Key Concepts in Urban Geography and Primary Sector Economics
Urban Geography Terminology
Metropolitan Area
Definition: An urban area formed by a central city and adjoining communities, featuring a transport and communications system connecting the central city with its area of influence.
Historic Center
Features: Flat, irregular, compact urban fabric, low-altitude buildings, mixed land use, and a blending of diverse social groups.
Business District (CBD)
Definition: The part of the city concentrating superior urban functions, high specialization, directives of the financial and corporate sectors, and public and private services. Urban areas with a higher accessibility index experience a higher impact on land price.
Dormitory Town
Definition: Housing estates built in the metropolitan peripheries to address urgent housing demands.
Garden City
Definition: An urban planning realization based on the integration of the city and countryside (concept proposed by Ebenezer Howard).
Conurbation
Definition: The union of two or more cities that form a continuous morphological agglomeration.
Chabolismo (Slum/Shantytown)
Definition: A suburban residential occupancy model of spontaneous, improvised character, composed of substandard housing without basic infrastructure.
Urban Isochrones
Definition: Lines that join points of the city or its surroundings from which it takes the same amount of time to access the city center.
Urban Isoprecios (Isocost Lines)
Definition: Lines that connect the various parts of the city from which the movement to the city center costs the same amount of money.
Urban Hierarchy
Definition: Classification of cities according to their order of importance in terms of demographics, economics, trade, or polyfunctional/directional roles.
Peri-Urban Area (Peri)
Definition: The peripheral area of the city subject to the advance of urbanization and the front formed by the surrounding rural fringe.
Primary Sector Terminology
Market-Oriented Agriculture
Definition: Agricultural production entirely directed to the market. It is characterized by specialization, incorporation of advanced techniques, use of agrochemicals, and cost optimization. If the market is not regulated, there is a risk of price instability.
Sharecropping
Definition: A lease or rental arrangement for land, currently in decline. The owner provides the means of production and land in exchange for a portion of the harvest.
Lease (Land Rental)
Definition: A land rental contract that sets in advance a fixed amount of money for the farmer to pay the owner. The owner does not have to provide the means of production, and the farmer can decide freely on the working of the plot.
Land Concentration (Consolidation)
Definition: A set of operations for the redistribution of rural plots within a territory, grouped together into larger, more regular units with easier access.
Gravelled Crops (Enarenado)
Definition: Crops grown using a technique consisting of superimposing a layer of sand over another fertile soil layer to prevent the evaporation of water in areas of intense sunlight.
Paddock (Holdings)
Definition: Holdings dominated by arboreal plants (often used for grazing or agroforestry).
Extensive Cattle Farming
Definition: Characterized by low yields obtained per hectare and per head of livestock. It involves few means of production, low-cost production, reliance on stubble and pasture grasses, and scarce labor.
Latifundio (Large Estate)
Definition: A traditional agrarian structure characterized by large size, low yields in agriculture or livestock exploitation, absence of intensive cultivation, and work carried out by poor laborers receiving low wages.
Monoculture
Definition: A cropping system that devotes all plots on a farm to a single crop.
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Objectives
The CAP aims to achieve several goals, including:
- Increasing agricultural productivity.
- Ensuring an equitable and dignified standard of living for the agricultural community.
- Stabilizing markets.
- Security of facilities and ensuring supply to consumers at reasonable prices.
- Environmental protection.
- Development of the most backward regions.
Transhumance
Definition: The seasonal movement of livestock and people in order to reach natural pastures, following fixed paths (primarily for sheep).
Aquaculture
Definition: The art of multiplying and cultivating aquatic plants or animals, often involving caging and fish farms (piscifactories).