Urban Environments Flashcards
Accessibility
The ease with which one location can be reached from another; the degree to which people are able to obtain goods and services, such as housing and healthcare
Agglomeration
The concentration of people and their activities at particular locations e.g., a river crossing, estuary mouths, close to a mineral resource (like coal, iron, oil). Urban settlements first appear as a result of agglomeration
Brownfield sites
Land has been previously used/built on, abandoned, and now awaits a new use
Commute
The daily movement of people from their homes to the places of work
Commuter settlements
Towns of villages were significant proportion of the residents work elsewhere
Congestion
Acute overcrowding caused by high densities of traffic, business, and people
Conurbanisation
extensive urban areas resulting from the expansion of several towns or cities so that they manage together but maintain a separate identities. E.g., the West Midlands conurbation includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton as well as a large towns, such as Sutton Coldfield, Dudley, Walsall and West Bromwich.
Core
The most important economic, political and social area of a country or global region – a centre of power
Counterurbanisation
The movement of people and employment from major cities, to smaller cities and towns, as well as to rural areas
Dereliction
Abandoned buildings, and wasteland
Environmental quality
The degree to which an area is free from air, waste, noise, and visual pollution
Ethnicity
Belonging to an ethnic group, unnoticed by common characteristics, such as race, language, or religion
Formal economy
The type of employment, where people want to receive a regular wage, pay tax and have certain rights e.g. paid holidays, sick leave
Greenfield sites
Land not use for urban development/has not been built on before
Industrialisation
The process, by which an increasing proportion of the population are employed in the manufacturing sector of the economy
Informal economy
Employment outside the official knowledge of the government
Infrastructure
The transport networks, and the water, sewage and communication systems that are vital to people and their settlements and businesses
Land use
The types of buildings, or other features that are found in an area, e.g. terrace housing, banks, industrial estates, rose, etc.
Land values
The market price of a piece of land; what people or businesses are prepared to pay for owning and occupying it
Mega city
A city or urban area with a population of larger than 10 million
Periphery
an area remote or isolated from the centre (core) of a country: it generally lags in terms of development and influence
Physical infrastructure
the services, such as transport, telecommunications, water and sewage disposal, that are vital for people and businesses
Pollution
Chemicals, noise, dirt or other substances which have harmful or poisonous effects on an environment
Population Density
The number of people in relation to the space that they occupy, normally the number of people per km*2
Poverty
where people are seriously lacking in terms of income, food, housing, basic services (clean water and sewage disposal) and access to education and healthcare. See also social deprivation
Push-pull factors
the things that encourage people to migrate from one area to another; the negatives in the area of departure (push) are balanced against the positives of the destination (pull)
Sanitation
Measures designed to protect public health, including the provision of clean water and the disposal of sewage and waste
Service provision
making available commercial and social services, such as shops and schools
Settlement
A place where people live, anything from an isolated farm to a vast sprawling urban area called a megalopolis
Shanty towns / squatter settlements
an area of slums built by salvaged materials; found either on the city edge or within the city, often on ground previously avoided by urban development
Social deprivation:
when the well-being and quality of life of people falls below a minimum level
Social polarisation
the process of segregation within a society based on income inequality and socio-economic status
Socio-economic group
a group of people sharing the same characteristics such as income level, type of employment, and class
Suburbanisation
the outward spread of the urban area, often at lower densities compared with the older parts of the city or town
Sustainability
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Urban fringe
the outer edge of a town or city when the built-up area gives way to the countryside
Urban re-branding
developing a town or city to re-image it and change people’s idea of it; promoting a town or city to a target audience or market
Urban regeneration
the investment of capital in the revival of older urban areas by either improving what is there or clearing it away and rebuilding (especially in areas where people and businesses have abandoned it and moved into the suburbs)
Urban re-imaging
changing the image of an urban area and the way people view it
Urban sprawl
Unplanned growth of urban areas into the surrounding rural areas
Urbanisation
the process by which an increasing proportion or percentage of a population live in urban areas
Inner city
The inner city is typically found next to the CBD. It is the core of the city’s business and civic life and is the place where business and retail meet. and has mainly terraced houses in a grid like pattern. These were originally built to house factory workers who worked in the inner city factories.
City
Cities are large urban settlements
Urban growth
The rate at which the population of an urban area increases
Greenbelt
A green belt is a distinct area of undeveloped land surrounding specific cities, with the aim of preventing urban sprawl/ a ring of land around a town or a city, like parks, agricultural areas, or other types of open space to limit urban sprawl
Rural-urban fringe
A zone of transition between the built-up area and the countryside, where there is often competition for land use. It is a zone of mixed land uses, from out of town shopping centres and golf courses to farmland and motorways/the area at the very edge of the city beside the countryside
Concentrated resource consumption
The level of resources needed or used by a society (check in book)
Urban sustainability
Urban sustainability is a way planning cities that aims to improve the social, economic, and environmental conditions of a city to ensure the quality of life for current and future residents.
Urban vs rural settlements differences
Economies- residents make a living from manufacturing and services rather than agriculture
Size- urban settlements are larger in population and extent
Density- of people and buildings, higher in urban settlements
Way of life
Which areas have the highest levels of urbanisation? Why?
Developing countries
because 90% of the urban increases in population are expected to occur in developing countries’ cities (IPCC 2021). This is due to both high birth rates and migration, and increasingly compounded by climate-induced migration—both domestic and across borders
Where is the overall high overall level of urbanisation?
In the developed world even though rates of urbanisation is higher in developing countries
Why is the rate of urbanisation slower in developed countries?
A large proportion of the population already lives in towns and cities but the built up areas of towns and cities continue to grow. Because of modern transport, communication, album way of life is gradually spreading into rural areas. In fact, the countryside and assessments are experience, but referred to as rural dilution.
What is the urban pathway?
The pathway that shows how the level of organisation changes over time.
Stage one: early urbanisation– developing 20%
stage two: accelerating urbanisation – emerging 40%
stage three: mature urbanisation– developed 70%
stage four: counter urbanisation – developed below 70% (decreasing)
% - urban population percentage of the total population
What encourages the growth of new suburbs?
- Improvements and transport allow people to move easily between the new suburbs and the town centre.
- Overcrowding, congestion and rising land prices in the older parts of town
- general decline in the quality of the residential environment near the centre
- the arrival of more people (from rural areas) and new businesses
- Cheaper, more space, greener and still connected to the city
- Remote work