World cities

World cities

1. megacity= more than 10 million people

   • Millionaire city= over 1 million inhabitants

2. World city= a city that acts as a major centre for finance, trade, business, politics, culture, science etc

   • Serving not just a country or a region but the whole world

3. Urbanisation= the growth in the proportion of a country's population that lives in urban not rural areas.

4. Globalisation= Increasing economic integration of countries, especially in terms of trade and the movement of capital

5. Informationalisation= the increasing importance of the information- based sector of the economy which relies on electronic data transfer

6. Synergy= When two or more companies, groups or individuals achieve mutual benefits by working closely together

7. Suburb= a residential area outside a city's central area but within, or just outside, the city

8. Suburbanisation= population movement from the central areas of cities towards the suburbs on the outskirts or the rural-urban fringe

9. Counter-urbanisation= population of cities falls as people move out beyond the rural-urban fringe into areas that are truly rural

10. Re-urbanisation= the movement of people back to live in old city centres which have been redeveloped

11. Housing association= independent non-profit-making organisation for managing, building and renovating housing. Funded by central government through the Housing Corporation they can also receive funds from local authorities

12. Eco-quarter= bids will be invited from local authorities for £15 million to 'retrofit' existing homes with energy saving measures.

    • Retrofit= makes changes to improve the structure of buildings to incorporate technological advances that were not available when the buildings were originally constructed.

13. Comparison goods= bought less often than convenience goods. Include clothes shoes, electrical and household goods, for which people make shopping trips to compare prices etc

14. Total diversion rate= the amount of material that is recycled and/or composted instead of going to landfill