Urban Geography and City Planning Terms

Urban Geography and City Planning Terms

Plano

Plano. Graphic representation of a city that uses a very detailed scale, about 1:5,000, to analyze its characteristics.

Urban functions

Urban functions. All economic activities — trade, financial and social functions — performed in the city.

CBD (Central Business District)

CBD (Central Business District). Area of the city that is home to major employment centers in the service sector: businesses, banks, and government institutions.

Bedroom cities

Bedroom cities. Residential districts or towns on the outskirts of large cities where people live and commute daily to work in the central city.

Substandard housing

Substandard housing. Housing that lacks the minimum conditions for safe and healthy human habitation.

Slums

Slums. Areas characterized by poor-quality housing and inadequate construction, often built in suburban or peripheral areas as a symptom of social poverty.

Arrabal

Arrabal. Quarter outside the precincts of the main population to which it belongs.

Parapet

Parapet. In Arab cities, a street at the edge of the urban area, of irregular shape and attached to the walls.

Burgo

Burgo. Neighborhoods that appeared in the Middle Ages along trade routes, near fortresses and cities. Merchants sought protection there to settle permanently.

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor. Key element of the Renaissance and Baroque urban landscape, functioning as the town hall and the social center.

Expansion

Expansion. Plan outside the old town that involves the demolition of existing walls and fences. It arose from the lack of developable land and the demand for housing by both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in industrial cities.

Ciudad Lineal

Ciudad Lineal. Designed by Arturo Soria, it included basic services such as water, sewerage, and electricity. It was served by a tram whose stations were located near community centers, businesses, and public services. The houses were detached, with orchards and gardens, and building density was low.

Subsidised housing

Subsidised housing. Housing of less than 90 square meters of floor space that receives state aid through grants and tax measures.

General Urban Plans

General Urban Plans. Urban development projects that aim to locate and shape key elements of the city (layout of streets, squares, etc.) and to design the processes for implementation.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation. Improving and maintaining buildings of historical interest while preserving urban structures.

Conurbations

Conurbations. Union of two or more cities that are related by trade and economic ties but retain their own administrative autonomy.

Metropolitan areas

Metropolitan areas. Territories in which a central city dominates financially, economically, and administratively over a number of nearby cities, with a highly developed and integrated transport and communications system.

Population

Population. It consists of men and women of working age and is composed of two groups: people who are working and those who want to work but cannot.

Hinterland

Hinterland. Territory around a city where the city and its functions exercise an area of influence related to the services offered.