Laws
zoning ordinances
Laws regulating land use (residential, commercial, industrial).
A city grows in wedge-shaped sectors from the CBD.
Sector Model
Wealthier people move in, raising property values and displacing lower-income residents.
gentrification
A massive urban area with over 20 million people
Metacity
Zone in Transition
The area between the CBD and lower-income housing, often in flux.
Protecting and restoring old buildings and districts.
historic preservation
Multiple Nuclei Model
Cities have several key business centers, not just one CBD.
bid-rent theory
Land prices drop as distance from the CBD increases.
A city with over 10 million people.
Megacity
situation
A place’s location relative to other places.
A city or town with its own government.
municipality
A decentralized city model with multiple business nodes and an edge city.
Galactic City
Protected open land around a city to limit sprawl.
greenbelt
MSA (metropolitan statistical area)
A central city plus its surrounding counties with strong economic ties.
Makeshift housing on illegally occupied land.
squatter settlement
smart growth policies
Urban planning that limits sprawl and promotes sustainable development.
Cities grow in rings, with the CBD at the center.
Concentric Zone Model
Using vacant land within existing urban areas for development.
infilling
When multiple cities grow together into a massive urban area.
Population shift from cities to surrounding suburbs.
suburbanization
Laws to limit urban expansion and sprawl.
A model that explains how cities and towns are spaced based on their size and the services they provide, with larger cities offering more specialized goods and services and smaller towns providing basic necessities.
Central Place Theory
New Urbanism
Walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods to reduce suburban sprawl.
A city with global influence in finance, trade, or culture
world city
A business hub on the outskirts of a city, near highways.
edge city