Key Urban and Population Concepts Explained
Key Urban and Population Concepts
Metropolitan Area
It's a large urban sprawl surrounding a major city, administratively encompassing several towns with significant economic and social relations.
Periurban Area
Also known as a suburban area, it's a zone with imprecise boundaries, characterized by mixed land uses and lifestyles specific to both rural and urban environments (agriculture, industry).
Population Census
This is an individual count of a country's population at a specific time. It collects demographic, economic, and social data. Typically conducted every 10 years.
Natural Population Growth
The difference between the number of births and the number of deaths in a population.
Urban Sprawl (Eixample)
In urban planning, this refers to expansion outside the old city due to a lack of land for development.
Rural Exodus
This refers to emigration, usually of young people, from rural areas to cities.
Urban Hierarchy
A hierarchical system of cities organized by demographic size, functions, and the extent of their area of influence.
Urban Morphology
The external appearance of a city, influenced by its site and urban condition, resulting from a combination of plan, construction, and land use.
Register Office
An administrative record showing all inhabitants of a municipality. It also collects demographic, economic, and social data, updated on January 1st each year.
Population Pyramids
A graph showing the structure of a population by sex and age at a given time.
Orthogonal Plan
A type of urban planning where a city is organized with streets at right angles, creating rectangular blocks.
Radiocentric Plan
An urban plan characterized by a center from which radial streets extend, intersected by others that form rings around the center, which may be regular or irregular.
Urban Rehabilitation
The rehabilitation of deteriorated urban areas, usually funded by the state and carried out according to urban planning guidelines.
Net Migration
The balance between immigration and emigration in a population.
System of Cities
(Definition needed)
Crude Birth Rate
(Definition needed)
Birth Rate
The relationship between the number of births in a given period (usually one year) and the total population during the same period.
Unemployment Rate
(Definition needed)
Demographic Transition
The shift from an old demographic regime to the present one. This stage is characterized by a mild decrease in birth rate, a sharp decline in mortality, and therefore a high natural growth rate.