| A | B |
|---|
| Annexation | Legally adding land area to a city in the United States |
| Census Tract | An area delineated by the US Bureau of the Census for which statistics are published; in urbanized areas, these correspond roughly to neighborhoods |
| Concentric Zone Model | A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spacially arranged in a series of rings |
| Council of government | A cooperative agency consisting of representatives of local governments in a metropolitan area in the United States |
| Density Gradient | The change in density in an urban area from the center of periphery |
| Edge City | A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area |
| Filtering | A process of change in the use of a house, from single family owner occupancy to abandonment |
| Gentrification | A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area |
| Greenbelt | A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area |
| Metropolitan Statistical Area | (MSA) In the US, a central city of at least 50,000 populatoin the county within the city is located, and adjacent counties meeting one of several tests indication a functional connection to the central city |
| Multiple Nuclei Model | A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities |
| Peripheral Model | A model of North American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road |
| Public Housing | Housing owned by the government; in the United States, it is rented to low-income residents, and the rents are set at 30% of the families' incomes |
| Redlining | A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries |
| Rush (or Peak) hour | The four consecutive 15-minute periods in the morning and evening with the heaviest volumes of traffic |
| Sector Model | A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges, radiating out from the central business district |
| Sprawl | Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built up area |
| Squatter Settlement | An area within a city in a less developed country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect home-made structures |
| Underclass | A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics |
| Urban Renewal | Program in which cities identify blighted inner-city neighborhoods, aquire the properties from private owners, relocate the residents and businesses, cleare the site, build new roads and utilities, and turn the land over to private developers |
| Urbanization | An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements |
| Urbanized Area | In the United States, a central city plus its contiguous built-up suburbs |
| Zoning Ordinance | A law that limits the permitted uses of land and maximum density of development in a community |
