AP Human Geography Unit 7
Cleveland
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Detroit
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District of Columbia
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Dubai
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Houston
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Minneapolis
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Saint Louis
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San Diego
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Seattle
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Alpha Cities
A city which plays a major role in the international community. Have tremendous economic, political, and social clout, and they are viewed as primary hubs for global industry, in addition to centers of culture.
Periodic Market
A collection of individual vendors who come together to offer goods and services in a location on specified days Ex. Markets in Kenya
Economic Base
A community's collection of basic industries
Megalopolis
A continuous urban complex in the northeastern United StatesZZ
Urban Area
A dense core of census tracts, densely settled suburbs and low-density land that links the dense suburbs with the core
Hyrbid
A gasoline engine powers the vehicle at high speeds, and at low speeds, when the gas engine is at it's least efficient, an electric motor takes over
Underclass
A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics.
Edge Cities
A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area
Zoning Ordinances
A law that limits the permitted uses of land and maximum density of development in a community
Central Place
A market center for the exchange of services by people attracted from the surrounding area
Peripheral Model
A model of North American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road.
Multiple Nuclei Model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities (ex. ports, neighborhood business center, universities, airports, parks). It was created by geographers C.D. Harris and E. L. Ullman in 1945. 1- CBD 2-Wholesale, light manufacturing 3-Low class residential 4-Medium class residential 5-High class residential 6-Heavy manufacturing 7-Outlying business district 8-Residential Suburb 9-Industrial Suburb
Sector Model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges, radiating out from the central business district. It was developed in 1939 by land economist Homer Hoyt. 1-CBD 2-Transportation and Industry 3-Low-Class residential 4-Middle-Class residential 5-High-Class Residential
Concentric Zone Model
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings. It was created by sociologist E. W. Burgess in 1923. It says cities grow outwards from a central area in a series of rings. 1-CBD 2-Zone of Transition (industry and poorer housing) 3-Zone of Independent Workers Homes (housing occupied by stable working class families) 4-Zone of Better Residence (newer and spacious homes for middle class families) 5-Commuter's Zone (small villages for commuters)
Gravity Model
A model that holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service.
Rank Size Rule
A pattern of Settlements in a country such that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement. In other words, the second largest city is one half the size of the largest, the fourth largest city is one fourth the size of the largest. Ex. The United States
Primate City Rule
A pattern of settlements in a country, such that the largest settlement has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement Ex. Copenhagen Denmark is the primate city because it has 1 million inhabitants where are the second largest city Arhus has 200,000 inhabitants
Settlements
A permanent collection of buildings and inhabitants
Gentrification
A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class, owner-occupied area
Circular
A relationship or function that can be represented by a circle
Linear
A relationship or function that can be represented by a straight line.
Green Belts
A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area. Ex. In British cities they restrict construction in some areas so they place mandatory greenbelts there instead.
Central Place Theory
A theory that explains the distribution of services, based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services; larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel farther. It was proposed in 1930 by a German Geographer Walter Christaller and further developed by other geographers later on. Applies most clearly in regions such as the Great Plains because it is not interrupted by physical or human features.
Census Tract
An area delineated by the US Bureau of the Census for which statistics are published; In urban areas, census tracts correspond roughly to neighborhoods, with a pop. of approximately 5,000.
Food Deserts
An area in a developed country where healthy food is difficult to obtain, generally associated with a lack of supermarkets and cars
Squatter settlements (and Alternate names)
An area within a city in a less developed country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect homemade structures. Also known as Barriadas and Favelas in Latin America, Bidonvilles in North Africa, Bastees in India, Gecekondu in Turkey, Kampongs in Malausia, and Barung- Barong in the Philippines
Urbanization
An increase in the percentage of the number of people living in urban set
Diesel
An internal-combustion engine that burns heavy oil more efficiently with greater compression, and at a higher temperature than conventional gas engines.
City
An urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent, self-governing unit.
Metropolitan Area
An urbanized area of at least 50,00 population, the country within which the city is located, and adjacent countries meeting one of several tests indicating a functional connection to the central city.
Deterioration
As the # of low-income residents increases in a city, the territory these residents occupy expands, shifting neighborhoods into poverty over time
Public Transportation
Buses, trains, subways, and other forms of transportation that charge set fares, run on fixed routes, and are available to the public
Consumer Services
Businesses that provide services primarily to individual consumers, including retail services and education, health, and leisure services. Nearly 1/2 of all jobs in the US are here.
Beta Cities
Cities that link moderate economic regions into the world economy
Gamma Cities
Cities that link smaller economic regions into the world economy
"Coolness" Index
Combined the % of the population in their 20's, the number of bars and other nightlife places per capita, and the number of art galleries per capita
Business Process Outsourcing
Describes the hiring of suppliers to manage and perform various business processes.
Colonial Cities
Developed to exploit natural resources and human labor; deliberately established as commercial centers by imperial powers
Sprawl
Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built-up area, generally leaving tracts of empty, unusable land
Dispersed
Distributed or spread over a wide area.
Denver
Has a lot of talent, especially in Boulder.
Full Electric
Has no gas engine, when the battery is discharged, the vehicle will not run until the battery can be recharged by plugging it into an outlet
Public Housing
Housing provided for people with low incomes, subsidized by public funds
Basic Industries
Industries that sell their products or services primarily to consumers outside the settlement
Non Basic Industries
Industries that sell their products primarily to consumers in the community
Off Shore Financial Industries
Is usually a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds.
Annexation
Legally adding land area to a city in the United States
Ethanol
Made by distilling crops such as sugarcane, corn, and soybeans for fuel
Suburbs
Mainly residential areas surrounding a city, that has been populated by middle-class families, looking to escape the "city" environment. Shops and businesses moved to suburbia as well as people.
Brussels
One of the top cities in humanitarian and environmental NGO's (EU activities) and United Nations Agencies
Los Angeles
One of the top cities in insurance, media and scientific research. Specializes in GENERAL BUSINESS
NYC
One of the top cities when it come to banking, producer services, management, law, insurance, advertising, media, architecture and engineering, National Diplomatic Missions, Scientific Research, and GENERAL BUSINESS
San Francisco
One of the top cities when it comes to scientific research and specializes in GENERAL BUSINESS
Smart Growth
Planned economic and community development that attempts to curb urban sprawl and worsening environmental conditions
Nodes
Points of interest or intersections, sometimes called verticies
Clustered
Refers to the density of services and people around an urbanized area
Public Services
Services offered by the government to provide security and protection for citizens and businesses. 16% of all US jobs are in this sector.
Business Services
Services that primarily meet the needs of other businesses, including professional, financial, and transportation services. 1/4 of all jobs in the US are here.
Distribution of Talent
Some cities are more talented than others, measured as a combination of the % of people in the city with college degrees, the % employed as scientists or engineers, and the % employed as professionals or technicians.
Philadelphia
Specialized in manufacturing nondurable goods
San Jose
Specializes in COMPUTING AND DATA.
Las Vegas
Specializes in ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION.
Chicago
Specializes in GENERAL BUSINESS
Orlando
Specializes in HIGH TECH
Austin
Specializes in HIGH TECH.
Raleigh Durham
Specializes in HIGH TECH.
Colorado Springs
Specializes in MILITARY.
Norfolk
Specializes in MILITARY.
Market Area (hinterland)
The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the place's goods and services. (a good example of a nodal region)
Central Business District (CBD)
The center of the city where all different types of services cluster. Ex. Charlotte, North Carolina- Clustered in the "downtown area are public and semi-public areas office and retail buildings, city halls, and government buildings.
Density Gradient
The change in density in an urban area from the center to the periphery
Culture of Poverty
The general perceived culture of the poor population, associated with gangs, drugs, deadbeat dads, and minorities.
Eroding Tax Base
The inner-city underclass requires many public services but cannot afford them so the government must 1.) reduce the amount of services offered or 2.) raise tax revenues
Primate City
The largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many people as the second ranking settlement (ex. Mexico City)
Enclosure Movement
The process of consolidating small land-holdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century
Market Segmentation
The process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics. These buildings signify attempts at _____.
Hexagons
Used in the central place theory to represent a market area of a good or service because they do not leave gaps and are equidistant from the center.
Global Cities
centers of economic, culture and political activity that are strongly interconnected and together control the global systems of finance and commerce
Inner-suburbs or outer-city
the part of the urban area that constitutes the zone of transition, which lies outside the central business district, as well as the (traditional) working class zone.
