World Cities Flashcards
Suburbanisation
the process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe.
Urbanisation
increase in the proportion of a countries population living in towns and cities
Counter-urbanisation
the movement of people and economic activities from large urban areas to smaller urban areas or rural areas, thereby leapfrogging the suburbs and rural-urban fringe.
Re-urbanisation
movement of people and economic activities back into city centres. sometimes associated with gentrification
Millionaire cities
cities with more than a million inhabitants
Mega cities
cities with more than 10 million people
World cities
cities of worldwide economic and/or cultural influence e.g. New York, London, Tokyo. housing the HQs of many trans-national corporations
Gentrification
rehabilitation of older, centrally located, working class neighbourhoods by higher income households seeking the character and convenience of less expensive and well located residences; results in the physical renovation and upgrading of housing typically displaces many existing occupants.
Urban decay
when part of a city falls into disrepair due to deindustrialisation, depopulation and high unemployment
Favela
informal settlements made up of small, poorly built dwellings
Site and service scheme
area of land that is close to workplaces is divided into individual plots by the authorities. Roads, water and sanitation are often provided, but new comers rent the land and build the house themselves
Self help schemes
People improve their own houses after being given assurances that they will not be evicted - and are sometimes given legal ownership of the land. Tend to improve house in a piecemeal way, improving mud walls to brick, adding rooms and floors. Eventually bus operators and rubbish collectors will start services and the area changes from a poor, illegal settlement to a legal medium quality area.
Green belts
areas of open space and low density land surrounding urban areas where further development was strictly controlled. created to stop urban sprawl
Urban Development Corporation (UDC)
UDCs were set up in the 1980s and 1990s to take responsibility for the physical , economic and social regeneration of selected inner city areas with large amounts of vacant and derelict land
sustainability
sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. it can be categorised into economic, environmental and social sustainability.
Infrastructure
the basic facilities, service and installations needed for the functioning of a society or community
City Challenge Partnerships
based on a system of competitive bidding by local authorities who had to develop imaginative plans involving the private sector and the local community to gain funding
CBD - Central Business District
Historically, where services of all types have been clustered in the centre of a city
Retailing
all the activities directly related to the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer for personal, non-business use.
Push factor
factors that cause people to move from one area to another such as war, job losses, ethnic persecution or famine
Pull factor
positive conditions and perceptions that effectively attract people to new locales from other areas
Retail park
a shopping development situated outside a town or city, typically containing a number of large chain stores. Mall, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol
Comparison Goods
goods that are expensive and bought less frequently
Burgess model
an urban land use model showing five concentric zones, based upon age of houses and wealth of their inhabitants
Hypermarket
a huge retail store that is a combination of a drugstore, supermarket and discount store.
The multiplier effect
An effect in economics in which an increase in spending produces an increase in national income and consumption greater than the initial amount spent.
The Donut effect
the city centre becomes “hollow” as population moves from inner suburbs to the outer suburbs in search of newer, larger or more affordable houses.
Characteristics of urban decline
- Economic decline and dereliction in former industrial areas (Detroit).
- Loss of retailing and offices to out-of-town centres, suburban and peripheral locations.
- Diseconomies from congestion and high land costs.
- Loss of population to suburbs and beyond.
- Increasing poverty and deprivation in inner city .
- Deteriorating commercial and domestic property.
- Political under-representation and rise of the Far Right
Causes of urban decline
- Closure of factories due to global shift and tertiarisation of employment.
- Increased mobility due to rise in car ownership.
- Availability of cheaper locations for business and commerce on periphery.
- Urban environments perceived as unattractive and even dangerous.
- Poorly built mid-20th century redevelopment (high-rise flats).
Urban regeneration
the attempt to reverse decline by both improving the physical structure, and, the economy of those areas. In all regeneration programmes, public money is used as an attempt to pump prime private investment into an area. Gentrification, Property-led regeneration schemes, Partnership schemes
Government waste strategy
- Remove waste by better design of products, e.g. using more recyclable parts in cars.
- Reduce waste by more efficient practices, e.g. use less packaging.
- Reuse materials as far as possible, e.g. Freecycle or charity shops.
- Recycle waste into new usable materials, e.g. plastics recycled into fleeces.
- Recover valuable materials or energy, e.g. glass & aluminium recovery.
- Responsibly dispose of the residue, e.g. landfill or incineration.
Informationalisation
the shift from manufacturing to information economy. This has led to the new international division of labour.
