unit 7 Flashcards
urbanization
the movement of people from rural areas to cities
urban
relating to a city
city
relatively large
densely populated settlement w/ much larger population than rural places
cities serve as important commercial and cultural hubs for surrounding regions
rural
area located outside of towns and cities
all the space, population, and housing not included in urban area
site
place where the settlement is located
absolute location
city’s static location often chosen for trade, defense or religion
situation
describes where settlement is in relation to other settlements and features surrounding the area
relative location
city’s place in the region and world around it
origins of urbanization
early humans were nomadic, no permanent home
some decided to stop and stay put in certain areas
areas began to grow in size and turn into cities
early settlements were agricultural villages that formed after humans began growing food/crops
farmers being able to produce surplus crops led to people getting other careers
socioeconomic stratification
differentiation of society into class based on wealth, power, prestige
ex: upper, middle, lower classes
first urban revolution
agricultural and socioeconomic innovations that led to rise of early cities
urban hearth areas
area like mesopotamia or nile valley, where large cities first existed
each urban hearth experienced agricultural surplus and socioeconomic stratification
diffusion of urbanization
cities evolved spontaneously as humans improved agricultural production and had socioeconomic stratification
empires spread techniques and innovations to other areas
“recreating their city models”
example of diffusion of urbaanization
cities in europe
greek and roman empires establishing cities in europe leaving some culture as they went
factors that influence urbanization
transportation
economic development
government policies
urban growth comes from
migration from rural to urban areas
natural population increase
rural to urban migration
movement of people (typically farmers) from rural settlements to urban centers for jobs
second urban revolution
industrial innovations in mining and manufacturing that led to increased urban growth
“downtown” areas emerge expanded business districts
wealth elite move to outskirts, build giant houses as symbol of wealth
social transformation
urban land as source of income (close to ports, economic center, etc.)
government policies
cities become more complex , necessary to manage city’s infrastructure but also water (sewage and garbage)
redevelopment
set of activites intended to revitalize area that has fallen on hard times
metropolis
very large and densely populated city
particularly the capital or major city of a country or region
ex : nyc, london, beijing
megacities
10 million inhabitants or more
ex: cairo, mumbai, beijing
metacities
20 million inhabitants or more
ex: tokyo, delhi, shanghai
suburbanization
movement of people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts of a city
sprawl (urban sprawl)
tendency of cities to grow outward in an unchecked manner
ex: automobile cities
decentralize
to move business operations from core city areas into outlying areas like suburbs
edge cities
concentration of business, shopping, entertainment that developed in the suburbs
outside of a city’s traditional downtown/central business district
population increases every morning, decreases every afternoon (more jobs than homes)
exurb
semi-rural district located beyond the suburbs that is often inhabited by rich families
“well to do” families = rich apparently
often found near farmland, beaches or mountains
more spread out and less walkable
concentric zone model
early model of modern city, based off chicago
cbd
cbd fringe
zone of transition (commercial to residential)
zone of independent workingmen’s homes
residential zone
commuters zone
sector model
modification of concentric zone model
high-rent areas are far from factories
low-rent areas are next to undesirable factories/warehouses
middle-income areas are in between high and low rent areas
multiple nuclei model
multiple cbds
reflect changes in transportation and residential preferences
attempt to explain modern city structures
urban system
set of interdependent cities or urban places
connected by networks
interdependent
2 or more things dependent on each other
territories within a nation/state/province
organized by towns/cities/hinterlands ^
urban hierarchy
ranking of cities with largest/most powerful at the top of hierarchy
two ideas that explain this :
rank-size rule
primate city rule
primate cities
city much larger (at least twice the population) of next largest city in the country
dominates country’s economic, political, cultural life
many developing countries organized as primate city due to colonial power hold over
ex : bangkok, seoul, vienna, etc.
rank size rule cities
these countries have variety of settlement sizes, but roughly proportional
ex: second largest city has ½ population, third largest has ⅓, and so on
gravity model
idea that larger the place -> more people interact w/ it
people are attracted to political stability, opportunities, entertainment, etc.
christaller’s central place theory
people dont want to travel far for every day things (food, gas, other goods)
it is theory/model, does not exist irl
larger settlements -> larger range
range = distance people willing to travel for good/service
areas have threshold
threshold = amount of people needed to support businesses located there
