Essential Urban Geography and Demography Concepts

Geography25 May 20262.71 KB

Urban Geography and Planning Definitions

Suburban: Peripheral areas of a city. While often characterized by poor-quality residences, in England, the term refers to high-quality residential areas.
Hoyt Sector Model: A division of the city into sectors rather than concentric zones. These sectors extend from the center and may coexist with other urban land-use features.
Harris and Ullman (Multiple Nuclei Model): Suggests that urban structure is arranged irregularly in a series of cores that share similar functions but are scattered throughout the city.

Megalopolis: A vast, large urbanized region occupied by a series of interconnected urban centers.
City Plan: A representation of a city's surface, reflecting both built and unbuilt areas, including the street grid.
Orthogonal Plan: Characterized by parallel streets that intersect at right angles (also known as a grid or regular plan).
Irregular Plan: Features a labyrinth of narrow streets, alleys, and dead ends arranged in a spontaneous, anarchic manner. The representative model is the traditional Muslim city.
Ensanche: Urban growth resulting from industrialization, typically following an orthogonal plan from the 19th century. It features closed or open building blocks and often undergoes a process of outsourcing.

Metropolis: A large city that, as a result of growth, has absorbed neighboring municipalities, creating a metropolitan area organized by administrative, service, and transport systems.
Urban Function: A set of activities undertaken by a city or part of a city through which it exerts influence beyond its borders.

Census: An official statistical document that records the population at a given moment. It is a simultaneous, secret, and static registration performed by the government every 10 years.
Population Density: The number of people divided by the surface area, expressed in hab/km². Note that this statistical concept can mask inequalities within a territory.
EPA (Economically Active Population Survey): A quarterly statistical sampling conducted by the INE since 1964, providing information on the working population.
Zero Growth: The result of birth and death rates equalizing, leading to population stagnation and potential future decline.