Glossary
Central Business District (CBD)
The commercial and often geographic heart of a city, characterized by high land values, intense commercial activity, and a concentration of businesses and services.
Example:
In many cities, the downtown area with its skyscrapers, major department stores, and financial institutions represents the Central Business District, a hub of economic activity.
Central Place Theory
A geographical theory that explains the number, size, and distribution of human settlements in a residential system based on the provision of goods and services.
Example:
According to Central Place Theory, a small town might only have a grocery store and a gas station, while a large city offers specialized services like a heart surgery clinic or a professional sports team.
Edge Cities
Large nodes of office and retail activities that are located on the periphery of an urban area, often at the intersection of major highways, and typically lack a traditional downtown.
Example:
Tysons Corner in Virginia, outside Washington D.C., is a classic edge city, featuring massive shopping malls, office parks, and residential areas, but without a historical city center.
Global Cities
Cities that exert significant political, economic, and cultural influence on a global scale, serving as key nodes in the world economy.
Example:
New York City, with its stock exchange, United Nations headquarters, and vibrant cultural scene, functions as a Global City, impacting finance, politics, and culture worldwide.
Megacities
Urban areas with a total population of more than 10 million people.
Example:
With its vast population, Cairo, Egypt, is considered a megacity, facing unique challenges related to infrastructure, housing, and resource management.
Metacities
Massive urban agglomerations with a population exceeding 20 million people, representing the largest and most complex urban forms.
Example:
The Tokyo-Yokohama urban area in Japan is a prime example of a metacity, a sprawling urban landscape home to tens of millions of people.
Primate Cities
A single city that is significantly larger than any other city in a country and dominates its economic, cultural, and political life.
Example:
Despite being a relatively small country, South Korea's capital, Seoul, functions as a Primate City, holding a disproportionate share of the nation's population, wealth, and power compared to other Korean cities.
Range
In Central Place Theory, the maximum distance consumers are willing to travel to obtain a particular good or service.
Example:
People might only travel a short range for daily groceries, but they are willing to travel a much longer distance to attend a specialized concert or visit a unique museum.
Rank-Size Rule
A statistical relationship in urban geography where the population of a city is inversely proportional to its rank in the urban hierarchy. This means the nth largest city will have 1/n the population of the largest city.
Example:
In a country following the Rank-Size Rule, if the largest city has 10 million people, the second largest would ideally have 5 million, and the tenth largest would have 1 million.
Suburbanization
A population shift from central urban areas into surrounding low-density residential areas, often driven by a desire for more space, lower costs, and perceived better quality of life.
Example:
After World War II, many American families experienced suburbanization, moving out of crowded city centers to new housing developments with yards and access to cars.
Threshold
In Central Place Theory, the minimum number of people or market size required to support a particular service or business.
Example:
A small coffee shop might only need a threshold of a few hundred daily customers to stay profitable, but a luxury car dealership requires a much larger population base.
Urbanization
The process by which an increasing proportion of a country's population comes to live in urban areas, leading to the growth of cities.
Example:
The rapid growth of cities in developing countries, as people move from rural farms to seek jobs and better opportunities, is a prime example of urbanization.