Urban Environments- unit vocabulary Flashcards
Vocab
Accessibility
After the center the most accessible locations are found beside major transport routes. Ring roads and arterial roads.
Acute shock
A sudden incident (negative) experienced to a severe degree.
Albedo
(linked to UHI): a measure of the reflectivity of the earth’s surface. Light surfaces like snow/ice have a high albedo (reflectivity); dark surfaces like pavement have a low albedo (reflectivity). Therefore, urban areas with many dark surfaces do not reflect, but rather ABSORB a lot of heat.
Amenities
Urban services which satisfy people’s needs or improve the quality of life and the environment.
Atmospheric Pollution
Occurs when harmful substances, including particulates, are introduced into Earth’s atmosphere. Eg. PM2.5, nitrous oxides
Bid Rent theory
As distance from the CBD increases, availability of land increases & cost decreases
Basic assumption is that accessibility/desirability increases with centrality. Yeet, different sectors of the economy are prepared to pay more for land close to the CBD
Eg.retail can pay a high price for land in the CBD (needs foot traffic)
Brownfields
Properties that are complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
Centrality
In theory the center is the most accessible location.
Central Business District (CBD)
The CBD is at the heart of a city or town and usually has great accessibility, large shopping and banking areas, and government buildings. Characterized by: Banks/Businesses/Offices; Old Core (historic center, narrow streets)/government buildings; Some vertical zoning (mixed use on ground, 1st, 2nd floors, etc.); Department stores/chain stores/specialty shops; Little or no residential population; High level of pedestrians – sometimes ‘pedestrianized’ areas; Transport hubs/terminals; Limited/light manufacturing; High value land/High quality shopping; Entertainment venues
Centrifugal Movement
Outward Movement (Centrifugal). Eg. Suburbanisation, urban sprawl, counter-urbanisation
Centripetal Movement
Inward Movement (Centripetal). Eg. Rural to urban migration, gentrification, re-urbanisation, urban renewal
Chronic stress
The long-term or even permanent state of stress.
Climate
The long term behavior of the atmosphere in a specific area, with characteristics such as temperature, pressure, wind, precipitation, cloud cover and humidity etc.
Clustering
Similar land uses may cluster together. Similar shops (jewelers) or leisure facilities (bars and nightclubs). Also residential areas with ethnic grouping or lifestyle or income grouping.
Contested Land
A disagreement over the possession/control of land between two or more interest groups with varying levels of power.
Counter-urbanization
Movement of people away from inner urban areas to new towns, commuter towns, villages, or the rural-urban fringe.
Cycle of Deprivation
Poverty is passed from generation to generation by values, attitudes, and behaviors, mainly in families but reinforced by the communities in which they live.
Deindustrialization
A process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry.
Depletion of green space
Getting rid of parks and other green spaces in order to develop that land into something else. In other words a switch to residential, commercial, transport, or industrial land use.
Deprivation
The lack or denial of something considered to be a necessity. Below, we focus on housing deprivation, which is characterized by insufficient quantity or quality of housing.
Deprivation (urban social deprivation)
A standard of living below that of the majority in a particular society that involves hardships and lack of access to services and amenities.
Externalities
The results of activities by an individual, group or institution which affect the welfare of others are known as externalities. Can be positive or negative. Eg. a bar that creates noise pollution or a park that produces nice trees for neighbors to look at.
Function
Dominant economic or political activity that characterizes the role of the urban area. Eg. industrial, service, residential, leisure, administrative (government). Urban areas are multifunctional. Agricultural function?
Gentrification
The reinvestment of capital into post-industrial inner-city areas. Improvements to residential areas – rehabilitation and upgrading, which attracts businesses to the area. The character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in.
Common in brownfield sites – abandoned, derelict or underused industrial buildings and land – can lead to economic development Impact: Gentrification is a kind of ‘filtering’ that may lead to displacement of poor people.
