centers of immigration.
- Diversity- Urban residents are generally more accustomed to diversity than people in non-urban areas.
Population characteristics of cities (3)
Improvements in transportation and communication have aided the growth of cities in size and number. Urban areas have expanded as trains, buses, and cars have enabled people to move farther from the center of the city but still visit or work in the city. _____ in the form of transportation improvements has led to urban growth.
Time-space compression
Describes urban growth based on transportation technology. Each form of technology produced a new system that changed how people moved themselves and goods in and between urban areas.
Must memorize chart in textbook
Borchert’s Transportation Model (chart)
Using cars and the highways built to facilitate movement, the population of cities spread out over ever-increasing distances from the urban core. US interstate highway system had situational advantages of accessibility to road networks to transport goods or services more efficiently.
Transportation impacts on cities
Cities shaped by the distances people could walk
Pedestrian cities
Communities that grew up along rail lines, emerged, often creating a pinwheel shaped city.
Streetcar Suburbs
Telecommunication technology has made it easier for cities to receive information. Cities require connectivity in order to thrive. Advanced communication networks are essential to attract large corporations, factories, or high-tech companies to an urban area in order to encourage further economic growth.
Communications impacts on cities
Rural-to-urban migration has caused the growth in cities. Cities promise the hope of economic opportunities and cultural freedoms. People are more attracted to more densely populated cities to obtain higher paying jobs and more government services. Ex: Periphery and semi-periphery countries (China, India and Brazil) experience the most rural-to-urban migration meanwhile, the US, has domestic and international migration.
Population and migration impacts on cities
Policies are developed to guide and encourage the growth of cities. Local policies can create economic incentives, such as low-cost loans, lower taxes, or cheap available land to encourage economic development. Economic functions of cities can also change over time, cities compete with each other to attract companies and jobs.
Economic development and government policies impacts on cities
