Chapter 13 Learning Guide – Urban Patterns
Key Issue 4 – Why Do Suburbs Face Distinctive Challenges?
Pgs. 424 – 434
Urban Expansion
1. What is annexation?
2. What is required before an area can be annexed by a city?
3. In the past, why did peripheral areas desire annexation?
4. What has changed?
5. Define city:
6. What are the three (3) basic characteristics of a city?
7. Define urbanized area:
8. What is the functional area of a city?
9. What does the MSA include?
10. Define council of government:
11. What is a Megalopolis?
12. What is the Megalopolis from Boston to D.C. called?
The Peripheral Model
13. List the elements of an urban area according to the peripheral model.
14. Complete the table below regarding peripheral areas.
Problems They Lack
Problems They Have
15. Define edge city:
16. Describe the density gradient of an urban area.
17. In what two (2) ways has the density gradient changed in recent years?
18. Define sprawl:
19. What is meant by the statement: the “periphery of U.S. cities looks like Swiss
cheese”?
20. What has prevented the peripheries of European cities from looking like
Swiss cheese?
21. What is smart growth?
22. Describe how “smart growth” laws have been designed in the following
states?
Maryland
Oregon & Tennessee
Suburban Segregation
23. In what two (2) ways are suburban areas segregated?
24. What is a zoning ordinance?
25. What is the strongest criticism of U.S. suburbs?
Transportation & Suburbanization
26. Fill in the flow chart describing how developments in transportation affected
the residential pattern of American cities.
Pedestrian Phase



Streetcar
Phase



Automobile Phase
27. Identify two (2) ways in which the U.S. Government has encouraged the use
of motor vehicles by its citizens.
28. What is rush hour and how much of a city’s traffic does it account for?
29. List four (4) ways in which public transportation is better than an
automobile.
30. Briefly describe what has happened (or is happening) to each of the
following modes of public transportation in U.S. cities.
Trolleys
Buses
Rapid Transit
(subway &
fixed rail line)
Chapter 13 Learning Guide – Urban Patterns
Key Issue 4 – Why Do Suburbs Face Distinctive Challenges?
Pgs. 424 – 434
Urban Expansion
1. What is annexation?
Process of legally adding land area to a city
2. What is required before an area can be annexed by a city?
Majority of the residents in the affected area have to vote in favor of being
annexed
3. In the past, why did peripheral areas desire annexation?
Because the city offered better services such as water supply, sewage
disposal, trash pickup, police & fire protection
4. What has changed?
Resident prefer to organize their own services rather than pay city taxes
for them
5. Define city:
Urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent,
self-governing unit
6. What are the three (3) basic characteristics of a city?
-
Elected officials
Ability to raise taxes
Responsibility for providing essential services
7. Define urbanized area:
The city and the surrounding built-up suburbs
8. What is the functional area of a city?
Metropolitan Statistical Area
9. What does the MSA include?
- Urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000
- The county in which the city is located
- Adjacent counties with high population density & large percentage of
resident working in the central city’s county
10. Define council of government:
Cooperative agency consisting of representatives from the various local
governments in the region
11. What is a Megalopolis?
Greek work meaning “great city”
12. What is the Megalopolis from Boston to D.C. called?
Boswash or Boswash Corridor
The Peripheral Model
13. List the elements of an urban area according to the peripheral model.
Urban area with an inner city surrounded by residential & business area
tied together by a ring road or beltway
14. Complete the table below regarding peripheral areas.
Problems They Lack
-Severe social, physical & economic
inner-city problems
Problems They Have
- Sprawl & segregation
15. Define edge city:
Nodes of business & consumer services that are on the edge of an urban
area
16. Describe the density gradient of an urban area.
Number of houses per unit of land diminishes as the distance from the
center of the city increases
17. In what two (2) ways has the density gradient changed in recent years?
-
Fewer people living in the center creating a gap
Fewer differences in density within urban areas
18. Define sprawl:
Progressive spread of development over the landscape
19. What is meant by the statement: the “periphery of U.S. cities looks like Swiss
cheese”?
Developers favor detached isolated sites so there are pockets of
development next to gaps of open space
20. What has prevented the peripheries of European cities from looking like
Swiss cheese?
Cities are surrounded by greenbelts where new housing is built in old
suburbs inside greenbelt or in new towns beyond the greenbelt
21. What is smart growth?
Legislation and regulation to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland
22. Describe how “smart growth” laws have been designed in the following
states?
Maryland
- Prohibits state from funding new
highways & projects that would
extend suburban sprawl & destroy
farmland
Oregon & Tennessee
- Created growth boundaries for
new development
Suburban Segregation
23. In what two (2) ways are suburban areas segregated?
-
Social classes
Land uses
24. What is a zoning ordinance?
Prevented the mixing of land uses within the same district
25. What is the strongest criticism of U.S. suburbs?
Low-income folks & minorities are unable to live in suburbs due to cost &
unfriendliness of residents
Transportation & Suburbanization
26. Fill in the flow chart describing how developments in transportation affected
the residential pattern of American cities.
Pedestrian Phase
- People lived in
crowded cities
because they had to
be in walking
distance of
employment & shops



Streetcar
Phase



Automobile Phase
- People could move out to - Permitted larger
suburbs & commute to
scale development of
work in central city
suburbs at greater
distances from the
center & allowed for
greater flexibility in
choice of residence
27. Identify two (2) ways in which the U.S. Government has encouraged the use
of motor vehicles by its citizens.
-
By paying for high-speed interstate highways
Keeping fuel costs in the U.S. below the costs in Europe
28. What is rush hour and how much of a city’s traffic does it account for?
-
Peak hour with the heaviest traffic
40% of all traffic
29. List four (4) ways in which public transportation is better than an
automobile.
-
Moving large numbers of people
Cheaper
Less pollution
- More energy efficient
30. Briefly describe what has happened (or is happening) to each of the
following modes of public transportation in U.S. cities.
Trolleys
Buses
Rapid Transit
(subway &
fixed rail line)
- 30,000 miles of track in early 1900’s to just a few hundred
remaining
- Declined from 11 billion riders in 1940’s to 6 billion in the
21st century
- New subway lines have been created to attract new
passengers; modernization of subway lines; riders have
increased by 1 billion in 10 years