question

Central Business District (CBD)

answer

The downtown heart of a central city, marked by high land values, a concentration of business and commerce and the clustering of the tallest buildings

question

Synekism

answer

The possibility of change that results from people living together in cities.

question

Urban

answer

The entire built-up, nonrural area and its population, including the most recently constructed suburban appendages. Provides a better picture of the dimensions and population of such an area than the delimited municipality (central city) that forms its heart.

question

City

answer

Conglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and economics

question

Agricultural Village

answer

A relatively small, egalitarian village, where most of the population was involved in agriculture.

question

Agricultural Surplus

answer

One of two components, together with social stratification, that enables the formation of cities; In excess of that which the producer needs for his or her own sustenance and that of his or her family and which is then sold for consumption by others.

question

Social Stratification

answer

one of two components, together with agricultural surplus, which enables the formation of cities; the differentiation of society into classes based on wealth, power, production, and prestige

question

Leadership Class

answer

Group of decision-makers and organizers in early cities who controlled the resources, and often the lives, of others

question

First Urban Revolution

answer

The innovation of the city, which occurred independently in five separate hearths

question

Mesopotamia

answer

Region of great cities (e.g Ur and Babylon) located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; chronically the first urban hearth dating to 3500 BCE, and which was founded in the Fertile Crescent.

question

Nile River Valley

answer

Chronologically the second urban hearth, dating to 3200 BCE

question

Indus River Valley

answer

Chronologically the third urban hearth, dating to 2200 BCE

question

Huang He (Yellow) and Wei (Yangtzi) River Valleys

answer

Rivers in present-day China; it was at the confluence of the Huang He and Wei Rivers where chronologically the fourth urban hearth was established around 1500 BCE

question

Mesoamerica

answer

Chronologically the fifth hearth, dating to 2000 BCE

question

Peru

answer

sixth and most recently discovered urban hearth

question

Secondary Hearth

answer

an early adopter of cultural practice or trait that becomes a central locale from which the practice or trait further diffuses

question

Acropolis

answer

Literally "high point of the city." The upper fortified part of a ancient Greek city, usually devoted to religious purposes.

question

Agora

answer

In ancient Greece, public spaces where citizens debated, lectured, judged each other, planned military campaigns, socialized, and traded

question

Site

answer

The internal physical attributes about a place, including its absolute location, its spatial character and physical setting.

question

Situation

answer

the external locational attributes of a place; its relative location or regional position with reference of another nonlocal places

question

Urban Morphology

answer

The study of the physical form and structure of urban places

question

Forum

answer

The focal point of ancient Roman life combining the functions of the ancient Greek acropolis and agora

question

Trade Area

answer

Region adjacent to every town and city within which its influence is dominant

question

Rank-size Rule

answer

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

question

Primate city

answer

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.

question

Central Place Theory

answer

Theory proposed by Walter Christaller that explains how and where central places in the urban hierarchy should be functionally and spatially distributed with respect to one another.

question

Sun Belt Phenomenon

answer

The movement of millions of Americans from northern and northeastern States to the South and Southwest regions of the US

question

Functional Zonation

answer

The division of a city into different regions for certain purposes of functions

question

Zone

answer

Area of a city with a relatively uniform land use

question

Central City

answer

The urban area that is not suburban; generally, the older or original city, having the clustering of the newer suburbs.

question

Suburb

answer

A subsidiary urban area surrounding and connected to the central city. Many are exclusively residential; others have their own commercial centers or shopping malls.

question

Suburbanization

answer

Movement of upper and middle-class people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts to escape pollution as well as deteriorating social conditions (perceived and actual).

question

Concentric Zone Model

answer

A structural model of the American central city that suggests the existence of five concentric land-use rings arranged around a common center.

question

Edge cities

answer

a term introduced by american journalist joel garreau in order to describe the shifting focus of urbanization in the united states away from the central business district (CBD) toward the loci of economic activity at the urban fringe

question

Megacities

answer

cities with 10 million or more residents within the city proper

question

Griffin-Ford model

answer

Model of the Latin American city showing a blend of traditional elements of Latin American culture with the forces of globalization that are reshaping the urban scene.

question

Shantytowns

answer

Unplanned slum development on the margins of cities, dominated by crude dwellings and shelters made mostly of scrap wood, iron, and even pieces of cardboard.

question

Disamenity Sector

answer

The very poorest parts of cities that in extreme cases are not even connected to regular city services and are controlled by gangs or drug lords.

question

McGee Model

answer

Model showing similar land-use patterns among the medium-sized cities of Southeast Asia.

question

Zoning Laws

answer

Legal restrictions on land use that determine what types of building and economic activities are allowed to take place in certain areas. In the United States, areas are most commonly divided into separate zones of residential, retail, or industrial use.

question

Redlining

answer

A discriminatory real estate practice in North America in which members of minority groups are prevented from obtaining money to purchase homes or property in predominantly white neighborhoods.

question

Blockbusting

answer

Rapid change in the racial composition of residential blocks in American cities that occurs when real estate agents and others stir up fears of neighborhood decline after encouraging people of color to move to previously white neighborhoods. In the resulting outmigration, real estate agents profit through the turnover of properties.

question

Commercialization

answer

The transformation of an area of a city into an area attractive to residents and tourists alike in terms of economic activity.

question

Gentrification

answer

The rehabilitation of deteriorated, often abandoned, housing of low-income inner-city residents.

question

Teardowns

answer

Homes bought in many American suburbs with the intent of tearing them down and replacing them with much larger homes.

question

McMansions

answer

Homes referred to as such because of their "super size" and similarity in appearance to other such homes; homes often built in place of tear-downs in American suburbs.

question

Urban Sprawl

answer

Unrestricted growth in many American urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning.

question

New Urbanism

answer

Outlined by a group of architects, urban planners, and developers from over 20 countries, an urban design that calls for development, urban revitalization, and suburban reforms that create walkable neighborhoods with a diversity of housing and jobs.

question

Gated Communities

answer

Restricted neighborhoods or subdivisions, often literally fenced in, where entry is limited to residents and their guests.

question

Informal Economy

answer

Economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government; and is not included in that government's Gross National Product.

question

World City

answer

Dominant city in terms of its role in the global political economy.

question

Spaces of consumption

answer

Areas of a city, the main purpose of which is to encourage people to consume goods and services' driven primarily by the global media industry.

Ap Human Geography Chapter 9 Vocab Answers – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards