Urban & Population Glossary: Key Terms Explained
Urban & Population Glossary
Demographic Concepts
Population Movements
Pendular Movements: Population movements of repetitive and moderate duration. The most common occur between places of residence and work, or between suburbs and central cities. This often results from the transfer of residence to the outskirts or rural areas near the city, which offer cheaper housing and a better environment.
Population Data
Municipal Register: The register of residents in each municipality. It collects demographic, economic, and social data about the population. It is a dynamic document that is updated on January 1st of each year.
Civil Registration: Official document that records births, marriages, and deaths.
Population Characteristics
Labor Force: The set of persons aged 16 and over who supply labor to produce goods and services, including those who are unemployed but seeking and available to join the workforce. The labor force comprises the employed and the unemployed.
Inactive Population: Composed of people who are 16 and older and are not active in the labor force. This includes retirees, pensioners, rentiers, the permanently disabled, students, and people doing unpaid work.
Population Dynamics
Old Demographic Regime: Demographic situation of pre-industrial societies, characterized by high birth and mortality rates and low natural growth due to crises causing excess mortality. In Spain, these conditions persisted until the early 20th century.
Modern Demographic Regime: Demographic situation in developed societies. Characterized by a decline in birth rates (in Spain since 1975 due to economic crisis and changing social mentalities) and consistently low mortality rates (with an upward trend due to population aging). Consequently, natural growth is low, with a tendency to be negative.
Population Projection: The forecast of population changes over a number of years. It serves as an important basis for political and administrative decisions (e.g., creation of school places, hospital beds, pensions, etc.).
Migratory Balance: The difference between immigration and emigration (immigrants minus emigrants). A positive result indicates net immigration, while a negative result indicates net emigration.
Overpopulation: The situation in which there is a disproportion between the population of a species in an area and its resources, which are insufficient for its maintenance.
Demographic Rates
Fertility Rate: The ratio between the number of births in a year and the number of women of childbearing age, expressed in per thousand.
Mortality Rate: The ratio between the number of deaths and the total population of a place in a year, expressed in per thousand.
Birth Rate: The ratio between the number of births and the population of a place in a year, expressed in per thousand.
Urban Concepts
Urban Planning
General Urban Plan: A staple of urban planning in municipalities. It classifies land (urban, developable, and undeveloped), determines the buildable area and road network, establishes fundamental elements of the municipality’s equipment system, and outlines environmental protection measures.
Urban Forms
Irregular Plane: Characteristic of cities with narrow, winding streets and squares without defined shapes.
Orthogonal Plane: Also called grid or checkerboard pattern. Characterized by streets that intersect at right angles.
Radiocentric Plane: Characterized by a central point from which radial streets depart, intersected by other streets forming concentric rings around the center. Can be regular or irregular.
Urban Features
Pedestrianization: A process often accompanying the rehabilitation of historic city centers, involving the conversion of traffic routes into pedestrian pathways (or a combination of both).
Second Home: Housing that is not a primary residence but is used for short periods (weekends, holidays). In Spain, these have proliferated since the 1980s, especially in the outskirts of major cities and tourist areas, due to increased living standards and car use.
Urban Systems
Urban System: The set formed by cities and the relationships established between them. Cities have characteristics (size and functions) that influence surrounding areas (local, regional, national, or global) and occupy a hierarchical position within the system.
Economic Aspects
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The sum of all goods and services produced in an area in a year, deducting the value of foreign goods and services used in production.
Outsourcing: The process by which the tertiary sector of the economy gains importance compared to other sectors (primary and secondary), both in terms of the active population employed in it and its contribution to GDP.
Infrastructure
Transport Network: The set of roads, airlines, railways, and waterways connecting different regions of a country, enabling the movement of people and goods between geographic areas.