World Cities Flashcards
Megacity
Metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million.
World City
A city that acts as a major centre for business, trade, finance, politics, culture, mass media, science and publishing.
Millionaire City
A city with over a million inhabitants.
Urbanisation
The growth in the proportion of a country’s population that lives in urban as opposed to rural areas.
Globalisation
A set of processes leading to the integration of economic, cultural, political and social systems across geographical boundaries.
Informationalisation
The increasing importance of the information based sector of the economy which relies on electronic data transfer.
Synergy
When two or more companies, groups or individuals achieve mutual benefits by working closely together.
Suburb
A residential area outside a city’s central area but within or just outside the city.
Suburbanisation
The process of population movement from the central areas of cities towards the suburbs on the outskirts or the rural-urban fringe.
Counter-urbanisation
The process in which the population of cities actually falls as people move out beyond the rural-urban fringe into areas that are truly rural.
Re-urbanisation
The movement of people back to live in old city centres which have been redeveloped.
Housing Association
Independent non-profit organisation for managing, building and renovating housing. Funded by central government through the Housing Corporation they can also receive funds from local authorities.
Eco-quarter
Bids will be invited from local authorities for £15 million to retrofit existing homes with energy saving methods. Carbon neutral shops, offices etc.
Retrofit
Make changes to improve the structure of buildings to incorporate technological advances that were not available when the buildings were originally constructed.
Comparison Goods
Goods that are bought less often than everyday ‘convenience goods’. They include things such as clothes, shoes, electrical and household goods, for which people make special shopping trips so that they can compare prices, styles, etc.
Total Diversion Rate
The amount of material (in kg/household/year) that is recycled and/or composed instead of going to landfill.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The value of all the goods and services produced in a country during a year, in $US. This is often given as GDO per capita, that is, an average for each person in the country. Total GDP is divided by the number of people in the country. The figures are further adjusted to take account of the purchasing power of money in each country rather than simply using exchange rates to convert local currency into $US. This is called Purchasing Power Parity or PPP.
Human Development Index (HDI)
A comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living. It is a standardised way to compare well-being, especially child welfare, in different countries. It can be used to measure the impact of economic policies on the quality of life of people in the country.
Development Gap
The difference in the level of economic development between richer and poorer countries.
