Vocabulary
Vegetation and structures that cover land
What is land use?
Cities are often built near these because they help trade and movement
What are transportation routes?
Spread of low-density development outward from a city
What is sprawl?
Building “up, not out”
What is smart growth?
Parks and greenways help regulate this
What is climate?
Human activities that occur on land
What is land use?
Cities are usually warmer than surrounding rural areas because of this effect
What is the heat island effect?
Two main causes of sprawl
What are population growth and increased land consumption?
Line separating urban and rural land to limit expansion
What is an urban growth boundary?
Buildings designed to save energy and resources
What are green buildings?
Movement of people from rural areas to cities
What is urbanization?
One major reason people move to cities
What are job opportunities?
Development where areas are built far apart in patches
What is leapfrog development?
Neighborhood design that reduces the need to drive
What is new urbanism?
Cities rely on rural areas for these resources
What are food, water, fuels, and materials?
Facilities and services needed for a community to function
What is infrastructure?
A benefit of dense cities for the environment
What is land preservation?
A health problem linked to sprawl
What is obesity (or high blood pressure)?
Transportation that is more efficient than cars
What is public transportation?
Planting trees in cities improves this
What is air quality?
Classification of land for different development uses
What is zoning?
A major environmental cost of cities
What is pollution?'
Why sprawl increases carbon dioxide emissions
What is increased driving?
Redeveloping old industrial areas instead of expanding outward
What is smart growth (or urban redevelopment)?
One advantage AND one disadvantage of urban growth boundaries
Advantage: saves infrastructure costs or preserves land
Disadvantage: limits landowner rights or doesn’t stop all sprawl