Amenities These may be within the home, in which case
they refer to baths, toilets (w.c.'s), hot water etc., or outside people's homes
in which case they would include parks, shops, public transport provision, etc.
Break of Bulk Point: the place where goods have to be
unloaded e.g. a port.
Bridging Point: a settlement site where a river is narrow
or shallow enough to be bridged. The bridge becomes a route centre and trading
centre, the natural location for a market. It is also a good defensive site. The
lowest bridging point on a river is the bridge nearest to the sea; this site is
ideal for a river port settlement.
Burgess Model: an urban land use model showing five
concentric zones, based upon age of houses and wealth of their inhabitants. (See
concentric ring model).
By-pass: A road built around a busy urban area to avoid
traffic jams.
CBD: Central Business District or city centre; the
commercial and business centre ot a town or city where land values are at the
highest. This is the most accessible part of the town or city. High land values
lead to intensive use of the land and buildings are built as high as possible to
maximise office space and therefore rental income.
Central Place: any settlement that provides goods and
services for smaller neighbouring settlements.
City: cities are urban places. They are usually large
(more than 20,000 people) and are economically self- sufficient (unlike a large
dormitory or suburban town).
Clustered Settlement Pattern: a settlement where
buildings are clustered around a particular point.
Commuting: the process by which people living in one place,
travel to another place to work.
Comparison Goods/Services: these are high-order (usually
expensive) goods such as antiques, jewellery, and some clothing and electrical
equipment. They are called comparison goods because people like to compare
prices, quality and other features before buying them. Comparison goods are
usually sold in shops in city centres or large out-of-town shopping centres.
People visit comparison shops only occasionally so they need a large market
area.
Comprehensive Redevelopment: an area, usually in the inner
city, where the whole urban landscape was demolished before being rebuilt on a
planned basis by the council or city government.
Concentric Ring Model: see Burgess model.
Congestion: overcrowding on roads causing traffic jams.
Consumer: these are people. As trade in goods and services
increases, the power of the consumer increases. Industries must create what
people want (or think they need).
Conurbation: a large urban settlement which is the result
of towns and cities spreading out and merging together.
Convenience Goods/Services: these are low/order goods -
inexpensive things that vary little in price, quality or other features that we
need to buy regularly e.g. newspapers, cigarettes and bread. Convenience shops
are found on most street corners where they have a small market area of people
who visit the shop on most days.
Corner Shop a shop typical of the inner city zone (but also
common in all zones except the CBD) found on every street corner, selling a
range of every-day needs. (See convenience goods and low-order goods/services).
Counterurbanisation: The movement of people from the
MEDC cities to the countryside seeking a better quality of life. Many still
commute into the city to work, but increasing numbers are moving to completely
change their lifestyle and work in the rural area, often by teleworking.
Cycle of Deprivation: a sequence of events experienced by
disadvantaged people in which one problem e.g. lack of work, leads to other
problems and so makes things worse.
Defensive Site: a settlement which usually grew at or
around a fort or castle on top ot a hill, although river meander bends, bridges,
dry-point sites and coastal sites with cliffs were also good for defence.
Demand: the willingness and ability of consumers to pay for
a particular good or service; As long as the supply of goods and services meets
the demand, prices remain the same (stable). High demand for land in the CBD
from businesses wishing to locate there results in very high land values because
supply cannot be increased to meet the demand.
Dependant person: This is either a dependant child, or a
person with long-term sickness preventing him/her from working.
Deprivation: The degree to which an individual or an area
is deprived of services and amenities. There are many different types and levels
of deprivation included poor and overcrowded housing, inadequate diet,
inadequate income and lack of opportunity for employment.
Derelict: abandoned buildings and wasteland.
Detached house: a house standing alone (not joined to
another) typical of the wealthy suburb zone of a city. (See Burgess).
Dispersed Settlement Pattern: where buildings in a
settlement are not clustered around a particular point but are scattered in a
random fashion (see linear and nucleated settlement).
Dormitory Settlement: one where many commuters 'sleep'
overnight but travel to work elsewhere during the day.
Dry-point Site: a settlement site on dry land surrounded by
low, wet ground; this was good for defence.
Ethnic group: This is a group which is defined by race,
religion, nationality or culture
Facilities: see amenities.
Family Life Cycle Model: a model which is based on the
movements of people within a city seeking a better home as their personal
circumstances (both financial and social) change over time.
Family status: This is the position of a person in the .
A person's family status reflects age, whether or not the person is married and
whether or not the person has children.
Favela: a Brazilian term for an informal, shanty-type
settlement.
Filtering: a process by which social groups move from one
residential area to another, leading to changes in the social nature of
residential areas. (See Social leapfrogging).
Formal Sector: the employment sector comprising 'proper'
jobs that are usually permanent, with set hours of work, agreed levels of pay,
and sometimes pensions and social security rights.
Function of a Settlement: what the settlement does to 'earn
its living' e.g. market town, mining town, administrative centre, tourist resort
etc.
Gap Town: a town located at a gap between hills,
providing a good defensive site and route centre that led to a trade and market
function.
Gentrification: a process by which run-down houses in an
inner city or other neglected area are improved by better off (affluent) people
who move there in order to have easier access to the jobs and services of the
city centre. The 'improving' social group changes attract more people of the
similar wealthier social group.
Green Belt: An area around a city, composed mostly of
parkland and farmland, in which development is strictly controlled. Its purpose
is to prevent the outward growth of the city, preserve countryside for farming,
wildlife and recreation, and, often to prevent two or more cities from merging
to form one huge urban area.
Hectare: this is an area equivalent to 2.471 acres.
Hierarchy: a ranking of settlements or shopping centres
according to their population size or the number of services they provide.
High-order goods/services: a good or service,
usually expensive, that people buy only occasionally e.g. furniture, computers
and jewellery. High-order services are usually located in larger towns and
cities with a large market area - accessible to large numbers of people.
Hinterland: the area served by a port (its sphere of
influence).
Household: a person living alone or a group of people,
not necessarily related, living at the same address with shared housekeeping.
Shared housekeeping involves sharing at least one meal a day or sharing a living
room or sitting room.
Hoyt Model: an urban land use model showing wedges
(sectors), based upon main transport routes and social groupings.
Hypermarket: a giant shopping centre containing a very
large supermarkets and other smaller shops found in an out-of-city location,
close to a motorway junction. It benefits from cheap land and the new trend to
shopping by car, with large carparks to cater for this. Prices are kept low by
the supermarket buying in bulk which enables it to negotiate the lowest possible
prices from its suppliers.
Industrial Revolution: the growth and development of
manufacturing industry and the factory system which began in the UK in the
eighteenth century.
Informal Sector: casual, irregular work, e.g. street
selling.
Inner City: the part of the urban area surrounding the CBD;
it often contains older housing and industry, in a state of poor repair and
dereliction (See urban redevelopment and urban renewal).
Linear Settlement: a settlement which follows the line of,
for example, a road or river.
Loose-Knit Settlement: a settlement with many gaps between
its buildings and little, if any, pattern. (See dispersed settlement pattern).
Low-order Goods/Services: a good or service, usually
inexpensive, that people buy on a regular, often daily daily basis - for
example, newspapers, bread and milk. Low-order goods and services are usually
purchased from shops located in suburban or neighbourhood centres close to where
people live. (See corner shop).
Market Area: the area served by a particular settlement,
shop or service. (See sphere of influence).
Megalopolis: a continuous stretch of urban settlement which
results from towns cities and conurbations merging together.
Market Town: a town whose main function is that of a
shopping and service centre for the surrounding region.
Millionaire City: a city with over one million inhabitants.
Natural Harbour: where the shape of the coastline helps
to provide shelter for ships from storms.
Neighbourhood Unit: the basic building unit for planned new
towns, designed to provide people with a safe, traffic-free environment and
access to all frequently needed services such as primary schools, shops and
clinics within walking distance.
New Town: a well-planned, self-contained settlement
complete with housing, employment and services.
Nucleated Settlement Pattern: a settlement where buildings
are clustered around a particular point.
Out-of-town Shopping Centre: a large group of shops built
either on a site on the edge of the urban area or on the site of a former large
industrial area. Such centres usually have large carparks, a pedestrianised,
air-conditioned environment and over 100 shops.
Overspill Town: a town that expanded by taking people who
were forced to move out of cities as a result of slum clearance and
redevelopment schemes.
Over-urbanisation: problems experienced by most LEDC cities
e.g. Bombay, where too many people are migrating to the city resulting in
housing shortages, poor housing conditions, lack of sanitation and piped water,
illness and crime, traffic congestion, pollution, over-stretched services,
unemployment, underemployment, etc.
Owner-occupied: a house lived in by its owner (as opposed
to renting - see tenant).
Pensionable age: a person of a pensionable age is a man
aged 65 or over or a woman aged 60 or over.
Planning: attempting to carry out a programme of work,
such as building a new town or protecting historic buildings, by following an
agreed set of guidelines, design or plan.
Port: a settlement site located where ships could be
anchored in safety, sheltered from the sea. Large ports tend to be route
centres, serving a hinterland.
Primate City: some countries have one city - the primate
city - which, in terms of its population size and functions, dominates all other
urban places.
Professional Occupations: these comprise employers,
managers and professional workers whose occupations normally require a
university degree or other highly selective qualification such as doctors, civil
engineers, etc..
Quality of Life: an idea which is difficult to define
because it means different things to different people. Things which make for a
good quality of life might include high income, good health, good housing, basic
home amenities, pleasant surroundings, recreational open space, good local
shops, a secure job, etc..
Range of a Good: the maximum distance that people are
prepared to travel for a specific service.
Redevelopment: the rebuilding of parts of a city. Sometimes
large areas are completely demolished before being rebuilt; sometimes all or
some of the old buildings are retained and modernised to combine the best
features of the old and the new.
Residential Preference: where people would like to live.
Retail Park: an out-of-town shopping centre with a few
large warehouse-type stores, selling electrical goods, carpets, D.I.Y. goods,
building supplies etc.
Retailing: the sale of goods, usually in shops, to the
general public.
Re-urbanisation: the process whereby towns and cities in
MEDCs which have been experiencing a loss of population are able to reverse the
decline and begin to grow again. Some form of redevelopment is often required to
start re-urbanisation.
Ribbon development: when housing grows out from a town
along a main road.
Ring-road: a by-pass that provides a route around the CBD.
Route Centre: a settlement located at the meeting point of
several roads/railways; the meeting point of two or more river valleys (which
provide good road and rail routes through high land), is often the location of a
route-centre settlement. Bridging points, ports and gap towns are also natural
route centres.
Rural-Urban Fringe: a zone of transition between the
built-up area and the countryside, where there is often competition for land
use. It is a zone of mixed land uses, from shopping malls and golf courses to
farmland and motorways.
Second Homes: homes purchased by city dwellers in country
villages or areas of usually great natural beauty for holiday or weekend use
only. These create problems for local communities since house prices in the area
of second homes rise out of the reach of young people, and shops, schools and
bus services are forced to close due to lack of customers. The newcomers also
bring unwanted social changes to the villages.
Sector Model: see Hoyt model.
Self-help Housing Schemes: groups of people, especially in
LEDCs, are encouraged to build their own homes, using materials provided by the
local authority.
Semi-detached house: a house joined to one other. These are
common in the middle-class suburb zones of a city in the MEDCs.
Semi-skilled occupations: these jobs involve skills that
are quickly learnt, for example bus conductors, labourers, kitchen hands and
cleaners.
Settlement Function: the main activity, usually economic
e.g. tourist resort or social e.g. dormitory town, of a place.
Settlement Pattern: the shape and spacings of individual
settlements, usually dispersed, nucleated or linear.
Shanty Town: an area of poor-quality housing, lacking in
amenities such as water supply, sewerage and electricity, which often develops
spontaneously and illegally (as a squatter settlement) in a city in an LEDC.
Shopping Mall: A modern very large out-of-town shopping
centre with a motorway junction location that provides a family day
'experience'. It offers a range of entertainments besides a large number of
shops in an air-conditioned enclosed area of up to half a square kilometre.
Slum: a house unfit for human habitation.
Site: the actual place where a settlement (or farm or
factory) is located.
Site and Service Schemes: a method of encouraging housing
improvement in poor areas of cities in LEDCs. The government provides the land
for a new development and installs services such as water and electricity. Local
people can then obtain a plot in the scheme for a low rent and build their own
houses.
Situation: the location of a settlement in relation to
places (physical and human) surrounding it e.g. roads, rivers, land use etc. A
settlement with a good situation is likely to grow to become a market town for
the surrounding region.
Social Class: A person's social class reflects wealth,
income, education, status and power. A person's occupation is generally used to
indicate social class.
Social Leap-Frogging: the process by which those who can
afford to do so move out of an area as it becomes older and more run down, to be
replaced by less well-off people.
Socio-Economic Group: classification of people according to
their occupation, e.g. professional, skilled, manual. Occupation is related to
income, wealth and education. The classification is shown below:
Group 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Professional and managerial |
Intermediate |
Skilled (non-manual) |
Skilled manual |
Partly skilled |
Unskilled |
e.g. employers, senior managers,
architects, solicitors. |
e.g. teachers, nurses, social workers -
all jobs requiring good qualifications. |
e.g. clerical workers, secretaries -
jobs requiring training. |
e.g. supervisors, skilled workers, bus
drivers, hair stylists |
e.g. fitters, machine operators - jobs
requiring some training. |
e.g. labourers - jobs requiring no
training or experience. |
Sphere of Influence: the area served by a settlement, shop
or service.
Spontaneous Settlement: a squatter settlement or shanty
town containing self-built houses made of scrap materials such as corrugated
iron and plastic; the settlement usually lacks piped water, an electricity
supply and sewage disposal facilities. Spontaneous settlements are very common
in cities in LEDCs and are illegal because the residents neither own the land on
which the houses are built, nor have permission to build there.
Squatter Settlement: another name for a spontaneous
settlement.
Suburbs: the outer zone of towns and cities.
Suburbanisation: the process by which people, factories,
offices and shops move out from the central areas of cities and into the
suburbs.
Suburbanised Villages/Towns: dormitory or commuter
villages/towns with a residential population who sleep in the village/town but
who travel to work in the nearby large urban area. The suburbanised village has
increasingly adopted some of the characteristics (new housing estates, more
services) of urban areas.
Teleworking: working from home using telecommunications.
Tenant: a person who rents his/her home from a private
landlord or the local council.
Tenure: the way in which property is held. A house of
flat may be owned by the occupier or rented, either from the council or from a
private landlord.
Tenement Blocks: Large residential blocks built in the
inner cities of the MEDCs during the Industrial Revolution to house workers in
high density cramped and unhygienic conditions next to the factories.
Terraced House: a house within a (usually) long line of
joined housing. Terraced housing is typical of the inner city zone in the U.K.
Threshold Population: the minimum number of people required
to support a particular good, shop or office. For example, large stores such as
Marks & Spencer have a threshold population of over 100,000, whilst shoe
shops have a threshold population of about 25,000.
Transition Zone: see Zone in Transition.
Twilight Zone: the term applied to an inner city area as it
begins to change into the Zone of Transition.
Under-Class: the new urban poor who are often ill,
unemployed, homeless, unqualified, and with health problems.
Underemployment: the situation where people do not have
fulltime, continuous work, and are usually only employed temporarily or
seasonally (e.g. during the summer months in a hotel).
Unskilled manual occupations: these jobs require no
specific skills.
Urban Fringe: see rural-urban fringe.
Urban Hierarchy: see hierarchy.
Urban Redevelopment: the total clearance of parts of old
inner city areas and starting afresh with new houses, especially high-rise
flats.
Urban Renewal/Regeneration: the improvement of old houses
and the addition of amenities in an attempt to bring new life to old inner city
areas.
Urban Sprawl: the unplanned uncontrolled growth of urban
areas into the surrounding countryside.
Urbanisation: the process by which an increasing percentage
of a country's population comes to live in towns and cities. Rapid urbanisation
is a feature of most LEDCs.
Wet Point Site: a settlement location where the main
advantage is a water supply in an otherwise dry area e.g. at a spring where an
impermeable clay valley meets the foot of permeable limestone or chalk hills.
Wholesaling: the sale of goods to retailers; wholesalers
are not open to the general public.
Zone in Transition: the inner city area around the CBD. It
is a zone of mixed land uses, ranging from car parks and derelict buildings to
slums, cafes and older houses, often converted to offices or industrial use
|