the bringing of people and activities together in one place for greater convenience
agglomeration
the part of a city's economy that is producing exports
basic sector
abandoned polluted industrial sites in central cities, many of which are today being cleaned and redeveloped
brownfields
an activity in which a large amount of capital is invested per worker
capital-intensive activity
the traditional core of the city where office buildings and retail shops tend to be concentrated
central business district (CBD)
a model of the distribution of cities across an isotropic plain
central place theory
a concentrated non agricultural human settlement
city
residential clustering by choice
congregation
two or more contiguous MSAs
consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA)
the range of goods and services in a city that can be rented or hired temporarily
external economies
the settlements that make up the outermost ring of expanding metropolitan areas
exurbs
the occupation and restoration of select urban residential neighborhoods by successful urban white-collar workers
gentrification
the region to which any city provides services and upon which it draws for its needs
hinterland
the process of defining a city territory and establishing a government
incorporation
the economic activities that do not appear in official accounts
informal or underground sector
those goods and services that a large company can provide for itself
internal economies
an activity that employs a high ratio of workers to invested capital
labor-intensive activity
an integrated economic and social unit with a recognized large population nucleus, according to the US census bureau
metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
the fact that jobs in a city's basic sector multiply jobs in the non basic sector
multiplier affect
the theory that central city unemployment is caused by a lack of social netowrks
network hypothesis
the part of a city's economy serving the needs of the city itself
nonbasic sector
the study of the interaction between political processes and the distributions of all other activities and transformations of the landscape
political geography
that part of the economy that extracts resources directly from earth, including agriculture, fishing, forestry, and mining
primary sector
a large city concentrating a national population or national political, intellectual, or economic life
primate city
that part of the economy that transforms raw materials into manufactured goods
secondary sector
residential clustering as the result of discrimination
segregation
that part of the economy that services the primary and secondary sectors
service sector
the hypothesis that central city unemployment is caused by the removal of job opportunity to the suburbs and the concentration of the poor in the central city
spatial mismatch hypothesis
working at home at a computer terminal connected to an office
telecommuting
that part of the economy that services the primary and secondary sector
tertiary sector
areas within which governments create generous conditions for enterprises to encourage the creation of jobs
urban enterprise zones
the geographic study of cities
urban geography
the process of concentrating people in cities
urbanization
restricting or prescribing the use to which parcels of land may be put