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AP Human Geography Urban Geography

Terms in this set (100)

Urban Areas/Urbanism
They are nucleated, with on one or more clear core areas. People who live in them work in non-agricultural jobs.
Similarity between cities and towns
Nucleated settlements
Have residential and non-residential functions
include a central business district and surrounding residences
Difference between cities and towns
cities are usually surrounded by suburbs, ares that are less nucleated
suburbs are much land space for residences of people who work in or near cities
towns are smaller and less complex than cities.
Suburbs
Are not self-sufficient and would not exist except for their location near cities
are economically depended on cities, but they have their own governments and are separated from the central city by political boundaries.
Urbanized area
consists of continuously build-up landscape of buildings and populations so that political boundaries are simple imaginary lines that separate them
Physical city
a continuous development that contains a central city and many nearby cities, towns, and suburbs
maybe separated by less developed landscapes, but may still be part of a larger metropolitan area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
defined by the U.S Bureau of Statistic
a central country or counties with at least one urbanized area of at least 50,000 people plus adjacent outlying counties with a large number of resident who commute into the area.
Micropolitan Statistical Area
A similar but smaller version of a metropolis
has at least one urban cluster between 10,000 and 50,000 people plus outlying counties.
There is a considerable social and economic integration.
Urban Hierarchy
Cluster settlement range in size from hamlets to megalopolises.
They may be arranged in a hierarchy according to the complexity of their centralizing functions.
the hierarchy includes (from smallest to largest): hamlet, village, towns, cities, metropolis, megalopolis.
Hamlet
smallest in size; few dozen people; limited services (ex-general store where you get everything you need like Walmart); clustered housing
Villages
larger than hamlets; offer more services
Instead of a general store, there may be more stores specializing in the sale of food, clothing, furniture, and other small items.
Towns
are considered urban areas with a defined boundary but are smaller than cities in terms of population and area.
Ex- many towns dot the landscape of the Great Plains.
The surrounding farms are the hinterland (market area) of the towns. Towns usually have schools and libraries, also.
Ex- Duluth,GA
have everything you need without having to go to the cities.
Cities
large, densely populated areas that may include tens of thousands of people
have a well-defined central business district (CBD) and suburbs
may also have commercial centers or shopping malls.
Ex- Atlanta, GA
Metropolis
large population, large land area, central city and its suburbs (also referred to, at times, as an urbanized area)
Megaloposis
large in urban hierarchy
massive urban "blob" of overlapping, integrated metropolitan areas whose distinctive boundaries are increasingly difficult to find
Ex- Bosnywash
Social characteristics of urban areas
Louis Wirth defined a city as a permanent settlement with large size, high density, and social heterogeneity or diversity, and these 3 characteristics make a city different from a rural area.
Large size of cities
The residents of the city only know a small percentage of other residents, unlike in rural areas where everyone in a village know each other.
Most come in contact with many people, but do not get to know them very well. The people in the city are more isolated.
High Density of Cities
People in the cities have specialization jobs that allow a large number of people to live in one place.
High density leads to people having to compete for space (Ex- parking spaces, causing dominance by some social groups. (Ex- the rich people live in the top floor of penthouses)
This also leads to higher prices for property and rents, further distinguishing between rich and poor.
Social Heterogeneity of Cities
a.k.a social diversity
Large settlements include people with diverse backgrounds
cities allow for more anonymity.
Wirth noted that despite the freedom associated with a city, people may feel lonely and isolated since there are so much more people so you don't know a lot and tend to be alone.
Political factor that contribute to the growth of systems of cities.
A decision as to where to located the capital may cause one town to grow and provide specialized businesses and employment opportunities.
A town not chosen as the capital would lose population, businesses, and employment.
Economic factor that contribute to the growth of systems of cities.
A settlement located on a good harbor may grow through trade
Cultural Factor that contribute to the growth of systems of cities.
A town may establish itself as a cultural center by fostering:
libraries, museums, theatres, universities.
The Role of Government in evolution of cities
the more complex settlements grew, the need for central authority also grew. As a result, organized territories known as states appeared.
States grew in areas such as along the Nile River in Egypt, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia, and the Indus River in South Asia.
The Role of Government in evolution of cities 2
Other early civilizations appeared along rivers in East Asia and the Aegean Sea (forerunners of the Greeks.)
All these civilizations had major cities that increased in size and complexity as farming techniques and trade improved.
Agriculture had to be planned and controlled so as to guarantee the flow of food into the city, esp. once irrigation was developed.
Ancient Cities
Are closely related to modern cities today with many of its functions which include:
Centers of power (headquarters for government officials)
Religious centers (temples, shrines)
Economic centers (markets, traders)
Educational centers (philosophers)
Primate Cities
Its population are 2 times larger than the population of the second largest city in the country. Serves as cultural, economic, political center. (Ex- Paris, London)
Mercantile Cities
Developed in pre-Industrial age (before the Industrial Revolution)
Trade central to design of city
Central square with shops specialized in products brought from trade routes
Ex- Mercantile cities along the Silk Road
Manufacturing Cities
Came during the Industrial Revolution, and factories attracted workers from rural areas, small streets gave way to wide boulevards to accomodate the flow of commercial traffic. City planning and Zone was introduced (ex- where to located businesses, houses, etc...)
Edge Cities
The term was coined by Joel Garreau, they are cities located around a city's beltway. Nodes of consumer and business services, office parks found here.
Specialized nodes in edge cities such as a warehouse near an airport or hotels near the interstate.
They are self sufficient
World cities
a.k.a cosmopolitan
based on centrality/accessibility of business consumers and public needs. Business (office, stock), Consumer (Retail, entertainment, cultural), Public (government headquarters)
Ex- Tokyo, Londay, NYC
Have an iconic image. (ex- Statue of Liberty= NYC)
Megacities
I has a population of more than 10 million people in their metropolitan/urban
Many are unable to control expansion and hazard development that seriously affect the quality of life within the urban area.
Ex- Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai
Megacities and semi peripheries
Many semi peripheries are growing into megacities because they can't control their population and birth rate, resulting in a high population. Ex- Mumbai
Urband Sprawl
the spreading out of a city and its suburbs over more and more rural land at the periphery of an urban area. This involves the conversion of open space into built-up, developed land.
Characteristics of Urban Sprawl
uncontrolled growth, suburbanization, loss of farmland, occurs because of affluence (money), "leap frog" development, and the increase of the use of automobiles, and homogenized our landscape.
Poster Child for Urban Sprawl
Metro Atlanta. The population of this region may double in 50 years. During the 1990s, Atlanta was also known to be the "Party Animal" with nearly 1 million people added to the population because of the Olympics.
Air Quality during Urban Sprawl
Ground level ozone found in smog causes respiratory problems and asthma. Ozone pollution is a concern during the summer months when the weather conditions needed to form ground-level ozone.
1970 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA)
a law stating that a state will only get money for its roads building only if the state clean up its air.
Air Quality Index
A range of colors is used to illustrate the quality of air. Purple is the color that indicates the poorest air quality while green being the best.
Public Perceptions of Urban Sprawl
Urban sprawl is bad, but without it, then people will have to be condense into one place, so higher density is worse.
Solutions for concerns from urban sprawl
emissions program, smog alert days, reformulated gasoline (Oxygenated, burns cleaner but costs more money), HOV lanes, Traffic signal upgrades, overhead signs, video traffic monitoring, HERO- Highway Emergency Response Operator.
Gentrification
Individuals buy up and rehabilitate houses, raising the housing value in the neighborhood and changing it. There are groups that oppose the gentrification of urban neighborhoods.
Redlining
financial institutions refusing to lend money in certain neighborhoods due to reasons such as most of the houses in that neighborhoods are not paying mortgage.
Blockbusting
realtors purposefully sell a home at a low price to an African American and then solicit white residents to sell their homes at low prices, to generate "white flight".
New Urbanism
development urban revitalization, and suburban reform that create "walkable" neighborhoods with a diversity of housing and jobs.
Ex- Celebration, FL
Concerns about new urbanism
some are concerned that they do nothing to break down the social conditions that create social ills of the cities. Some believe they work against urban sprawl.
Who created the Central Place Theory?
Walter Christaller in 1933
Central Place Theory's purpose
Attempt to explain the reasons behind the distribution, patterns, size, ad number of cities and towns around the world.
Central Place Theory's basis
on Rostock, Geermany (southern Germany) because the land is flat, making it easier to study.
Cental place
place provides goods and services to its surrounding population. Cities then are distribution centers.
Central place theory assumptions
The area is flat with no obstacles, consumers will always purchase goods from the closest place, when demand for good is high, it will be offered in close proximity to population.
Central place theory assumptions 2
Population is evenly distributed, income levels are the same, spending habits are the same, and tere is only one mode of transport.
Higher order places, central place theory
specialize items: automobiles, fine jewelry, furniture. People are willing travel further for these. Often in large cities.
Lower order places, central place theory
Purchase regularly (items), include: food, household items, Found in smaller towns or markets
Hinterland
are surrounding the city that interacts with it.
Limitations of central place theory
the land is rarely flat and resources are not evenly distributed across the earth. wealth and spending power are not distributed evenly over an area, and demand changes over time.
Urban Geography
it focuses on how cities function, the internal systems and structures of cities, and the external forces that influence cities.
the study of systems and cities
This sub-field focuses on where cities are located and why they are there. the focus is on how cities connect to one another, how they are distribute and how cities influence the landscape around them.
The study of internal cities
This focuses on the internal working and structure of cities. It involves the analysis of land use patterns, racial, and ethnic segregation and the cycles of construction and development. It makes use of quantitave data and qualitative data.
Focuses of models of urban land use
accessibility, high cost of accessible space, trasportation, societal and cultural needs.
Accessbility
in order to operate effectively, the ciity requires tat it functions be fulfilled in spaces accessible to it inhabitants. High cost of accessible space: space is at a premium, mass transportation helped to incease the amount of usable space.
Transportation
lines of transportation determind the growth of the city, Ex- houses and stores follow roads. Land with the highest accessibility is the most desirable, and as a result, generally more expensive.
Societal and cultural needs
Economic competition is an important dterminant of land use. Some highly desirable land is usually set aside to meet societal and cultural needs (ex- schools, public parks).
Models of urban land use
Most models relating to North America: are based on Chicago, a city on flat land with only Lake Michigan to the east, include a central business district (CBD), hav a residential areas with various levels of income.
Concentric Zone Model
created by E.W Burgess, therefore is also known as the Burgess model. He viewed citis as growing outward from a central area in a series of concentric rings.
Characteristics of Zone One
the central business district (CBD); concentration of nonresidential activities; high property costs.
Characteristic of Zone Two
a zone of transition, serves as transition between the CBD and purely residential areas, contains light industry and housing for the poor.
Characteristics of Zone Three
working-class homes, housing less expensive here than in outer rings.
Characteristics of Zone Four
homes larger and more expensive, middle class residences, residents able to afford transportation to CBD, usually by rail or bus.
Characteristics of Zone Five
Commuter's zone, farthest away from CBD, and commuters sleep here and spend leisure time.
Burgess Model/ Concentric Zone Model 2
It is dynamic (continuous change) as inner rings grow larger. Neighborhoods change through a process of invasion and succession. Poorer inhabitants drive wealthier residents away from the central city.
The Sector Model
created by Homer Hoyt. as a variant of the concentric zone theory. Illustrates that the city develop in a series of sectors or wedges, out from the central business district, not rings.
The Sector Model 2
According to Hoyt, the sectors may be determined by environmental factors (ex- bodies of water) OR they simply develop by chance. Once a district is established for industry, other industries will develop around it, creating the wedge. Likewise, a district where wealthy people live will attract other wealthy people.
The establishment process of sectors in the sector model.
Middle class residences are next to the high income areas and low income residents occupy the left over areas. Hoyt, like Burgess, noted that as the city grows, residential areas once occupied by the wealthy "filter down" to the middle class. This eventually filters down t the lower class as property is sold from one owner to another.
Green belt
a policy used in land use planning to protect largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding an urban area. Protect the wild life. Pioneered in UK.
The Multiple Nuclei Model
developed by C.D Harris and E.L Ullman. It stated that large cities develop by spreading from several nodes of growth, not just one. According to this model, different types of people and activities cluster around each node.
The Multiple Nuclei model nodes
Individual nodes have special functions like: ports, neighborhood businesses, universities, airports, different levels of residences. The multiple nuclei model explains that incompatible land use activities do NOT cluster in the same locations. The nodes, then, influence the type of development that occurs around them.
The Urban Realms Model
Used to describe the spatial components of the modern metropolis. Each realm is a separate economic, social, and political entity that is linked together to form the larger metropolitan framework. Developed by Dr. T. Hartshorn and Dr. P. Muller.
Patterns of Class, Age, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity
Social area analysis puts together information from the census tracts to create and overall picture of how various types of people are distributed within a broader area, like a city. Urban models support the idea that people prefer to live near the others with similar characteristics.
Patterns of Class, Age, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity 2
The larger and more economically and socially complex cities are, the stronger the tendency for resident to segregate themselves into groups base on: social class, race, ethnicity. Once social divisions are in place, they tend to carry over one generation to the next. "Mixed" neighborhoods are often just in temporary transition to domination by another group.
Social Class
It is measured by: income, education, occupation. One indicator or social class is the number of people who live per room in a house. A low number of people per room tends to indicate high status. Of the models of urban land use, Hoyt's sector model is most reflective of clustering patterns by social status. If people from a lower status move into an area, the higher status residents tend to move away.
Age and Marital Status
Younger families tend to live farther away from the city center because they are seeking space for child rearing. They tend to cluster according to social status as well. Houses are larger with green space around for children's play in neighborhoods with younger families. Groups that need less living space often live closer to the city center. Young professionals, unmarried or without children, are more likely to live close to the city center as well.
Gender
A growing phenomenon in American society is the increase in the number of one parent families, and a lot of those are headed by women. Majority live in low income neighborhoods. This is called the feminization of poverty, or the increasing proportion of the poor who are women.
Urban morphology
the study of the form of human settlements and the process of their formation and transformation.
Difference between European cities and American cities
They are much older. To Europeans: what is old should be preserved. To Americans: if something is old, it is often torn down and replaced.
Skyscrapers in Europe and North American cities
Because European cities were built before the tech. existed for skyscrapers, many of the older parts of European cities only have 5 stories tall building. By the time the tech was available, most of the cities already had downtown regions, so skyscrapers in European cities are built on the outskirts of the city while in America, they are built in the center.
European Cities
Many of the streets are in a dendritic (random) pattern, unlike the grid system in American cities.
Wealthy people of Europe and America
In Europe, they typically live in the central cities, while in America they live in suburbs of the cities (Ex- McMansions)
McMansions
Large homes, often built to the outer limits of the lots. They have super size and similar look.
Eastern Europe
Cities are a little different from many of the cities in Western Europe due to Soviet dominance during Cold War. Many apartments were built of concrete. Buildings were designed to be useful, not interesting or attractive. Eastern Europe cities have no high rises, because there was no money to build them.
Latin American Cities
Experiencing one of the fastest urban growth rates. Cities are growing due to poverty of countryside. There is an influx of migrants to cities looking for jobs. Squatter settlements and shanty towns in places such as Rio de Janeiro where there is extreme poverty, child gangs, and drug trade.
Squatter settlements
areas of squalor and extreme poverty. ex- Rio de Janeiro
Shantytowns
unplanned slum development on the margins of cities in the semi-periphery and periphery.
Mexico city
More than 20 million people. Built on a former lake bed filled in with dirt (city is slowing sinking). Located on a fault line. Worst air pollution of any city in the world bc the mountain valleys surrounding it.
Asian Cities
Many Asian cities are some of the most prosperous cities on Earth. For the most part, they are located on coasts and have been built for trade, with ports play an important economic role. much of their growth is due tot he trading good to MDCs, such as the U.S and Japan. Many are SEZs.
Entrepots
cities that have ports to re-export goods, sending them to all areas of the globe. Ex- Seoul, Hong Kong.
Islamic cities
found in the Middle East as well as parts of Indonesia, the country was the largest Muslim pop. Must of the city is based on Islamic principles. Most important= Mosque. Windows are generally small to protect privacy, impossible to view into a neighbor's house.
Bazaar
Sometimes call suq, a street market population in many Islamic cities in North Africa. At suq, anything produce to carpets and clothing can be sold.
African Cities
the fastest growing urban areas in the world today. The economic conditions in most Africa force people to migrate to urban areas to look for work. Growth is the highest in Sub Saharan Africa. A strong colonial imprint is still visible in the structures and functions of African cities. No money for roads and transportation system.
Rank size rules
In urban hierarchy, the population of the city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy. Ex- largest is 12 mil. second larges= 1/2=6 million, 3rd= 1/3=4 million, 4th=1/4=3 million
Where wealthy people lived in European cities?
Wealthy used to live in the bottom floors because elevators had not yet been invented. Once they are, the upper class wanted the views that top floors provided, so they moved up, therefore the upper apartments are more valuable.
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