Unit 6: Urban Patterns Flashcards
Blockbusting
a business process in which U.S. real estate agents and building developers convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices, which they do by telling house owners that racial minorities will soon move into their neighborhoods in order to instill fear in them
ex: panic peddling
Boomburbs
a municipality of more than 100,000 people that has been growing at a double-digit pace for three consecutive decades and that is not the major city of any metropolitan area
ex: Irvine, California; Irving, Texas; Lakewood, Colorado
Bosnywash
a long, heavily populated chain of cities on the east coast of the united states that stretches from boston in the north to new york and down to washington d.c.
ex: including New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore
Brownfields
a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant
ex: abandoned gas stations, dry cleaners, industrial properties
Census tract
small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county or equivalent entity that are updated by local participants prior to each decennial census as part of the Census Bureau’s Participant Statistical Areas Program
ex: generally encompass a population between 2,500 to 8,000 people
Central Business District
the main business and commercial area of a town or city
ex: London has Docklands area containing Canary Wharf
Central city
a city that constitutes the densely populated center of a metropolitan area
ex: core city
Central Place Theory (Christaller)
a spatial theory in urban geography that attempts to explain the reasons behind the distribution patterns, size, and a number of cities and towns around the world as well as provide a framework by which those areas can be studied both for historical reasons and for the locational patterns of areas today
ex: Hamlet, Village, Town, City, Regional Capital
Commercial suburb
characterized by higher-density apartment housing and greater integration between commercial and residential areas
ex: commercial activities that cater to resident
Commuter zone
a geographic area used in population and economic analysis, contains the surrounding travel-to-work areas of a city where at least 15 % of employed residents are working in the city
ex: industry does not tend to develop next to high-income housing
Concentric zone
in urban development model based on human ecology theory that views cities as a series of five circular rings or zones, originating with a central business district (CBD)
ex: the central business district, the zone in transition, the zone of working persons’ homes, the zone of better residences, and the commuters’ zone
Density gradient
a spatial variation in density over an area. The term is used in the natural sciences to describe varying density of matter, but can apply to any quantity whose density can be measured
ex: most cities’ density gradient is most at the center and declines as one moves outwards…Denver exemplifies this
Edge city
a relatively large urban area situated on the outskirts of a city, typically beside a major road
ex: Lone Tree, CO
Exurbs
a district outside a city, especially a prosperous area beyond the suburbs
ex: Siming and Huli / Haicang and Jimei
Filtering (housing)
the idea that, as new market-rate housing is built, higher-income people move into it, leaving behind older housing stock for lower-income people
ex: Inner-city homes were/are strongly affected by filtering
Galactic city model
a circular city model that has a commercial and economic central area which is often called the central business district or CBD is at the center of the city
ex: popular with post-industrial cities
Gentrification
a process in which a poor area (as of a city) experiences an influx of middle-class or wealthy people who renovate and rebuild homes and businesses and which often results in an increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents ex: Atlanta and Boston
Ghettoization
to treat a particular group in society as if they are different from the other parts of society and as if their activities and interests are not important to other people
ex: Birmingham, Alabama’s interstate highway system attempted to maintain the racial boundaries
Greenbelts & green spaces
a general term that refers to natural, undeveloped, and/or agricultural lands that surround urban areas as designated by cities, counties, special districts, and other jurisdictions
ex: open spaces, parks, farms and ranches, wildlands
Historic preservation & landmarks
a structure that has significant historical, architectural, or cultural meaning and that has been given legal protection from alteration and destruction
ex: Alcatraz Island, Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty
Inclusionary zoning
refers to municipal and county planning ordinances that require a given share of new construction to be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes
ex: Burlington, Vermont, was an early adopter of IZ, launching its policy in 1990
Industrial suburbs
a community, near a large city, with an industrial economy
ex: established tax havens
Infrastructure
the basic services, equipment and facilities needed for an area’s economy to function
ex: housing, bridges, military installations
Local economic development
an approach to economic development, of note in the developing world that, as its name implies, places importance on activities in and by cities, districts and regions
ex: protected bicycle parking, outdoor seating, non-slip pedestrian surfaces or public art
Megacities
a very large city, typically one with a population of over ten million people
ex: Tokyo
Megalopolis/conurbation
an extensive metropolitan area or a long chain of continuous metropolitan areas
ex: NYC
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
large population areas as defined by the government for the purpose of gathering data
ex: New York City-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA
Mixed-land use zoning
a complementary mix of residential, commercial, and/or industrial uses in a single district
ex: blends residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment
New Urbanism
mixed-use developments that include residential & commercial areas within the same space
ex: walkways, bike lanes
Outlying business district
the portion of an urban area that is normally separated from the central business district and fringe area but that supports considerable business activity and has its own traffic circulation, superimposed on some through traffic
ex: downtown shopping venues
Primate city (urban primacy)
the largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement
ex: Bangkok
Public housing
housing owned by the government; in the United States, it is rented to low-income residents, and the rents are set at 30 percent of the families’ incomes
ex: apartment area by fisherman’s park
Public (civic) spaces
the places in which a community performs or engages in some part of its political or social life
ex: spaces used for community activities, including open-air environments where public activities such as assemblies or speeches occur
Public transportation
a system of vehicles that operate at regular times on fixed routes and are used by the public as run by the government
ex: trains, buses
Rank-size rule
A pattern of settlements in a country such that the largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement
ex: the largest city has a population 1,000,000, and we want to know the population of the fourth largest city, it will have 1/4 of the population of the largest city
Residential suburbs
a residential area contains houses rather than offices or factories
ex: incorporated into a city or the outskirts
Slow-growth cities
urban communities where the planners have put into place smart growth initiatives to decrease the rate at which the city grows horizontally to avoid the adverse affects of sprawl
ex: Detroit, Baltimore, Milwaukee
Smart growth policies (cities)
an approach to development that encourages a mix of building types and uses, diverse housing and transportation options, development within existing neighborhoods, and community engagement
ex: Arlington, Virginia
Social heterogeneity (in cities)
a society or group that includes individuals of differing ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, sexes, or ages
ex: ethnic enclave neighborhoods
Spatial margin of profitability
a line that separates the profitable spaces from the unprofitable spaces. It defines the spatial boundary within which a company can be profitable
ex: Texas-based company decides to locate its manufacturing operations in Mexico, several locations within a certain distance from the Texas-Mexico border could be within its spatial margin of profitability
Squatter settlements/shantytowns
a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood; typically begins due to inadequate infrastructure
ex: poor sanitation, street drainage, no electricity
Suburbanization
process in which lands outside urban areas become urbanized as people and businesses from the city move to these spaces
ex: Bastrop
Sustainable design initiatives
the intention to reduce or completely eliminate negative environmental impacts through thoughtful designs
ex: fields of design such as designing buildings or products
Sustainability practices (cities)
a city designed with consideration for social, economic, environmental impact (commonly referred to as the triple bottom line), and resilient habitat for existing populations, without compromising the ability of future generations to experience
ex: planting trees, reducing carbon footprint
Threshold and range
the minimum market (population or income) needed to bring about the selling of a particular good or service and the maximum distance consumers are prepared to travel to acquire goods - at some point the cost or inconvenience will outweigh the need for the good
ex: A threshold may be as low as 250 people for a convenience store or as high as 150,000 people for a theater
[The] underclass
a group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics
ex: formerly, black slaves in the US
Urban blight/decay
the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude
ex: abandoned buildings and empty plots, high unemployment levels, high crime rates
Urbanized area
the region surrounding a city, very developed
ex: high density, commercial buildings, roads
Urban hierarchy
a ranking of settlements according to their sizes and functions
ex: hamlet, village, town, city, metropolis
Urbanization
the process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities
ex: influx of people moving to Texas
Urban morphology
the study of the physical form and structure of urban places
ex: fringe belts
Urban renewal
redevelopment and refurbishment of urban areas
ex: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Urban sprawl
uncontrolled expansion of suburbs (low density areas)
ex: austin’s sprawl into bastrop
World Cities (alpha)
centers of economic, culture, and political activity that are strongly interconnected and together control the global systems of finance and commerce
ex: London, Seoul
Zone in transition
an area that is either becoming more rural or more urban
ex: ZIT
Zone of abandonment
areas that have been deserted in a city for economic or environmental reasons
ex: garbage, crime, and vandalism
Zones of disamenity (disamenity zone/Sector)
the very poorest parts of cities that in extreme
ex: Favellas in Rio
Zone of in situ accretion
a transitional area for Latin American cities that is between the zone of maturity and the zone of peripheral squatter settlements
ex: modest homes, various sizes and quality materials
Zone of maturity
located around the CBD and is considered an inner city location
ex: better homes, middle income
Zoning ordinances
a rule that defines how property in specific geographic zones can be used
ex: no agriculture in city limits, no fireworks
