Urban Geography Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Urban Geography distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

PiqCue — piqcue.com/urban-geography/cheatsheet

Quick Reference

Concentric Zone Model

Ernest Burgess's (1925) model depicting the city as a series of rings expanding outward from a central business district. Each zone has distinct land uses and social characteristics, with transition zones, working-class housing, middle-class residences, and commuter zones radiating outward.

Sector Model

Homer Hoyt's (1939) model proposing that cities grow in wedge-shaped sectors along transportation routes rather than in uniform concentric rings. Similar land uses extend outward from the center along highways, rail lines, or rivers.

Multiple Nuclei Model

Harris and Ullman's (1945) model recognizing that cities develop around several distinct centers of activity rather than a single CBD. Different nuclei attract compatible land uses and repel incompatible ones.

Urban Sprawl

The unplanned, low-density expansion of urban development into previously rural or undeveloped land, typically characterized by automobile dependence, separated land uses, and dispersed commercial strips.

Primate City

A city that is disproportionately larger than the second-largest city in its country, typically at least twice as large. Primate cities dominate national economic, political, and cultural life.

Gentrification (Geographic Perspective)

The spatial process of neighborhood transformation in which higher-income groups move into lower-income urban areas, altering the physical landscape through renovation and new construction while reshaping the social and cultural geography of the neighborhood.

World City / Global City

A city that serves as a major node in the global economic system, characterized by concentrations of corporate headquarters, financial services, international organizations, and cultural institutions that connect national economies to global networks.

Urban Heat Island

The geographic phenomenon where urban areas experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas due to the concentration of heat-absorbing surfaces (asphalt, concrete), reduced vegetation, and anthropogenic heat generation.

Residential Segregation

The spatial separation of population groups across neighborhoods based on race, ethnicity, income, or other characteristics. It results from historical policies, market forces, and social discrimination that concentrate groups in distinct geographic areas.

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing proportion of a population comes to live in cities, driven by rural-to-urban migration, natural population growth in cities, and the reclassification of rural areas as they become urban in character.

Key Terms at a Glance

Bid-Rent Theory:The idea that different land users compete for central locations, with those willing to pay the most occupying the most accessible sites.

Census Tract:A small, relatively permanent geographic area used for census data collection and analysis of urban demographics.

Central Business District (CBD):The commercial and often geographic heart of a city, characterized by the highest land values, density, and concentration of offices and retail.

Central Place Theory:Christaller's model explaining the hierarchical distribution of cities based on market areas for goods and services.

Concentric Zone Model:Burgess's model of the city as concentric rings radiating outward from the CBD.

Counter-Urbanization:The movement of population from large cities to smaller towns and rural areas.

Dissimilarity Index:A measure of residential segregation indicating the percentage of a group that would need to move for even spatial distribution.

Edge City:A suburban concentration of employment and commercial activity outside the traditional downtown.

Gentrification:Neighborhood transformation as higher-income residents displace lower-income inhabitants, altering the physical and social landscape.

GIS:Geographic Information Systems — technology for capturing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data.

Global City:A city serving as a command center for the global economy with concentrated financial and producer services.

Hinterland:The surrounding area served by and economically connected to a central city.

Megacity:An urban agglomeration with a population exceeding 10 million people.

Multiple Nuclei Model:Harris and Ullman's model of cities developing around several distinct activity centers.

Periurban Zone:The transitional area between urban and rural land with mixed uses and rapid change.

Get study tips in your inbox

We'll send you evidence-based study strategies and new cheat sheets as they're published.

We'll notify you about updates. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.