Tuesday, 20 March 2012

World Cities Key Terms


Glossary terms 

World Cities

City Challenge partnerships – These were based on a system of competitive bidding by local authorities who had to develop imaginative plans involving the private sector and the local community to gain funding

Counter-urbanization – this is the migration of people from major urban areas to smaller towns, villages or rural areas – often ‘leap-frogging’ the green belt

Energy recovery – the use of methods such as incineration and composting to turn unwanted waste into useful energy

Gentrification – this is the process by which older, often rundown housing areas (usually close to the city centre) become desirable once again and are physically and socially upgraded

Infrastructure – the basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society

Megacity – a city with more than 10 million inhabitants

Millionaire city – a city with more than 1 million inhabitants

Out-of-town retailing – Born from the desire for one-stop shopping. Large retail centres offering a multiplicity of services have developed on the outskirts of large towns and cities and often have their own motorway exits for ease of access

Prestige project developments – also known as ‘flagship projects’ as they involve the creation of innovative and eye-catching developments which aim to lead the way in regenerating areas

Property-led regeneration – a form of redevelopment largely associated with urban development corporations (UDCs), with the intention that private investment would be four to five times greater than the public money initially invested

Re-urbanization – this is the movement of people back into urban areas, particularly the inner city or the CBD

Suburbanization – this is the process of population movement (and increasingly industry and retail) from the central areas of cities to the outskirts (the suburbs), often engulfing surrounding villages/rural areas

Sustainability – sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. It can be categorized into economic, environmental and social sustainability

Urban development corporation (UDC) – UCDs were set up in the 1980s and 1990s to take responsibility for the physical, economic and social regeneration of selected inner-city areas with large amounts of derelict and vacant land

Urban growth – an increase in the number of urban dwellers. Classifications of urban dwellers depend on the census definitions of urban areas, which vary from county to county. They usually include one or more of the following criteria: population size, population density, average distance between buildings within a settlement, legal and/or administrative boundaries

Urbanization – this is the growth in proportion of a country’s population that lives in towns/cities as opposed to rural areas    

 Waste management – the clearance of unwanted by-products of human activity. This is a key sustainability issue as much waste present health dangers to people and other organisms, as well as problems of using up space

World city – a city which has global influence as a major centre for finance, trade, politics and culture


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