Deck 9: The Urban Transition

Question 1

In which region of the world do nearly three out of four urban residents live in slums?

A) Southern Asia
B) Sub-Saharan Africa
C) Eastern Asia
D) Northern Africa

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The urban transition can occur only if which of the following is taking place?

A) Societal modernization
B) Decline in agricultural activity
C) City population is growing faster than rural population
D) Industrialization is occurring in both rural and urban areas

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to United Nations definitions, a "mega-city" is a city whose population is at least ___ million.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 20

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The most rapidly growing parts of American metropolitan areas are currently:

A) central cities.
B) suburbs.
C) exurbs.
D) edge cities.

Question 5

The most highly urban region within the United States is the:

A) Northeast.
B) Southeast.
C) Midwest.
D) West.

Question 6

The concept of an "American apartheid" has been applied to:

A) the built environment of older Rust Belt cities.
B) residential segregation of blacks in America.
C) ethnic enclaves in large American cities.
D) peri-urban areas being altered by gentrification.

Question 7

The United Nations defines a city population and its adjacent suburbs as _________ if the total population is at least 750,000:

A) a megalopolis
B) a metropolitan statistical area
C) an urban agglomeration
D) a core-based statistical area

Question 8

By 2025 the only region of the world that is expected to still have a larger rural than urban population is:

A) Latin America.
B) Oceania.
C) Asia.
D) Africa.

Question 9

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, England was already one of the world's most urban countries with about what percent of the population living in places of 30,000 people or more?

A) 10
B) 20
C) 50
D) 75

Question 10

If we expect the second most populous city in a country to be half as populous as the largest city, we are referring to the:

A) world system theory.
B) rank-size rule.
C) core-periphery model.
D) demographic balancing equation.

Question 11

An important point to take away from the discussion of the urban transition in China is that:

A) governments can retard the urban transition, but cannot stop it.
B) the one-child policy has helped to slow down the urban transition.
C) the urban transition is consistent with a Marxian population perspective.
D) China's largest cities have absorbed most of the growth in the country's urban population.

Question 12

An important difference between cities and rural places that encourages the growth of cities is that:

A) cities are economically more efficient.
B) cities have more educated people.
C) manufacturing requires a city environment.
D) cities are always healthier than rural places.

Question 13

The region of the world with the highest percentage of the urban population living in slums is:

A) Southern Asia.
B) Latin America.
C) Northern Africa.
D) Sub-Saharan Africa.

Question 14

The important point to take away from the discussion of Tzintzuntzan, Mexico, is that:

A) even in Mexico, small rural places are absorbed by larger urban metropolises.
B) migrants from Mexico to the United States create a situation of population decline in rural Mexico.
C) A small village of artisans with a long indigenous history should not be thought of as rural.
D) Population growth in rural villages leads to migration of younger people to urban places .

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways in which urban places are normally defined?

A) Population size
B) Population density
C) Extent of agricultural activities
D) Extent of manufacturing activities

Question 16

The consistently largest mega-city in the world for the past half century has been:

A) New York City.
B) London.
C) Tokyo.
D) Mexico City.

Question 17

The demographic lesson learned from the rats of NIMH is that:

A) high density can lead to dysfunctional demographic behavior.
B) rat behavior is significantly different from that of humans.
C) as the population increases in a fixed space, the fertility rate begins to rise.
D) increased density lowers the ability to establish meaningful relationships.

Question 18

Currently in the entire world, the percent of the population living in urban places is approximately:

A) 10
B) 20
C) 50
D) 75

Question 19

Which of the following statements about urban fertility is true?

A) Fertility used to be higher than in rural places, but now it is lower.
B) Urban fertility levels in Africa are lower than rural fertility levels in North America.
C) Urban fertility in a country is always at least half the level of rural places.
D) Urban fertility in a country is always lower than rural fertility.

Question 20

The most highly urbanized region in the world is:

A) North America.
B) Europe.
C) Asia.
D) Latin America.

Question 21

In the United States, residential segregation is higher for blacks than for any other racial/ethnic group.

Question 22

Urban trends show that sprawl is increasingly being replaced by gentrification.

Question 23

Cities are inherently unsustainable environments on their own.

Question 24

Because so many immigrants to the United States are from Mexico, the immigrant population in rural areas of the United States is increasing at the expense of urban areas.

Question 25

The Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe largely because it was already predominantly urban.

Question 26

To be urban is especially to be spatially concentrated and nonagricultural.

Question 27

The urbanization of American blacks occurred at the same time that the process of suburbanization of the white population was taking off.

Question 28

The core-periphery model and world systems theory are both part of the same perspective on urban systems.

Question 29

Ancient cities would have depopulated without migrants because birth rates were higher than death rates.

Question 30

The most important characteristic of a world city is its population size.