URBS 230 FINAL EXAM REVIEW | URBANIZATION & URBAN
DEVELOPMENT STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027
Globalization - correct answer ✔✔Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology
have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place.
3 types of globalization - correct answer ✔✔economic, cultural and political
19th to mid-20th century was the first era of - correct answer ✔✔economic globalization
World City concept was first coined to describe large commodity trade centers like - correct answer
✔✔Rome and Paris
First study of modern cities was by - correct answer ✔✔the British Geographer Peter Hall in 1966
Referred to World cities as - correct answer ✔✔the Great metropolitan center's of the world
Post-World War II (e.g., 50s, 60s) saw the rapid development of - correct answer ✔✔multinational
corporations
World cities became known as the gathering place of - correct answer ✔✔global capital and the place to
organize and control the production system
In 1991, Sassen introduced the concept of a "global city" in the book - correct answer ✔✔The Global
City: New York, London, Tokyo
Sassen's global city arguments had - correct answer ✔✔7 hypotheses
The 7 hypotheses are - correct answer ✔✔Hypothesis 1: Geographic dispersal and simultaneous
integration. Hypothesis 2: Outsourcing by large global firms.
Hypothesis 3: Agglomeration economies of specialized firms. Hypothesis 4: Headquarters are free to
locate anywhere.
Hypothesis 5: Global networks and markets for specialized services.
Hypothesis 6 & 7:
Several predictions suggested that cities will lose their value because of globalization, however.
Conceptualizing the city as production sites also points to ALL the firms and jobs necessary to run the
globalized sectors.
Gentrification or Exclusion through Displacement - what is it? - correct answer ✔✔"a process of
neighborhood change that includes economic change in a historically disinvested neighborhood —by
means of real estate investment and new higher-income residents moving in - as well as demographic
change - not only in terms of income level, but also in terms of changes in the education level or racial
make-up of residents."
2 types of gentrification arguments - correct answer ✔✔Consumption-oriented argument and
Production-oriented argument
, Neoliberalism - correct answer ✔✔political ideology that emphasizes 'free' trade, deregulation and
reduction in government spending ('privatization').
social mix - correct answer ✔✔Policies to increase the diversity of a neighbourhood by enabling a mixing
of occupants (across socioeconomic lines) often through redevelopment projects
Gated community - correct answer ✔✔Fortified housing estate for affluent residents, to which access is
restricted by fencing, privatized security, legal agreements and often surveillance technology
In 1938, Louis Wirth proposed a different way of reading urbanism - correct answer ✔✔1. Stop
identifying urbanism with the physical entity of the city or "arbitrary city boundary"
2. Technological developments in transportation and communication have extended the urban mode of
living beyond the confines of the city
Spectacular urbanism - correct answer ✔✔refers broadly to modes of urban development that rely on
expressions of a "global" sense of place, often through grand architectural gestures or by staging
spectacular events.
Spectacular urbanism aims to - correct answer ✔✔create carefully crafted new meanings of place or
new imageries
Grand architectural projects examples - correct answer ✔✔Burj Khalifa, Dubai
Merdeka 118, Kuala Lampur Malaysia
Shanghai Tower, Shanghai China
Spectacular events - correct answer ✔✔These are large-scale/mega cultural events that often appeal to
both the national and international audience
Instant urbanization - correct answer ✔✔refers to processes of state-led urbanization that may involve
the rapid and centralized transformation of large parcels of land and which typically leverage significant
amounts of capital, labour, and private sector participation in the production of ambitious development
projects.
Urban Boosterism - correct answer ✔✔Spectacular developments and instant cities are accompanied by
place promotion and branding.
Informal sector - correct answer ✔✔as production and employment in unincorporated, small, or
unregistered enterprises
informal sector was coined by - correct answer ✔✔Keith Hart, in his 1971 study of low-income activities
among unskilled migrants from Northern Ghana to the capital city, Accra, who could not find wage
employment.
Informal employment - correct answer ✔✔to jobs or work without legal and social protection in
informal enterprises, formal firms, and households.
DEVELOPMENT STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027
Globalization - correct answer ✔✔Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology
have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place.
3 types of globalization - correct answer ✔✔economic, cultural and political
19th to mid-20th century was the first era of - correct answer ✔✔economic globalization
World City concept was first coined to describe large commodity trade centers like - correct answer
✔✔Rome and Paris
First study of modern cities was by - correct answer ✔✔the British Geographer Peter Hall in 1966
Referred to World cities as - correct answer ✔✔the Great metropolitan center's of the world
Post-World War II (e.g., 50s, 60s) saw the rapid development of - correct answer ✔✔multinational
corporations
World cities became known as the gathering place of - correct answer ✔✔global capital and the place to
organize and control the production system
In 1991, Sassen introduced the concept of a "global city" in the book - correct answer ✔✔The Global
City: New York, London, Tokyo
Sassen's global city arguments had - correct answer ✔✔7 hypotheses
The 7 hypotheses are - correct answer ✔✔Hypothesis 1: Geographic dispersal and simultaneous
integration. Hypothesis 2: Outsourcing by large global firms.
Hypothesis 3: Agglomeration economies of specialized firms. Hypothesis 4: Headquarters are free to
locate anywhere.
Hypothesis 5: Global networks and markets for specialized services.
Hypothesis 6 & 7:
Several predictions suggested that cities will lose their value because of globalization, however.
Conceptualizing the city as production sites also points to ALL the firms and jobs necessary to run the
globalized sectors.
Gentrification or Exclusion through Displacement - what is it? - correct answer ✔✔"a process of
neighborhood change that includes economic change in a historically disinvested neighborhood —by
means of real estate investment and new higher-income residents moving in - as well as demographic
change - not only in terms of income level, but also in terms of changes in the education level or racial
make-up of residents."
2 types of gentrification arguments - correct answer ✔✔Consumption-oriented argument and
Production-oriented argument
, Neoliberalism - correct answer ✔✔political ideology that emphasizes 'free' trade, deregulation and
reduction in government spending ('privatization').
social mix - correct answer ✔✔Policies to increase the diversity of a neighbourhood by enabling a mixing
of occupants (across socioeconomic lines) often through redevelopment projects
Gated community - correct answer ✔✔Fortified housing estate for affluent residents, to which access is
restricted by fencing, privatized security, legal agreements and often surveillance technology
In 1938, Louis Wirth proposed a different way of reading urbanism - correct answer ✔✔1. Stop
identifying urbanism with the physical entity of the city or "arbitrary city boundary"
2. Technological developments in transportation and communication have extended the urban mode of
living beyond the confines of the city
Spectacular urbanism - correct answer ✔✔refers broadly to modes of urban development that rely on
expressions of a "global" sense of place, often through grand architectural gestures or by staging
spectacular events.
Spectacular urbanism aims to - correct answer ✔✔create carefully crafted new meanings of place or
new imageries
Grand architectural projects examples - correct answer ✔✔Burj Khalifa, Dubai
Merdeka 118, Kuala Lampur Malaysia
Shanghai Tower, Shanghai China
Spectacular events - correct answer ✔✔These are large-scale/mega cultural events that often appeal to
both the national and international audience
Instant urbanization - correct answer ✔✔refers to processes of state-led urbanization that may involve
the rapid and centralized transformation of large parcels of land and which typically leverage significant
amounts of capital, labour, and private sector participation in the production of ambitious development
projects.
Urban Boosterism - correct answer ✔✔Spectacular developments and instant cities are accompanied by
place promotion and branding.
Informal sector - correct answer ✔✔as production and employment in unincorporated, small, or
unregistered enterprises
informal sector was coined by - correct answer ✔✔Keith Hart, in his 1971 study of low-income activities
among unskilled migrants from Northern Ghana to the capital city, Accra, who could not find wage
employment.
Informal employment - correct answer ✔✔to jobs or work without legal and social protection in
informal enterprises, formal firms, and households.
