Key Concepts in Population and Urban Geography

Posted on Feb 5, 2025 in Geography

Key Concepts in Population Geography

Migration and Population Distribution

  • Emigration: The transfer of population from one place to another.
  • Emigrant: A person who leaves their place of residence.
  • Population Structure: The distribution of the population by sex and age. Its analysis is usually made by population pyramids, which reflect the birth rate, mortality, and population migration of a place.
  • Rural Exodus: A massive migratory movement of the population from rural to urban and industrial areas. It brings depopulation, aging of the countryside, and demographic imbalances.
  • Immigration: The arrival of a population from another territory.
  • Immigrant: A person who arrives from outside to a place.
  • Return Migration: Going back to the place of origin or habitual residence after having spent at least a year away.
  • Pendular Movements: Commuting that people do to go to work, school, etc.
  • Population Pyramid: A graph that represents the population structure of a territory at any given time. It is based on a histogram and consists of a representation of frequency distribution on a dual-axis coordinate system.
  • Labor Force: All persons of legal age to work (between 16 and 65) and who want to.
  • Employed Population: It is formed by people 16 years of age or older who, during the reference week of the survey or registration, have had paid employment or have been active on their own.
  • Net Migration: The difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants in a certain place and time.

Key Concepts in Urban Geography

Urban Areas and Structures

  • Metropolitan Area: A highly urbanized area that includes a central city and its surrounding peripheral zone, which can incorporate other contiguous satellite municipalities. It is characterized by being a well-connected space with interrelated urban functions.
  • Peri-urban Area: The area immediately adjacent to cities, characterized by the mixture of rural and urban uses. It has an increasing proportion of workers who travel daily to the central city.
  • Historic Suburbs: Located beyond the gates of the wall, outside the walled city delimited during the Middle Ages and modern times.
  • Bedroom Community: Arises near a big city to meet the urgent demands for housing caused by rapid rural exodus and high immigration. The labor population travels daily to work in the central city.
  • Garden City: Small towns on the outskirts of cities. Consisting of single-family homes, surrounded by green areas and with nearby services, well connected to urban centers.
  • Linear City: The aim was to develop the city and the countryside to create a city that grows through a long axis of communication, bordered by townhouses and gardens.
  • Ensanche: Planned urban areas raised in the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century. They follow a grid plan.
  • Habitat: Living space.
  • CBD (Central Business District): The downtown area of a city, home to the most select business activity, trade, commerce, etc. Good accessibility, traffic concentration, and tall buildings due to high land prices.
  • Downtown: Some sectors into which a metropolitan area is divided, comprising the historic old town or the older extensions.
  • Urban Structure: The structure is how the parts of a city are arranged.
  • Metropolis: Major cities, large and with high influence in the urban network as a business and financial center.
  • Urban System: A set of cities interconnected by various links.