The document provides definitions for 40 key terms that may appear on an exam in January 2013. Some of the terms defined include agriculture, brownfield site, combined heat and power plants, congestion, eco-town, green belt, local authorities, national grid, nimbyism, planning regulations, rural-urban fringe, service industries, smart meters, stakeholders, suburbanisation, sustainable, and urban sprawl.

1. Key terms for the January 2013 exam
Accessibility Easily approached or entered. Easily got hold of.
Agriculture Farming. The business of producing crops and raising livestock
(animals)
Brownfield site Disused or derelict land. Land that has previously been built on.
Characteristic A feature that helps to identify a thing or person.
Combined heat and power A system which recovers heat lost through the production of
plants energy and uses it to produce hot water. This can be used by
homes and public buildings, They can be up to 95% efficient
compared to old fashioned power plants.
Community-scale Locale owned projects, where one or more members of the
local community have a significant stake in the project.
Congestion usually concerned with transport when there is so much traffic
it stops or slows down the movement.
Counter urbanisation Where people move away from urban areas (cities and towns)
to rural areas (couintryside)
Dependence Relying on something or being controlled by something of
someone else
Eco-friendly having a beneficial effect on the environment or at least not
causing environmental damage..
Eco-town New towns to be built in the UK that meet the highest
standards of sustainability, sponsored by the UK government.
Green belt Green Belts were created in 1947 as 'collars of land' around
urban areas where development is severely restricted to
preserve the character of the environment and to prevent
towns and cities growing (urban sprawl)
Greenfield site An area of land that has not been built on/ developed.
Housing crisis A substantial section of the population cannot find housing.
Local authorities A unit of local government e.g. Arun district council.
Manufacturing Make something on a large scale using machinery.
National grid The nationwide system of electric power distribution e.g.
power cables, electricity pylons.
NIMBY an acronym for the phrase not in my back yard. Someone who
objects to siting something in their own neighbourhood but
does not object to it being sited elsewhere.
Nimbyism The term is used negatively to describe opposition by
residents to a proposal for a new development close to them.
Planning
Regulations Official rules or laws that state what may or may not be done
or how something must be done.
Relocated Move to a new place on a long term basis.
Re-urbanisation the process whereby towns and cities in MEDCs which have
been experiencing a loss of population are able to reverse the
decline and begin to grow again. Some form of redevelopment is
often required to start re-urbanisation.
Rural The countryside.
Rurality A rural characteristic.

2. Rural- urban fringe The area at the edge of the city. a zone of transition between
the built-up area and the countryside, where there is often
competition for land use. It is a zone of mixed land uses, from
shopping malls and golf courses to farmland and motorways.
Service industries The tertiary sector of the economy. This refers to the
commercial services that support the production and
distribution process, eg insurance, transport, advertising,
warehousing and other services such as teaching and health
care.
Smart meters A smart meter is usually an electrical meter, in homes, that
records the consumption of electrical energy. It can be used to
identify areas of high use and therefore be used to reduce
energy consumption
Social facilities
Stakeholders Somebody or something with a direct interest or involvement in
the issue
Starter homes
Suburbanisation the process by which people, factories, offices and shops move
out from the central areas of cities and into the suburbs.
Surplus energy Energy left over that is created by homes/ buildings with
energy creating devices e.g. wind turbines/ solar power cells. It
is often sold back to the national grid.
Sustainable Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on
the environment
Sustainable settlements
Urban Characteristic of the city/ city life
Urban sprawl The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas
Village A small settlement from a few hundred to a few thousands
people living there.
Zero carbon Activities with zero net carbon emissions.