Urban environments Flashcards
Urban
A built up area, such as a town or city. They have a large population density and residents make a living from manufacturing and services
Urbanisation
A process where an increasing proportion of the population lives in towns and cities due to their growth.
Urban-rural continuum
The transition from extreme rural to large urban districts
Rural dilution
The increasing influence of urban lifestyles in rural areas
Counter-urbanisation
The movement of people from large urban areas into small urban areas or rural areas.
Facilitated by improvements to transport and technology
Suburbanisation
The movement of people from living in the inner parts of a city to living on the outer edges
The Burgess Model
a descriptive urban land use model that organises cities into concentric circles expanding from CBD to the suburbs.
Bid-Rent theory
- All functions have a price they are willing to pay for a piece of land
- Assumption: in a free market, the highest bidder will get the land
- In the CBD, only land uses such as prestigious banks and quality retailing can afford the high rent costs so they are able to outbid other users e.g, residences
Peak land values
When major roads intersect, secondary land value peaks may be expected to occur - suburban shopping centres or industrial estates may develop at such points.
Factors affecting urban land use patterns
- Locational needs
- Land values
- Accessibility
Reasons for urbanisation
- Push and pull factors
- Natural increase
- Increasing development
- Multiplier effect
Rural-urban fringe
The area found at the edge of a town or city where town meets countryside
Greenfield site
A piece of land that has not been built on before, frequently found in urban areas, being considered for development
Brownfield site
A piece of land that has been used for something else, abandoned and is now awaiting use
Sustainable
Meeting present standards without compromising the ability of future generations to achieve the same thing
Stakeholder
A person or a body of people with an interest or concern in something
Megacity
An urban area with a population of over 10 million people
Segregation
Separation of humans into particular groups (i.e. economic, racial, gender, social factors). It can occur over a range of scales.
Ghetto
An area where an ethnic minority is concentrated and is the dominant population group
Types of stakeholders
Planner - regulation of land use, reserve land for certain purposes, consultation with the community, make sure existing buildings are protected
Property developer - builds schools, homes, hospitals etc.
Industrialist - sets up companies and employs local residents
Politicians - set the overall guidelines for what can and cannot happen
High rates of urbanisation occur in developing and emerging countries because of
- economic development
- push-pull factors
- natural increase
Agglomeration
the concentration of people and economic activities at favourable locations
The problems of rapid urbanisation
- housing (shanty towns and squatter settlements)
- access to water and electricity
- traffic congestion and transport
- health
- education
- employment
- social problems (e.g. high crime rates)
- environmental issues (pollution)
Multiplier effect
The ‘snowballing’ of economic activity. e.g. If new jobs are created, people who take them have money to spend in the shops, which means that more shop workers are needed
