Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context, 7e (Knox/Marston)
Chapter 11 Urbanization and the Global Urban System
11.1 Multiple Choice
1) By the mid-19th century, Manchester, England was one of the world’s leading industrial
centers, built around the manufacture and export of
A) cotton textiles.
B) steel and trains.
C) luxury food items like sugar and tea.
D) steam and diesel engines.
E) kitchen ware.
2) Primate cities are found in the world’s
A) core countries.
B) peripheral countries.
C) core and peripheral countries, both.
D) North.
E) South.
3) The urban system of which country is NOT centered around a primate city?
A) United States
B) England
C) France
D) Mexico
E) Argentina
4) According to statistics compiled by the World Bank, just over ________ of the world’s
population today lives in urban areas.
A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 100%
5) North America is about 80% urbanized. This mean that 80% of North American
A) cities contain 1 million or more people.
B) people live in cities.
C) territory is covered with urban structures like streets and commercial buildings.
D) resources are used in cities.
E) places are cities.
6) The very first region of independent urbanism was in
A) the Middle East.
B) the Baltics.
C) the Andes.
D) the Pearl River Delta.
E) Europe’s industrial core.
7) Early city-based societies (Mesopotamian, Mayan, Roman) flourished because of their ability
to control labor power and
A) reurbanize.
B) overurbanize.
C) counterurbanize.
D) impose taxes and exact tributes.
E) maintain traditional practices.
8) The specific roles of prominent urban settlements of medieval Europe include all of the
following except the role of
A) ecclesiastical center.
B) administrative center.
C) center of education.
D) defensive stronghold.
E) agricultural center.
9) In contrast to 16th century Spanish colonizers that established military and administrative
centers in the New World, Portuguese colonizers situated cities to
A) facilitate trade and commerce.
B) convert locals to Christianity.
C) replicate European lifestyles.
D) promote industrial development in the New World.
E) blend in as well as possible with the local environment and lifestyles.
10) The European cities growing the fastest by the year 1700 were
A) Atlantic coast cities through which resources from the colonies came.
B) Mediterranean cities through which Silk Road products flowed.
C) Southern European cities which retained the Roman trade networks.
D) Scandinavian cities because of their humane social programs.
E) country capitals, due to migrant labor from the Middle East and North Africa.
11) Which of the following is NOT true? Gateway cities
A) tend to be port cities.
B) were typically established by Europeans in their colonies.
C) are control centers providing access into and out of particular countries or regions.
D) have become the urban centers of the world’s core.
E) funneled mineral and agricultural resources from continental interiors to Europe.
12) Geographers are interested in urbanism as a
A) philosophy drawing people to urban settlements.
B) way of life that emerges in urban settings.
C) way of distinguishing refined and polite society from people of popular culture.
D) taxonomy by which cities in urban systems are categorized.
E) form of counterurbanization.
13) Manchester, England and Chicago, USA are both good examples of
A) shock cities.
B) gateway cities.
C) megacities.
D) colonial cities.
E) informal cities.
14) By the late 18th century and the Industrial Revolution, cities of Europe began to grow with
rural to urban migration and
A) rising birth rates.
B) falling death rates.
C) importation of slaves.
D) migration from Asia.
E) both rising birth rates and falling death rates.
15) Chicago’s explosive population growth of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was due to
industrialization and its excellent
A) railroad network.
B) natural resources.
C) educational system.
D) political leadership.
E) social programs.
16) European planning and construction of cities in the colonies was based on
A) European concepts, practices, and functional needs.
B) local environments and climate.
C) local cultures and preferences.
D) capitalist democratic principles.
E) building up local political and economic capacities.
17) The interdependent relationship between cities and settlements of different sizes and
functions within a given region is known as
A) urbanization.
B) urbanism.
C) urban ecology.
D) an urban system.
E) an urban form.
18) Central place theory explains the relative size and spacing of urban centers based on
A) markets and consumer behavior.
B) government planning.
C) cultural differences.
D) natural resources.
E) urban ecology.
19) In the context of urban systems, basic tenets of central place theory include all of the
following except
A) people will travel farther for more expensive, less frequently purchased goods.
B) the smallest settlements provide goods and services that meet everyday needs.
C) the larger the settlement, the greater the variety of specialized goods and services.
D) settlements of similar population sizes are grouped together.
E) the larger the settlement, the farther apart it will be from others of a similar size.
20) The Spanish urban system is dominated by
A) two cities of national scope (Madrid and Barcelona).
B) coastal cities (Bilbao, Valencia, Malaga).
C) the European Union.
D) Basque nationalists.
E) cities built around tourism and leisure activities.
21) The two largest cities in the U.S. are New York City and Los Angeles. The 2000 Census
provides evidence to suggest that cities in the United States tend to follow the rank-size rule.
Thus, the actual populations for NYC and LA are, in order,
A) 8 and 12.3 million.
B) 8 and 8 million.
C) 8 and 7.2 million.
D) 8 and 3.7 million.
E) 8 and 1 million.
22) The functional dominance (cultural, economic, political) of a city within an urban system is
known as
A) centrality.
B) primacy.
C) overurbanization.
D) reurbanization.
E) urban imperialism.
23) Today’s world cities are distinguished by being centers of all of the following except
A) international NGO and IGO headquarters.
B) major corporate headquarters.
C) world’s most powerful media organizations.
D) specialized and advanced business services.
E) industrial production for global mass consumption.
24) The definition of urban used by the World Bank is
A) 1,000 people.
B) 2,000 people.
C) 10,000 people.
D) 50,000 people.
E) if the population density exceeds 150 and this space has access to a settlement of more than
50,000 inhabitants within 60 minutes by road.
25) According to our text, urban growth in peripheral countries is a consequence of migration to
cities, stimulated largely by the onset of
A) war.
B) drought and famine.
C) the demographic transition.
D) pollution and disease.
E) structural adjustment programs.
26) The doubling time of some of the world periphery’s largest, fastest growing cities is
A) 6-12 months.
B) 10-20 years.
C) 50-70 years.
D) 100-150 years.
27) Urbanization in the world’s peripheral regions is the result of
A) rural outmigration.
B) economic development.
C) foreign investment.
D) effective urban planning.
E) transportation networks.
28) ________ occur(s) when cities grow faster than their ability to provide jobs, housing and
other basic needs.
A) Overurbanization
B) Decentralization
C) Megacities
D) Deindustrialization
E) Counterurbanization
29) Detroit, Michigan and Liverpool, England saved rock n’ roll through two features of cities
that enable innovation. They are inter-city relations and
A) migration flows.
B) established industries.
C) energy resources.
D) brownfield sites.
E) an urban subculture.
30) Megacities are determined by all of the following except their
A) primacy.
B) centrality.
C) size.
D) status as world city.
31) In the 1970s and 1980s, the United States entered a period of ________, during which time
there was a net loss of population from big cities to smaller towns and rural areas.
A) counterurbanization
B) reurbanization
C) overurbanization
D) splintering urbanism
E) urbanism
32) In 2025, 7 of the 10 biggest cities in the world will be in
A) Asia.
B) Africa.
C) North America.
D) South America.
E) Europe.
33) Given that urban populations are growing at twice the general population growth-rate, it is
likely that
A) urban areas have low unemployment.
B) urban areas have adequate housing.
C) there is a net movement of people from rural areas to urban areas.
D) people live better lives in urban areas than in rural areas.
34) Many of the world’s megacities
A) hold half of the world’s population.
B) are declining in population.
C) are more populated than about half of the countries in the United Nations.
D) follow the rank-size rule.
E) are gateway cities.
35) Urban settlements
A) both decrease the efficiency of economic activities and decrease the range of lifestyle choices
of inhabitants.
B) decrease the efficiency of economic activities.
C) decrease the range of lifestyle choices of inhabitants.
D) do not generate innovation and the development of new knowledge.
E) facilitate decision-making by public policymakers and private institutions.
36) Urban geographers are quite interested in all of the following except
A) how the identities of urban areas evolve.
B) relationships between urban areas and surrounding territory.
C) land-use within urban areas.
D) rural and pastoral areas.
37) ________ is an interdependent group of urban settlements in a given region.
A) An urban system
B) An urban form
C) Urban ecology
D) Urbanism
38) The physical structure and organization of cities is termed
A) urbanism.
B) urban form.
C) urban ecology.
D) urban system.
39) The feudal system in early medieval Europe was characterized by
A) rigid, rurally oriented forms of economic and social organization.
B) highly developed and widely distributed urban areas.
C) a general lack of warfare.
D) strong central governments that ruled large areas.
40) By 1400, long-distance trading in Europe
A) dealt primarily with luxury goods.
B) dealt primarily with energy resources.
C) was dominated by Paris.
D) centered on port cities.
E) was minimal compared to trade with China and Spanish colonies.
41) Spanish colonial towns were established primarily to
A) spread Catholicism to the natives.
B) serve as administrative and military centers.
C) provide education to the natives.
D) exploit nearby natural resources.
42) During the Renaissance in Europe, these urban areas grew the fastest.
A) towns where French was the dominant language
B) port cities
C) cities in the interior of France and the German states
D) cities in Russia
43) Most gateway cities were
A) ports.
B) located primarily in northern Germany and Scandinavia.
C) controlled by native elites.
D) in existence for at least a millennium.
44) The growth of cities in the nineteenth century was most closely linked with the
A) increased power of states.
B) increased size of states.
C) increased importance of industrialization.
D) decreased output of agriculture in rural areas.
E) increased amount of social services available in cities.
45) Shrinking industrial cities have
A) too much ‘shock’.
B) no ‘buzz’.
C) too much urbanism.
D) violated the rank-size rule.
E) spatial inequality.
46) The most important reason for Chicago’s emergence and large size is
A) religious.
B) military.
C) political.
D) industrial.
47) Which region has the largest percentage of its population living in urban regions?
A) North America
B) Latin America
C) Europe
D) Asia
E) Africa
48) Rapid urbanization is greatest in which of the following areas?
A) Africa
B) western Europe
C) China
D) South America
E) India
49) For decades since the middle of the 20th century, rural Chinese stayed in rural areas
primarily because
A) of religious reasons.
B) they needed to stay there to take care of their elders.
C) they were obligated to stay under a centuries-old feudal system.
D) the government forced them to stay.
50) Central place theory holds that the size and spacing of urban areas is a function of
A) government planning.
B) historical development of religious centers.
C) where people go to purchase goods and services.
D) the specific types of economic activity in the overall area studied.
51) People would most likely travel the farthest to
A) buy bread and milk.
B) see a professional sports event.
C) get a haircut.
D) get the car’s engine oil changed.
E) purchase a New York Times best seller.
52) Which of the following goods and services is most likely to be found in the largest
settlement?
A) hospital
B) beauty salon
C) supermarket
D) restaurant
E) drug store
53) Which of the following American cities is NOT a world city?
A) Los Angeles
B) Seattle
C) Chicago
D) New York City
54) Following the rank-size rule, if the population of the largest city in a country or region is 1
million, the fourth-largest city should contain about this many people.
A) 500,000
B) 400,000
C) 250,000
D) 133,000
E) 100,000