Option G: Urban Environments
Vocabulary
Urban Area
A built up area which forms part of a city or town
Informal / formal activities
Informal activities are untaxed, unregulated jobs whereas the formal economy refers to taxed, regulated activities such as people working in offices and factories
Suburbanisation
the outward growth of towns and cities to engulf surrounding villages and rural areas
Gentrification
Improvement of residential areas by immigrants an the residents themselves, with an economic dimension such as the development of retailing and other services.
Counter urbanisation
A process involving the movement of people away from larger urban ares to smaller urban areas.
Urban renewal
development of activities to increase residential population densities within the existing built up area of a city
Urban circular system
A sustainable city in which there are recycling, reuse and reduction of resources, renewable forms of energy, and the measures taken to reduce the ecological footprint.
Urban ecological system
The amount of land required to sustain a population with the resources they need, and to assimilate their waste.
Urbanisation
Increase in the proportion of the countries population living in towns and cities
Situation
the location of a place relative to other places
Site
The physical character of a place
Land use
Various ways humans use the land such as agricultural, industrial, residential, or recreational
Hierarchy
a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.
Range
the maximum distance people are prepared to travel for a good or service
Threshold
The minimum number of people needed to support the service and keep it in business
Low order goods
Goods purchased more frequently, less expensive made as quick purchases
High order good
specialized items such as cars, furniture, fine jewelry, and household appliances that are bought less often
Sphere of influence
the area served by a settlement
Conurbation
Large super cities that were originally separate but have expanded to join together
Megacity
City with more than 10 million people
Bid rent
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.
Central business district
The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered.
Retail park
a group of large shops/stores with a large car park, usually on the edge of a town or city
Segregation
Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences
Deprivation
Lack or shortage of one or more basic necessities
Squatter settlement
Residential developments characterized by extreme poverty that usually exist on land just outside of cities that is neither owned nor rented by its occupants.
Informal economy
Economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government; and is not included in that government's Gross National Product; as opposed to a formal economy
Natural increase rate
The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.
Brownfield site
Land that has been used, abandoned and now awaits some new use. Commonly found across urban areas, particularly in the inner city.
Greenfield site
A plot of land, often in a rural or on the edge of an urban area that has not yet been subject to any building development.
Urban sprawl
The process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land.
Deindustrialisation
process by which companies move industrial jobs to other regions with cheaper labor, leaving the newly deindustrialized region to switch to a service economy and to work through a period of high unemployment
Disinvestment
the withdrawal of investments by financial institutions, which seals the fate of an urban area
Microclimate
Climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area
Urban heat island effect
the phenomenon in which urban areas are warmer than the surrounding countryside due to pavement, dark surfaces, closed-in spaces, and high energy use
Congestion
An overcrowding; a clogging often of cars
Contested land
Land which is often occupied illegally which is prime for new development
Depletion
reduction in the number or quantity of something
Resilient
(adj.) able to return to an original shape or form; able to recover quickly
Eco-city
A city that aims to provide a healthy environment for its inhabitants without using more resources than it replaces.
Ecological footprint
the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.
Carbon footprint
the total carbon dioxide emissions produced by an individual, group, or location
Hamlet
small village
Village
a community of people smaller than a town
Town
a nucleated settlement that contains a CBD but that is small and less functionally complex than a city