Vocab and Concepts
 Central Place Theory
 Site vs. Situation
 CBD
 Suburbs
 Shantytowns / favelas
 Suburban sprawl
 Edge cities
 Primate Cities
 Rank-size rule
 Gentrification
 New Urbanism
New Vocab
 White Flight – Middle class (not always white) residents
leaving the urban center for the suburbs
 WASPs –White Anglo-Saxon (British) Protestants
 Federal Home Loan Programs – Laws like the G.I. Bill made
affordable loans available to millions of Americans after
WWII
 Levittowns – Quickly made homes / towns that were made
to keep pace with demand after WWII
New Vocab
 Colonial cities – Cities with origins as centers of colonial
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trade or administration. Many of these cities retain their
European-style buildings and street design (Mumbai, India)
Gateway Cities - Places where immigrants enter a new
country (New York, Miami)
Megacities – City with population over 10 million people
Megalopolis – Two or more cities and their urbanized areas
merge together (N.E. US)
World cities – global center for finance, trade, commerce
(New York, London, Tokyo)
Resource vs. Transportation Nodes
Resource
Transportation
 Towns or cities founded
 City founded because two
because of their proximity
to a natural resource
 Example: Sacramento
(gold)
or more lines of
transportation intersect
 Example: San Francisco
Forms of Settlements
Dispersed Settlements
Common in Western US
Linear Settlements
Common in Europe but found
everywhere. Follows road or river
(transportation)
Nucleated Settlements
Found mostly in England and Central
Europe. Defined by settlements
around central market or church
Concentric Zone Model
First observed by Ernest Burgess during his studies of Chicago. Can apply to many
North American cities.
Sector Model
The Hoyt Sector Model developed by Homer Hoyt in 1939. The model
can also be applied to North American cities and accounts for ethnic and
affluent neighborhoods.
Multiple Nuclei Model
Pioneered by Chauncey Harris
and Edward Ullman in their
observations of North
American cities as the suburbs
developed. Note the
development of outlying
business districts
Galactic City or Peripheral Model
The Galactic City model is also observed in North America and represents the rising importance of
suburban CBDs.
Latin American City Model
Obviously found in Latin America.
This model reflects the regions
European Colonial past. Specifically,
cities in Latin America reflect the
Spanish influence and the Laws of the
Indies which governed the way cities
were built. For instance, many cities
will feature a plaza or central square
and a main road leading out from the
plaza.
Fall Line Cities
 Cities that are as far up a
coastal river that a boat can
travel before waterfall or
narrowing river. This forces
goods to be offloaded to
another form of
transportation
 Example: Albany, New York