AP Human Geography Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns & Processes

African city model

Often three CBDs: a remnant of the colonial CBD, an informal and sometimes periodic market zone, and a transitional business center where commerce is conducted from curbside, stalls, or storefronts. Vertical development occurs in the colonial CBD, the tra

Blockbusting

A practice carried out by realtors before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Realtors would purposefully sell a house in a white neighborhood to an African American. Then, the realtor would persuade the white residents to move because they're neighbo

bid-rent theory

geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the Central Business District (CBD) increases.

boomburb

large, rapidly growing city in the United States that remains essentially suburban in character, even as it reaches populations more typical of urban core cities.

Borchet's epochs of urban growth model

1-sail and wagon epoch 2-steamboat and iron horse epoch 3-steel rail epoch 4-auto and air amenity epoch 5-high tech/ telecommunication epoch

brownfields

land previously used for commercial/industrial uses but became contaminated or deteriorated

Burgess Concentric zone model

The model divides the city into five concentric zones, defined by their function. Zone 1: CBD. Zone 2: Zone of Transition. Characterized by residential deterioration and encroachment by business and light manufacturing. Zone 3: Zone of independent worker

Census tract

An area delineated by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for which statistics are published; in urban areas, census tracks correspond roughly to neighborhoods.

Christaller's Central-place theory

In a perfect world... -flat region; no physical barrier -soil fertility everywhere -population and income equally distributed -uniform transportation system -from any given place a good or service can be sold in all directions as long as profitable

de facto segregation

racial segregation that occurs in areas, not as a result of law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement

Decentralization

the social process in which population and industry moves from urban centers to outlying districts

Disamenity Zones

the lack of desirable features in a place or city. EX: Food & Medical Deserts

Edge city

cities that are located on the on the outskirts of larger cities and serve many of the same functions of urban areas, but in a sprawling, decentralized suburban environment

environmental injustice

the disproportionate exposure of communities of color and the poor to pollution, and its effects on health and environment, as well as the unequal environmental protection and environmental quality provided through laws, regulations, governmental programs

exurb

Small communities lying beyond the suburbs of a city

farmland protection policy

Policies enacted by governments that protect farmland and prevent it from being sold into other use. Uses zoning to identify areas of agricultural land use

galactic city model

The basic concept of this type of city model is high rise buildings in the city center. Low rise homes, residential areas and industrial, recreational and shopping districts surrounds the center of the city. This is a much planned urban model of cities. T

Gentrification

the restoration of run-down urban areas by the middle class (resulting in the displacement of lower-income people)

Gravity Model

Predicts the optimal location of a service is directly related to the number of people in the area and inversely related to the distance people must travel to access it. Takes into account Range, Threshold and Hinterland.

greenbelts

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area.

Harris and Ullman multiple nuclei model

an urban model that shows a city with several clusters (or nodes) of social and economic activities somewhat randomly assorted over the space of the city

housing affordability

the extent to which housing is affordable, as measured by its cost relative to the amount that the purchaser is able to pay.

housing discrimination

discrimination in which an individual or family is treated unequally when trying to buy, rent, lease, sell or finance a home based on certain characteristics, such as race, class, sex, religion, national origin, and familial status

Hoyt sector model

Focused on residential patterns. Proposes that the city grows outward from the center. Divided into high-rent residential, intermediate rent residential, low-rent residential, education and recreation,

inclusionary zoning

refers to municipal and county planning ordinances that require a given share of new construction to be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes.

infilling

occurs where open space presents an economic opportunity for landowners to build small multi-family housing units, placing more people into existing city blocks.

infrastructure

basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and community systems, water, power lines and public institutions (schools, post offices and prisons

land tenure

the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land. It determines who can use land, for how long and under what conditions. Tenure may be based both on official laws and policies, and on informal customs.

Latin American city model

The CBD is dominant; it is divided into a market sector and a modern high-rise sector. The elite residential sector is on the extension of the CBD in the "spine". The end of the spine of elite residency is the "mall" with high-priced residencies. The rema

Megacities

Cities with a population of at least 10 million people

metacities

Cities with a population of at least 20 million people

Mixed land use

buildings with more than one function (office, retail, residential) allowing closer proximity to needed services for residents. Mixed-use zoning improves walk ability making it a smart-growth strategy that also helps to limit sprawl because it increases d

New Urbanism

the urban design movement which promotes eniornmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighborhoods containing a wide range of housing and jobs.

Primate city

A country's largest city-ranking atop the urban hierarchy-most expressive of the national culture and usually (but not always) the capital as well.

qualitative date

an type of data that tries to show the unique perspectives and feelings of the individuals who are being studied- more personal data

quantitative data

statistical data that can be aggregated to make decisions- usually more objective data (#s speak for themselves- census/ survey)

Rank-size rule

In a model urban hierarchy, the idea that the population of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy, such that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

redevelopment

the process of redeveloping a city area by destroying and rebuilding it

Redlining

A practice carried out by realtors before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. They would identify what they considered risky neighborhoods in the cities and refuse to offer loans to those in the districts. This, now illegal, worked against the poorer

Slow Growth Cities

urban communities where the planners have put into place smart growth initiatives to decrease the rate at which the city grows horizontally to avoid the adverse affects of sprawl

Smart-growth policies

Governmental regulations that try to prevent sprawl and retain farmland. Promotes growth within specific boundaries.

Southeast Asian City Model

McGee model. Developed by T.G McGee. The focal point of the city is the colonial port zone combined with the large commercial district that surrounds it. McGee found no formal CBD but found separate clusters of elements of the CBD surrounding the port zon

Squatter Settlements

Any collection of buildings where the people have no legal rights to the land they are built upon. The people are living there illegally and do not own the land. They provide housing for many of the world's poorest people and offer basic shelter.

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe.

sustainable design initiatives

policies/ approaches that take into account the human and environmental impacts of a growing city

transportation-oriented development

A mixed-use residential and commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport

urban growth boundary

geographical boundaries place around a city to limit suburban growth within that city

urban hierarchy

anks each city based on the size of population residing within the nationally defined statistical urban area. The hierarchy includes (from smallest to largest): hamlet, village, towns, cities, metropolis, megalopolis

urban renewal

the redevelopment of areas within a large city, typically involving the clearance of slums.

urban sprawl

the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density, monofunctional and usually car-dependent communities

Urban sustainability

a city can be organized without reliance on the surrounding countryside and power itself with renewable energy

urban walkability

The extent to which the built environment is friendly to the presence of people living, shopping, visiting, enjoying or spending time in an area.

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.

world cities

cities that function at the global scale as centers of power and influence in the global economy. They supply producer services for the global economy. They are at the top of the global urban hierarchy (top 3 are London, New York and Tokyo).

zones of abandonment

Areas of a city in which people have permanently left the place because of better living conditions or because the place grew old and wasn't modern enough.