Contemporary Urban Environments Definitions and Case Studies

Urbanisation - Definitions

• Urbanisation: the growth in the proportion of people living in urban areas
• Suburbanisation: the migration of people from city centres to the outskirts of cities
• Counter-urbanisation: the movement of people out of the city and into surrounding villages and rural areas
• Urban resurgence: the movement of people back into the city centre
• Megacity: an urban area with over 10 million people living there, e.g. Istanbul (often have people living at opposite extremes, dominate the country’s economy)
• World city: a city that has political and financial influence over the whole world, e.g. London (dominate international trade, centres for culture, are leaders of banking)
• Deindustrialisation: the reduction of industrial activity within a country (causes unemployment)
• Decentralisation: when businesses relocate to the suburbs due to increased land prices in the city centre
• Urban development Corporation: agencies that use private sector funding to restore derelict areas
• Enterprise Zone: an area with state incentives, e.g. reduced tax to encourage business development
• City challenge: local authorities competed for gov funding to regenerate deprived areas. Work with local community and private companies
• Urban form: the physical characteristics that make up a city, including size, shape, population density, land use
• Postmodern city: an urban form associated with changes in urban structure, architectural design and planning reflects the changed social and economic conditions of the late 20th century

Oldham,…