'Urban' Key Words Flashcards
Air pollution
Harmful emissions, or other substances, that enter Earth’s atmosphere.
Brownfield site
Land that has been used, abandoned and now awaits some new use.
Dereliction
Abandoned buildings and wasteland.
Economic opportunities
Chances for people to improve their standard of living through employment.
Favela
A squatter settlement in a Brazilian city.
Formal economy
The type of employment where people receive a regular wage, pay tax, and have certain rights such as paid holidays and sick leave.
Greenfield site
A plot of land, often in a rural area or on the edge of an urban area that has not yet been built on.
Inequalities
Differences between people, in terms of factors such as; poverty, wealth, wellbeing, employment opportunities, housing, education etc.
Integrated transport systems
When different transport methods are connected together.
Informal economy
Employment outside the official knowledge of the government
Land use
The way in which land is used, or has been modified or managed by people
Megacities
An urban area with a total population with more than 10 million people.
Migration
When people move from one area to another
Natural increase
Birth rate minus death rate of a population
Pollution
The presence of chemicals, noise, dirt or other substances which have harmful or poisonous effects on an environment.
Pull factors
The attractions and opportunities of a place that encourage people to move there.
Push factors
The negative aspects of a place that encourages people to move away.
Quality of life
How good a person’s life is, measured by such things of housing and environment, access to education, healthcare, how secure people feel and how happy they are with their lifestyle.
Rural-urban migration
When people move from rural to urban areas.
Rural-urban fringe
A zone of transition between the built up area and the countryside.
Sanitisation
Measures designed to protect public health, such as providing clean water and disposing of sewage and waste.
Service industries
The economic activities that provide various services - commercial, professional, social, entertainment and personal.
Social deprivation
When an individual or area is deprived of services, decent housing, adequate income and local employment.
Social opportunities
Chances for people to improve their quality of life.
Sustainable urban living
An area causing minimal damage to the environment including renewable resources, energy efficiency, public transport etc.
Squatter settlement
An area of (often illegal) poor-quality housing, lacking in services like water supply, sewerage and electricity.
Traffic congestion
When there is too great a volume of traffic for roads to cope with, and traffic slows to a crawl.
Urban greening
Increasing and persevering open space e.g. public parks and gardens.
Urban growth
The increase in the area covered by cities.
Urbanisation
When an increasing percentage of a country’s population live in towns and cities.
Urban regeneration
The revival of old parts of a built up area by making it modern.
Atmospheric pollution
The contamination of the Earth’s atmosphere by harmful or poisonous substances.
Traditional industries
Industries such as coal mining, engineering and manufacturing.
Urban sprawl
Unplanned growth of urban areas into surrounding rural areas.
Waste recycling
Process of extracting and reusing useful substances found in waste.
