Option G: Urban Environments Key Words

urban social stress

housing, education, sanitation, employment, drinking water, noise, pollution, overcrowded living conditions, and fear of crime

social indicators of social deprivation

inducing crime (reported and fear of); levels of health and access to health care; standards of education; proportion of population on subsidised benefits (unemployment, disability, free school meals); proportion of lone-parent families

megacities

large metropolitan areas of 10 million inhabitants or more

centrifugal

movement that involve a shift of population and economic activity from the centre of the urban area to its periphery and beyond

informal economy

no qualifications or training required-fruit vendor; unregulated hours and pay-rickshaw puller; no job security, no legal protection-barber; no pensions, no job protections-taxi driver; small premises, sometimes domestic-waste picker; adaptive technology using local raw materials; labour intensive...

ethnicity

one of the cause of segregation; the cultural differences between immigrants and existing residents often led to difficulties in communication, resulting in varying degrees of residential segregation

socio-economic status

one of the causes of segregation; a person's position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, place of residence, and other factors e.g. the caste system in India bases social position mainly on heredity; the western society individual socio-economic status is determined mainly by employment and income

political indices of social deprivation

opportunities to vote and to take part in community organisation

advantages of the informal economy

plays a vital role in the developing urban economies of many low- and middle-income countries, and is an inevitable outcome of rapid urbanization. It has provides unskilled and semi-skilled migrants with casual, temporary, but immediate work. Not as cumbersome to set up a business informally. The informal econ makes a large contribution to urban wealth.

rural-urban migration

push factors are the negative factors and the pull factors are the positive factors, if the push and pull is positive then they are more likely to stay in that place and it's negative they are more likely to move away

formal economy

qualifications and training required-bank clerk; set hours of work and pay-midwife; job security and legal protection-teacher; pensions and unemployment benefits-plumber; well-serviced purpose built premises-truck driver;imported technology using non-local raw materials; capital intensive...

physical indicators of social deprivation

quality of housing, levels of pollution, incidence of crime, vandalism, graffiti

factors influencing CBD decline

rise in car ownerships leads to increased personal mobility and the rise of 'leisure' shopping; congestion reduces accessibility of CBDs; progressive suburbanisation leads to urban sprawl; the city centre may be many miles away.

negative aspects of living in a slum

security of tenure is often lacking; basic services are absent, especially water and sanitation; overcrowding is common; sites are hazardous; levels of hygiene and sanitation are poor, and disease is common

the central Business district (CBD)

the commercial and economic core of a city; it is the heart of the city, the area most accessible to public transport, and the location with the highest land values

re-urbanization

the development of activities to increase residential population densities within the existing built‑up area of a city; this may include the redevelopment of vacant land, the refurbishment of housing and the development of new business enterprises

the brown agenda

the greatest concentration of environmental occurs in cities experiencing rapid growth, such as Mexico City. 2 Main Components - issues caused by limited availability of land, water and services; problems such as toxic hazardous waste, pollution of water, air and soil, and industrial accidents such as at Bhopal in 1985.

the urban ecological footprint

the land area required to sustain a population of any size; measures the amount of farmland and aquatic resources that must be used to sustain a population, based on its consumption levels at a given point in time

counter-urbanization

the movement of people from inner urban areas to areas beyond city limits; this is process of decentralisation and its is characteristic of wealthy cities in MEDCs.

counter‑urbanization

the movement of population away from inner urban areas to a new town, a new estate, a commuter town or a village on the edge or just beyond the city limits/rural-urban fringe

Suburbanization

the outward growth of towns and cities to engulf surrounding villages and rural areas; this may result from the out‑migration of population from the inner urban area to the suburbs or from inward rural-urban movement

residential segregation

the physical separation of population by culture, income or other criteria

urban sprawl

the unplanned and uncontrolled physical expansion of an urban area into the surrounding countryside; it is closely linked to the process of suburbanisation

positive aspects of living in a slum

they are points of assimilation for immigrants; Informal entrepreneurs can work here and have clienteles extending to the rest of the city; informal employment, based at home, avoids commuting; there is a strong sense of kinship and family support; crime rates are relatively low

disadvantages of the informal economy

unfairly associated with drug pushing, prostitution, political corruption, bribery, and smuggling. This turns away potential visitors and downgrades the city's international image. Workers are often exposed to health and safety risks and deprived of the rights and benefits associated with law and regulation. (Dharavi, Mumbai Case Study)

hinterlands

(urban) the zone surrounding a city

steps to achieve sustainability

Improve economic security, meet social, cultural and health needs, minimise the use of non-renewable resources, use finite renewable resources sustainably, and preserve green space

a sustainable city

a city designed to have minimal environmental impact. Its population wishes to create the smallest possible ecological footprint and produce the least amount of pollution and waste

urban hierarchy

a national arrangement of urban areas, e.g. from one large city to many small villages

the family life cycle

a person is likely to move around different zones of a city, depending on their age and their need for a house of a certain size

suburb

a residential area within or just outside the boundaries of a city

brownfield site

abandoned, run-down or under‑used industrial buildings and land that may be contaminated but have potential for redevelopment

economic indices of social deprivation

access to employment; unemployment and underemployment; levels of income

sustainable urban management strategy

an approach to urban management that seeks to maintain and improve the quality of life for current and future urban dwellers; aspects of management may be social (housing quality, crime), economic (jobs, income) or environmental (air, water, land, resources)

urbanization

an increasing percentage of a country's population comes to live in towns and cities; it may involve both rural-urban migration and natural increase