Key Urban Geography Terms Defined

Metropolis

Used by geographers and urban sociologists, referring to very large cities that serve as regional capitals and major business centers, whose influence extends over more or less close satellite towns. Within this sphere of influence, American authors apply the term 'metropolitan area', which tends to identify with an area of extra-municipal administrative competence. Depending on circumstances and the geographical structure of the affected urban complex, the metropolitan area corresponds to a cluster, a metropolitan area, or an urban area.

Shanty

Designates spontaneous and uncontrolled urbanization, characterized by crowded areas lacking minimal conditions of hygiene and habitability. Slums are fairly common in the suburbs of large cities in both developed and underdeveloped countries. This type of marginal urban habitat is not integrated and receives various names: favelas (Rio de Janeiro), shacks (Spain), ranches (Venezuela), bidonvilles (in countries of French culture).

Urban Geography 2 Vocabulary Juan Manuel Martínez Pérez

Widening

Sector of the city corresponding to an expansion of the town center. During the nineteenth century, urban growth prompted the construction of neighborhoods outside the boundaries of the walls: the extensions. The most important features of extensions are:

• A marked regularity due to the orthogonal (grid) plan, which facilitates travel within the city.
• A large area compared to the one built previously.
• Mainly inhabited by the urban bourgeoisie.
• Some diagonal axes are drawn to facilitate communication with remote areas of the city.

Extensions appeared in Spanish cities around 1850.

Metropolitan Area

A type of conurbation (see concept 'conurbation'). The metropolitan city is the financial, cultural, administrative, and commercial center. Sometimes, the right to be the metropolitan capital is divided equally between two or more cities in the region. The example of the Manchester conurbation also serves as an example of a metropolitan area; it can be described as a set consisting of a series of satellite cities around a main political, administrative, and economic focus. In Spain, the main metropolitan areas are Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao.

City or CBD (Central Business District)

Business Center, the part of the city where the main centers of tertiary employment are located (shops, banks, businesses, hotels, restaurants, offices, etc.); it is the 'City' phenomenon (like the City of London), a central district of Western cities specializing in commercial banking. It has almost no overnight inhabitants but receives large flows of population during the day. It can be accessed easily from anywhere. The financial impact of such an urban area radiates beyond the regional or national level. Examples: City of London, Paris, New York. The 'City' should not be confused with the historical old town.

Old Town, or Historic Center

Is the oldest part of town, usually occupied by old buildings separated by narrow streets, and is the nucleus from which later urban areas developed. It is often a center of artistic and historical interest. It usually has an irregular plan. Its homes, often not in ideal conditions, were traditionally inhabited by the poorer classes. Although currently, there is a tendency for it to be inhabited by a higher social class due to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of its homes.

Dormitory City

City serving as a dormitory for people working in the city center, creating commuting patterns ('swings'). Dormitory towns arise on the periphery when people cannot afford housing in the city center or closer to industrial/residential construction areas. Land is cheaper, and houses are more modest, often lacking many facilities, whose absence is justified by the proximity of the city. Examples in Madrid: Parla, Coslada, Móstoles, etc.