Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
The city is an ever changing cultural landscape, its layers refl ecting grand plans by gov-
ernments, impassioned pursuits by individuals, economic decisions by corporations, and
processes of globalization. Geographers who study cities have a multitude of topics to
examine. From gentrifi cation to teardowns, from favelas to McMansions, from spaces of
production to spaces of consumption, from ancient walls to gated communities, cities have
so much in common, and yet each has its own pulse, its own feel, its own spatial structure,
its own set of realities. The pulse of the city is undoubtedly created by the peoples and
cultures who live there. For it is the people, whether working independently or as part of
global institutions, who continuously create and re-create the city and its geography.
Geographic Concepts
central business district
(CBD)
synekism
urban
city
agricultural village
agricultural surplus
social stratifi cation
leadership class
fi rst urban revolution
Mesopotamia
Nile River Valley
Indus River Valley
Huang He and Wei
River Valleys
Mesoamerica
Peru
secondary hearth
acropolis
agora
site
situation
urban morphology
functional zonation
Forum
trade area
rank-size rule
primate city
central place theory
Sun Belt phenomenon
functional zonation
zone
central city
suburb
suburbanization
concentric zone model
edge cities
megacities
Griffi n-Ford model
shantytowns
disamenity sector
McGee model
zoning laws
redlining
blockbusting
commercialization
gentrifi cation
teardowns
McMansions
urban sprawl
new urbanism
gated communities
informal economy
world city
spaces of consumption
Learn More Online
About Celebration, Florida
http://www.celebration.fl .us
About the Congress for the New Urbanism
http://www.cnu.org
About Globalization and World Cities
http://www.lut.ac.uk/gawc/index.html
About Opposition to Urban Sprawl
http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl
About Seaside, Florida
http://www.seasidefl .com
