chapter 15 Flashcards
(27 cards)
conurbation
an agglomeration of towns or cities into an unbroken urban environment
megalopolis
the “city of all cities” in ancient Greece, used in modern times to refer to very large conurbations
urbanization
the development of towns and cities
ecological approach
a perspective on urban analysis emphasizing the natural distribution of city neighborhoods into areas having contrasting characteristics
inner city
the areas composing the central neighborhoods of a city, as distinct from the suburbs, in many modern urban settings inner city areas are subject to decay
urban ecology
an approach to study the urban life based on an analogy with the adjustment of plants and organisms to the physical environment
urbanism
term used by Louis Wirth to denote distinctive characteristics of urban social life, such as impersonal or alienating nature
created environment
constructions established by human beings to serve their needs, derived from the use of man made technology. includes roads, railways, factories
suburbanization
the development of suburbia, areas of housing outside of the inner city
urban renewal
the process of renovating deteriorating neighborhoods by encouraging the renewal of old buildings and construction of new ones
gentrification
a process of urban renewal in which older, deteriorated housing is refurbished by affluent people moving into the area
global city
a city such as london, New York or Tokyo that has become an organizing center of the new global economy
deomgraphy
the study of size, distribution and composition of populations
crude birth rate
a statistical measure representing the number of births within a given population per year, normally calculated as the number of births per 1000 members
fecundity
a measure of the number of children that it is biologically possible for a woman to produce
crude death rate
a statistical measure representing the number of deaths that occur annually in a given population per year
mortality
the number of deaths in a population
infant mortality rate
the number of infants who die during the first year of life, per 1000
life expectancy
the number of years the average person can expect to live
life span
the max length of life that is biologically possible for a member of a given species
exponential growth
a geometric, rather than linear rate of increase. populations tend to grow exponentially
doubling time
the time it takes for a particular level of population to double
malthusianism
a doctrine about population dynamics developed by Thomas Malthus according to which population increase comes up against the natural limits, represented by famine and war
demographic transition
an interpretation of population change which holds that a stable ratio of births to deaths is achieved once a certain level of economic prosperity has been reached
