Word Definition Importance Picture
Annexation adding or incorporating This is how countries
a territory into the grow.
domain of a larger
entity, like a city,
country, or state
Central Business The downtown area of It is the heart of the
District (CBD) a central city city’s economy.
Concentric zone model A city gradually grows It was one of the first
outward in a series of models to explain the
rings city’s growth.
Edge city The nodes of consumer It creates growth in
and business services consumer and business
around the beltway services.
Gentrification a process where It transforms urban
wealthier individuals environments.
move into and renovate
previously low-income,
often disinvested
neighborhoods, leading
to increased property
values and potential
displacement of
long-term residents.
Megalopolis A collection of adjacent They represent a new
or overlapping scale of urban
metropolitan areas that development.
merge into one
continuous urban
region
Peripheral model A version of the It explains economic
multiple nuclei model and social development
that reflects the growth inequality.
of suburbs
Redlining the discriminatory It is denying people
practice of denying access to credit for
services, particularly houses based on race.
loans and investments,
to residents of specific,
often
racially-associated,
neighborhoods
Sector model A city develops in a It offers a more realistic
collection of sectors model than the
concentric zone model.
Squatter settlement A residential area It is where people live
whose residents have who don’t own the
no legal claims to the land.
area
Urban cluster An urban area with They represent the
between 2500 to 5000 populations.
inhabitants
Ghetto a segregated, often Where people are
impoverished, area forced to live based on
where a minority group ethnicity or race.
is forced to live
Suburbanization the population shift It reflects societal shifts
from historic core cities and urban development.
or rural areas into
suburbs
Urban hierarchy the ranking of cities and It hels understand
towns based on their regional development.
size, population,
economic activity, and
the range and
complexity of services
they offer, with larger,
more complex cities at
the top and smaller, less
complex settlements at
the bottom.
Central Place Theory Helps to explain where It explains why
the most profitable businesses are in
location can be found places.
Rank Size Rule The country’s nth It classifies cities in a
largest settlement is 1/n country.
the population of the
largest city
World City a major urban center They are major hubs in
that acts as a command the world.
and control hub for the
global economy,
influencing global
flows of finance,
culture, and
information
Agglomeration A localized economy in It increases
which a large number productivity, lowers
of companies and costs, and drives
industries cluster innovation.
together and benefit
from the cost
reductions and gains in
efficiency that result
from this proximity
Infrastructure Infrastructure is the set It enables services like
of facilities and systems public transportation.
that serve a country,
city, or other area, and
encompasses the
services and facilities
necessary for its
economy, households
and firms to function
Threshold The minimum number It is critical for the
of people needed to central place theory.
support a service
Census tract An area that have about They are the smallest
5000 residents that geographic units for the
corresponds to census.
neighborhood zones
Bid-rent theory explains how land It explains land use
prices and land use patterns.
patterns vary with
distance from a central
point
Density gradient a spatial variation in It helps visualize
density, used in population density.
scientific techniques
like centrifugation to
separate substances
based on their density,
with materials banding
at their corresponding
densities within the
gradient
Food desert an area, often It is an area where fresh
low-income, where food is not available.
residents have limited
access to affordable and
nutritious food,
particularly fresh fruits
and vegetables, due to
the lack of grocery
stores or other food
retailers within
convenient distance
Greenbelt an area of land with They protect natural
fields or parks around a habitats.
town or city, where
people are not allowed
to build houses or
factories by law
Multiple nuclei model Some activities are It provides a more
attracted to different realistic model
nodes while some are compared the the
repelled earlier ones.
Public housing a system of subsidized It is where low income
or affordable housing residents can live.
provided by local
government, non-profit
organizations, or a
combination thereof to
eligible low-income
families, the elderly,
and people with
disabilities
Rush hour highlights the spatial It can show human
and temporal aspects of movement patterns.
human movement and
urban patterns,
impacting
transportation,
infrastructure, and
economic activities
Sprawl the expansion of towns This is how cities grow.
or cities into rural or
previously undeveloped
land
Urban area a densely developed It is a unit of census
territory encompassing measurement.
residential, commercial,
and other
non-residential land
uses, with a minimum
population of 2,500 or
2,000 housing units
Zoning ordinance a municipal law that It dictates land use in
defines how property in cities.
specific geographic
zones can be used,
regulating things like
permitted uses, building
height, density, and lot
size, ultimately guiding
land use and
development within a
city or county.
Underclass the most disadvantaged The lowest income
socio-economic residents.
demographic with the
least access to scarce
resources
Urban morphology the study of the It can show how cities
physical form and change.
spatial arrangement of
human settlements,
including streets,
buildings, and land use,
and how these forms
evolve over time
Primate City A country’s largest city It is at the top of a
country’s urban
hierarchy.
Site Factors the physical They show how the
characteristics of a characteristics of the
location that influence location influence
its development, such development.
as landforms, climate,
water availability, soil
quality, and vegetation
Situation Factors external influences, like They show how the
the environment, environment can
people, and influence development.
circumstances, that can
impact an individual's
behavior or actions
Basic and nonbasic Industries that sell to It can be used to
industry places outside and measure economic
inside the country development.
Hinterland The area surrounding a It helps analyze the
service from which connectedness of the
consumers are attracted city and the
surrounding area.
Range The maximum distance It explains why services
people are willing to are located in places.
travel to use a service