Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context, 7e (Knox/Marston)
Chapter 12 City Spaces: Urban Structure
12.1 Multiple Choice
1) U.S. suburbanization is associated with all of the following except
A) high use of automobiles for commuting.
B) efficient use of space.
C) inner city poverty and decay.
D) taking the tax base out of inner cities.
E) loss of prime agricultural land.
2) On maps like the Washington, D.C. metro map, the region where most of the subway lines
intersect is most probably the
A) CBD.
B) zone of transition.
C) suburbs.
D) exurbs.
E) edge cities.
3) As accessibility and utility decline in a concentric zone model of the city, land use generally
changes from
A) high-volume retailing to residential.
B) residential to warehousing.
C) factories to high-volume retailing.
D) warehousing to factories.
4) The urban land use model is sometimes referred to as the trade-off model because people
make a trade-off between accessibility and
A) living space.
B) crime.
C) jobs.
D) leisure activities.
E) public transportation.
5) It is clear that a critical assumption behind the concentric zone model of a city is that it has an
isotropic surface, meaning that the model city
A) is flat, uniform and barrier free.
B) does not have motorized transportation.
C) only has streets that are parallel and perpendicular to each other.
D) has high buildings in the center which get lower with distance outward.
E) is located on a slope, like a mountain side.
6) Which of the following is NOT a specific advantage of congregation to urban minority
groups?
A) It helps the minority groups merge with other minority groups.
B) It helps maintain and preserve the culture of the minority groups.
C) It provides mutual support networks for members of the minority group.
D) It helps preserve minority group membership and identity.
E) It provides a power base and a defense in relation to the host society.
7) Though congregation can be voluntary, segregation is when congregation is combined with
A) discrimination.
B) counterurbanization.
C) immigration.
D) redlining.
E) the fiscal squeeze.
8) The characteristics by which urban minority groups are typically defined and congregate
typically include
A) race.
B) language and religion.
C) nationality.
D) sexual orientation or lifestyle.
E) race, language, religion, nationality, and sexual orientation or lifestyle.
9) In the concentric zone model of cities, the zone of transition typically begins at the dynamic
outer edge of a city’s
A) central business district.
B) factory area.
C) warehouse district.
D) residential neighborhoods.
E) suburban neighborhoods.
10) In urban areas, the value of land is a function of its accessibility—to markets, clients,
amenities, clients, etc. As a consequence, the very most expensive land in North American cities
is especially characterized by
A) high-rise office buildings and skyscrapers.
B) large homes, mansions and fenced-in yards.
C) shopping malls with big parking lots.
D) factories and warehouses.
E) schools, hospitals and other public buildings.
11) In North American cities, distant suburbs are often preferred by the affluent and poorer
households occupy high-density areas near the city center. Thus, the trade-off model accounts for
the trade-off between
A) accessibility and space.
B) congregation and segregation.
C) invasion and succession.
D) edge cities and central business districts.
E) nature and society.
12) Detroit’s unique geography is characterized by its
A) low population density.
B) large urban footprint.
C) great transportation networks and corridors.
D) expanses of single plot housing.
E) low population density, large urban footprint, great transportation network and corridors, and
expanses of single plot housing.
13) The invasion of older, centrally-located working-class neighborhoods by higher-income
professionals in search of character and convenience is called
A) gentrification.
B) congregation.
C) smart growth.
D) urban ecology.
E) the fiscal squeeze.
14) When increased demand for urban services combines with a shrinking tax base (where
businesses and affluent people move out to the suburbs and beyond), central cities around the
country struggle with
A) the fiscal squeeze.
B) urban sprawl.
C) invasion and succession.
D) isotopic surfaces.
E) how to fill ecological niches.
15) The fiscal squeeze has made it extremely difficult for central cities to address a wide variety
of urban problems. Which of the following is NOT directly one of such problems faced by
central cities?
A) urban sprawl
B) poverty
C) neighborhood decay
D) infrastructure decay
E) overcrowding
16) By making loans unattainable to people in certain neighborhoods, the practice of ________
compounds the difficulty in achieving inner city improvements.
A) microlending
B) gentrification
C) redlining
D) postmodernism
E) fiscal squeezing
17) Redlining is, most specifically, a form of
A) gender poverty.
B) housing discrimination.
C) gentrification.
D) ethnic succession.
E) fiscal squeezing.
18) In 2008, it was estimated that the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars cost about $3 trillion.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2013, this is a bit less than what is
needed to
A) bring the country’s infrastructure up to acceptable standards.
B) establish a rail network in the United States.
C) eliminate smog.
D) create 20 new cities in the American heartland.
E) establish new subway systems in San Francisco, Detroit and New Orleans.
19) European cities are different from North American cities largely because European cities
A) have long histories of numerous periods of urban development.
B) did not grow according to competitive land markets.
C) do not suffer from problems of infrastructure decay and poverty.
D) have almost no ethnic congregation and segregation.
20) Which of the following is NOT true? Compared to U.S. cities, European cities
A) are more compact.
B) have lower skylines.
C) usually have central squares and marketplaces.
D) have lower population densities.
E) are more socioeconomically stable.
21) The Beaux Arts style of architecture was
A) used in the urban redevelopment and planning of Paris in the 19th century.
B) the name given by European orientalists for the architecture of the Islamic city.
C) the unique style of construction used in New Orleans to withstand flooding.
D) what has made Quebec City a UNESCO World Heritage site.
E) a replication of classical Greek and Roman styles of architecture.
22) The Modern movement of the early 20th century was based on the idea that cities should be
designed and run like
A) machines.
B) biological organisms.
C) corporations.
D) ant colonies.
E) democracies.
23) The most compelling feature of the International Style of urban design and architecture was
that it was quite
A) inexpensive.
B) artistic.
C) environmental.
D) energy efficient.
E) culturally sensitive.
24) The tradition of urban design that has imposed more uniformity on the big cities of the world
than any other is
A) the Beaux Arts style.
B) the Modern movement.
C) the International Style.
D) the Global Village style.
E) McDonaldization.
25) The best example of where environmental responses and social and cultural values are
integrated into urban form and design is found in the
A) Modern movement.
B) Islamic city.
C) North American city.
D) International Style.
E) boomburbs.
26) Of the following, which is NOT among the fundamentals of urban layout and design that
stem from the Holy Qur’an and that guide development of traditional Islamic cities?
A) emphasis on personal privacy and virtue
B) communal well-being
C) the inner essence of things
D) the outer appearance of things
27) Suqs, kasbahs, jamis and medinas are typically found in
A) Islamic cities.
B) West European cities.
C) East European cities.
D) cities designed by Le Corbusier.
E) Postmodern cities.
28) The stark contrast of high-rise modern office buildings and luxury housing with the slums
and shantytowns of unintended metropolises is visual evidence of their
A) dualism.
B) multiculturalism.
C) gentrification.
D) economic development.
E) isotropism.
29) Gecekondus (Turkey), favelas (Brazil), gourbevilles (North Africa) and bustees (India) all
refer to urban
A) squatter settlements.
B) market places.
C) open spaces.
D) high rent neighborhoods.
E) transportation networks.
30) The informal economies of peripheral cities
A) often benefit consumers in the core.
B) mainly involved illegal activities such as drug and gun smuggling, prostitution and gambling.
C) rarely involved children.
D) are insignificant compared to their formal economies.
E) have significantly declined over the last couple of decades.
31) Contributing to the unprecedented population growth that has made Lagos, Nigeria a shock
city are all of the following except
A) replacement of informal economic activities with high-paying, formal jobs.
B) the discovery of oil.
C) the demographic transition.
D) political independence.
32) Shantytowns and squatter housing are growing in the unintended metropolises of the
periphery due to
A) poverty and the lack of affordable housing.
B) the lack of engineers and developers with the skills to build homes.
C) environmental conditions that make permanent housing difficult to build.
D) misleading advertising.
E) unavailability of construction materials.
33) The decentralized commercial and office districts that have emerged on the fringes of
metropolitan areas near such features as freeway interchanges and airports have been called
A) edge cities.
B) 100-mile cities.
C) polycentric metropolises.
D) boomburbs.
E) metroburbia
34) Proponents of urban growth and expansion support urban sprawl because it
A) enhances open and public spaces.
B) reduces reliance on the automobile.
C) discourages segregation.
D) is an efficient use of space and resources.
E) reflects freedom of markets and individual choice.
35) Smart growth attempts to address the problem of
A) urban/suburban sprawl.
B) gentrification.
C) cycle of poverty.
D) redlining.
E) segregation.
36) Automobile dependency, lack of public open space and civic amenities, environmental
degradation, societal costs, lack of diversity— this could all mean only one thing:
A) sprawl.
B) redlining.
C) ghettos.
D) smart growth.
E) gentrification.
37) The central business district
A) contains the zone in transition.
B) is usually the headquarters for national government.
C) typically has the tallest buildings.
D) contains many factories but few shops or offices.
38) The zone in transition
A) contains apartment buildings, public housing and old neighborhoods.
B) is outside the area of gentrification.
C) is where railway terminals and the intersection of transportation networks are found.
D) typically contains edge cities.
39) Gentrification typically
A) leads to the renovation of older buildings.
B) raises property values.
C) displaces original occupants.
D) leads to the renovation of older buildings, raises property values, and displaces original
occupants.
40) Walkable and diverse communities with design features like large porches and narrow streets
designed to bring people together and create a sense of place are all part of the
A) New Urbanism movement.
B) Beaux Arts style.
C) fiscal squeeze.
D) cycle of poverty.
E) polycentric metropolis.
41) Of this city’s total population of 1.5 million, about one million are foreigners who are
building it from a small fishing/trading port into a global service hub, with facilities for hosting
the 2022 World Cup, and funded by oil and gas revenues.
A) Aberdeen, Scotland.
B) Doha, Qatar.
C) Houston, Texas.
D) Guangzhou, China.
E) Sochi, Russia.
42) The area of maximum accessibility in an idealized city located on an isotropic surface is
A) the zone in transition.
B) an edge city.
C) the CBD.
D) the upper-scale suburbs.
43) According to our understanding of urban accessibility and land use, which of the following is
located farthest from the city center?
A) factories
B) warehouses
C) high-volume retail stores
D) residences
44) Which of the following is generally NOT a characteristic of European cities?
A) plazas and squares
B) relatively low skylines
C) lively downtowns
D) rapid neighborhood change
E) scars of war
45) Which of the following was a major influence on the shaping of European cities?
A) Roman influence on town layout
B) careful planning
C) the presence of defensive walls
D) the value of land prices in the city
E) urban ideas brought from Central America
46) Why do Western European cities typically have low skylines compared to American cities?
A) The economy was not advanced enough to finance tall skyscrapers.
B) Soviet planners preferred thick and massive buildings over tall ones.
C) Much urban growth occurred before technology made skyscrapers possible.
D) Buildings were poorly constructed and did not last long.
47) In the larger cities of Britain, France, and Germany, roughly ________% of all housing is
public housing.
A) less than 1
B) 1-5
C) 5-20
D) 20-40
E) over 50
48) ________ was one characteristic of socialist government policy in the cities of Eastern
Europe.
A) Large public housing projects in outlying districts
B) Industrial zones in city centers
C) Massive restructuring of city centers
D) Destruction of all buildings closely related to capitalist activities
49) Which of the following is NOT a common and important element of cities in the periphery?
A) a zone of elite residential neighborhoods
B) squatter zones or shantytowns
C) a zone devoted to tourism
D) a central zone with a concentration of commerce, industry, and retailing
E) All of these are common and important elements of peripheral cities.
50) It is least likely you would find an Islamic city in this region.
A) North Africa
B) southern Africa
C) the Middle East
D) Pakistan
E) Indonesia
51) The values that shape the layout and design of Islamic cities derive from
A) Greek culture.
B) Roman culture.
C) the Qur’an.
D) the various peoples conquered by Muslims in the eighth and ninth centuries.
E) Islamic fundamentalists.
52) The dominant feature of a traditional Islamic city is
A) the sultan’s palace.
B) the principal mosque, the Jami.
C) the main marketplace, the suq.
D) the Kasbah.
E) the cemetery.
53) The traditional Islamic city typically contains all of the following except
A) a citadel.
B) suqs.
C) cul-de-sacs.
D) multiple jamis.
E) a monastery.
54) Deliberate urban design began as early as
A) the height of the Roman Empire.
B) the early medieval period.
C) the Renaissance.
D) the Baroque period.
55) The Beaux Arts style of urban design
A) flourished in the eighteenth century.
B) fell out of favor during the rule of Napoleon III.
C) synthesized earlier styles to fit the Industrial Age.
D) had its greatest influence in America.
E) emerged in London from the ideas of Baron Haussmann.
56) The Modern movement
A) was inspired by the ideals of nineteenth-century Romanticism.
B) stressed an unadorned, functional type of architecture.
C) opposed high-rise buildings.
D) paved the way for the Beaux Arts style.
57) The International style drew primarily from the ________ tradition of urban design.
A) Modern
B) Beaux Arts
C) City Beautiful
D) Postmodern
E) Greek